Glossary of Common Accounting Terms

Bling Lingo made simple

Today...again...I was scratching my head over an accounting mess, for which the owner had paid a bookkeeper many dollars over many years. How did it happen? If you don't know the basics, you are a sitting duck, my friend. You know, accountants do it on purpose. They use weird words to make you think that they are smarter than you are. To keep you in the dark. Or, the less nasty ones just don't know better.

Good accountants and bookkeepers want you to learn the lingo. They want to help you make the bling, baby! So, read and learn. Keep this glossary handy as you work with your professional money managers. Use it to begin your journey to financial literacy!

Bling Lingo - Glossary of common Accounting Terms...

ACCOUNTING EQUATION: The Balance Sheet is based on the basic accounting equation. That is:

Assets = Equities.

Equity of the company can be held by someone other than the owner. That is called a liability. Because we usually have some liabilities, the accounting equation is usually written...

Assets = Liabilities + Owner's Equity.

ACCOUNTS: Business activities cause increases and decreases in your assets, liabilities and equity. Your accounting system records these activities in accounts. A number of accounts are needed to summarize the increases and decreases in each asset, liability and owner's equity account on the Balance Sheet and of each revenue and expense that appears on the Income Statement. You can have a few accounts or hundreds, depending on the kind of detailed information you need to run your business.

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE: Also called A/P. These are bills that your business owes to the government or your suppliers. If you have 'bought' it, but haven't paid for it yet (like when you buy 'on account') you create an account payable. These are found in the liability section of the Balance Sheet.

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Also called A/R. When you sell something to someone, and they don't pay you that minute, you create an account receivable. This is the amount of money your customers owe you for products and services that they bought from you...but haven't paid for yet. Accounts receivable are found in the current assets section of the Balance Sheet.

ACCRUAL BASIS ACCOUNTING: With accrual basis accounting, you 'account for' expenses and sales at the time the transaction occurs. This is the most accurate way of accounting for your business activities. If you sell something to Mrs. Fernwicky today, you would record the sale as of today, even if she plans on paying you in two months. If you buy some paint today, you account for it today, even if you will pay for it next month when the supply house statement comes. Cash basis accounting records the sale when the cash is received and the expense when the check goes out. Not as accurate a picture of what is happening at you company.

ASSETS: The 'stuff' the company owns. Anything of value - cash, accounts receivable, trucks, inventory, land. Current assets are those that could be converted into cash easily. (Officially, within a year's time.) The most current of current assets is cash, of course. Accounts receivable will be converted to cash as soon as the customer pays, hopefully within a month. So, accounts receivable are current assets. So is inventory.

Fixed assets are those things that you wouldn't want to convert into cash for operating money. For instance, you don't want to sell your building to cover the supply house bill. Assets are listed, in order of liquidity (how close it is to cash) on the Balance Sheet.

BALANCE SHEET: The Balance Sheet reflects the financial condition of the company on a specific date. The basic accounting formula is the basis for the Balance Sheet:

Assets = Liabilities + Owner's Equity

The Balance Sheet doesn't start over. It is the cumulative score from day one of the business to the time the report is created.

CASH FLOW: The movement and timing of money, in and out of the business. In addition to the Balance Sheet and the Income Statement, you may want to report the flow of cash through your business. Your company could be profitable but 'cash poor' and unable to pay your bills. Not good!

A cash flow statement helps keep you aware of how much cash came and went for any period of time. A cash flow projection would be an educated guess at what the cash flow situation will be for the future.

Suppose you want to buy a new truck with cash. But that purchase will empty the bank account and leave you without any cash for payroll! For cash flow reasons, you might choose to buy a truck on payments instead.

CHART OF ACCOUNTS: A complete listing of every account in your accounting system. Every transaction in your business needs to be recorded, so that you can keep track of things. Think of the chart of accounts as the peg board on which you hang the business activities.

CREDIT: A credit is used in Double-Entry accounting to increase a liability or an equity account. A credit will decrease an asset account. For every credit there is a debit. These are the two balancing components of every journal entry. Credits and debits keep the basic accounting equation (Assets = Liabilities + Owner's Equity) in balance as you record business activities.

DEBIT: A debit is used in Double-Entry accounting to increase an asset account. A debit will decrease a liability or an equity account. For every debit there is a credit.

DIRECT COSTS: Also called cost of goods sold, cost of sales or job site expenses. These are expenses that include labor costs and materials. These expenses can be directly tracked to a specific job. If the job didn't happen, the direct costs wouldn't have been incurred. (Compare direct cost with indirect costs to get a better understanding of the term.) Direct costs are found on the Income Statement, right below the income accounts.

Income - Direct Costs = Gross Margin.

DOUBLE-ENTRY ACCOUNTING: An accounting system used to keep track of business activities. Double-Entry accounting maintains the Balance Sheet: Assets = Liabilities + Owner's Equity. When dollars are recorded in one account, they must be accounted for in another account in such a way that the activity is well documented and the Balance Sheet stays in balance.

You may not need to be an expert in Double-Entry accounting, but the person who is responsible for creating the financial statements better get pretty good at it. If that is you, go back through the book and focus on the 'gray' sheets. Study the examples and see how the Double-Entry method acts as a check and balance of your books.

Remember the law of the universe...what goes around, comes around. This is the essence of Double-Entry accounting.

EQUITY: Funds that have been supplied to the company to get the 'stuff'. Equities show ownership of the assets or claims against the assets. If someone other than the owner has claims on the assets, it is called a liability.

Total Assets - Total Liabilities = Net Equity

This is another way of stating the basic accounting equation that emphasizes how much of the assets you own. Net equity is also called net worth.

EXPENSE: Also called costs. Expenses are decreases in equity. These are dollars paid out to suppliers, vendors, Uncle Sam, employees, charities, etc. Remember to pay bills thankfully, because it takes money to make money. Expenses are listed on the Income Statement. They should be split into two categories, direct costs and indirect costs. The basic equation for the Income Statement is:

Revenues - Expenses = Profit

(You'll see a profit if there are more revenues than expenses!...or a loss, if expenses are more than revenues.)

Remember, all costs need to be included in your selling price. The customer pays for everything. In exchange, you give the customer your services. What a deal!

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: refer to the Balance Sheet and the Income Statement. The Balance Sheet is a report that shows the financial condition of the company. The Income Statement (also called the Profit and Loss statement or the 'P&L') is the profit performance summary.

Financial Statements can include the supporting documents like cash flow reports, accounts receivable reports, transaction register, etc. Any report that measures the movement of money in your company.

Financial Statements are what the bank wants to see before it loans you money. The IRS insists that you share the score with them, and asks for your Financial Statements every year.

GENERAL LEDGER: Once upon a time, accounting systems were kept in a book that listed the increases and decreases in all the accounts of the company. That book was called the general ledger. Today, you probably have a computerized accounting system. Still, the general ledger is a collection of all Balance Sheet and Income Statement accounts...all the assets, liabilities and equity. It is the report that shows ALL the activity in the company. Often this listing is called a detail trial balance on the report menu of your accounting program. The detail trial balance is my favorite report when I am trying to find a mistake, or make sure that we have entered information in the right accounts.

GROSS PROFIT: This is how much money you have left after you have subtracted the direct costs from the selling price.

Income - Direct Costs = Gross Profit. When this is expressed as a percentage, it is call Gross Margin.

This is a good number to scrutinize each month, and to track in terms of percentage to total sales over the course of time. The higher the better with gross margin! You need to have enough money left at this point to pay all your indirect costs and still end up with a profit.

INCOME STATEMENT: also called the Profit and Loss Statement, or P&L, or Statement of Operations. This is a report that shows the changes in the equity of the company as a result of business operations. It lists the income (or revenues, or sales), subtracts the expenses and shows you the profit J! (Or loss L.) This report covers a period of time and summarizes the money in and the money out.

