Basic Accounting Books for Beginners

Top 10 Basic Accounting Books for Beginners [Updated 2021]

The objective of accounting is to record financial transactions systematically in the books of accounts to find out the financial position of any organization. Below is the list of books on basic accounting that you must read in 2021 –

1. Accounting Made Simple ( Get this book )
2. Accounting for Non-Accountants ( Get this book )
3. Financial Statements ( Get this book )
4. Accounting Handbook ( Get this book )
5. Schaum’s Outline of Principles of Accounting ( Get this book )
6. Accounting All-in-One For Dummies ( Get this book )
7. Accounting: The Ultimate Guide to Accounting for Beginners ( Get this book )
8.  Accounting QuickStart Guide ( Get this book )
9. The Accounting Game ( Get this book )
10. Bookkeepers’ Boot Camp ( Get this book )

Let us discuss each of the beginners accounting books that cover the fundaments, along with its key takeaways and reviews.

#1 – Accounting Made Simple

Author of this Accounting Book: Mike Piper

Book Review:

This short book offers a basic introduction to accounting principlesAccounting PrinciplesAccounting principles are the set guidelines and rules issued by accounting standards like GAAP and IFRS for the companies to follow while recording and presenting the financial information in the books of accounts.read more and terminologies. The author’s brief explanations and numerous concise examples make it the perfect reference book for people from a non-accounting background.

Key Takeaways

Few of the major takeaways from this book are listed below:

• Accounting EquationAccounting EquationAccounting Equation is the primary accounting principle stating that a business's total assets are equivalent to the sum of its liabilities & owner’s capital. This is also known as the Balance Sheet Equation & it forms the basis of the double-entry accounting system. read more and its significance
• Concepts and assumptions behind Generally Accepted Accounting PrinciplesGenerally Accepted Accounting PrinciplesGenerally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) are the minimum standards and uniform guidelines for the accounting and reporting. These standards prohibit firms from engaging in unethical business activities and enable for a more accurate comparison of financial reports to investors.read more (GAAP)
• Calculating and interpreting several different financial ratiosFinancial RatiosFinancial ratios are indications of a company's financial performance. There are several forms of financial ratios that indicate the company's results, financial risks, and operational efficiency, such as the liquidity ratio, asset turnover ratio, operating profitability ratios, business risk ratios, financial risk ratio, stability ratios, and so on.read more
• Preparing journal entries with debitsDebitsDebit is an entry in the books of accounts, which either increases the assets or decreases the liabilities. According to the double-entry system, the total debits should always be equal to the total credits.read more and credits
• Calculating depreciationCalculating DepreciationThe Depreciation Expense Formula computes how much of the asset's value can be deducted as an expense on the income statement. Formula for Straight-line depreciation method= Cost of an asset - Residual value/useful life of an asset.read more and amortization expenses

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#2 – Accounting for Non-Accountants

Author: Wayne Label

Book Review:

This well-written book is focused on people who are new to accounts principles, as it lays out, for instance, different sequential snapshots of the balance sheet to demonstrate how individual adjustments should be treated.

Key Takeaways

Apart from providing basics of the books of accounts, the author focuses on a few major topics like:

• Dealing with audits and auditorsAuditorsAn auditor is a professional appointed by an enterprise for an independent analysis of their accounting records and financial statements. An auditor issues a report about the accuracy and reliability of financial statements based on the country's local operating laws.read more interpret financial statements
• Managing budgets
• Controlling cash flowsCash FlowsCash Flow is the amount of cash or cash equivalent generated & consumed by a Company over a given period. It proves to be a prerequisite for analyzing the business’s strength, profitability, & scope for betterment. read more
• Using accounting ratiosAccounting RatiosAccounting ratios measure the company's financial health by comparing the various elements of the financial statements to gauge the organization's progress over the period. There are four types of accounting ratios- liquidity, solvency, profitability and activity ratios.read more

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#3 – Financial Statements

Author: Thomas Ittelson

Book Review:

Every term is defined in the simple, understandable language. Concepts are explained with basic, straightforward transaction examples. The author aims to provide a solid foundation for its readers to understand the concepts.

Key Takeaways

Few takeaways from this book:

• How the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statementCash Flow StatementStatement of Cash flow is a statement in financial accounting which reports the details about the cash generated and the cash outflow of the company during a particular accounting period under consideration from the different activities i.e., operating activities, investing activities and financing activities.read more work together to present any company’s financial health
• The visual approach, to see exactly how each transaction affects the three key financial statement of the enterprise

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#4 – Accounting Handbook

Author: Jae K. Shim

Book Review:

A very informative and relevant book that takes an interesting approach to account. The author aims to focus the accountants, bookkeepers, and business students as it provides perfect examples and material for referring.

Key Takeaways

Few of the topics that the book addresses are as follows:

• Short-entry definitions of everything
• A detailed explanation of accounting terms
• Cost management, taxation forms, and their preparation
• Financial reportingFinancial ReportingFinancial Reporting is the process of disclosing all the relevant financial information of a business for a particular accounting period. These reports are used by the stakeholders (investors, creditors/ bankers, public, regulatory agencies, and government) to make investing and other relevant decisions. read more requirements and compliance, and U.S. GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) and IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards)

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#5 – Schaum’s Outline of Principles of Accounting

Author: Joel J. Lerner

Book Review:

The book comprises a collection of solved problems in principles of accounting so that readers can easily connect the dots.

