Financial Accounting For Dummies

Chapter 6

Focusing on Accounting Methods and Concepts

In This Chapter

Getting clear on the cash and accrual methods of accounting

Walking through other types of accounting besides financial

Learning about FASB’s conceptual framework

While most of my students take financial accounting only because it’s a core requirement for an undergraduate and graduate business degree, in every seminar I have at least one student who gets fired up about the topic to the point where he considers changing his major to accounting. If you are also thinking that accounting isn’t that bad of a gig, this chapter gives you some information about other types of accounting besides financial that you may be interested in. And the good news is that the basic accounting facts you learn in your financial accounting class apply to just about any accounting specialty.

Before I discuss other types of accounting, I explain the difference between the cash and accrual methods of accounting. Your financial accounting class is primarily concerned with the accrual method because it’s required under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP, which I explain in Chapter 4). However, to truly understand the accrual ...