The Income Statement is like a magnifying glass that shows the detail of activities that cause changes in the equity section of the Balance Sheet.

INDIRECT COST: Also called overhead or operating expenses. These expenses are indirectly related to the services you provide to customers. Indirect costs include office salaries, rent, advertising, telephone, utilities...costs to keep a 'roof overhead'. Every cost that is not a direct cost is an indirect cost. Indirect costs do not go away when sales drop off.

INVENTORY: Also called stock. These are materials that you purchase with the intent to sell, but you haven't sold them yet. Inventory is found on the balance sheet under assets. It is considered a current asset because you will convert it into cash as soon as you sell it. Beware of turning cash into inventory. You may run out of cash. Work with your suppliers to keep inventory SMALL.

JOURNAL: This is the diary of your business. It keeps track of business activities chronologically. Each business activity is recorded as a journal entry. The Double-Entry will list the debit account and the credit account for each transaction on the day that it occurred. In your reports menu in your accounting system, the journal entries are listed in the transaction register.

LIABILITIES: Like equities, these are sources of assets - how you got the 'stuff'. These are claims against assets by someone other than the owner. This is what the company owes! Notes payable, taxes payable and loans are liabilities. Liabilities are categorized as current liabilities (need to pay off within a year's time, like payroll taxes) or long term liabilities (pay-back time is more than a year, like your building mortgage).

MONEY: Also called moola, scratch, gold, coins, cash, change, chicken feed, green stuff, BLING, etc. Money is the form we use to exchange energy, goods and services for other energy, goods and services. Used to buy things that you need or want. Beats trading for chickens in the global marketplace.

Money in and of itself is neither good or bad. I want you to make lots of it, and do great things with it!

NET INCOME: Also called net profit, net earnings, current earnings or bottom line. (No wonder accounting is confusing - look at all those words that mean the same thing!)

After you have subtracted ALL expenses (including taxes) from revenues, you are left with net income. The word net means basic, fundamental. This is a very important item on the income statement because it tells you how much money is left after business operations. Think of net income like the score of a single basketball game in a series. Net income tells you if you won or lost, and by how much, for a given period of time.

By the way, if net income is a negative number, it's called a loss. You want to avoid those. The net income is reflected on the Balance Sheet in the equity section, under current earnings (or net profit). Net income results in an increase in owner's equity. A loss results in a decrease in owner's equity.

RETAINED EARNINGS: The amount of net income earned and retained by the business. If net income is like the score after a single basketball game, retained earnings is the lifetime statistic. Retained earnings is found in the equity section of the Balance Sheet. It keeps track of how much of the total owner's equity was earned and retained by the business versus how much capital has been invested from the owners (paid-in capital).

Each month, the net profits are reflected in the Balance Sheet as current earnings. At the end of the year, current earnings are added to the retained earnings account.

Ellen Rohr is the President and Founder of Bare Bones Biz, a business training and consulting company that teaches clients how to turn big ideas into successful businesses. Rohr is the successful author of numerous business basics books, including: Where Did the Money Go? - Accounting Basics for the Business Owner Who Hates Numbers and How Much Should I Charge? - Pricing Basics for Making Money Doing What You Love.

Ready to make more money? Go to http://www.barebonesbiz.com NOW and sign up to receive the latest information on our FREE monthly Teleseminars, Biz Exposes and New Bare Bones Biz Products.

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Learning Accounting: Debit and Credit Basics

When learning accounting for the first time, the terms 'debit' and 'credit' can be a bit confusing. Why? Because when you go to the bank and deposit money, the teller will tell you, "I am crediting your account X amount of dollars," but if you are taking money our of your account, the teller will tell you, "I am debiting your account X amount of dollars." Also, with debit machines all over the place, and credit cards in everyone's pocket, the two accounting terms take on a whole new meaning.

However, what we've learned about these two words so important in the accounting world, debit and credit, have to be unlearned quickly. Why? Because in accounting, the term debit is used to describe a bank account and that money owed are actually credit accounts - the exact opposite of what we've been taught elsewhere.

In accounting terms, neither credits nor debits are 'bad', but they need to equal each other in order to balance themselves out in the end. Every itemized transaction, no matter if it's a deposit or a bill to be paid has both a debit and credit posted in the accounting world. This is what is called 'double-entry accounting' - so when you go to the bank, and the teller says, "I am crediting your account X amount of dollars," she is also debiting an entry of a similar amount without telling you this. The same goes for when the teller tells you, "I am debiting your account X amount of dollars," - the accounting will show that a credit of the same amount is being made elsewhere at the same time.

The easiest way to figure out debits and credits in accounting terms is to figure out the following: what did you receive, and where did it come from. The debit is what you received, and the credit is where you received it from, in accounting terms. So for demonstration sake, let's say you bought a CD with your credit card. The CD is what you got, so it will be a debit in the accounting world, and the credit will be applied to the liability you carry on your credit card for the exact same amount.

The bank can easily confuse people learning about credits and debits in the accounting sense of the words, especially when discussing liability. For instance, when you put money in the bank, the bank's liability to you increases, and since liabilities are credits, they are crediting your account (in accounting terms). And when the bank lowers their liability to us (by us taking money out of the bank) the banks are debiting the liability account, from an accounting perspective.

Basically it comes down to being able to figure out what you got and where exactly it came from; if you can figure these out for every transaction, then you've got the accounting terms of credit and debit down pat.

For more more information about accounting please visit http://www.moneytipsdaily.com

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Pursuing a Career in Accounting? Opportunities Are Yours For the Taking

If you're interested in pursuing a career in accounting or auditing, the opportunities may be yours for the taking. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition, the accounting profession will experience strong job growth over the period from 2006 to 2016. Accounting jobs are expected to grow by 18 percent between 2006 and 2016. This growth is faster than the average for all occupations. It is projected that almost 226,000 accounting jobs will be created during the ten year period. The strong growth in accounting and auditing jobs is expected to result from economic expansion, changes to financial laws, and stricter corporate governance. Accounting career opportunities will also be created by changes to financial reporting standards, business investments, mergers and acquisitions, and other events that are expected to lead to greater scrutiny of accounting practices and company finances. Growth in accounting jobs will also be driven by the desire to make government agencies more accountable. According to the Handbook, candidates with a master's degree, who obtain certification or licensure, or who are skilled at using accounting and auditing computer software will have the best career opportunities.

What jobs do accountants and auditors do? The role of accountants and auditors is quite broad. Generally speaking, accountants and auditors prepare, analyze, verify and communicate financial information for clients that may include corporations, governments, non-profit organizations, or individuals. But the specific job descriptions of accountants and auditors vary depending on the type of accounting and auditing job.

What types of accounting career opportunities are there? There are four major fields of accounting and auditing: public, management, government accounting, and internal auditing.

Public accounting jobs: Public Accountants provide a wide range of consulting services relating to accounting, auditing, tax, and other financial activities. A career in a public accounting involves providing services such giving advice to companies or individuals to help them get certain tax advantages and preparing and filing income tax returns. External auditors are responsible for auditing financial statements for companies to ensure that they have been prepared properly. Many public accountants have the professional designation Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and they may work on their own or in public accounting firms.

Management accounting jobs: Management accountants prepare and analyze the financial information of the companies for which they work. If you pursued a career in management accounting, you would be responsible for maintaining budgets, managing expenses, analyzing financial information, preparing financial reports and managing company assets.

