Advanced Accounting [Hardcover]

This readable examination of accounting theory and practice offers extensive real-world examples and illustrations throughout—from corporations such as Microsoft, Coca Cola, Hershey Foods, IBM, General Motors, and General Electric. A book-specific Website is available that contains less-frequently covered topics, additional exercises, links to additional references, and more. Is updated for the latest FASB pronouncements including Business Combinations, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets. Focuses on parent company accounting using the full or complete equity method in coverage of consolidations. Offers separate coverage of parent company accounting under the cost and incomplete equity methods. Adds a chapter on governmental and not-for-profit accounting. The perfect reference for accounting professionals looking to check facts or brush up on their skills.

This eighth edition of Advanced Accounting contains 21 chapters and is designed for financial accounting courses above the intermediate level. The eighth edition has been updated to reflect recent business developments and changes in accounting standards and regulatory requirements, especially the coverage of consolidated statements, goodwill and other intangible assets and derivative securities. The chapter content is revised for better and more efficient coverage.

An important feature of this book is its student orientation, and special effort was expended to increase that emphasis in this edition. The eighth edition has been rewritten in a more active writing style intended to enhance the readability of the text. The text has been streamlined by focusing on the complete equity method throughout the chapters on consolidations. We maintain the "reference text" quality of earlier editions by including alternative methods of parent company accounting in Electronic Supplements to chapters which can be found on the advanced accounting website. Our focus on a single method allows students to focus on understanding the underlying accounting concepts, rather than the details of bookkeeping.

The student-oriented features include the shading of working paper entries, presenting working papers on single upright pages, and integrating excerpts from business publications and corporate annual reports throughout the text. A student orientation is also reflected in the assignment material, which is designed to provide variety and maintain student interest. The text includes many exhibits that summarize complex material and both clarify and reinforce the underlying concepts. All exhibits should be read and reviewed in conjunction with the text. The assignment material, including items from past CPA Examinations, is closely aligned with chapter coverage. In addition, the names of parent and subsidiary companies begin with P and S for convenient identification and reference.

The most important changes in this eighth edition of Advanced Accounting include:

• Chapters 1 through 11 have been updated to include changes in the consolidated financial reporting introduced in FASB Statements No. 141 and 142.
• Chapter 12 has been substantially rewritten to improve coverage of the hedging concepts and rules introduced in FASB Statement No. 133, "Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities."
• Chapters 18 through 21 are totally reorganized, updated, and expanded from three to four chapters, providing a significant improvement in the handling of the governmental and not-for-profit areas of accounting.

The first 11 chapters cover business combinations, the equity and cost methods of accounting for investments in common stock, and consolidated financial statements. This emphasis reflects the importance of business combinations and consolidations in advanced accounting courses, as well as in financial accounting and reporting practices.

Accounting standards for business combinations under the purchase method are introduced Chapter 1, along with applicable accounting and reporting standards. Chapter 1 also provides relevant background material relating to the form and economic impact of business combinations. The equity method of accounting as a one-line consolidation is discussed in Chapter 2 and integrated throughout subsequent chapters on consolidations. This parallel one-line consolidation/consolidation coverage permits alternate computations for such key concepts as consolidated net income and consolidated retained earnings and helps the instructor explain the objectives of consolidation procedures. It also permits students to check their logic by alternative approaches to key computations.

The one-line consolidation is established as the standard for a parent company in accounting for its subsidiaries. Our overage does not ignore situations in which the parent company uses the cost method or an incomplete equity method to account for its subsidiaries and other investees.

Accounting and reporting matters related to pooled subsidiaries have been largely eliminated from the main text, reflecting the impact of FASB Statement No. 141. However, recognizing that existing poolings have been grandfathered in by the FASB, we continue to provide this coverage in either appendices or on the website, as appropriate. Consolidated financial statements and pushdown accounting are introduced in Chapter 3. Chapter 3 includes an illustration of two methods considered by the FASB for allocating the purchase price to (1) the total fair values of the subsidiary's identifiable net assets and purchased goodwill and (2) the total fair values of the subsidiaries identifiable net assets and implied goodwill.

Chapter 4 introduces the student to consolidation working paper techniques and procedures. The three-section, financial statement working paper approach is presented as basic, but the trial balance approach is also illustrated in the appendix and included in the problem material. Consolidation working papers for a parent company that uses the equity method as a one-line consolidation are presented to set the standard.

Working papers are illustrated under an incomplete (or simple) equity method and the cost method, both for the year of acquisition and the following year on the website. Consolidation under the cost and incomplete equity methods is illustrated using both the traditional approach (alternate working paper entries) and the conversion-to-equity approach (adjusted to the equity method through a schedule and a working paper entry).

Intercompany transactions involving inventories, plant assets, and bonds are covered in Chapters 5, 6, and 7. Chapter 8 reviews ownership changes in subsidiaries. Chapter 9 covers complex affiliation structures, and Chapter 10 reviews concepts for subsidiaries with preferred stock, consolidated earnings per share, and income taxation for consolidated entities. The Electronic Supplement to Chapter 10 reviews accounting and reporting practices for branch operations, including the use of perpetual inventory practices in the combining working papers. The use of perpetual inventory procedures makes the combining working paper entries for branches compatible with those for consolidations.

Chapter 11 discusses alternative consolidation theories, leveraged buyouts, push-down accounting, and corporate joint ventures. An appendix to Chapter 11 presents current cost implications for consolidations. Chapters 9, 10, and 11 include specialized topics, so their coverage is not essential background for assignment of subsequent chapters.

Foreign currency issues continue to be important to American business enterprises. The survival of many American businesses depends on access to foreign markets, suppliers, and capital. Chapter 12 reviews accounting for derivative securities and then applies these concepts to foreign currency transactions, including imports and exports and forward or similar contracts to hedge against exchange losses. It has been thoroughly updated to reflect the requirements of FASB Statement No. 133. Chapter 13 covers translation and remeasurement of foreign-entity financial statements, one-line consolidations of equity investees, consolidation of foreign subsidiaries for external reporting purposes, and combining foreign branch operations.

Chapter 14 examines disclosures for industry segments and interim financial reporting and has been updated to reflect FASB Statement No. 131. Chapter 15 covers organization, operations, and dissolution of partnership entities, and Chapter 16 extends partnership coverage to liquidations. Chapter 17 covers corporate liquidations, reorganizations, and debt restructurings for financially distressed companies.

Chapters 18 through 20 provide an introduction to governmental accounting, and the final chapter (Chapter 21) introduces accounting for voluntary health and welfare organizations, hospitals, and colleges and universities. These chapters have been completely reorganized and updated to provide the best available assistance for the student to gain a basic grasp of not-for-profit accounting, including up-to-date coverage of GASB Statement No. 34.Appendix A provides an overview of SEC accounting requirements, and Appendix B discusses and illustrates fiduciary accounting for estates and trusts.