The new, revised, and updated edition of the popular textbook for introductory accounting courses Accounting plays a central role in a multitude of areas, from everyday personal finance to global corporate operations. Introduction to Accounting helps students understand the concepts, principles, methods, and mechanisms of the field. Designed to benefit all students, regardless of major, this innovative textbook integrates life skills and business skills to provide an accessible, engaging introduction to accounting. Rather than separating financial accounting from managerial accounting, this textbook demonstrates how to plan and evaluate business activities from both external and internal reporting perspectives. Now in its eight edition, Introduction to Accounting enables students to understand both the nature and functions of business and the mechanics of the bookkeeping process. Three organizing themes--the accounting information system, business processes, and the balanced scorecard--help students learn why and how activities are planned and evaluated by different stakeholders. Based on extensive instructor feedback, as well as the authors' six decades of combined teaching experience, this new edition has been thoroughly revised to enhance readability and highlight real-world examples. A complete array of pedagogical tools includes improved and expanded learning objectives, updated definitions, questions and problem sets, newcritical-thinking and ethical-challenge exercises, and more. Focuses on accounting as an information system used in each business processes to provide information to plan and evaluate activities Stimulates interest in the field of accounting with relatable, reader-friendly narrative Employs various pedagogical devices to stimulate active and cooperative learning for students Uses the example of Apple, Inc. throughout the text to illustrate central concepts and significant issues Includes extensive online support including test problems and essay exercises for every chapter of the text, PowerPoint slides and Excel templates, downloadable solution manuals, and links to professional resources Offering a wealth of instructor resources, Introduction to Accounting, 8th Edition is ideally suited for introductory accounting courses in both high school and university-level settings.

This textbook integrates financial and managerial accounting as opposed to keeping these areas separate, the approach followed by most books and curriculums. By "integration," we mean the authors focus on the business process and examine the activities from both an external, financial reporting perspective and an internal, management decision-making perspective. The text incorporates real world applications, including actual financial statements, to reinforce the relevance of topics to real business situations and promote student interest. The text also promotes active learning through Pause And Reflect "probing" questions placed sporadically throughout each chapter, Of Interest boxes that provide additional information relating to the chapter concepts, new Fast Fact boxes that provide additional information related to chapter concepts in a short, trivia-like manner, and end-of-chapter group exercises.. .

There are three key distinctions to the Ainsworth/Deines approach. They are: . 1.Integration - described in preceding paragraph.. 2.Within the context of business processes, Ainsworth/Deines is organized by planning for activities, performing those activities (in other words, capturing them in the financial statements), and finally, evaluating those business activities.. 3.An organization around the Statement of Cash Flows first focusing on Operating Activities (what is my business, my product, who are my customers?) and then Financing and Investing Activities (how do I fund my business, how do I expand, what are the financial risks, etc?)..