Government accounting jobs: A career in government accounting means you would be employed by a Federal, State, or local government agency. Government accountants are responsible for maintaining and analyzing the financial records of these agencies. They may also be responsible for auditing private businesses and individuals. For example, accountants for the Internal Revenue Service are employed by the federal government to review taxes received by businesses and individuals. In addition, they are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the various government agencies are making expenditures in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

Internal auditing jobs: Internal auditors are responsible for ensuring that the financial records of a company or individual are accurate. They check for fraud or non-compliance with laws, and they help to prevent financial loss. Other responsibilities of an internal auditor may include reporting on audits, advising on or recommending changes to a company's operations an/or financial activities, reviewing data regarding a company's assets, liabilities, stock, income and expenditures, preparing reports and financial statements, and reviewing compliance with corporate policies and government regulations.

What are the educational requirements for a career in accounting or auditing? Your duties as an accountant will vary according to what type of accounting you decide to specialize in or what kind of accounting job you want to pursue. Accordingly, if you are pursuing career opportunities in accounting or auditing, the education and training requirements can vary depending on your role. Most accounting jobs require at least a bachelor's degree in accounting or a related field but some employers will only consider job applicants with a master's degree in accounting, or a master's degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting.

Licensure and certification for accounting jobs: Only a Certified Public Accountant is permitted to file reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Accordingly, if you're interested in a career working for a public company that's registered with the SEC, you need to be licensed as a CPA by your State Board of Accountancy. Most States require CPA candidates to be college graduates and to have some accounting experience. To become a CPA, you must pass a four-part examination prepared by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). This is required by all States.

Things that can help increase your accounting career opportunities:

o Previous experience in accounting or auditing, such as experience gained in summer or part-time internship programs, will help your chances of getting an accounting job.

o Knowledge of computers and financial software applications will make you a stronger candidate for an accounting job.

What skills do you need to succeed in an accounting career? If you're interested in accounting career opportunities, you must:

o be proficient in math and you must have excellent analytical skills

o communicate effectively

o be good at working with people

o have basic accounting knowledge

o be familiar with accounting software

If you're seriously thinking about accounting or auditing career opportunities, information is available from the following organizations:

o AACSB International

o American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

o National Association of State Boards of Accountancy

o Institute of Management Accountants

o Accreditation Council for Accountancy and Taxation

o The Institute of Internal Auditors

o ISACA

o Association of Government Accountants

Want more accounting career advice? Looking for an accounting job? Fins great accounting career opportunities Andrea writes for FoundCareer, the totally free job site that's unlike other job web sites. No fees to post jobs and no subscription fees to search jobs.
Need more career advice like how to negotiate a job offer letter? Read Andrea's article The Job offer Letter - How to Negotiate a Job Offer Letter.

READ MORE - Pursuing a Career in Accounting? Opportunities Are Yours For the Taking

Outsourced Accounting - How Different is it From In-House Accounting?

Let's first understand the importance of accounting before we delve into the specifics of the choices that any business has.

Whenever anyone ventures out to start any business, there are three primary reasons:

a) Make profits

b) Grow to a global level

c) Give back to society by way of employment & revenue by way of taxes & duties

In all the above three reasons, a business is helped by accounting to not only know where the business stands vis-à-vis the goals, but also helps the business in taking measures to achieve the goals faster & in a better way.

But how does Accounting do this?

a) By making sure that all the transactions that the business is entering into is recorded in a timely manner

b) Ensuring that all such transactions are grouped under the correct account heads

c) Ensuring that the profit & loss account and the balance sheet along with other reports like the Cash Flow Statement, Funds Flow Statement, Debtors Aging report are prepared in a timely manner & presented to the owner for taking the right actions.

Given the importance accounting has on business, it is natural that businesses the world over consider accountants very critical. Probably that is the reason why a CFO goes hand in hand with the CEO of a company.

Now that we have understood the importance of accounting and accountants, let us now understand the differences between an in-house accountant and an outsourced accountant.

An in-house accountant means a business hires an accountant as full time employee to keep its books and manage the finances. The benefits attached to having an in-house accountant are:

(i) In-house accountant is a person from the same region as the business and thus understands the business and its environment better. This can be beneficial when the accountant has to analyze the conditions affecting the business.

(ii) An in-house accountant may be called on to extend a helping hand in areas other than accounting whenever there is a requirement of the business.

An outsourcing accountant is a person not under the employment of the business and has a contractual relationship with the business to provide accounting services. An outsourced accountant can be in the same country as the business is in or may be in a foreign country. The benefits associated with outsourced accountant are:

(i) Since an outsourcing accounting firm is a professional service provider, it would have highly skilled experts at its disposal who can be of immense help to a business as they can add tremendous value to accounting.

(ii) Unlike in-house accountants, a business does not have to bear with leaves since outsourced service provider will have someone to back up the person who would be working for the business's accounts when that person takes leave.

(iii) Since most of the outsourced accounting providers serve clients in different countries, they have people available 24/7. A business cannot ask an in-house accountant to be available 24/7.

(iv) If the outsourced accountant is in a different country like India, there are a couple of additional benefits like:

a. Due to the difference in time zone, people in India work when it is night at US. So, work can be done overnight by an accountant in India.

b. Due to the foreign exchange difference, the Indian accountant can provide services at costs much lesser than the costs incurred on in-house accountant.

Thus the benefits of an outsourcing accounting provider are far more than the benefits in having an in-house accountant.

Visit http://www.aptservicesonline.com for more details on the benefits from outsourced bookkeeping.

Steve is a qualified accountant and is the founder of APT Services which is the fastest growing outsourcing accounting service provider from India.

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Job Overview For Accounting Technicians

Designation

The designation of an Accounting Technician is supported by their Association in the United Kingdom (AAT). This designation together with that of Chartered Accountant is used primarily in the United Kingdom, although the title is sometimes seen in the United States. Here, a comparable occupation would be a professionally trained bookkeeper or accounting clerk. A comparable United States certificate to the AAT is awarded by the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (AIPB).

Profile

Accounting technicians are required to produce entry level accounting work in accounting or finance departments. Their focus should be relative to data entry, accounts receivable, accounts payable and payroll. In many offices, they act as office managers for generally small companies, as it is considered beneficial to have an office manager with a firm understanding of accounting principals. There are also many accounting technicians who have supervisory positions over personnel without degrees, or clerk-level accounting staff. Similar positions of responsibility to an accounting technician are an accounting clerk or bookkeeper, office manager and accounting analyst.

Functions

The functions relating to this position involve aspects of accounts payable, to classify and record bills, vendor invoices and liabilities. With regard to the accounts receivable department, they will record invoices, payments and produce aging reports on receivables. Their roll in the payroll department, will involve payroll figures and liabilities, together with tax with-holdings, reports runs and preparation of the of the payroll cheque runs.

Additional Functions

Further focus is needed on data entry, the checking for errors and account reconciliations. As the work is of a repetitive nature, dedicated attention to detail is required! They are relied upon to discover and correct accounting errors, generally caused by mistakes in data entry. This calls for an analytical mind, which is a requirement in a proficient Accounting Technician. It is also required that he or she carries out basic audit functions. They may be responsible for the monitoring of payable and receivable accounts, bank deposits and balances and for the perceiving of any irregularities. In addition, they are accountable for the maintaining of proper separation of duties and the procedures related to internal control. As and when any irregularity is discovered, then it is generally their perogative to initiate an investigation.

Required Knowledge

Generally, financial statements are prepared by professional or accountants who have degrees, as part of their responsibilities. Although Accounting Technicians are rarely engaged in the preparation and analysis of financial statements, they must be familiar with the process of the creation of them and from which accounts the data originated? This does assist them in the coding and entering of transactional data, as well as the discovery and correction of any errors, in the event of an unbalance.

General

Account Technicians generally commence working in a support role at a firm of accountants. Alternatively, it may be within the accounts or finance departments or sections, of commercial organisations', industrial companies or the public sector. Whatever their choice, there is work available for them in all areas of the financial world. There are independent opportunities in the business environment for experienced Account Technicians. It could be as a self employed provider of a variety of accountancy related services, to the many small and medium business owners, who either cannot or do not wish to employ a permanent accountant.

