3 comments about Financial Instruments and Institutions: Accounting and Disclosure Rules.

1. ~~~~~You are wrong if you think that this is a pure accounting or finance book. I am taking Profoessor Ryan's class of "Finanial Instruments and Financial Institutions" in NYU right now. The stength of Professor Ryan in the book is his in-depth understanding and effective description of economics, finance and accounting issues. So many case studies covered in the book blend with macroeconomic events, financial implication and accounting disclosures. Therefore, you need some background~~ knowledge of accounting and finance to fully take advantage of his insights in the book. This book discusses the yield curve, interest risk, credit and market risks, and fair value accounting for financial instruments. It analyzes the finacial and accounting issues for thrifts, mortgage bank, securitizations, commercial banks, derivatives and hedging, lessors and lease accountings. After reading through the book, you will have clear pictures about each finnancial instruments and institutions.~~ You won't be afraid of these topics any more. This book can be used as an advanced textbook for finance or accouting majors in business school, or a reference book if you are interested in financial and accounting issues of the above topics.~



2. I too have taken Prof. Ryan's class at NYU Stern. The accounting department at Stern is very good (especially Dan Gode) and Prof. Ryan is no exception. He know's his subject very well, take that as a given, and the book is an expression of that thoroughness.
   
   Fair value accounting is well covered and there is a clear vein running through the book that pertinently questions what the right method of accounting should be in various contexts. A wide range of topics are covered and some are explored with more insight and depth than any other accounting book I have seen.
   
   Had the book been better laid out, with more concise and pertinent examples it would have reached four stars. The style of writing is heavy and only the most dedicated readers will be able to sustain themselves through it. Presentation as a result is dry and wordy and, frivolous as it may sound, cries out for more color and visual organization. The publisher really dropped the ball should have recognized this and made the book more accessible, doing so would have given it near cult status for students, investors, analysts and academics.



3. The chapters are written in an organized fashion with a strong introduction allowing for the readers to re-familiarize themselves before reading (moving onto) the more dense material. The topics covered require readers to be familiar with some of the basic accounting principles beforehand. However the introduction allows for readers to continue onto the denser, less familiar topics without much difficulty and pain. The topics require dedication (as indicated by another review) on the part of the readers in order for mastery--but this is due to the nature of the topics covered rather than the writing. The examples used allow for readers to gain exposure on how the principles apply in context--which is a definite plus.
   
   The book gives insights on accounting topics never fully explored in the typical undergraduate or graduate business education--the importance of the quality of disclosures and what can be mined from those financial statements was truly a surprise for me. The author's insights and thoughts on current accounting issues and belief in fair value accounting were convincing and well supported.
   
   The material is not user-friendly in the fact that it requires a certain amount of exposure and knowledge in areas such as financial disclosure, basic economics/finance etc. The writing style is user-friendly as it engages readers in its conversational approach.

3 comments about Throughput Accounting: A Guide to Constraint Management.

1. Coming from someone how has been implementing Throughput Accounting and TOC / Constraint Management for over 10 years, I can say with experience that this is hands down the best treatment of the topic I've ever read. It's written by and from the perspective of a CFO / Accountant. It addresses the use of Throughput Accounting in all aspects of decisions that people in finance have to make, including capital budgeting.



2. I no accountant yet Steven Bragg leads me to believe that throughput accounting is much easier to grasp than GAAP accounting. It also seems so more "natural" than activity based costing; for example. There are many differences between throughput accounting and "regular" accounting and here you get to read "what" and "why" and more importantly "how" to reconcile the both as GAAP accounting won't disappear.
   
   There is a section on financial analysis where we are taken through a series of decisions to evaluate and how throughput accounting models can help us solve them. It's quite simple and most questions are answered using the same basic tool. Budgeting and control also have sections of their own.
   
   My favorite part of the book after financial analysis was performance measurement. The author discusses twenty indicators with their strengths and weaknesses. While no single indicator alone "says it all," combined they could make a wonderful dashboard(s).
   
   Though not as light as other book on TOC, this one is nevertheless a must.



