Improving Accounting Reliability: Solvency, Insolvency, and Future Cash Flows

Book Description

Unforeseen, sudden collapses in business and banking are tragic, familiar phenomena. Creditors suffer huge losses and critics cry, "Where was the auditor?" Ironically, in most cases the balance sheet published prior to the collapse gave no warning signals. Often it showed a nice owners' equity, and thus the auditors failed to sound an alarm in time. Kirkegaard attributes the lack of advance warning largely to the inadequacy of financial statements. They are so unreliable that even the most meticulously prepared statement cannot give a true, fair view of a business's financial health. Statements should be dynamic, current, complete, and comprehensible. Most importantly, instead of focusing on profit and owners' equity, financial statements should concentrate on a firm's solvency or insolvency. It then becomes possible, using modern technology, to anticipate liquidity problems before they occur, therefore limiting or even preventing future losses. This is precisely the essence of the new model Kirkegaard proposes and develops with forceful clarity. His book will prove to be essential reading, not only for professional and academic accountants, but also for investors, corporate management, and skilled observers of the business scene. Some of the provocative, challenging ideas that Kirkegaard offers in his book: *The accounting theory which we know at present is in a state of apathy and resistance to change. *Enterprises which are already insolvent but not yet illiquid are dangerous to their creditors *It is impossible to accurately describe the financial position of a business enterprise using traditional financial statements *The concept of time has been a stepchild in accounting theory *It is wrong to believe that the task of accounting is to determine a firm's financial position. Accounting should be concerned with what we can say about the financial position *The financial statements of the future can be made logically complete, and therefore clean and easy to understand. They can also be made up to date, and used to show the financial situation right now, which will make them reliable.

Customer Reviews:

Accounting: Understandable, Practical, and Useful?!.......1999-02-05

Why do people associate the words boring, useless, and difficult to understand with accounting? These misconceptions of accounting could be corrected if ever confronted directly. In his book, Improving Accounting Reliability: Solvency, Insolvency, and Future Cash Flows, Henning Kirkegaard does just that. He systematically clarifies the confusing terminology and introduces an accounting theory that demands attention. After reading this book, you'll agree that accounting is exciting, relevant, and easy to understand.

Improving Accounting Reliability: Solvency, Insolvency, and Future Cash Flows, is divided into two segments. The first identifies specifically what changes are needed while the second thoroughly explains a "new theory" and demonstrates its feasibility. This division, however, does not do the book justice. The six-page preface must not only be read, but also seriously considered. In it, the objectives, methods, and assumptions of the author, Henning Kirkegaard, are elaborated so that motivation for this book is clear to all prior to reading. Never assuming a patronizing voice, Kirkegaard presents the material in an objective manner with much consideration to openness and scientific logic. In also arguing for the scientific legitimacy of accounting, it is only fitting that he adopts a scientific model of presenting his views. Furthermore, by encouraging the reader to form his or her own opinion, much credibility is added to the theoretical ideas presented therein.

The first portion of the book exposes the inconsistencies of accounting theory. The position Kirkegaard assumes is neither new nor without support. Much attention is given to the related articles and ideas of those universally considered as the most influential accounting theorists of modern times. By including and explaining excerpts from Kaplan and Anthony, a solid basis for argument is established. The need for change can truly not be doubted. Following this, Kirkegaard systematically identifies the weaknesses in existing accounting theory. So complete in diagnosis, it is very difficult to answer the author's continual challenge to find fault with his statements. The key issues addressed are uncertainty, time, and the illogical nature of accounting concepts and definitions.

The second part of the book is dedicated to resolving these issues and demonstrating the viability of the new theory put forth. Paramount to this task, Kirkegaard directly addresses the concepts of time, uncertainty, and inadequate definitions. The new theory described by the author is not actually new; rather, it is an expansion and further development of accounting theory in general. First off, by redefining certain formerly vague concepts, specifically assets and liabilities in open, uncomplicated words, much of the confusion with the current accounting system is eliminated. Not stopping here, Kirkegaard reacquaints readers with the original purpose of the double-entry bookkeeping system. In doing so, he sets the stage for the "sensational" suggestion that follows. Why not expand the original purpose of using accounting to monitor liquidity and profitability to include the most current information using modern data processing technology? Pondering this idea for a moment should reveal the potential impacts this could have on the business world.