Entry Requirements: What You Need to Start

Although a reasonable level of literacy is needed, there are no minimum entry level requirements specified to begin training as an Accounting Technician.

On the job training is usually involved at entry level, whilst studying with distanced learning or on a part time basis. Qualifications may be obtained through schemes conducted either by their Association (AAT) or the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants)

Two routs are offered by the AAT to the accountancy qualification; the NVQ/SVQ and diploma. The offered courses are vocational and provide practical knowledge and skills that are required to perform the tasks demanded.

There are three stages in the NVQ/SVQ route, which is based on competence.

? Foundation - NVQ/SVQ in Accounting Level 2

? Intermediate- NVQ/SVQ in Accounting Level 3

? Technician - NVQ?SVQ in accounting Level 4

Those Graduates in possession of a UK degree in accounting need only complete the Technician stage. Should you possess an A-level in accounting, an HNC or recognised work experience, it is possible you could be eligible for exemptions from the Foundation stage. In this connection, the AAT and the other accounting bodies should be contacted for more information regarding the validity of your qualifications.

In order to obtain technician status, it is required that you complete at least one year of work experience. For those who are already working in a finance environment and can easily provide evidence of work experience, this is a preferred route.

As an alternative, the diploma route is available for those not working in finance or who are unable to provide workplace evidence. There are three stages and completion of all three leads to technician status:

- Certificate in Accounting (foundation)

- Advanced Certificate in Accounting (intermediate)

- Diploma in Accounting (technician)

Additional vocational qualifications are offered by the AAT which may be suitable for your preferred career path. For more details, visit their website.

The ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) offers the CAT (Certified Accounting Technician) scheme. This is a route that combines study and practical experience and involves studying for nine papers, split into three levels. These are Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. For further details visit the ACCA website.

Candidates are required to produce evidence of the following:

- Strong written and oral communication with IT skills;

- Ability to work in a team, often alongside accounting professionals;

- Ability to multi-task and time management.

- A High-level of numerical skills;

- Good attention to detail;

- Your ability to work accurately and methodically with numbers

Training as an Accounting Technician and How to Become Qualified

Evidence of practical skills is required by the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), towards your becoming certified as an Accounting Technician. In accordance with AAT practice, this procedure is conducted by means of assessments, designed to display theory in practice. Included are practical work base exercises or for those not involved in the accounting sector, testing will be by simulations. Voluntary work or hobbies, such as being treasurer of a local society, may be used as examples of work experience!

ACCA accounting technician trainees must, in order to qualify as an accounting technician, produce evidence that one year of work experience has been gained and that they have demonstrated competence in a technician training record (TTR). This must be verified by a person approved by the ACCA.

On the job training is received by most accounting technicians. Software packages and procedures will vary, according to the respective sectors, company and area in which they are working? It is recognised by employees that there is a need for continuing personal and professional development (CPD) in their career paths. Employers are becoming increasingly aware of this factor and are prepared to offer forms of support, to enable their employees to update and improve upon their skills and knowledge.

Career Development and Progress as an Accounting Technician:

There are opportunities for Accounting Technicians to progress to positions such as finance controller. Alternatively, an Audit senior, tax analyst, internal auditor or payroll manager.

A recognised accounting qualification in its own right is from the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT). Some accounting technicians are able to attain senior levels with the AAT qualification, whilst many view it as a stepping stone towards further professional qualifications.

READ MORE - Job Overview For Accounting Technicians

Accounting Degrees Online - Top 10 Choices For Online Accounting Degrees

Having a degree in accounting can shape your career beautifully since it is highly in demand nowadays. The best thing about accounting degrees is that now you can get them online as well. There are several managerial programs that are available and accredited as online accounting degrees.

So what are the different top 10 choices of online degrees? In the last five years, new online accounting colleges and schools have come up that have been offering great online accounting courses in asynchronous and blended formats. These colleges have industry specific courses as well as specialization courses that include short term programs in finance and accounting.

So, if you are confused about what accounting degree program you should follow then the information about these top 10 online accounting courses will definitely be helpful to you:

1. Masters of Science in Accounting

The advantage of studying for a master's degree program in accounting is that it not only increases your experience and expands your career options but also offers you a high salary. With this degree program you will gain practical accountancy skills. Also, the program is designed for the students who are preparing for the CPA examination so that it satisfies the 120 credit hour needs for different professional certification degrees like CIA, CMA, etc.

2. Masters of Accountancy

This particular course in accounting is designed specially to prepare the students as certified professional accountants or CPAs. These different programs are conducted so as to bring different modules of CPA exam curriculum into the lime light. This is a degree that is relevant for accounting professionals and you need to have a minimum graduate degree in accounting, good GPA score and work experience so that you can take admission for it.

3. MBA in Accounting

The masters of business administration with an accounting major degree prepares a student by teaching the methodology of handling the business from an accountancy perspective. The program is beneficial for both non-accounting students as well as the accounting students as it helps them to explore the world of accountancy. This degree is beneficial for those people who are looking forward to start their new business. You will require a bachelor's degree to become eligible for this course.

4. MBA in Professional Accounting

The masters of business administration degree in professional accounting is actually based on practice and application of the accounting methodologies in the way that it exists in the current profession. In this accounting degree a person learns and applies the different practical techniques and methods of accounting. Financial, auditing and managerial accounting are a few core subjects for this degree.

5. Diploma Courses in Accounting

Apart from going for the post graduate degree course you can also choose a diploma course in accounting. There are a variety of online colleges and schools that have various kinds of six month long and one year long diploma courses for people who are looking to gain more experience and knowledge in the field of accounting.

6. Bachelors of Science in Business Administration

This program in accounting will teach you the basic principles of taxation and accounting and how they are applied in variety of business organizations. This program combines business Management, law and information processing along with the general studies to prepare a student ideally for the finance and managerial accounting positions.

7. (BA) Bachelor of Arts in Accounting

This is one of the top online accounting degrees that are available in the field of accounting. In this program you can study external and internal auditing, planning and accession, auditing, etc. If you're looking to prepare for CPA then you must have a Bachelor of Arts degree as your minimum qualification.

8. Bachelor of Science in Accounting

The main objective of the Bachelor of Science in Accounting degree is to offer information and knowledge of accounting so that students can relate it easily with state and local taxation, business finance, accounting and auditing for the small and medium scale enterprises.

9. Associate Degree in Accounting

There are various online schools on the Internet that will offer you a diploma and associate degree in accounting. You can choose the degree course according to your previous qualification and the kind of field you want to excel into.

10. One Year Diploma Degree Courses for Undergraduates

Although there are professional diploma and associate degrees available online but if you still are an undergraduate then you can go for the one year diploma degree courses in accountancy that will help you enhance and improve your accounting skills and will provide you with more career options.

All the above listed accounting courses in top 10 fields are a great help for each individual who is looking to make his career in accountancy.

AccountingProgramsU.com provides the opportunity to research and request free information top accounting schools and accounting online degrees for potential students looking to start or expand their career in accounting.

READ MORE - Accounting Degrees Online - Top 10 Choices For Online Accounting Degrees

Accounting Terms - The Essence of Account

Since the purpose of accounting is to records, summarize and provide financial data about business to different users of such data, it is necessary to have certain means to achieve that purpose. One of the means is called account and this is one of the most important accounting terms. Let us explore its essence and practical necessity.

Account helps to keep records and track information about each individual asset, liability, equity, revenue and expense. Complete list of accounts used by the business for accounting purposes is called general ledger, which can be different depending on the size, purpose and other particularities of the business. Accounts are used to classify financial data into categories and keep all the required information on what happened to that particular category during the certain accounting period. Since information in the financial statements is classified into assets, liabilities, equity, revenue and expenses, each type of these items has separate account.

