Where to learn accounting?

[AFMKelvin]

Hi guys, I have a question for you. Where's the best place to learn accounting? I want to know bookkeeping and accounting principles. All this years I've been studying different subjects such as marketing and copy writing. But I have always ignored anything to do with math. Math was always my weak subject in school. So I held this limiting belief that I was just not good at math. That my brain was not wired for math. Now I think that's bullshit and I have come to enjoy solving calculations. And the more I think about it the more I want to learn accounting. It's the foundation of all businesses after all.

I'm thinking of going to community college and either get an associates 2 year accounting degree. Or a non credit accounting technician certificate which would take a few weeks to complete. But if you have any suggestions for any online schools for accounting I'll look into those.

Also while were at it. What are some good subjects to learn to run a business efficiently? I remember on an episode of shark tank Mark Cuban was telling a kid to go to college and not follow through with his business. It's ironic because he dropped out of college to follow through with his business. He told him that, because college would give him a more rounded business education. So what subjects would round out my education in business?

 

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[Jeremy Cohen]

Hi guys, I have a question for you. Where's the best place to learn accounting? I want to know bookkeeping and accounting principles. All this years I've been studying different subjects such as marketing and copy writing. But I have always ignored anything to do with math. Math was always my weak subject in school. So I held this limiting belief that I was just not good at math. That my brain was not wired for math. Now I think that's bullshit and I have come to enjoy solving calculations. And the more I think about it the more I want to learn accounting. It's the foundation of all businesses after all.

I'm thinking of going to community college and either get an associates 2 year accounting degree. Or a non credit accounting technician certificate which would take a few weeks to complete. But if you have any suggestions for any online schools for accounting I'll look into those.

Also while were at it. What are some good subjects to learn to run a business efficiently? I remember on an episode of shark tank Mark Cuban was telling a kid to go to college and not follow through with his business. It's ironic because he dropped out of college to follow through with his business. He told him that, because college would give him a more rounded business education. So what subjects would round out my education in business?

Hello,
When you’re a child, and growing up, you are making your mind a certain way. Learning math is good. I am from France and it is the main topic until we’re 18 at least.
At a certain age, if you’re not good at maths, maybe just be good on what you do best and let the math and accountability to occasional freelances. Don’t stuck your mind with things you’re not particularly good at.
That would be my advice. I am an engineer; although I can design technical products good; I won’t deal with accountability of the company.
I’ve seen a course named « finance for non financial professional » on coursera ; maybe it can help ?

not sure whether my answer helps; if not just ignore it. good luck

 

[Never1]

The best general purpose accounting book I've read (and keep for reference when I'm doing the books) would be this: McGraw-Hill - Accounting 4th edition

It's comprehensive and has worksheets, self-tests and exercise modules to help you learn the ins and outs of various accounting principles.

 

[GIlman]

You don’t really need to be good at math to do accounting. Really what you need to understand is how to do double entry, and different types of entries and how they relate to each other. Obviously there’s some advanced things like depreciation, accruals, and pre-payments if you were doing accrual-based accounting versus cash-based accounting.

Even a book like accounting for dummies would probably give you enough insight to start doing it. The best way to learn is just by actually managing and balancing books in some software program. I personally recommend staying away from QuickBooks because it dumbs it down too much and prevents you from realizing the full power of double entry accounting. I use the product which is built for the Apple platform called EasyBooks, and have been very happy with it. I have also used peach tree And a few other products throughout the years to manage different businesses.

With accounting, I think your best bet is to learn a few basic principles and then learn by doing. You’ll learn much faster this way than trying to read through a bunch of books to understand everything.

Here's an Idea, start managing your personal finances with double entry accounting. I did this for 6 months and it really helped me gain lots of knowledge about book keeping and accounting.

 

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[BlackLynx]

Check out "Financial Statements" by Thomas R. Ittelson. It's really good at explaining the basics.

 

[Dan_Cardone]

Outsource it.

While its important to have the ability to comprehend financial statements, the actual accounting can be outsourced fairly cheap.

 

[Bertram]

Hello,
When you’re a child, and growing up, you are making your mind a certain way. Learning math is good. I am from France and it is the main topic until we’re 18 at least.
At a certain age, if you’re not good at maths, maybe just be good on what you do best and let the math and accountability to occasional freelances. Don’t stuck your mind with things you’re not particularly good at.
That would be my advice. I am an engineer; although I can design technical products good; I won’t deal with accountability of the company.
I’ve seen a course named « finance for non financial professional » on coursera ; maybe it can help ?

not sure whether my answer helps; if not just ignore it. good luck

This advice is truly wrong. Math is a language and the older you get the better you become at acquiring or increasing language skills. Why? Because you practice language skills, including math, all the ding dong day. The old theory that you can't be a mathematician unless you got A's in grammar school is a cruel lie. Math even underlies transactional linguistics. Old Braino uses math endlessly.
If you find at age 25 that you enjoy math there's nothing to stop you from getting a degree in statistics or math.
Life is a blank canvas. You can develop your brain at any age. You can even create core personality change.
I have an advanced degree in cognitive and personality theory and also advanced training in educational theory. Go and get whatever skills you want.
Some people start learning piano at age 40. Other very lucky people think math feels good.

 

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[MFH]

I was a CPA and financial executive in my past life.

