Extra home

Do you have to review and approve your company's accounts, but have difficulty in interpreting them? Then this book can help.

If you're a sole trader, partner or company director, you must be able to understand the figures, even if an accountant prepares them, so that you can run the business efficiently and comply with tax regulations.

Even if you have no accountancy knowledge or experience, this book can help you to make sense of your company's annual and other business accounts, including:

• Trading and profit and loss accounts
• Balance sheets
• Company accounts
• Management accounts

It includes case studies showing how to interpret a set of accounts, example accounts of sole traders, partnerships and small companies, and practical checklists for reviewing accounts, stocktaking and troubleshooting.  

This guide is also useful for students, investors and those who look after accounts for clubs and other organisations.


About the author

David Rouse is a chartered accountant with numerous years' experience advising businesses and other organisations on accountancy and related financial matters. He has worked for major national and international accountancy firms and he has also run his own small practice. He now provides technical consultancy services and writes in-house manuals for other accountants in practice.

• Introduction
• The trading and profit and loss account
• The balance sheet
• The cash flow statement
• Company accounts
• Reviewing the accounts
• Management accounts
• Creative accounting
• Appendices: sole trader, partnership and company accounts; cashflow statements; receipts and payments accounts; checklist for reviewing accounts; troubleshooting checklist; stocktaking and stock valuation checklist; the treatment of VAT in the accounts