Principles of Auditing (17th Edition) by Whittington and Pany

Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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Product Description

Whittington/Pany’s Principles of Auditing, is a market leader in the auditing discipline. Until October 2002, Ray Whittington was a member of the Audit Standards Board and prior to Ray being on the ASB, Kurt Pany was on the board. Whittington recently completed his term as President of the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association. Principles of Auditing presents concepts clearly and proactively monitors changes in auditing making the relationship between accounting and auditing understandable. The 17th edition maintains the organization and balance sheet orientation, while adding and enhancing topics of Risk, Assurance Services, Fraud, E-Commerce, and the latest auditing standards to meet the needs of the current marketplace.

Customer Reviews

Principles of Auditing and Assurance

Review Date: September 8, 2010

Reviewer: krishmas,

I had no knowledge of auditing - never took the subject in college
read this book fully from first to last page
passed AUD CPA exam with an 85 at first attempt
Lovely book for a complete conceptual understanding of the subject

If you're getting the book for auditing classes

Review Date: September 19, 2009

Reviewer: Rivers Edge, US

From what I hear from my professor & some other students in the class, there is an international version, which is almost identical. Although it's a lot cheaper, apparently, it's not supposed to be sold in the US, although it is readily available. Look for it through the grapevine.

New Book

Review Date: February 17, 2010

Reviewer: Syed J. Naqvi, Fort Worth, TX USA

I bought a brand new book for my auditing class. When I received the book it was brand new as told in the description. I bought it because amazon was offering the lowest online price and my bookstore was selling it for over $200 bucks.

Awful Textbook/Reference. Very Painful Read.

Review Date: August 25, 2010

Reviewer: Vince G, SF Bay Area

I bought this book at Amazon for an online Auditing class at UC Berkeley as a required text. I completed the class and did well, in spite of the book. Auditing is very detailed, structured subject. How the author could create such a jumble is beyond me. If I was a crook I'd want the author as my auditor. If he audits like he writes I'm home free. I normally don't do reviews on textbooks, but this book is so bad it warrants special treatment.(It is true the international edition is much cheaper and exactly the same. I was fortunate enough to find one. Don't waste more money on the US version. It's bad. Paying more for it makes it worse. The ISBN number: 978-0-07-017054-4) The author lacks the ability to be concise. The material on any one subject is scattered all through the book. In some case repeated, in others missing in one chapter only to be included in another. Lists of important terms are incomplete. The index is poor. Suggested reference material locators in the problem section don't refer you to the appropriate sections in the chapter. It's as if a number of people wrote the book and didn't talk. I can't image using this as a reference book in the future, since the material on any subject is not stated completely in one place. There is too much competing explanation. Also the author talks too much and takes forever to get to the point, or buries the point in never-ending language of questionable relevance or repeated topics. In a good reference the subject to be discussed is clearly defined at the start of the chapter or section. The salient points are immediately summarized, then detailed explanation of each point is clearly and consistently presented. Or if not that, some form is at least consistently followed to present the material across all chapters, so the reader learns where to look for things. This book follows no particular form from chapter to chapter. Sometime even within the chapter, some material is in charts and lists while other times is buried in paragraphs. Sometimes bold faced. Sometimes italicized. Sometimes important ideas are not made note of in any particular way, buried forever. Also the language is not consistent across sections and chapters. In the problems new terms are introduced that were not defined in the chapters, but have the same meaning as the topics in the chapter. Get use to looking up definitions on Google. This book is a very painful read, particularly in an online class where you are pretty much left on your own. There must be better more concise treatments of auditing. Avoid this book if you have any choice in the matter.