One of the (many excellent) comments on my accounting/lawyer post below asks the sensible question … given that many lawyers aren’t going to be back in school again, are there any helpful suggestions for texts that might be used on a self-teaching basis? Alternatively, are there any genuinely functional and free/cheap online courses that teach accounting basics? Comments welcomed.
Update: Readers have given very useful suggestions in the comments. I’ve added a couple of others from emails. In addition, I’m moving up here the announcement that troll_dc2 pointed to on this DC program:
Financial Accounting Basics Target Business Attorneys
Attorneys with little or no formal accounting background should make use of the Continuing Legal Education Program’s “Financial Accounting Basics for Lawyers” course on August 24.
Jeremy Perler of RiskMetrics Group will teach the basics of reading financial statements and offer a primer on the three types of financial statements: income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows.
Topics to be discussed include the different components of each financial statement and how they are interrelated, various technical accounting matters attorneys encounter in their practices, and developments in the field.
The course takes place from 6 to 8:15 p.m. at the D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1101 K Street NW, first floor. It is cosponsored by the D.C. Bar Corporation, Finance and Securities Law Section; Criminal Law and Individual Rights Section; Estates, Trusts and Probate Law Section; Family Law Section; Health Law Section; Labor and Employment Law Section; Law Practice Management Section; Litigation Section; and Taxation Section.
For more information, contact the Continuing Legal Education Program at 202-626-3488 or visit www.dcbar.org/cle.