Up to this point, only the positives of Improving Accounting Reliability: Solvency, Insolvency, and Future Cash Flows, by Henning Kirkegaard, have been identified. Although the overall theoretical approach is definitely sound and conclusions valuable, the book is not void of criticism. First, I must question the attempt to write a book for accountants and non-accountants alike. The result is what could be referred to as a "shotgun" effect that is oversimplified for some (accountants) and overcomplicated for others (non-accountants). In alienating the various readers at times, there is a risk of turning the reader off to what is being said. Another point worth mentioning concerns the abundant use of scientific and philosophic information. Generally speaking, it adds much credibility to the argument being presented directly and also indirectly by emphasizing the well-researched position of the author. However, during the transition between the two different sections of the book, the overabundant use of academic jargon merely adds needless confusion. On the other hand, the task of shifting from attacking theory to offering new theory is perhaps the most difficult challenge of all. A clearer focus in transition would be much appreciated by all readers.

Finally, let me conclude this review by stating that I find Improving Accounting Reliability: Solvency, Insolvency, and Future Cash Flows, by Henning Kirkegaard, a very thought-provoking book. Despite the previous paragraph, I find it to be generally well written and very thorough. The information and theory contained in this book will definitely come into acceptance and practice in the near future, and I highly recommend reading it. Furthermore, this book reveals accounting as being exciting, relevant, and easy to understand.

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Missile procurement AMRAAM's reliability is improving, but production challenges remain : report to congressional requesters (SuDoc GA 1.13:NSIAD-91-209)
U.S. General Accounting Office
Manufacturer: The Office The Office [distributor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00010ASDS

Amazon.com

Stanley Bing's Throwing the Elephant, subtitled Zen and the Art of Managing Up, is a wise and hilarious--mostly hilarious--antidote to the extensive library of works by grim, clenched-fisted business gurus. Bing posits that power strategies cannot be "managed through rational means." Real success--corporate-niche enlightenment--comes only by embracing religion, specifically Zen Buddhism. This enables one to take "an object of enormous weight and size" (i.e. the elephantine boss) and "mold it ... like a ball of Silly Putty." In truth, he continues, senior management is "the silliest putty of them all." Bing doles out his thoughts in dozens of pithy chapters ("Playing Golf with the Elephant," "Getting Drunk with the Elephant"). He also includes many visual aids (some of which nearly make sense) and adds a sprinkling of the wisdom of others--from Martha Stewart and Jimmy Hoffa to the rock band the Doors--to make his wickedly entertaining points. --H. O'Billovitch

Book Description

A funny, transcendently simple, ultra–enlightening and very Zen guide in the model of What Would Machiavelli Do? that helps you to manipulate and control the large, grey behemoths that run the world, otherwise known as your boss.

This book guarantees personal enlightenment while providing literally dozens of helpful specific exercises and solutions to the most common problems of professional life, all in a compact, attractive package that will strain neither budget, mind nor briefcase. No one who works for anyone else should be able to live without it.

Following a brief grounding in the philosophy and practice of Business Buddhism, we are plunged into a series of pithy instructive chapters designed to walk the untutored, desperate employee through a step–by–step program that will result in total control over the elephant boss.

A comprehensive course walks even the most simple–minded through basic skills one needs to provide the simple elephant handling that makes everyday life possible, including but not limited to the primary task of following along after the elephant with a little broom and dustpan.

Download Description

Sit down. Breathe deep. This is the last business book you will ever need. For in these pages, Stanley Bing solves the ultimate problem of your working life: How to manage the boss. The technique is simple . . . as simple as throwing an elephant. All it takes is the proper state of mind, a step-by-step plan, and a great leap of faith. This humble guide provides all these and more. It is Zen that enables one to take an object of enormous weight and size and mold it in one's grasp like a ball of Silly Putty. For senior management, in truth, is the silliest putty of them all.

This comprehensive course walks budding business bodhisattvas through basic skills needed to provide the simple elephant handling that makes everyday life possible, including but not limited to the primary task of following along after the elephant with a little broom and dustpan. Serious students will then move to intermediate steps, from Polishing the Elephant's Tusks to Hiding from the Elephant When It Has Been Drinking and Feels Quite Nasty. Beyond this level lies the land of the practiced Zen masters, culminating in the ability to leverage and then throw the now-weightless elephant--and even play catch with it at corporate retreats. If What Would Machiavelli Would Do? was the meanest business book since the Renaissance, Throwing the Elephant provides the yang to that yin. Because sometimes you've got to be selfless, compassionate, and completely empty to get the job done.

Customer Reviews:

STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED the book.......2007-07-09

Please assist me as I still have not received this book and this is the second time I have placed the order and the money has been debited from my account.

Working for Peanuts is all very fine!.......2005-10-21

No really, I mean it.