Structure And Example

For example cash in bank, petty cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable, share capital, sales revenue, administrative expenses, cost of goods sold - all these categories of accounting data will have its own separate account. So what is the form of account? It the simplistic way we can say, that each account has a T form, since it has two sides. Left side is called Debit side. Right side is called Credit side. Also each account has a title. You can see simplified illustration further.

_D____________Title_____________C__

Decreases And Increases In Balances

Debit and Credit sides of the accounts are used to reflect either increase, or decrease in the balance of certain account. At the beginning and end of each accounting periods all the accounts, except for revenue and expenses accounts, will have balances on the debit or credit side, depending on the category of account.

In case we have accounts belonging to the category of assets increase in balances of these accounts is recorded on the Debit side, decrease - on the Credit side. These accounts will have debit balance at the beginning and at the end of the accounting period. In case we have accounts belonging to the category of equity or liabilities increase in the balances of these accounts is recorded on the Credit side, decrease - on the Debit side. These accounts will have credit balance at the beginning and the end of the accounting period. In case we have accounts belonging to revenue category, increase in revenue accounts is reflected on Credit side, decrease - on Debit. For expenses accounts it is visa versa. Important aspect to remember that revenue and expenses accounts will not have opening or closing balances, since these accounts are used only for certain accounting period and are closed by transferring the balance accumulated during the period to Retained Earnings account.

Double Entry Principle

While business transaction is recorded, it always has an impact on at least two accounts. Therefore one account is debited and another account is credited. Such action in accounting terms is called double entry accounting.

If you want more detailed understanding of accounting, you can easily and comfortably learn accounting at home and explore accounting terms with practical examples. Why wait? Start learning accounting basic now.

READ MORE - Accounting Terms - The Essence of Account

Contra Accounts, Normal Balances, and Rules of Accounting - 3 Workhorses of Bookkeeping

While the general public and business people are familiar with the general accounts that appear in the financial statements, many owners, executives, and other non-accounting personnel often ignore the lesser known accounts that are called Contra Accounts.

Contra Accounts are accounts that are matched or paired to a related account and subtracted from it. These bookkeeping accounts are included in the company's chart of accounts. Often they might just be called ledger accounts or gl accounts.

If we see in a balance sheet:

Equipment ....................................$120,000

Less:Accumulated depreciation........... 20,000..... 100,000

Accumulated depreciation is the 'contra account,' and 'Equipment,' the related account.

The following are the contra accounts that frequently appear in the balance sheet:

Accumulated depreciation............................ contra-asset

Accumulated depletion................................ contra-asset

Drawing.................................................... contra-capital

Allowance for doubtful accounts................... contra-asset

Discount on bonds payable...........................contra-liability

The following are the contra accounts that frequently appear in the income statement:

Sales returns and allowances...................... contra-revenue

Sales discounts.......................................... contra-revenue

Purchase returns and allowances................. contra-cost

Purchase discounts..................................... contra-cost

All accounts have what is known as a 'Normal Balance.' The normal balance of an account corresponds to the side in which the account is increased. To fully understand this concept, let's have a refresher of the rules of accounting:

Rule of Accounting 1, for assets: increases in assets are recorded by debits to the asset accounts. Decreases in assets are recorded by credits to the assets accounts.

Rule of Accounting 2, for liabilities: increases in liabilities are recorded by credits to the liability accounts. Decreases in liabilities are recorded by debits to the liability accounts.

Rule of Accounting 3, for owner's equity: increases in owner's equity are recorded by credits to the owner's equity accounts. Decreases in owner's equity are recorded by debits to the owner's equity accounts.

According to the above rules, assets are increased by debits; liabilities and owner's equity by credits. It follows then that the normal balance of all assets is debit, and for liabilities and owner's equity accounts the normal balance is credit.

Now, in the case of the contra accounts, they will have a normal balance that is the opposite of their related account. If we focus on the above example where we show Equipment $120,000. We can now say that the normal balance of Accumulated depreciation is credit (the opposite of the related account Equipment).

We are now prepared to give a full definition: A contra account is an account that is matched or paired to a related account and subtracted from it. Therefore, its normal balance is the opposite of the related account.

M. Guerrero
Retired Investment Banker, Corporate Controller, graduate of Columbia University, and Vietnam Vet (1967-1968).

By the way, my personal site contains many articles on accounting, writing, and other interesting subjects.
http://writingtolive.com

READ MORE - Contra Accounts, Normal Balances, and Rules of Accounting - 3 Workhorses of Bookkeeping

Advice For Accounting Students Considering Changing Majors

So you want to be an accountant. Or, perhaps you were told when coming out of high school that accounting is a good, safe field to get into. Maybe you just thought accounting is the way to go if you want to make good money. Or, as most of us can probably attest to, you simply did not know what to major in when embarking on your college education, and accounting just seemed like an easy choice. As you struggle through the onslaught of coursework that includes Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Auditing, and the nightmare known as Federal Taxation, it is very easy to find yourself wondering if it is really worth it. Before you go submitting that petition to change your major to the registrar, here are some things to consider when deciding whether or not it really is worth it.

One of the most attractive benefits of the accounting field is that there a tremendous amount of directions you can go. Whether you want to work for a private company in the accounting department, work for a non-profit institution or the government, or maybe even open your own public accounting firm, accounting is one of the few fields that offers such flexibility, and it is more than just filing tax returns.

For starters, management accounting and public accounting are two very different branches of the same field. Public accounting, as most of us are probably familiar, involves the accounting services aimed to generally serve, as the name implies, the public. Preparing and auditing financial statements of clients, who may include large publicly traded companies, which are in turn used by stockholders and investors, again the public, to make investment decisions is a responsibility of the public accountant. Smaller public accounting firms may focus primarily on small business, such as partnerships or sole proprietorships, whereas the renowned Big 4 public accounting firms generally serve the largest publicly traded corporations. Auditing and tax accounting are merely components of public accounting. Management accounting, on the other hand, is an excellent field for people who enjoy the many challenges of problem solving, as management accountants are actively involved in the decision making processes of a firm due to their knowledge of the company's internal accounting structure. It is necessary to carefully consider managerial accounting information when making decisions involving budgets and capital investments, hence the importance of the management accountant.

If public accounting sounds like something that may be of interest to you upon completion of your degree, then you almost certainly will have to obtain Certified Public Accountant certification by passing the infamous CPA exam. Certified Management Accountant designation also exists for those interested in management accounting which, similar to CPA certification, requires passing a universal exam. So, not only do you have to complete a relentless series of college coursework in accounting, but you must also study for and pass an exam in order to obtain certification, which still begs the question, is all this really worth it?

Now that two examples of differing accounting career paths have been provided, you should consider what being an accountant is really like. Maybe you would enjoy working in an office, as almost all accountants do, or working a typical forty hour work week, which is generally the norm for most accountants. Working long hours can also potentially come with the territory, particularly during tax season, in addition to frequent travel if you are employed by a large firm with many branches in multiple regions. Some accountants, however, may also work from home, so there is even a bit of flexibility when it comes to the work environment of an accounting professional. Perhaps even more favorable for the accounting student is the fact that the demand for competent accounting professionals across the board is projected to grow within the next decade according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, due, in part, to the implementation of stricter accounting standards brought on by the numerous documented cases of fraudulent conduct and unethical accounting practices of companies such as Enron.

If you are still wondering if this is all really worth the hard work, perhaps a brief description of the salaries of accounting professionals may interest you. It is estimated that accountants with a bachelor's degree can expect to earn an average salary of approximately $40,000, starting out, again according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Salaries can be expected to increase significantly with experience and subsequent professional licenses, such as the CPA or CMA, as well as with graduate degrees. Some of the top accounting professionals earn six figure salaries. It can certainly be said that, while not outlandishly high, accounting salaries are pretty good.

