Accounting Resources: Books

Existing corporate taxes distort many aspects of firm behavior. Given the ease with which multinationals can evade tax, the existing income tax structure faces major pressures, as reflected in average statutory corporate tax rates halving in recent decades. The authors speculate on alternative tax structures that will avoid these problems.

There are emerging analytics tools that measure program impacts and ROI, visualize data and business processes, and uncover the relationship between key performance indicators, many using the unprecedented amount of data now flowing into organizations. Featuring updated examples and surveys, this book covers leading-edge topics in analytics and finance. It is packed with useful tips and practical guidance you can apply immediately. This book prepares accountants to: Deal with major trends in predictive analytics, optimization, correlation of metrics, and big data; interpret and manage new trends in analytics techniques affecting your organization; use new tools for data analytics; and critically interpret analytics reports and advise decision makers.

This book traces the evolution of the global public accounting profession through a series of scandals leading to voluntary or mandated reforms, describing 16 of the most audacious accounting frauds of the last 80 years, and identifying the accounting standards and legislation adopted as a direct consequence of each scandal.

With combined revenues of over $130 billion a year, the Big Four accounting firms--Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, and KPMG--are a keystone of global commerce, but a house of cards may be about to fall. All four firms have endured hundreds of court cases and legal prosecutions for failed audits, tax scandals, and breaches of independence. The firms have come so close to "extinction level events" that regulators have required them to prepare "living wills." And today, the Big Four face an uncertain future. This account of the past, present, and likely future of the Big Four is a fascinating story of wealth, power, and luck.

The concept of "fair value" marked a major departure from traditional cost accounting. Chapters are from academics, standard setters, practitioners and other experts, and cover many aspects of this sometimes controversial and intensely-debated topic, such as fair value in international and US reporting standards, involvement in the financial crisis, and a critical review of arguments for and against using fair value.

Can we make the U.S. tax system simpler, fairer, and more efficient? The author crisscrosses the globe in search of solutions. With an uncanny knack for making a complex subject not just accessible but gripping, he investigates what makes good taxation and brings that knowledge home where it is needed most. Never talking down or reflexively siding with either wing of politics, T. R. Reid presses the case for sensible root-and-branch reforms with a companionable ebullience.

This book has become a trusted resource for accounting courses and certification programs worldwide on the complex ethical questions that define the accounting profession, because it offers a thorough and engaging exploration of the ethical issues that accountants encounter in their professional lives. It focuses on real-world applications, practical advice, and insight into the effects of global change on the profession. It covers the contemporary regulatory environment (Sarbanes-Oxley, PCAOB, Dodd-Frank, etc.) and includes the updated AICPA Code of Conduct. It is intended for practicing accountants, new professionals, students of accounting, and those who are considering the profession.

Financial globalization paired with the relaxation of constraints on capital flows between countries before the 2008 crisis, This book engages the separate strands of literature to advance a more holistic understanding of whether and how the national institutional environments in selected countries around the world has been changed after the crisis.