"This book is not a slimmed-down "Accounting for Lawyers" casebook, but a book especially designed as an auxiliary book for other courses that draw on accounting. It is brief, inexpensive, and gives students a plain English, sometimes even humorous, introduction to the basics of accounting and to the financial concepts of present value and expected value. It allows students to learn the essential accounting concepts outside of class so professors can spend more of valuable class time focusing on the core concepts of a course. The chapters are short and modular, so professors can assign as much or as little as students need to know for a course"--

Many lawyers, especially those dealing with commercial matters, need to understand accounting yet feel on shaky ground in the area. This book is written specifically for them. It breaks down and makes clear basic concepts (such as the difference between profit and cash flow), the accounting profession and the legal and regulatory framework within which accounting operates. The relevant provisions of the Companies Act 1985 are discussed at some length. Holgate explains generally accepted accounting principles in the UK (GAAP), the trend towards global harmonisation and the role of international accounting standards. He then deals with specific areas such as group accounts, acquisitions, tax, leases, pensions, financial instruments, and realised profits, focusing in each case on those aspects that are likely to confront lawyers in their work. This book will appeal to the general practitioner as well as to lawyers working in corporate, commercial, and tax law.