Or anyway, it will be, once you calm yourself, little aphid, and penetrate to the heart of "Throwing the Elephant", Zen Master Stanley Bing's exegesis on the sublime art of applying the infinite wisdom of Siddhartha himself to the sinews, guts, entrails and viscera of the business jungle, and mastering the King of the Beasts himself.

No, silly, not the Lion. The Elephant.

You don't know about the Elephant in the room? Sure you do.

Let's step back a moment: let's meditate. Calm. Relax. Get in touch with the great infinite blackness of stars and even more stars wheeling and dancing and colliding above us and about us, and what the Hell, after a few vodka gimlets down at Dorsia, maybe even *through* us.

Did you know see that star overhead? See how it twinkles? Now imagine: the light from that star has taken thousands, perhaps millions of light-years to travel from Constellation Seti Prime, which means that by the time we see it twinkle, the star itself may very well have exploded. Or subsided into the stellar senesence of a red dwarf. That is to say, that star you're wishing upon may already be long dead.

Kinda puts the McGillicuddy Account in perspective, huh?

I could end this review with that, but I'll proceed a bit further: sit beneath the bodhi tree with Zen Master Bing. He'll teach you about the Elephant. He'll teach you about the Great Nothingness which flows around and through you. He'll teach you, as Sidhartha taught him, that desire is suffering, that there is only the dharma, and at its heart, Duty.

Duty? Why yes: to serve and keep and feed and groom and care for the Elephant. To not annoy it. To console it when it is sad, and galumph about with it (beware the feet!) when it is joyous. To sweep up its poop, and to clean off its poopy hindquarters. To leash it, to ride it, and ultimately, to throw it.

But let's talk, quickly, about the Elephant. All offices have one, perhaps a few. The Elephant has its pen in one of the corners of the executive suite: good digs, maybe even a working fireplace up here on the 37th floor, possibly a wet bar, maybe even an in-house masseuse.

Can you smell the sweet rotten reek of straw and sweat and blood and tears and dung? Yep, the Elephant. It will sally forth, to trumpet and do other bellicose things in the jungle: the lowly creatures in its vicinity (hint: you) will keep their heads down, fall silent, try not to make sudden moves or loud noises.

The Elephant will make you fear for your career, your home, your wife, your small children, your very life. It will make you work over the weekend, or cut short the long-planned trip to Bermuda. It will force you to work long hours and give lots of face time.

Ah, yes: now there is recognition. The Elephant.

So with that, then, this quick little primer---Bing the Bhodissatva practically puts the KO in Koan---will teach you how to abide, control, and ultimately master this fell beast, without being stamped to jelly. And it's a tasty little read, that goes down like cucumber paste. How cool is that?

As the Buddha himself once said, as he sat beneath his bhodi tree: Very.

JSG

Zen References A Bit Tiring.......2005-03-24

I'm a big fan of Bing's column in Fortune, but I was a bit disappointed by this book. He offers his usual ironic insights on upper management -- but I found the entire zen-buddha framework somewhat forced and tiring. If you know a lot about "zen" philosophy, I'm sure you'll be able to appreciate more of the subtleties than I could. However, I mostly found myself reading quickly through the zen quotes and references, eager to get on to the more meaty actual business stories and anecdotes. Maybe it just wasn't the book for me. I look forward to some of Bing's other works, instead.

A book about nothing.......2004-05-06

It must have been fun to write this book. It is much better than Mr Bing's What Would Machiavelli Do? There is more humor than knowledge in this one. Even if you are a Bing fan, I would suggest you borrow it from the library.

My elephant likes to rage and stomp me!.......2004-04-29

This is going down as one of my all-time favorite books. I also highly recommend the excellent book on tape version which is read by the very amusing Simon Jones.

My employer is a self-made multimillionaire who is a elephant in the truest meaning of the what this book discusses. He will scream and spit in your face while firing off threats of how he wants to kill you if he feels pushed to far. But the man is at his worst (or finest) when he calmly and collectedly confronts someone in his lair and with smirks and onesided logic breaks them down. I have yet to learn to properly handle my elephant and so he repeatedly stomps me as he trumpets his rage. The beast is the master of browbeating.

Ironically (At this very moment of my typing this) he has summoned me to his upstairs office for most likely another stomping. This man/elephant has gone decades without someone effectively standing up to him and saying ***&&!!! this is where you get off the bus!! As the old saying goes "absolute power corrupts."

I just got back from my meeting with him. I have been granted a reprieve and will supposedly get much better treatment. But is he really trying to "rehabilitate me" or simply fattening me up for the kill later on? A part of me yearns for the axe and freedom. But I have invested so much work into what I have with him and the company.

