INTRODUCTION

     "I don't know what they want me to do".  This is one of the most common statements expressed to me during my many years as a college accounting tutor.

     The main reason students make this statement is that in most accounting texts exactly what you are expected to do is not made clear, and some of the statements and questions seem ambiguous or misleading.  Most instructors do their best to explain what is required of you and how to do it; but, in many cases, this is not enough and confusion sets in. Knowing this, the author used a variety of methods to help the student to understand accounting.   

     In Session 1 you are introduced to the ACE-LIP method.  Some of your duties as an accountant will be problem solving, decision  making, and logical thinking.  Session 2 guides you in forming good thinking and recording habits. Adjusting entries is a difficult concept for many beginning accounting students. In Session 4, you will be shown how to do nearly every adjusting entry required of you in most accounting texts. In Session 5, you will be shown how to find the dreaded "trial balance error".  

   Bold type is used throughout the book, to indicate important concepts.  Repetition is also used to help you remember the things which are important. There are also questions and answers in the appendices.  You can feel positive about passing any accounting exam if you know the answers to these questions.  In almost every session there are short-cuts, helpful hints, terms, and examples, plus loads of other ideas to assist you and that you will find beneficial to understanding accounting.

     The tutor should be "a friend" as well as a helper to the student.  With this thought in mind, this book is written in dialogue.  The grammar and sentence structures are arranged to give you a feeling your tutor is there with you, talking, explaining and answering your questions.

     The materials covered in this book will take you from start to finish through the accounting cycle, and explain to you what you must know in order to do well learning and understanding basic accounting.  Together we will do the books for one business - a business named "Your Accounting Service".  For this business we will open the books (accounts), journalize and post to the ledger accounts the initial investment, and one month of business transactions.  Then we will do the adjusting entries for our business on the worksheet.  Step by step, you will be guided through the entire accounting cycle.  After completing the worksheet, we will journalize and post the adjusting entries.  From there we will prepare the necessary statements (income statement and balance sheet).  The next step will be to journalize and post the closing entries; after which we will prepare the post-closing trial balance, thus completing the accounting cycle.

     You will be shown the correct way of doing these oper­ations.  Hopefully you will understand what you are doing and why you are doing it.  So, as you begin, we wish you the best of luck and would like to remind you, this is your "Accounting Tutor" for as long as you need it.

Donald E. Steele

All rights reserved.  No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher.  Examples are for personal use only. Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure accuracy throughout this book.  The author and publisher can assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions.  No liability is assumed for damages resulting from the use of infor­mation contained herein. 

All inquiries for volume purchases of this book should be addressed to S.D.D.S. Computer Accounting ,2139 E. 4th. St.,#97, Ontario, Ca. 91764 or by calling (909)987-2408 or visit our web site at www.theaccountingtutor.com  or E-Mail to mailto:sddsca@roadrunner.com