Some important things to consider if you are interested in a possible accounting career have been provided. If you still think that accounting simply is not for you, then that trip to the registrar may just be inevitable.

READ MORE - Advice For Accounting Students Considering Changing Majors

Start-Up Accounting

Start-ups are an integral part of a vibrant economy. They contribute significantly (disproportionate to their size) towards new idea creation, new technology and exciting products and services. Since Start-ups work in an environment of low resources and limited funding (generally), all their focus is geared towards the core activities of a business. This could be either sales or marketing or research and development.

Support functions like accounting, IT, and HR are usually make-shift arrangements or ignored completely. However accounting is one function that can be ignored at one's own peril. Good Accounting is the means to a greater end- informed decision making and better controls. Information gleaned from a good set of books can give valuable insights into- how assets can be utilized, how sales can be analyzed and how expenses can be managed and inventory be streamlined better.

For example, an accounting system of an equipment manufacturing company that generates revenue trends for different income streams can lead to useful insights like service revenues are growing faster(though on a smaller base). Similarly, it can probably also show that service revenues are far more profitable than product sales. Hence the company can work towards selling more service contracts (and subsidize the equipment sales). Accounting system can give you more information that just how much money your firm makes!

Given the importance of accounting systems in decision making, its' important that an entrepreneur always works towards establishing better accounting systems in his/her company , right from the early days.

I have listed below the five guidelines for start-up accounting:

1. Buy for the near-future rather than the present

Choose an accounting package that can not only meet your immediate needs but also handle the expected growth in near future. I have seen many companies use a basic version of accounting software, only to spend much more money doing a tedious migration to a larger software after some-time.

Thumb-rule- buy a accounting software which is one version higher than the version that just meets your current needs.

2. See your accounting costs as an investment, not as an expense

Most start-ups use a semi-qualified internal member or an over-worked part-time bookkeeper to keep their books. The perceived simplicity of popular accounting software further owners use semi-qualified bookkeeping help. These strategies can back-fire frequently and substantially! I have handled many such assignments where the expenses are all messed up and entered in hundreds of different accounts, assets are booked as expenses and owner's personal expenses are mixed with business expenses. The effort and costs of this post-mortem correction is substantially greater then the time taken to create a new set of books.

A good set of books from the initial days goes a long way towards managing things when the big growth happens. They also help a start-up keep tab of its most precious asset- its cash-flows!!

The increased popularity of outsourcing accounting provides start-ups with a cost-effective and valuable tool to have their cake and eat it too-great accounting at an economical price.

3. Spend time with your accountant to chart out a good accounting system

Areas include creating a structured chart of accounts, establishing important internal sales, purchase, disbursements and expense reimbursement procedures. Setting up a chart of accounts is a very important accounting activity for a start-up. Poorly created chart of accounts with insufficient/duplicate/multiple expense accounts create a big head-ache (and a costly accounting prescription to fix it).

Plan out the revenue items and accounts, expense items and accounts(and sub accounts), and handling of credit card and merchant account transactions clearly. It helps to create a check-list and ask a lot of questions. For e.g. do you need to track freight along with cost of goods sold(a direct cost) or as a general expense(indirect cost), do you want to book rep commissions under sales or as expenses, do you want to track sub-contractor expense separately or under direct costs. You may have to go through a few iterations before you arrive at a good fit.

4. Don't do yesterday's accounting the day after!

Many start-ups handle accounting on a rewind/flash-back mode. They realize a few weeks/month before the tax-deadline that their books are only a set of papers and bank statements that have not been touched for quite some-time. This results in a last minute dash to book everything and somehow create a set of financials for the tax-preparer to work on. This hurried processing can result in costly omissions and errors. For e.g. expenses are hurriedly dumped in some general accounts with little memo/additional information keyed in. Many of these expenses could be tax-deductible but your tax-preparer wouldn't know till he sees them!!. He is very likely to miss them in the maze of the general/dumping grounds(accounts).

5. Establish reporting signage in your business highway

Reports are like a dashboard in a car. They can serve multiple purposes. A Cash-flow report like a fuel gauge indicates when cash is running out, income statement like the speedometer tells us whether there is momentum in the business and balance sheet is like an odometer tells us the complete story so far!.. So have a good dashboard and look at it regularly as you drive along the business highway.

Priyankar Baid is an experienced accountant who has consulted small businesses in US, Cananda and UK over the last few years. He also runs a firm http://outsourcinghubindia.com specializing in online accounting. He helps businesses set-up accounting systems, clean-up existing books and implement outsourcing agreements. His firm specializes in providing accounting and reporting services to small medium businesses in North America.

READ MORE - Start-Up Accounting

Small Business - Is The Accounting Profession Ripping Them Off?

My 16 year-old daughter said, "Gee Dad! You look just like an accountant"

And she wasn't being complimentary.

Accountants are perceived to be boring, stodgy and conservative.

Over the years we've been the butt of many jokes. I've heard them all.

Why did the accountant cross the road? Because he looked up the file and that's what they did last year! Ha Ha!

What do accountants use as a contraceptive? Their personality! Ha Ha!"

Why do accountants become accountants? They don't have the charisma to be undertakers! Ha Ha!

What do they call an accountant at the bottom of the sea? A bloody good start! Ha Ha!

I think I am the exception.

That's why I've begun to call myself a business strategist and counselor. "You're still an accountant," says teenage daughter.

I am still an accountant and I'm still as passionate about it as the day I started. Because accountants have an impact on people's lives. The advice we give changes people's businesses which in turn changes their lives. I'm excited in my role of accountant.

Accounting is not stodgy. Accounting is exciting. Accounting is cool! My ambition is to become the "cool dude of accounting". (do they still say "dude", do they still say "cool". Remember that song: When I say, "cool, man, cool, I don't mean cool, man, cool, I mean you leave me cold, Jack")

We were throwing some ideas around with some of our clients as we do from time to time, looking for that unique benefit that our firm gives to our clients. That unique something that distinguishes us from other accounting practices.

One said, "You have helped me to improve my business. Not only am I making more profits and have more to spend, but I also have more time to spend away from the business. The more time I spend at home with my family the happier my life is. And the happier I am the happier my wife and children seem to be.

When my wife is happy all sorts of good things happen - even our sex life improves. That's it! You can advertise that using Kelvyn Peters CPA and Associates improves your sex life"

I don't think so!

Sorry, we haven't accepted his idea. You're completely on your own in that department, but we can help you improve your business and consequently your life. And your goal might not be extra profit but extra time for living! We know we can because we are doing it for others.

We repeat ourselves so often because the truth is the truth and there is only a limited number of ways to tell it. You've heard this before. If you are spending every waking moment in a hassle about your business, there must be a better way. There is!

Accountants have been ripping off their clients for years

In 1973 I attended a workshop for accountants at the Finance Management Research Center then headed by Dr Keith Cleland. The workshop was intended to drag participants into the 20th century.

"Accountants have been ripping off their clients for years", he told us. The 25 participants were shocked. These represented vibrant accounting firms from all around Australia, both large firms and small. They were at the cutting edge of the industry. Otherwise they would not have been at this kind of workshop.

To a person they resented that comment and one fellow wanted to punch him on the nose. (It wasn't me, but I would have held his coat).

By the week's end we discovered how we were charging high fees for things that our clients couldn't understand, couldn't use and didn't need. At the same time we were neglecting the information that they did need to increase their profits and safeguard their businesses.

20 Years Later what's Changed?

I attended a week long seminar hosted by CPA Australia in 1993 which was to train us in "client based accounting".

Dr Cleland presented the initial module. He did not openly criticize accountants this time, after all, it was the CPA's hosting it, but he gave almost the same speech (same jokes, too) as he had 20 years before.

"These things aren't taught in Universities", he said, "so the accounting profession has mostly ignored them. They have let small business down but things are changing".