3. Son pocos los libros de Teoría de Restricciones. Este es uno bueno, da un resumen de la metodología y abunda en muchos ejemplos de decisiones mal tomadas con el uso de la contabilidad tradicional, pero todos son casos específicos de considerar los costos fijos prorrateados a los productos para tomar decisiones que no afectan los costos fijos. De ahí que sean fijos. Recomiendo la lectura de este libro para todos aquellos que toman decisiones a partir de datos financieros.

5 comments about Sarbanes-Oxley Guide for Finance and Information Technology Professionals.

1. I have read a lot of material on Sarbanes-Oxley and compliance and I can honestly say that this is one of the best. This book helps professionals on any level or industry understand the important concepts of SOX. It is a must read...



2. Of all the SOX Compliance books I've read, this one has definitely been the most useful. I appreciate the author's ability to communicate in IT and non-IT terms. The SOX Institute offers SOX training and a CSOX certification. I find myself frequently referring to the SOX Institute and this book for SOX knowledge. It's been an incredible source of information.



3. Sarbanes-Oxley Guide for Finance and Information Technology Professionals (Hardcover)
   by Sanjay Anand
   ISBN: 0471785539
   
   After the Enron fiasco a lot of IT as well as Finance Professionals wished for better federal securities laws. Well a lot of people were not careful about what they wished. The Sarbanes-Oxely Act of 2002 has answered just that wish. The main goal of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is to protect investors and increase their confidence in the reporting of public companies.
   
   This book takes the reader through the purpose and components of Internal Control and how to develop an Internal Control System.
   Implementing SOX can be extremely daunting and the timelines, checklists and reporting and documentation gives a solid foundation to benchmark. The author goes over all the SOX related bodies and what they do in a very concise manner, which is good to know for the IT professionals. The book explains the need to maintain, store, retain and destroy relevant business records as prescribed under the law.
   
   The author does a lot of handholding as he takes the reader through all the steps of the SOX compliance process.
   
   The intended audience for this book is non technical i.e. finance professionals as well as technical IT professionals, and in my opinion the author pretty much nails it. The heavy duty jargon is either avoided or explained clearly which makes sense to the readers as one does not have to go figure what the words are about.
   
   The author Sanjay Anand is one of the world's leading corporate governance, risk management, and regulatory compliance experts.
   
   If you want to buy just one book which pretty much covers a lot of SOX ground, well this is it.
   
   I give this book 5 stars on a scale of 5, 5 being the highest. I strongly recommend this book.
   Niloufer Tamboly, CISSP



4. This comprehensive guide provides a complete methodology for achieving Sarbanes-Oxley compliancy, namely the Sarbanes-Oxley Compliant Key Enterprise Technology (SOCKET) framework. The author is one of the world's leading regulatory compliance experts and Chairperson of the SOX Institute.
   
   In terms of getting things done (and why it needs to be done) this is an excellent book. The SOCKET framework is laid out very clearly and you will find material and PowerPoint friendly bulleted lists covering every aspect of a SOX project (or, more accurately, a process).
   
   Compared to the Manager's Guide to Compliance, the chapters constitute a more coherent narrative with more emphasis on organisational and IT issues. Compared to The Joy of SOX, it provides a generally more detailed coverage (but it is less entertaining). To give an example, the book contains a brilliant mapping between Sections of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, business processes and affected technologies. Of course, it is not rocket science, but it is great value for money. For the IT professional, it goes beyond the presentation of the usual suspects COSO and COBIT by covering e.g. the ISO 1335 and 17799 standards.
   
   Yet, despite the level of detail, the author manages to keep the momentum as he takes the reader through all the steps of a SOX compliance process in terms of the SOCKET framework. This implies that some important topics have been moved to the Appendices (that includes about 35 pages on COBIT 3 and 4).
   
   One could wish for more examples and templates, but it is apparently easier said than done. (Another book from the same publisher that should provide templates, key processes, and checklists has been postponed until February 2007.) Apparently, Sanjay Anand is currently working on another book Essentials of Sarbanes-Oxley that will include "Tips and Techniques" and "In the Real World" features with realistic advice on compliance. At least until then, the Sarbanes-Oxley Guide is the book to buy.



