5 Financial Books Every Accountant Needs in Their Library

Looking for a little good business reading?

Gene Marks, CPA and Right Networks expert contributor, has a few ideas.

Gene is a columnist, author, and small business owner. A past columnist for both The Washington Post and The New York Times, Gene writes regularly for The Hill, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Forbes, Inc. magazine, Entrepreneur.com, The Washington Times and The Guardian.

Here are five books on finance (plus a bonus), organized by category, he thinks accountants should read:

#1

JK Lasser Tax Guides by Barbara Weltman

Category: Tax

The experts at JK Lasser offer a series of tax guides, including several written by Barbara Weltman. The 2021 edition of Weltman’s Small Business Taxes: Your Complete Guide to a Better Bottom Line is due in early December.

#2

Warren Buffett Accounting Book: Reading Financial Statements for Value Investing by Stig Brodersen and Preston Pysh

Category: Valuation

Want to pick stocks the way Warren Buffett does? Who doesn’t? This book, part of Buffett’s Books series, promises to help readers do just that by teaching them how to effectively read key corporate documents.

#3

A Step-by-Step Guide to Understanding and Creating Financial Reports by Thomas R. Ittelson

Category: Financial statements

Look to this book to learn more about understanding and creating documents such as income statements, cash flow statements and balance sheets—the “three-legged stool” of company reporting.

#4

Accounting Principles by Jerry J. Weygandt, Paul D. Kimmel, and Donald E. Kieso

Category: Financial accounting

If this book sounds like a textbook, it is. But that’s what’s so great about it—the authors present fundamental accounting concepts in a clear and succinct manner.

#5

The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind

Category: Fraud

It’s the most famous and most complete book about one of the most notorious corporate scandals of all time. This classic is still worth a read (or re-read) for anybody who wants to walk through a massive case of fraud.

Bonus

Want More Cash? 100+ Ideas and Strategies for Increasing Your Company’s Cash Flow by Gene Marks

Category: Cash flow

Don’t forget Gene’s own new book! Cash flow is a major issue for businesses of all kinds, including accounting firms and their clients. Read Gene’s new work to get the secrets to generating cash flow.