Agree with the recommendations of the McGraw-Hill textbook and Financial Statements by Ittelson. Read them in that order. And use the textbook as a "need-to-know" reference. Things like cash journals and bond accruals may not be very relevant to you right now, but basic assets and liabilities (cash, receivables, payables, depreciation, etc.) and revenue/expense will be applicable almost immediately.

Skip the associate's degree or the technical program. Way more bang for your buck in getting a used textbook and filling in the gaps with Udemy courses.

Other things you might want to know:

• Want to learn how accounting is done for production? Get a cost accounting textbook. Read and work through the problems.
• Reading financial statements: once you've read the Financial Statements book, start reading the 10-K filings of public companies. They're long but include great analysis and insight as to what the company and its investors view as important.
• For the love of God, learn to read cash flow statements. Practice, practice, practice beating the hell out of them.
• You can also search for and listen to quarterly earnings calls of public companies, which typically includes pointed questions from analysts.
• Tax: you'll want to outsource it AND understand the tax implications of decisions your company makes. Have a quarterly meeting with your tax accountant (someone reputable, not a tax prep service). A good tax pro will be able to point you to the most tax-efficient decision available - consult them before any significant financial decisions. Ask lots of questions. When you don't understand what they're talking about, just ask, "Can you explain that?"
• There are lots of other areas that receive special attention in accounting - investments, estimates based on actuarial tables, intangible assets, mergers and acquisitions, etc. Shift your focus to them as they become more relevant or interesting to you, and unless you're planning to make accounting/finance your profession, focus on the drivers of these areas and developing a strong, high-level understanding.

 

[Nick S]

If you are interested in getting a crediential and learning the accounting, then Western Governors University (WGU) offers an accounting degree.

I believe it's around $4000 dollars per six months and it is fully online and self paced.

Depending on your level of dedication it is possible to finish the entire degree in 6 months to a year, and since you can do it whenever you like it wouldn't interfere too much with your other endeavors.

Plus then you'd have an extremely versatile degree if you ever have to go the employee route to build up some capital.

 

[Merging Left]

Community college is a good choice. You don't need to get a full Associate's degree unless you actually want to get a bookkeeping job. Take bookkeeping & financial accounting and you should have plenty to get yourself going.

 

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[AFMKelvin]

Hello,
When you’re a child, and growing up, you are making your mind a certain way. Learning math is good. I am from France and it is the main topic until we’re 18 at least.
At a certain age, if you’re not good at maths, maybe just be good on what you do best and let the math and accountability to occasional freelances. Don’t stuck your mind with things you’re not particularly good at.
That would be my advice. I am an engineer; although I can design technical products good; I won’t deal with accountability of the company.
I’ve seen a course named « finance for non financial professional » on coursera ; maybe it can help ?

not sure whether my answer helps; if not just ignore it. good luck

I'm not planning to work as an accountant. I just want to learn accounting for my own knowledge. Most likely I will outsource my accounting but I want to at least know that my accounting is doing it right. Not just blindly accept his work.

 

[AFMKelvin]

Outsource it.

While its important to have the ability to comprehend financial statements, the actual accounting can be outsourced fairly cheap.

Yeah that's what I plan to do but I still want to be literate and know what I'm looking at when the statements come in.

 

[AFMKelvin]

I was a CPA and financial executive in my past life.

Agree with the recommendations of the McGraw-Hill textbook and Financial Statements by Ittelson. Read them in that order. And use the textbook as a "need-to-know" reference. Things like cash journals and bond accruals may not be very relevant to you right now, but basic assets and liabilities (cash, receivables, payables, depreciation, etc.) and revenue/expense will be applicable almost immediately.

Skip the associate's degree or the technical program. Way more bang for your buck in getting a used textbook and filling in the gaps with Udemy courses.

Other things you might want to know:

• Want to learn how accounting is done for production? Get a cost accounting textbook. Read and work through the problems.
• Reading financial statements: once you've read the Financial Statements book, start reading the 10-K filings of public companies. They're long but include great analysis and insight as to what the company and its investors view as important.
• For the love of God, learn to read cash flow statements. Practice, practice, practice beating the hell out of them.
• You can also search for and listen to quarterly earnings calls of public companies, which typically includes pointed questions from analysts.
• Tax: you'll want to outsource it AND understand the tax implications of decisions your company makes. Have a quarterly meeting with your tax accountant (someone reputable, not a tax prep service). A good tax pro will be able to point you to the most tax-efficient decision available - consult them before any significant financial decisions. Ask lots of questions. When you don't understand what they're talking about, just ask, "Can you explain that?"
• There are lots of other areas that receive special attention in accounting - investments, estimates based on actuarial tables, intangible assets, mergers and acquisitions, etc. Shift your focus to them as they become more relevant or interesting to you, and unless you're planning to make accounting/finance your profession, focus on the drivers of these areas and developing a strong, high-level understanding.

Awesome advice. I don't plan to be a professional accountant. I just want to know what all the numbers mean and how they got there. Can you give me more book recommendations?

 

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[Ben Taylor]

As someone who is an accountant at my slowlane job, and *was* taking classes to become a CPA, I would recommend you take the Coursera specialization here if you want a solid grasp of what's going on in your business.

You can't beat it in terms of bang for your buck, since you can just audit the courses for free. If you choose to pay and work through the assignments and quizzes, it even ends with a capstone project for a small business where you have to apply everything you've learned from the prior courses.

P.S. As a general rule, I can't recommend Coursera highly enough if you're just trying to learn since the material is taught by actual college professors who are experts in their respective fields.