5. On a +ve note the book presents one view of the SOX Act that all senior persons involved in Corporate Governance should be aware of. IT Professional must be aware of this act, as it does impose stringent information requirements and controls on your systems deployed in the production environment. Recommend that you look at exhibit 11.1 (P108)/ exhibit 11.2 (P111) quite useful.
   
   On a -ve note - After the first 100 pages (some what padded out) It was my opinion that Information Technology Professionals will not gain any true value from reading this book. However, as I continued I did find some useful snippets of useful information- However not enough for me to gain true value.
   
   There are some good quotes in the book, but lacks the essence of the Systems view to which it aims targets in its title - certain parts of the book confused me e.g. Exhibit 1.1 (P27). In the monitoring section P56 - The author missed the opportunity to discuss the monitoring of internal systems messages within the enterprise. Exhibit 2.1 (P44) is repeated as Exhibit 6.1 (P76) with no real value added On P77 the Author states that XML, middleware , Java will be a success factor - This as a general statement is wrong. But hey thats my opinion ...

2 comments about Management Accounting Demystified.

1. Unfortunately, this book does not live up to its title. The author clearly knows his subject, but is a poor teacher. From the outset, synonymous terms are used interchangeably without warning or explanation. Example problems (such as identifying costs in a table in chapter 2) are too dissimilar to real problems that you are meant to work out (the terms in the table columns have been changed so that it isn't clear what cost definitions you are working with anymore). If anyone is using this book to get the basics of management accounting, he will find this book inconsistent, convoluded and difficult - unnecessarily. Better organization and a critical editor's eye would have made this a much better book.



2. I bought this book to help supplement a college text for a management accounting class I took recently. While the book itself isn't going to teach you everything about management accounting that you'll need/want to know, it is a decent supplement to more professional texts. It did help to clarify a few concepts, and simplify some things, but it is not in-depth enough to teach all of the relevant material you would learn by taking a management accounting college course.

1 comments about Shared Services: Adding Value to the Business Units.

1. There isn't much around on this subject and so it was good to find a book that was reasonably comprehensive. Apart from the advertising for a large CA firm and the message as to the necessity for consultants (shared services is after all a product and a money spinner for them)I thought it was useful.

2 comments about Essentials of Payroll: Management and Accounting.

1. I think this is a good beginner-to-intermediate level book about payroll. While I doubt this book can serve as your only source to setting up a payroll system (a claim never made by the author), it can serve as a valuable guide to implementing or reviewing your current payroll internal controls, best practices and payroll policy manual. It may also help you analyze whether you are paying too much money or spending too much time on your job costing system. If you like examples, the author uses many short case studies to clarify his main points.

   He keeps the book up-to-date by discussing topics such as payroll information technology, current payment alternatives and Internet references. He discusses other issues in detail, such as fringe benefits, vacation pay, minimum wage laws, payroll calculations, retirement plans, and stock option plans.

   Given the popularity of outsourcing the payroll function, I think the book could have went into more detail about how to select the right payroll outsource vendor and how to ensure that the outsource vendor maintains proper internal controls (e.g. obtaining an annual SAS 70 Type II). Also, I felt I could have skipped the payroll tax portion and read IRS publication 15, 15a and 15b and my state's corresponding payroll tax publication. Finally, to help improve the books longevity, the author could have either left out the current year tax rates and limitations altogether or listed Internet references where the current and future rates and limitations could be referenced.

   Nevertheless, overall I think this is a good book that I will use from time to time to brush up on my payroll process knowledge. Therefore, I think the book is worth buying, reading and referencing.




2. The title says it all--this is a good basic overview of payroll. You will not become an expert by reading it, but what can you read that makes you an expert? This book will give you the vocabulary and the tools you need to take your first steps in payroll. After that experience is the best teacher.

1 comments about Accounting Simplified: A Self Study Guide.

1. I am only half way through this book but, so far it has been a great tool for me because it details all information and gives examples , problems to work out, the solution to the problems and tips all along the way. I am currently taking an online class for non-accountants and I would recommend this book for anyone interested in taking accounting.

2 comments about Managerial Uses of Accounting Information (Springer Series in Accounting Scholarship) (Springer Series in Accounting Scholarship).