Know-it-all, Kelvyn Peters had to jump to his feet and say that the doctor had said exactly the same thing 20 years ago. Where were the signs of change? Universities were still not teaching accountants how to help their clients.

"This seminar with CPA Australia and the suggestion they might make client based accounting a speciality is a good sign", he replied.

10 Years Later...

Nothing has changed. Our hopes have withered on the vine and small business must look elsewhere for help.

Recently I was called in to assist an ailing restaurant. We were happy to work with their existing accountant. We'd rather do the fun stuff and let the accountant do the boring tax returns and compliance work.

In this case the client insisted we take over the whole of the accounting function.

The accountant was most unhappy. "They are difficult clients", he said, "I have kept the fee lower than it should be and I have done extra to help them".

Indeed, he had! The financial statements were beautiful to behold with colored graphs and key ratios compared against industry average. (most accountants still don't do that.

I had advised that both wages costs and cost of foodstuffs were too high. Our focus was to form tactics to reduce them.

"But I had already told them that", said the Accountant, "what do they need you for?'

I told him that the client knew the kitchen wages were too high and what he wanted was for someone to show them how to reduce the wages in the kitchen.

"I can't do that", he said, "I'm an accountant". I would have to camp down there in the restaurant to see what's going on. And they wouldn't pay the fee".

Yes they would. They were going to pay me.

Most accountants see their role as being the provider of financial statements, cash-flow projections and tax returns, and there's the rub.

Each of these is a tool not an end in itself. It's like giving the client a hammer and saw and telling him to go build a house. He needs more than the tools, he needs to be shown how to use them.

Of course the client will complain about fees whatever the level if all he receives are not useful to him.

Accountants generally are flat out preparing financial statements and tax returns. Meeting dead-lines. They haven't the time to 'smell the roses'. Anything that doesn't help meet a dead-line has to wait until later. Often its too late.

I may still look like an accountant, even the cool dude of accounting, but there is nothing I like more than talking with a business owner about his business. There's nothing a business owner likes more than discussing his business and planning to make more money. It's great fun and he loves to pay me for it.

Mostly, small business owners know what their problems are. And mostly they know the way to solve them.

It's just that they need a little help to implement the changes necessary. Quite often their business only needs a bit of fine-tuning and at http://www.profitstrategies4business.com you'll find Kelvyn Peters and Associates. They'll give you the help you need.

Kelvyn is one of Australia's longest serving Tax Agents. Kelvyn was registered in February 1962. He is a director of Restaurant Catering Qld Inc the peak employer representative in Queensland, and has advised the hospitality industry for many years. His speciality is moving in to rescue ailing restaurants.

Kelvyn Peters CPA (The cool dude of accounting) has spent over 20 years experimenting and researching methods to help small business in meaningful ways that are affordable.

Kelvyn and his associates have perfected it with their local clients now they are going global: http://www.profitstrategies4business.com

READ MORE - Small Business - Is The Accounting Profession Ripping Them Off?

Why Choose a Career in Accounting?

One of the biggest key benefits that you can obtain form accounting is the experience you can gain from working in the accounting field. With accounting, you learn how businesses work and operate in a ever evolving field. This is very important experience that you can gain, that will not only help you in the field of accounting, but this experience will also help you know how to organize and run your own business. It is a fact that many successful business people in the world today, were at one time involved in the field of accounting. The knowledge they gained form accounting helped them build their own professional establishment. Even if you eventually leave a career in accounting to pursue a career somewhere else, your experiences from accounting will still become useful and beneficial.

The skills required in accounting are not high except in two areas being, analytical and computer skills. When compared to many of the different professional careers out there, almost any skill requires you to have some type of attention to detail as well as computer technology skills. However, accounting differs from the rest in other areas. In accounting you do not have to socialize with many people, you work in a self pressure environment only, and you do not need a high amount of initiative. This separates accounting from many other different professions, making accounting a much easier career to develop the necessary skills to become an accountant. The best feature of a career in accounting, is that anyone can learn to become an accountant. There are no specific skills or talents that cannot be learned and developed in the field of accounting.

The other major benefit of a career in accounting is the great pay. In fact, in your first year of accounting you can make as much as fifty-five thousand dollars a year. Within ten years or less of your career in accounting, you should be making over six figures. This can be obtained quicker by furthering your degree in accounting which you can reach as high as an MBA. There are many careers that take much longer to receive accreditation for that do not allow you to earn that type of income so quickly. Along with all the other benefits of accounting, it is no surprise that accounting is a very popular field that many people are working to get into.

You can see for yourself that accounting has many professional and career benefits that are appealing to anyone. From being able to work in a professional setting either for a large corporation, the government or yourself, accounting offers some key features and benefits that cnanot be found in other professional careers.

For more information on the accounting field please visit http://www.bytelan.com/indexaccounting.php

John Tahan is a webmaster, computer expert and musician,

If you would like to increase your income by learning how to monetize the internet , please visit the site at

http://bytelan.com/makemoneyonlineprogramsreviews.htm

READ MORE - Why Choose a Career in Accounting?

Web Based Accounting For Small Business

There is a great selection of Web based accounting software available, including free small business accounting software. From basic accounting to finance to tax reporting, it's all out there.

That's a good thing because at the heart of any business is the flow of money. Even if you run a non-profit company, you need money to keep operating and that means you need to keep track of that money.

Below, I've listed some of the strongest offerings online today, almost all of which offer free accounting software at some level. Read on and, have fun exploring!

Web Based Accounting: QuickBooks Online

Summary: Many, if not most, small-to-medium businesses start their life using QuickBooks and there is one basic reason why: they get it right. By offering a complex accounting system with a step-by-step approach, QuickBooks offers power without intimidating non-accountants.

Now, thanks to the Web, you can get all the great features of QuickBooks online.

Functional Areas: QuickBooks Online offers the same robust features as offline QuickBook versions. In other words, you get a fully-loaded accounting system with robust reporting and online connections with financial institutions.

In addition, you can purchase additional add-ons to support payroll and credit-card payments.

Features: As I mentioned above, QuickBooks Online is fully-loaded. Included:

Create and send invoices
Charge sales tax
Track payments
Create estimates
Time tracking and billing by customer
Delayed billing
Recurring billing
Print checks
Track expenses
Automated online banking - daily expense download
Generate, customize, print, and e-mail reports
Send reports to Microsoft Excel
Class tracking - categorize income & expenses
Track multiple locations
Budgeting
Time tracking
Prepare and print 1099s
Connect multiple users in different locations
Give your accountant access to your books
Set user permission levels

For full details about the above features, see QuickBooks Online's quick tour page as well as their product features and pricing matrix page.

Usability: Even if you are completely unfamiliar with accounting, QuickBooks makes use of step-by-step wizards and in-product help to get you started quickly and keep you up and running.

In addition, they offer support based on the product you select. For more details, take a look at the "Customer Support Included" row on their product features and pricing matrix page.

Pricing: QuickBooks Online offers three packages, each offering a different number of Web based accounting features. The packages are:

Online Free: $0.00/month
Online Basic: $9.95/month (available: a free 30-day trial)
Online Plus: $34.95/month (available: a free 30-day trial)

For full details about the above web based accounting packages, see QuickBooks Online's product features and pricing matrix page.

Vendor "Strength": Intuit, the company behind QuickBooks Online, has been around for many years and is one of the largest players in the accounting software space. You should feel very comfortable using their products as I expect them to be around for some time to come.

You can learn more about Intuit on their about page.

Bonuses:Some added benefits:

For an additional fee, Quickbooks Online offers a payroll add-on that allows you to completely manage your payroll, including direct deposit and taxes.
For an additional fee, you can accept credit cards as payment.
You can access your QuickBooks Online information on either your BlackBerry or your iPhone.

