Students should always be curious about the relevance of every aspect of a textbook’s coverage. We believe that it is helpful to consider this material from the perspective of a person already working in the business environment of the twenty-first century. 5. In many chapters, we also talk about the current evolution occurring in financial accounting as the United States moves from following U.S. rules to international standards. The world is getting smaller as companies and their operations become more global. At the same time, technology makes the amount of available information from around the world almost beyond comprehension. Consequently, throughout this textbook, we interview one of the partners of a large international accounting firm about the impact of possibly changing financial accounting in this country so that all reporting abides by international accounting rules rather than solely U.S. standards.