No jargon. No prior knowledge. Just the fundamentals.
Understand what financial statements are and what they're trying to tell you. Every concept from Accounting Made Simple — from the accounting equation through GAAP and accruals — built from scratch.
Accounting Made Simple by Mike Piper
Why every business transaction leaves a financial trace — and why investors who can read that record have a structural edge over those who can't.
The single identity that every financial statement is built on. Understand why it always holds — and what it really means for owners' equity.
Cash, receivables, inventory, and property: what each asset account represents and how current vs. long-term classification signals liquidity.
Accounts payable, notes payable, and owners' equity: the funding side of the accounting equation and what each component tells you about a company's obligations.
How to read a real two-period balance sheet: the 12-month classification rule, what's changed year-over-year, and the early warning signs hidden in the comparison.
Revenue minus cost of goods sold equals gross profit. What each line means, why gross profit margin is the first number analysts look at, and the t-shirt vs. tax return example.
Operating expenses, non-operating items, and the path from gross profit to net income. Why operating income often predicts future earnings better than net income.
The shortest financial statement does the most important linking work. How net income flows from the income statement, through retained earnings, into the balance sheet.
The operating section reconciles net income to real cash. Why it's the hardest statement to manipulate — and what it tells you that the income statement doesn't.
Capex, acquisitions, debt issuance, dividends: the investing and financing sections reveal how a company is deploying and funding its capital.
Net income → retained earnings → balance sheet. Cash flows tie to both. See the full system in one place — the connective tissue most beginners never learn.
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles: who sets them, who must follow them, and why consistency rules are what make financial statements comparable across companies.
Historical cost, matching principle, materiality, entity assumption, money unit: the conceptual bedrock that explains why accountants record transactions the way they do.
The double-entry system demystified. Every transaction has two sides — understand the mechanics so the structure of any financial statement makes intuitive sense.
The cash method vs. the accrual method: why most businesses must use accrual, and how prepaid expenses and unearned revenue are the two cases that trip up new readers.
Ten questions spanning the accounting equation, the four statements, GAAP assumptions, and the cash vs. accrual distinction.