1. A must for graduate students in accounting who wish to undertake a serious study of economic aspects of accounting information design and use.



2. The book itself it of terrible quality. Hard to read, hard to understand, and way overpriced. The book is also completely in black and white and full of typos. The author seems to be a pompous person. Hopefully you are not required to purchase this book for a course and fatten your professor's wallet and ego.

5 comments about Financial Analysis: A Controller's Guide.

1. Too simple assumption on work of a controller.

   Too young to call himself a 'controller' if he works like the book quoted

   Too naive if you think the real world would be like that.




2. This is the only guide I am aware of that is specifically tailored to the needs of the practicing controller. The chapters on breakeven analysis, capacity utilization, and (especially) the use of an electronic spreadsheet are perfect. I find myself taking this book off the shelf for reference purposes at least once a week. Highly recommended.



3. After over 10 years in the field serving as a Controller, Business Manager, and Consultant, finally a practitioner's book that hits the target. Given the vast topic, Bragg nails the critical issues...gets you in & out of each topic quickly and provides an array of useful tools for analysis, presentation, and discussion. The KISS principle at work! Other books may cover more detail, present more elaborate formulas and in general overwhelm the reader. Bragg doesn't. You'll find his summaries quite helpful: Commonly Used Ratios; Symptoms & Solutions; and Exhibit 6.11 Recommended Analyses by Type of Acquisition, for example. Full of practical, hands-on topic reviews, examples, and analytical thinking. Numerous Exhibits showing practical layouts for presenting information...have saved me time & eliminated the need to reinvent the wheel. A must have for my reference tools...and could have eliminated several books in my MBA. Do what's in this book & do it well and you'll build a solid reputation for you and your team. I liked this book so much that I added Bragg's books "Sales & Operations For Your Small Business" and "Accounting & Finance For Your Small Business" to my tools, too...and have been equally pleased.



4. This book does not provide any information that could not be found in a college level textbook. The assumptions and examples provided in the book are over simplified. If you are anything higher than a junior accountant I would suggest you purchase something else. Calling this book a "Controller's Guide" is just plain wrong.



5. I purchased the book as part of my CPA Continuing Education credit program. I was pleasantly surprised. Relevant information with sufficient explanations in clear and concise language. A definite must read and must keep as reference material for any controller or financial analyst.

1 comments about Managerial Accounting.

1. I bought this textbook sight unseen with the intend of using it as a reference for work. I originally learned mangerial accounting in my MBA program some years ago using Noreen and Garrison's Managerial Accounting textbook. It was my first choice as it is regarded as the best textbook on the subject but I could not get it for a reasonable price. So, I saw that this textbook had just came out and I went for it. At first glance, I was more or less unimpressed with its content comparing it to my old Noreen and Garrison' textbook. Bamber/Braun/Harrison's text seemed too simplicitic and not to deep in content. But, I decided to keep it and work through it.
   
   It did not take me long to realize it is a great textbook. It is very readable and loaded with lots of complete worked out examples. It is also very visually appealing. It is clean and uncluttered with excellent graphics and it is printed on high quality, low-glare paper. The author's explain terms and concept's very well. Again, it is not as sophisticated/complicated as Noreen/Garrison (but that is where they fall down). To be sure, I also bought on the cheap the 3rd edition of Cost Management by Hilton. Again, Bamber/Braun/Harrison beats it it too for it clear prose and explanations. Ex. Bamber/Braun/Harrison do a terrific job explaining the topic of Operating Levarge on pages 386 and 387 including a good example. In Hilton's book, he does it in a paragraph and I swear, I have no clue what he was trying to say.
   
   Final point, I also purchased the study guide that accompanies Bamber/Braun/Harrison. It is also an excellent teaching product. It is the best looking - most useful study guide I have ever used (for economics Brune and McConnell's study guide is by far the most comprehensive and exhaustive). It is printed on exceptionally good paper, in color using the same graphics as the main text. Each chapter is loaded with lots of fully worked out Demo problems. If you are an instructor, I would urge you to take a good look at this textbook for use in your classes as it will definitely make learning this challenging subject much easier.