Tony Silva

Insight Technical Education
Practical Accounting Fundamentals
http://www.insighttechnicaleducation.com
$38 includes book

Lori Peterman’s concise and readable book, Practical Accounting Fundamentals takes your student through all aspects of basic accounting from balance sheets and income statements to forms of business and payroll. There are 21 chapters and three tests.

What is Accounting?

The course literally begins at the beginning by answering this basic question. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) are introduced and then Peterman goes right into the nuts and bolts. Although this doesn’t look like a curriculum at first glance, it does offer practical exercises for each chapter.

One of our sons is a budding entrepreneur and Practical Accounting Fundamentals seemed like a good choice for an introduction for him. Although brief, the book is thorough in presenting the basic concepts. Our student commented that the book was easy to work with and he seemed to grasp the content well without having to go back. As a primer for independent learners, this is an excellent choice to introduce a young person to accounting. If you’re looking for a credit course, you may want to check out a copy at your next curriculum fair to see if its scope and sequence meets your state standards.

Quibbles & Bits

Ms. Peterman takes a very practical approach to this subject. The student is encouraged to get an accounting calculator or use a computer spreadsheet with the course. As the student goes through the exercises, he gets practical experience in the skills needed to set up a basic accounting system – right down to a chart of accounts.

Although ideal for motivated independent learners, this book would be improved by providing a teacher’s edition with additional exercises, and recommended activities beyond those in the text. That approach could broaden the product’s appeal to those who are not independent learners or who would like to use the book in a co-op setting.

The text and exercises combined only cover 118 pages. However, they’re printed in a very small typeface. The book does lay flat and because it’s spiral bound, it can be folded back to save space when used with a computer spreadsheet.

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