An accounting text can be written with an emphasis on either of two viewpoints :

1) what the user of accounting information needs to know about accounting or 2) what the preparer of accounting reports needs to know about accounting. This book focuses on the user of accounting information. Because such a person needs to know enough about the preparation of accounting reports to use them intelligently, this text includes the technical material needed for this purpose. The book is aimed primarily, however, at the person who want to be a knowledgeable oser of accounting information. This focuses is reinforced in the book's case studies, which help the student learn that accounting is not a cut-and-dried subject with all of its "answers" clearly indicated by the application of rules.

The focus of the book makes it particularly appropriate for required core courses in accounting, in which many of the students are not planning to take further elective accounting courses.