Key Takeaways

Few of the major topics covered in this book are as follows:

• Debits, credits, the chart of accountsChart Of AccountsChart of Accounts (COA) is a list of all the accounts in which a business records its regular operational expenses. It is used to collect information for preparing a Company’s financial statements. read more, the ledger, inventory measurement, net realizable value, recovery of bad debts, and methods for computing interest
• Fixed assets, depreciation and scrap value, methods of depreciation
• Payroll and payroll taxes

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#6 – Accounting All-in-One For Dummies

Author: Kenneth W. Boyd

Book Review:

As the book promises on its cover with its title, it offers to impart learnings in simple and layman terms. The author consistently uses examples and analogies to make the topics interesting and relatable.

Key Takeaways

Some of the aspects of accounting that the book covers are as follows:

• Setting up accounting system; recording accounting transactionsRecording Accounting TransactionsAccounting Transactions are business activities which have a direct monetary effect on the finances of a Company. For example, Apple representing nearly $200 billion in cash & cash equivalents in its balance sheet is an accounting transaction. read more
• Adjusting and closing entriesClosing EntriesClosing Entries in Accounting are the journal entries made at the end of an accounting period to nullify the balances of temporary accounts by transferring the amount to the permanent accounts. read more
• Auditing and detecting financial fraud
• Planning and budgeting for businesses

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#7 – Accounting

The Ultimate Guide to Accounting for Beginners

Author: Greg Shields

Book Review:

Providing a general overview of financial statementFinancial StatementFinancial statements are written reports prepared by a company's management to present the company's financial affairs over a given period (quarter, six monthly or yearly). These statements, which include the Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flows, and Shareholders Equity Statement, must be prepared in accordance with prescribed and standardized accounting standards to ensure uniformity in reporting at all levels.read more, analysis, and principles followed by the accounting practice, this book offers simple explanations that are easy to follow in order to relate the accounting terms and concepts in business usage.

Key Takeaways

Few major topics that the book covers are as below:

• The Cash Flow Statement
• The CPA and Public Accounting
• Tax AccountingTax AccountingTax accounting is the framework that considers the tax returns instead of public financial statements disclosure while recording and presenting the business transactions in the books of accounts. It complies with the rules and policies of the company's Internal Revenue Code.read more
• Accounting Reports: The Income Statement

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#8 – Accounting QuickStart Guide

Author: Josh Bauerle CPA

Book Review:

A very thorough book that covers almost all majors topics and terms in accounting; The book is very helpful for small business owners as it outlines the procedures to handle accounting for a small business.

Key Takeaways

Few of the major topics covered in the book are as follows:

• The Principles of Financial AccountingFinancial AccountingFinancial accounting refers to bookkeeping, i.e., identifying, classifying, summarizing and recording all the financial transactions in the Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement. It even includes the analysis of these financial statements.read more, Managerial Accounting, and Tax Accounting
• Business Entity Types; Their Pros, Cons and Their Financial Statements
• GAAP Standards and their relevance to Accountants
• The Logic and Methods of Classic Double-Entry Accounting

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#9 – The Accounting Game

Author: Darrell Mullis

Book Review:

Using the world of a child’s lemonade stand to teach the basics of managing finances, this book makes the subject enjoyable and understandable. The author makes readers use their senses, emotions, and critical thinking skills to learn. The book is mainly focused on business owners/managers, budding entrepreneurs.

Key Takeaways

Few of the key learnings that the book imparts are as follows:

• Business accounting proceduresAccounting ProceduresThe accounting procedure is the process of standardized nature that performs a specific accounting function designed to incorporate better risk management policies to complete these functions efficiently. It includes billings, invoices to suppliers, bank reconciliation, requiring comprehensive and streamlined procedures.read more and creating financial reports
• Financial Accounting
• Step-by-step processes for managing to account in business

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#10 – Bookkeepers’ Boot Camp

Author: Angie Mohr

Book Review:

This book shows small business owners the essentials of record-keeping, and why it’s crucial to a business’s success to track financial data. The author shows the business owners how to sort through the information and paperwork, record what is important, and how to use that information to grow a business for success.

Key Takeaways

Some of the main learnings that the book imparts are as follows:

• Purpose of record/bookkeeping
• Analyzing and tracking financial informationFinancial InformationFinancial Information refers to the summarized data of monetary transactions that is helpful to investors in understanding company’s profitability, their assets, and growth prospects. Financial Data about individuals like past Months Bank Statement, Tax return receipts helps banks to understand customer’s credit quality, repayment capacity etc.read more
• Starting a business, growing a business, and exiting a businessExiting A BusinessA business exit strategy is a plan by which an individual running an existing business plans to liquidate his/her stake through sale or another transfer mechanism in order to make either a loss-making exit or meet immediate cash requirements.read more

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Recommended Articles

Here is the guide to Accounting Books for Beginners. Here we provide the list of Top 10 Basic Accounting Books to read in 2021 & a sneak peek in what those books propose & takeaways. You may refer to the following books to learn more –

• Accounting Books
• Accounting Standards Books
• Management Accounting Books
• Finance Books

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