Understanding Financial Accounting: A guide for non-specialists

Focusing on the content that will benefit business and management students, and featuring a wealth of global examples from real businesses, the authors enable students to unpick and analyze financial statements with confidence.

Jimmy Winfield, Associate Professor,, University of Cape Town,Mark Graham, Associate Professor,, University of Cape Town,Taryn Miller, Senior Lecturer, University of Cape Town

James "Jimmy" Winfield is an Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town (UCT), where for many years he has taught courses in financial reporting, management accounting, and business ethics for the College of Accounting, Graduate School of Business and Philosophy Department. He has received many awards for his teaching, including the National Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, granted by South Africa's top higher education council. In addition to his several qualifications in Accounting, Jimmy has a Master of Arts in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, which he received from the University of Oxford. He is also the lead author of the book Business Ethics & Other Paradoxes (Fairest Cape Press, 2014) .

Mark Graham is a chartered accountant and an Associate Professor at UCT's Graduate School of Business where he is a multiple award-winning teacher of finance and accounting on the MBA, EMBA, and various executive programs. He is a former Head of the College of Accounting at UCT, where he taught aspiring chartered accountants for over 20 years. Mark is also the former chair of the Association of Heads of Accounting in South Africa and has been involved with Ernst & Young's Excellence in Reporting awards since its inception in 1997. He is now the current chair of the adjudication panel for the annual Ernst & Young's Excellence in Integrated Reporting awards.


Taryn Miller is a chartered accountant and Senior Lecturer in the College of Accounting at UCT, where she is Head of the financial reporting section. She is an established researcher in the areas of core accounting concepts, curriculum reduction and cognitive load, and a producer of many applied case studies. She also leads projects driving curriculum change to equip graduates with the necessary skills and relevant competencies for the future world of work. Taryn has pioneered and now convenes online courses for thousands of candidates preparing to sit their final board exams. She also regularly consults on technical accounting issues to listed and unlisted companies.