I think he wants to turn me into an elephant "mini-me." He is in my view a generally good & brilliant human being (amazingly) but with a bad side at times the size of the Grand Canyon. The strange thing about my pachyderm is that he wishes to live forever and never have to be laid to rest in an elephant graveyard. To this end he will be frozen at death in the hope of being brought back to stomp and trumpet among the humans and elephants of the future. I hope the denizens of that time will know what they are bargaining for by bringing him back! But perhaps they will teach him the lessons he has not gotten in this segment of his life.

I have a fantasy about winning the lottery and becoming his business partner. My dreams of putting him in his place are much stronger than simply being able to go out and buy anything I want, traveling the world or even making love to beautiful women!

Best wishes to all potential elephant wranglers out there!

You will need it.

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Throwing the Elephant : Zen and the Art of Managing Up
Stanley Bing
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEOO3G

Average customer rating:
Throwing the Elephant: Zen and the Art of Managing Up
Stanley Bing
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEJW06

Book Description

Â“ This is a very strong and persuasive, even compelling narrative. DonovanÂ's argument is clearly presented, well documented and convincing to the reader. Moreover the writer is able to demonstrate that this is a very important and significant issue, far greater than the question of a single film being scuttled. The relative merit of the film is not the central issue of the case bit rather the question of whether the merit was fairly and openly determined by Australian Film Commision personnel and procedures.Â” Emeritus Professor, Donald Shea College of Letters and Science, Department of Political Science University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee December, 1998

Customer Reviews:

Dover should re-publish this out-of-print gem.......2002-02-18

Since ancient times, it was known that there are six planets; no more, no less. This all changed in March 1781, when William Herschel serendipitously discovered and identified the first modern-era planet, which was subsequently named Uranus. This discovery shook the astronomy, and the rest of science with it, and it is comparable with Galileo Galilei's 1610 proof that the Earth is not the only planet with a satellite.

The new planet, however, did not behave entirely predictably, and evaded precise tabulation of its trajectory. (The emphasis here is on precise - the observed discrepancies in the order of ten arc seconds were well below the angular resolution of the naked eye.) Collecting more precise observations did not help - the tables were either correct for the older measurements, or for the newer. More than 70 years later, the planetary astronomy was still unable to explain the irregular motion of Uranus. Is it caused by the drag force of aether? Does Uranus have a massive, though unobserved satellite? Is there an yet undiscovered planet disturbing its motion? Did Uranus collide with a comet? Or, worse of all, does Newton's law of gravitation fail at such large distances?

Independently, two young astronomers, John Couch Adams in England and Urbain J. J. Leverrier in France tackled the problem by postulating a new planet in the orbit outside that of Uranus, as predicted by Titius-Bode Law, and calculated its gravitational pull on Uranus for different positions of the new planet. Fitting the positions to the experimental data, they were narrowing down the possible positions. By the end of September 1845, Adams finished his calculations, and tried delivering them personally to Sir George Airy, the Astronomer Royal. Airy was unavailable at the moment and later, when he read the report, he was skeptical about it. Adams felt rebuffed. Meanwhile, Leverrier presented his preliminary calculations on November 10, 1845. On June 1, 1846, he presented his completed analysis, Recherches sur les mouvements d'Uranus. Once Airy read this report, he realized that the predicted position of the new planet agreed with result of Adams' paper (which he kept in the drawer all this time) within a couple of degrees, and directed England's most powerful telescope, that of the Cambridge Observatory, to start searching for the new planet in July, 1846. For various reasons, the search didn't yield any results. At the same time, Leverrier was unsuccessfully trying to convince any French observatory to participate in the search of the new planet. Not wanting to miss any chance to instigate a search for the hypothetical planet, Leverrier sent his report also to Johann Galle at the Berlin Observatory. Galle received Leverrier's letter on September 23, 1846, and after convincing his superior, Johann Encke, proceeded with the observations that same night. Equipped with the excellent Berlin Academy's Star Atlas and Leverrier's data, he discovered the new planet within hours. Now, however, the question of who was first one to calculate the predicted position of the new planet, and whose name should it bear, really broke out...

The discovery of Neptune is perhaps the most famous story in the annales of astronomy, a story where the key individuals, without doubt gifted by talent and industrious, were also struck by luck. Not only Galle, also Adams and Leverrier were lucky, as Neptune happened to be favourably positioned and allowed simplifications of the otherwise intractable many-body problem for part of the orbit where the perturbations of Uranus were measured. The postulate they both used in their calculations, the empirical Titius-Bode Law, also later turned out not to hold for Neptune.