Web Based Accounting: ePeachtree

Summary: The Peachtree brand has been around for a long while providing companies with solid, dependable accounting software. Complex and robust, Peachtree often offers too much for a small business without an accounting team to manage but is just right for a business poised to grow large!

Peachtree does not believe their Web based accounting software is for every company and I applaud them for pointing that out. From their FAQs page:

"I already use Peachtree Accounting desktop software, should I switch?

That truly depends on your business needs. You may find our other products are more appropriate for you. For example, Peachtree Complete Accounting offers much more in depth Inventory and Job Costing features along with the ability to customize reports. We do offer another online solution that gives you remote access to some of your Peachtree desktop data. If you determine ePeachtree is right for your business, we recommend an Internet connection, such as a cable modem, DSL, or T1."

Functional Areas: ePeachtree offers a fully-loaded Web based accounting system with very robust reporting and lots of features. In short, there's not much missed here and perhaps more than you'll ever need.

In addition, ePeachtree offers an add-on Payroll system that is fully-integrated with their accounting software.

Features: Ready? Here's the list of what's included in ePeachtree:

Get Up and Running - FAST
Choose from 75 Sample Companies
Specify Remote Users and Security
General Ledger Control
Access for Your Accountant
Sales Orders
Generate Customer Quotes
Enter and print professional invoices
Receive Payments
Track Payment Status
Alert Messages Keep You On Track
Handle Customers More Effectively
Easily Pay Bills
Enter/Print Purchase Orders
Timesaving Vendor Defaults
Store Key Vendor Information
Track Inventory Costing
Flexible Item Setup
Display Item Images for easy identification
Job & Project Tracking
Sales Tax Tracking
Over 100 Business and Financial Reports

For full details about the above features, see ePeachtree's features page.

Usability: For the sake of full-disclosure, I have not seen ePeachtree's interface, so I am not sure what it looks like once you login.

That said, you can peek inside by scheduling a demo using their online form.

Pricing: ePeachtree offers one basic Web based accounting package with add ons for more users:

Basic Package: One User: $44.97/quarter ($14.99/month)(available: a free 30-day trial)
Muti-User Add-On: Up to 10 More Users: $29.97/quarter ($9.99/month) additional

Note: All prices are per company and include access for one accountant.

Vendor "Strength": Sage, the company behind ePeachtree, has been around for more than 30 years years and is one of the largest players in the accounting software space. You should feel very comfortable using their products as I expect them to be around for some time to come.

You can learn more about Sage on their company page.

Bonuses: Some added benefits:

They offer a payroll service for an additional fee.

Web Based Accounting: LessAccounting

Summary: LessAccounting looks like a straightforward Web based accounting solution. Their pitch seems to be, "Easier than Quickbooks" and having used Quickbooks, that sounds appealing to me!

Be aware though, that their target market is small business and freelancers (i.e. non-complex business structures). From their features page:

"We (the Less Everything Team) developed the Less Accounting software after getting fed up with every CPA telling us to use Quickbooks, a product that we found to be overly complicated and buggy with a Mac. So, we built the software for ourselves without any add-ons or confusing features. We just needed to to manage our contacts, money in, money out and reports. That was it! Nothing more or less, just simple accounting solutions for a simple web-based business."

Functional Areas: Functionally, LessAccounting focuses on, well, accounting. They do handle proposals and invoicing, which is handy, and the expense and tracking features are a nice plus.

In their words:

"If you just need a simple, web-based accounting application to keep track of money in and out, we're probably a great fit! If you need double-entry bookkeeping and balance sheets you might want to try something more complicated."

Features: LessAccounting's features seem to cover the basic business accounting bases. Included:

Import Address Books
Contact Management
Import Bank Accounts
Import Wesabe.com
Mileage Tracker
Create Business Proposals
Track Sales Leads
Track Business Expenses
Invoice Online
Run Reports
Export Data
Share Your Account
Invite Your CPA
Dashboard Snapshot
Weekly Email

Usability: One of the attractions of LessAccounting is their welcoming interface. Clean and easy-to-follow, newcomers should be quick to pick up the basics.

If you need more assistance, there are many movies and a community forum.

Pricing: LessAccounting offers 4 pricing structures ranging from free to a reasonable $24.00/month. To see what's included with each level, check out their pricing page.

Vendor "Strength": The company behind LessAccounting, Less Everything, Inc., has been around since 2007. They seem fairly dedicated to their business and have released other online applications as well.

Replies from company officials on the community forum come quickly and aim to solve the issues. If they cannot solve an issue, they add it to a bug or future features list, a good sign that they are listening and plan to be around for a while.

Bonuses: Some added benefits:

They integrate with other popular online applications such as PayPal, Highrise, Basecamp, and more.
It looks as if they have an iPhone app.
They offer a free (and integratable) time tracking application (LessTimeSpent), handy for those that bill by the hour

Web Based Accounting: FreeAgent

Summary: FreeAgent bills itself as the "Online Accounting Nirvana for Freelancers and Small Business". It certainly feels light and airy when you arrive at their site and it becomes immediately apparent that this is software built for non-accountants.

That is certainly not a bad thing of course, especially when you are dealing with 1-3 people companies where those 1-3 people need to be focusing on the work of their business, not the business of their work.

Functional Areas: This is Web based accounting at its most basic, which is often just what freelancers and very small businesses requires.

FreeAgent is what I call a "closed loop system", helping you communicate and track everything dealing with a job from start to finish. It even goes beyond the loop when needed by wrapping up loose ends like what you owe Uncle Sam. It's simple, elegant and just what their target market needs.

Features: The included features are very interesting; standard accounting with a Web 2.0 twist. My favorite feature is the tracking capability that tracks an estimate through acceptance, invoicing and billing. Handy! Included:

Contacts
Estimates
Time Tracking
Invoicing
Expenses
Banking
Accounting
Taxes

I urge you to check out the "FreeAgent tour" for much more detail about the features listed above.

Usability: FreeAgent has a clean and fresh interface and a number of options for support including:

FAQs
A Knowledge-Base
Customer and Company Forums

Pricing: FreeAgent costs $20/month (there is a 30-day free trial available).

Vendor "Strength": FreeAgent has been around since 2007. They have many customer testimonials and press coverage and regularly update their company blog. They respond to forum posts and discuss plans for continual improvement. I fell comfortable recommending FreeAgent for your use as I believe they will be around for a while.

Web Based Accounting: International

Summary: The software listed in this section is produced by companies outside of the US. Because of that fact, a US-based company might have issues using them so, if you are US-based, buyer beware!

However, if you are not US-based, these all seem like solid offerings. Explore and see if one is right for you.

International Accounting Listings:

Clarity Accounting
Saasu
Xero
Clear Books
e-conomic

Site Selection Criteria

The sites listed above are selected using the following criteria:

Functional Areas - is this software a one-trick-pony (which are sometimes useful) or the central tool you've been looking for to run your business?

Features - how many does the vendor offer and how useful are they?
Usability - is the software easy to learn and use or do I need to take a training course and know how to program?

Price - how does the vendor price different levels of functionality and usage limits (space, users, etc.)? Will the price scale well as you grow and need more features and/or higher usage limits or become quickly unaffordable? Also, when it comes to price, I tried to balance functionality with what a small business could afford and thus larger, more expensive, players were cut off the listings.

Vendor "Strength" - will the vendor be around for a while or are they about to go belly-up? I calculate "Strength" by measuring how often and how recently the vendor's software has been upgraded and the vendor's news and/or blogs have been updated as well as what the industry buzz and coverage has been.

Matt Mansfield is the leader of the "Leverage The Web Revolution".

Head on over http://www.leverage-the-web.com and download our free 79-page manifesto, "Leverage The Web: Why all successful small businesses and startups in the future will be run using software online".

Join the revolution today!

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