Hi All, I am a Level 1 candidate and I need a good reference book for accounting since I think some of the explanations in the CFAI book are not very clear. (especially leases and deferred taxes) Could you suggest a good book? I have found Intermediate Accounting of Donald Kieso on Amazon. Has anybody used it before? Thank you!
The book you refer to is considered “the Bible” by most students of accounting. This is the book you want.
I agree with tobias, kieso is the standard author for accounting in uni
Hmmm… I don’t really know a lot about accounting pedagogy (or, frankly, accounting) but that book seems awfully dense to me. I have an ancient, outdated copy but I found it turgid. I think there is a mismatch between “I need a good reference book” and “the explanations in the CFAI book are not clear”. Kieso is a fine, timely reference tome if you need to know all the ins-and-outs of something but using it to study for the CFA exams seems like wild overkill to me. Do you really have time to dig through 20 pages of dense prose to learn something covered in 1/2 page in Schweser? I’m sure that tobias gets out that book when he is a little unclear about some nuance in some aspect of FSA but that is just not the standard required on the exam. That said, I don’t have a better recommendation because I really hate all these books and there is no shortage of good books on other subjects.
I have a recommendation “concept”… Instead of approaching accounting as an accountant, approach it as an analyst. Accountant’s job is to take the data and classify it according to gaap, etc. whereas an analyst’s job is to unravel it to reflect economic reality as it pertains to some party (shareholder, bondholder, union, etc.). I agree that there is a lot of common ground in what you have to learn but my point is I would find a book on financial statement analysis instead of a book used to teach accountants how to make financial statements.
Good points all. Just because it is a great accounting book doesn’t mean it will help with the CFA exams. You might be better off coming here for help when you are confused by something you read in the CFAI material.
I am a kind of person who wants to learn things in depth. I know that CFA exam does not require that, but I just can not memorize something that I do not understand completely. It does not matter to me much whether I pass the exam in June or December. It matters to me whether I pass the exam by digesting the material. There are a few subjects that I could not understand fully even though I read them from both CFAI and Schweser several times…I want to read them from another resource… Thanks for your ideas…
U can give “Financial Reporting and Analysis” by Revsine, COllins and Johnson a shot. Alternatively, you can try laying your hands on “The Analysis and use of Financial statements” by White, Sondhi and Fried.
I tried Financial Accounting by Needles & Powers. They explain stuff in simple and easy to understand manner. White, Sondhi & Fried is where the CFAI readings are from (or were when I took Level I in 2006) - I found it very confusing.
I studied White, Sondhi, Fried years ago for CFA I and found it way more difficult than required for the CFA exams. I didn’t even glance at it for L II. I don’t think that book was written for accounting dilettantes like me studying for the CFA exams.