Principles of Financial Accounting

Needles/Powers� PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING is continuously evolving to meet the needs of today's learner. This edition's new structure is based on research about the best way to deliver content to students and to mirror the way instructors have told us they teach! The chapters have been organized into the Three Section Approach, which helps students more easily digest the content. The first section is Concepts and focuses on the overarching accounting concepts that require consistent reiteration throughout the course. With a clear understanding of the concepts, students can proceed to the second section--Accounting Applications. Here students practice the application of accounting procedures with features like "Apply It" and a new transaction analysis model, which breaks down the transaction in a simple, visual format. Finally, students move to section three, Business Applications. This section illustrates how the concepts and procedures are used to make business decisions. Real company examples are used throughout the chapter to show students the relevance of accounting. This logical progression through the material is further supported in the online environment in CengageNOW with TriLevel Problems. These problems mirror the Three Section Approach and connect the sections to facilitate a more complete understanding. These substantial changes will make students more efficient learners and prepare them to face a business world increasingly complicated by ethical issues, globalization, and technology.

Belverd E. Needles, Jr., received his BBA and MBA degrees from Texas Tech University and his PhD degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He teaches financial accounting, managerial accounting, and auditing at DePaul University, where he is an internationally recognized expert in international accounting and education. He has published in leading journals and is the author or editor of more than 20 books and monographs. His current research relates to international financial reporting, performance measurement, and corporate governance of high-performance companies in the United States, Europe, India, and Australia. His textbooks are used throughout the world and have received many awards, including (in 2008) the McGuffey Award from the Text and Academic Authors Association. Active in many academic and professional organizations, he is immediate past vice president-education of the American Accounting Association. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Texas Tech University, the Illinois CPA Society Outstanding Educator Award and its Life-Time Achievement Award, the Joseph A. Silvoso Faculty Award of Merit from the Federation of Schools of Accountancy, the Ledger & Quill Award of Merit, and the Ledger & Quill Teaching Excellence Award. He was named Educator of the Year by the American Institute of CPAs, Accountant of the Year for Education by the national honorary society Beta Alpha Psi, and Outstanding International Accounting Educator by the American Accounting Association. He received the Excellence in Teaching Award from DePaul University.

Marian Powers received her B.S. degree from Chicago State University and her Ph.D. degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In addition to the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, she has taught financial accounting at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and at the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. Internationally recognized as a dynamic teacher in executive education, she specializes in teaching nonfinancial managers how to read and understand internal and external financial reports, including the impact of international financial reporting standards (IFRS). Her current research relates to international financial reporting, performance measurement, and corporate governance of high-performance companies in the United States, Europe, India, and Australia. Her research has been published in leading journals. Her textbooks, coauthored with Belverd E. Needles, Jr., are used throughout the world and have received many awards, including the Textbook Excellence Award and the McGuffey Award from the Text and Academic Authors Association. She has also coauthored three interactive multimedia software products. She currently serves on the Board of the CPA Endowment Fund of Illinois and is immediate past-chair of the Board of Governors of the Winnetka Community House. She is a member of International Association of Accounting Education and Research, and Illinois CPA Society. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Illinois CPA Society, the Educational Foundation of Women in Accounting, and both the national as well as Chicago chapters of ASWA.