Understanding Financial Accounting, 4th Canadian Edition
By Christopher D. Burnley
Understanding Financial Accounting, 4th Canadian Edition takes a student-centered, practical approach to introducing the foundations of financial accounting. Recognized for its clear, concise writing style and strong emphasis on conceptual understanding before procedural detail, this text focuses on helping students see accounting as a decision-making tool, rather than a set of mechanical steps.
To develop a deeper understanding of course concepts, a deep bank of scaffolded end-of-chapter problems is also available. With integrated review problems, application questions, hands-on Excel and analytics activities, mini-cases, and more, this text provides countless opportunities for students to practice and develop key skills.
Combined with WileyPLUS, this text offers an interactive learning experience that will keep students actively engaged, featuring over a hundred author-created videos and a suite of interactive tools for just-in-time homework support. With a dedication to real-world examples and applications, Understanding Financial Accounting connects theory to business practice, helping students understand the why behind critical accounting concepts and preparing them for wherever their future career may take them.
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Supporting student learning and concept mastery
Over 120 Take 5 Videos offer self-study or flipped classroom support. Each author-created video walks students through a key concept and how to solve related end-of-chapter problems.
Adaptive Assignments help close potential knowledge gaps through practice, just-in-time instruction, and remediation to prerequisite topics for struggling students.
Interactive Demonstration Problems provide a step-by-step guide on how to solve problems like those in the end of chapter materials.
Promoting classroom discussion for deeper understanding
Indigenous Perspectives features highlight the experiences and knowledge of Indigenous communities, businesses, and cultures within an accounting and business context.
Over 130 For Example features illustrate key chapter concepts within the context of the financial statements of public companies, providing real world scenarios to discuss.
Ethics in Accounting features highlight ethical issues that must be dealt with in relation to all kinds of accounting situations.
Building foundational Data Analysis skills
Data Analysis Technology Bootcamps help students develop foundational data analytics software skills in Excel, Power BI, Alteryx, SQL, and Tableau. Each bootcamp features video walkthroughs, auto-graded knowledge check questions, and application problems with video solutions.
Analytics in Action Cases offer students the opportunity to use interactive data visualizations based on Excel and Tableau to solve realistic accounting and business problems. Each visualization case includes multiple-choice and short-answer questions, accompanied by visualizations presented in the form of interactive graphics.
What’s new in the text:
- Streamlined content for readability and understanding, including reorganization of advanced topics to online appendixes.
- New Indigenous Perspectives features, written by Tasha Brooks from Royal Roads University, have been added to this edition.
- New Personal Finance features throughout the text help students connect course concepts to daily applications and provide essential relevancy and context.
- Expanded Climate Change Impact features ask students to begin thinking of and recognizing the ways in which climate change can impact financial reporting.
- Updates to the text content, examples, and end of chapter problem materials for currency, relevancy, and adherence to the latest accounting standards.
What’s new WileyPLUS:
- New and updated Take 5 videos walk students through key concepts and examples in the text, providing self-study and flipped classroom support.
- New Gradable Excel problems help students develop their Excel skills within an accounting context. Each Gradable Excel problem utilizes an end of chapter question from the text, and provides auto-graded, cell level feedback in a live Excel environment.
- New table-based Transactional Overview problems ask students to track individual transactions and enter the credits and debits in the correct categories. These Task Based Simulation style numeric entry problems ask students to think deeper about the impact of a transaction on financial statements.
- New Task Based Simulation MD&A problems have been created to address CPA exam changes. These problems ask students to extract, analyze, and interpret realistic excerpts from a company’s MD&A in order to make business decisions. Multiple choice questions and critical thinking summary review problems are available.
Christopher Burnley, FCPA, FCA, is a professor in the Accounting Department at Vancouver Island University’s Faculty of Management. Prior to his full-time academic career, Chris worked for 12 years in public practice and audited federal government departments and United Nations agencies with the Office of the Auditor General of Canada.
During his twenty-five years at Vancouver Island University (VIU), Chris has developed a number of new courses, served as departmental chair, and served two terms as an elected faculty representative on the university’s board of governors. He is active internationally, teaching and delivering guest lectures at VIU’s partner institutions in Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific. He has been awarded numerous internal and external grants in support of his academic work and has presented at national conferences.
Chris also teaches in the Master of Professional Accounting Program at the Edwards School of Business at the University of Saskatchewan, where he has been recognized multiple times by the university with the Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta’s Teaching Excellence Award. He has also taught in the CPA Professional Education Program for the CPA Western School of Business.
Chris has received a number of awards from the Canadian Academic Accounting Association for his academic work, including awards for case authoring and developing innovative ideas in accounting education.
Chris is active in the accounting profession, serving on the board of the Canadian Academic Accounting Association. He has also served as a director on the board of the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia and is a past chair of the board of the Chartered Professional Accountants’ Education Foundation of BC. In 2016, Chris was elected a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia. In 2007, he was awarded the Ritchie W. McCloy Award for CA Volunteerism. Chris is also a co-author of the textbook Financial Accounting: Tools for Business Decision-Making, published by John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.
1. Overview of Corporate Financial Reporting
2. Analyzing Transactions and Their Effects on Financial Statements
3. Double-Entry Accounting and the Accounting Cycle
4. Revenue Recognition and the Statement of Income
5. The Statement of Cash Flows
6. Cash and Accounts Receivables
7. Inventory
8. Long-Term Assets
9. Current Liabilities
10. Long-Term Liabilities
11. Shareholders’ Equity
12. Financial Statement Analysis
Appendix A: Specimen Financial Statements – Dollarama Inc.
Appendix B: Revenue Recognition and Long-term Contracts
Appendix C: Long-term assets
Appendix D: Investments