Essentials of Accounting for Governmental and Not-for-Profit Organizations

by Paul A. Copley

Copley’s Essentials of Accounting for Governmental and Not-for-Profit Organizations, 9e is best suited for those professors whose objective is to provide more concise coverage than what is available in larger texts. There is more comprehensive coverage of accounting for governmental and not-for-profit organizations than what is available in an advanced text but concise enough to be used effectively in a semester, quarter, or even a half term course focusing on just these areas. The main focus of this text is on the preparation of external financial statements which is a challenge among governmental reporting. This edition incorporates all of the FASB, GASB, GAO and AICPA pronouncements passed since the last edition.

Genres: Textbooks

456 pages, Paperback

First published November 22, 2005

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just gave the last lecture today in my class, now my students just have group presentations and the final exam. I think this is probably one of the better governmental and not-for-profit textbooks, but I was frustrated with the number of errors in the homework problems and the inconsistent use of journal entry titles in the text I found. Perhaps someday (when I have unlimited time) I'll write my own textbook . . .

[Kenneth Stice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reviewing this textbook based on the 14th edition, and believe that many of the ratings for this textbook are too harsh based on this edition. There's a chance that previous editions were of lower quality, but any issues have been resolved by this publication. For instance, a reviewer from 2008 found inconsistent use of journal entries. This issue is no longer a problem by the 14th edition, as this textbook uses journal entries more frequently than any accounting class I've taken since Principles of Financial Accounting. Additionally, I appreciated the writing style as the material is nicely chunked and organized within the chapters. Reading an entire chapter in one sitting is more manageable with this textbook than many textbooks. Finally, as someone looking to change careers into public finance, the course content intrigues me more than your typical accounting subject.