Grosser shows a great mastery of the subject, and the tiny book is a delight to read. Accompanied with a short glossary of astronomical terms used, an extensive list of notes to each chapter, an impressive bibliography list containing everything from the primary sources to every paper on this topic published by the time when the book was written (1962), and finally an extensive index, The Discovery of Neptune sets a high standard of a thoroughly-researched and excellently written popular science history work, one I only desire to see more often in the more recent works of this kind.

A gem, if you can find it..........2000-08-13

A wonderful little book! The story of the discovery of the 8th planet reads like a cross between a detective story and a modern soap opera. Two brilliant mathematician/astronomers, one English (Adams) and one French (Leverrier); a conceited and arrogant astronomer Royal (Airy), and a host of observational astronomers. The Frenchman and Englishman do their calculations independently, to discover the position of the unseen planet beyond Uranus whose gravity is perturbing its orbit, and after a number of false starts and missteps, a German astronomer (Galle) finally points his telescope in the right direction and finds Neptune exactly where it was said to be. The Frenchman gets the credit because it was his directions the German was following. But the Englishman attempted, rightfully through the astronomer Royal, to have his calculations circulated and acted upon, only to be frustrated by Airy's neglect and outright incompetence, founded in arrogance. The ensuing debate pitted country against country and turned quite ugly. Fortunately, the two mathematicians never joined the struggle, but went on to become lifelong friends and mutual admirers. History was to grant Adams and Leverrier equal credit, along with the observer Galle, for the discovery of Neptune. Only 170 pages long, this is a quick read and very well written.

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Grosser: Discovery Neptune
Morton Grosser
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0674212258

Piazza della Signoria - Self Guided Walking Tour - Florence Italy (Great Discoveries "Personal Audio Guides" - Formatted for MP3 Players)

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Piazza della Signoria - Self Guided Walking Tour - Florence Italy (Great Discoveries "Personal Audio Guides" - Formatted for MP3 Players)
Bill Browne
Manufacturer: WhiteHot Productions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 1599711052

Product Description

Great Discoveries Audio Tour of the Piazza della Signoria will provide you with the most enjoyable and informative way to visit the most important Florentine public square, the cities political heart since the middle ages. Packed with people at all hours of the day or night, the piazza unfolds like an open-air gallery in which even the statues allude to episodes of the cities civil history. Facing directly on the square is the Loggia della Signoria, with its three arches, and the dominant Palazzo Vecchio, the seat of the cities governments since 1302. The piazza houses several notable pieces of public sculpture and is a meeting place for visitors and Florentines alike. Close by lies the entrance to the most exalted of all Florentine museums, the Galleria degli Uffizi. View an 18th century replica of Michelangelos David, standing where the original statue once stood, and Giovanni da Bolognas famous statue, Rape of the Sabine Women. Stand on the exact spot where Savonarolas infamous bonfires of the vanity once blazed. Our carefully researched tour guides you along and identifies the most important statues, insuring that you will clearly understand each item's artistic and historic significance. As you view these carefully selected treasures, our professional narrators, accompanied by historically appropriate background music, will delight and amuse with stories from the Piazzas remarkable 800 year history. Includes an easy to read building diagram, with clearly numbered locations, which coordinate with the track numbers and descriptions displayed on your player. MP3 Format - This 1 hour and 14 minute, 14 track, audio tour is in MP3 format, on 1 CD, ready to load to any MP3 player library, or ready for play on any CD player offering MP3 capability. (Not for use on CD players that only play standard CD formatted discs.)

Report on the Dominion government expedition to Hudson Bay and the Arctic Islands on board the D.G.S. Neptune, 1903-1904

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Report on the Dominion government expedition to Hudson Bay and the Arctic Islands on board the D.G.S. Neptune, 1903-1904
A. P Low
Manufacturer: Government Printing Bureau
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

The difference between the discoveries of Neptune and Pluto

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The difference between the discoveries of Neptune and Pluto
William H Pickering
Manufacturer: s.n
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0008ASJGO

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The Discovery Of Neptune
MARTIN GROSSER
Manufacturer: Dover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000P1HGSI

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The Discovery of Neptune
Morton Grossner
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NKVRBS

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The Discovery of Neptune

Manufacturer: Dover Pubns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0844657662

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Enterprise Neptune
Rex Warner
Manufacturer: Aston Pub Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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John Couch Adams and the discovery of Neptune

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John Couch Adams and the discovery of Neptune
H. Spencer Jones
Manufacturer: University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007J77G4

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