May

International Financial and Managerial Accounting
By Ahmed Riahi-Belkaoui
Quorum Books: $72; 379 pp. plus index;
ISBN 1-56720-416-3
Reviewed by Robert N. Waxman, CPA

The author states that his goal was to identify the issues and problems that are most critical to the management of multinational companies and to give practical solutions to international accounting problems.

The intended scope and coverage are broad, and each chapter includes footnotes and selected readings. However, this is largely a book of lists used to organize a huge amount of information. Moreover, much of the information is not explained, some of it seems unnecessary, and many of the lists are derived from other sources. The book has too much filler and not enough meaningful content. Most of the selected readings are from the 1970s and 1980s, which creates the mistaken impression that no more up-to-date reference materials are available.

The text has certain specific problems. In Chapter 1—

In Chapter 2—

In Chapter 3—

In Chapter 4—

In Chapter 5—

In Chapter 6—

In Chapter 7—

In Chapter 8—

In Chapter 9—

In Chapter 10—

This book’s potential strengths become weaknesses. For example, the early chapters include a concluding summary. But as the book progresses, these conclusions become shorter, and some chapters lack a summary entirely. The index is meager and omits many terms used in the text (e.g., forward, premium, and discount). Misspellings, punctuation problems, and clumsy word usage are frequent.

Another problem is that the chapters do not tie together. For example, Chapter 1 says that Chapter 2 examines in detail some of the factors determining accounting differences internationally, but Chapter 2 discusses only taxes, not accounting.

In today’s climate of convergence and harmonization of accounting, the title suggests that this book discusses current international accounting issues and managing an international organization. The preface says the book will provide practical solutions to the various international issues confronting management, but that goal is never achieved. As a result, this reviewer cannot recommend the book.


Robert N. Waxman, CPA, is the managing director of Corporate Finance Advisory, New York City.

Home | Contact | Subscribe | Advertise | Archives | NYSSCPA | About The CPA Journal


The CPA Journal is broadly recognized as an outstanding, technical-refereed publication aimed at public practitioners, management, educators, and other accounting professionals. It is edited by CPAs for CPAs. Our goal is to provide CPAs and other accounting professionals with the information and news to enable them to be successful accountants, managers, and executives in today's practice environments.


©2002 CPA Journal. Legal Notices

Visit the new cpajournal.com.