Corporate Financial Reporting and Analysis

Corporate Financial Reporting and Analysis: A Global Perspective/3e by David Young and Jacob Cohen is an introductory textbook on financial reporting for MBA students.  This book is intended to offer the rigor and comprehensive coverage required of an MBA text, while at the same time offering an accessible and practical reference for participants in executive programs.  David Young is based at INSEAD Business School in France, and Jacob Cohen is based at MIT Sloan School of Management in the USA. 

This book offers a rigorous, yet accessible, treatment of contemporary financial reporting practice. Examples are drawn from a broad range of companies to illustrate key concepts. Particular emphasis is given to the latitude and flexibility granted to managers in reporting financial performance, and the steps that financial statement readers can take to identify potential trouble areas in the accounts. Topics include the analysis and interpretation of the three principal financial statements, revenue recognition, inventory accounting, receivables and bad debts, accounting for long-term assets, provisions and contingencies, income taxes, and the accounting for mergers and acquisitions.

A unique feature of this book is the seamless way in which it deals with differences in U.S. GAAP and IFRS.  Both regimes are covered simultaneously, i.e. when a topic is discussed, including the relevant journal entries and disclosures, the discussion applies equally to GAAP companies and to IFRS companies. It doesn’t matter whether the company used in a given example is from the U.S., Europe, or elsewhere. Thanks to the ongoing GAAP/IFRS convergence project, the two regimes are close enough to allow for a somewhat generic approach that allows for coverage of both regimes at the same time. In this way, the examples that are covered in the book are relevant to all readers, regardless of which regime dominates in their business environment.

The content of this book has been classroom tested over the past 20 years at INSEAD with the MBA class which has students from 80 different countries.