Book Review > Balance sheets: the basics

Jamieson is an accountant of some 30 years' standing. He tackles his subject from a different angle to Martin Roth in Analysing Company Accounts, with particular emphasis on Balance Sheets and their interpretation. "While a balance sheet is supposedly a simple accounting statement .. . anyone attempting to read such a statement ... soon becomes aware that it is full of complexities." These complexities are apparent, for example, in the somewhat artificial distinction between current and non-current assets, which seems to be a hobby horse of the author.
Many investors may prefer not to conduct detailed security analysis themselves and instead rely on reports prepared by professional analysts. However, to maximise the value of these reports, investors will benefit from understanding how analysts go about their task and the limitations of the yardsticks they use.
Taken together with Roth's Analysing Company Accounts covers a great deal of the theoretical knowledge required by those who wish to do their own analysis.