Category — Accounting

The Importance of Basic Accounting Knowledge in Business

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After completing my first year of business classes at West Chester University, I realized how important accounting knowledge is for any business major. Regardless of the field of business that you choose to pursue, whether it be marketing, management, economics, or finance, you will need to be able to have at least a basic understanding of accounting. Every business has to deal with observing and understanding source documents, income statements, balance sheets, and statements of retained earnings in order to be successful in today’s business world. Anyone interested in entrepreneurship who is looking to start their own business will have a definite advantage if they can understand financial statements of accounting. The truth is that accounting exists in our every day lives whether you realize it or not, so being educated in the field will do nothing but help you in a future business career.

The process of accounting will almost always begin with source documents. In the past, most of the source documents that CPA’s (Certified Public Accountants), auditors, and other accountants would have to deal with were tangible paper documents such as receipts from a recent purchase at a store. The accountant would then have to transfer these source documents into a journal to start the accounting process. Today, most of the source documents are electronic. When a purchase or sale is made between any two businesses or consumers, it is filed into a computer on an electronic database. This method has made accountant’s jobs far more simplistic, as they can they place the transaction directly into an electronic journal on Microsoft Excel.

The basic accounting equation that anyone who works in business should know, is that Assets= Liabilities + Equity. Assets include accounts such as cash, land, building, equipment, office supplies, inventories, and accounts receivable (money owed to you by a customer). The normal balance for these assets are a debit, which means if you are gaining any of the previous, you debit that amount of money towards that account. For example, if a sale is made in your store and a customer pays fifty dollars cash, then you would debit the cash account for fifty dollars. Liabilities include accounts payable (what you owe others on account), unearned revenue (you have been paid but haven’t performed a service), salaries payable (salary money owed to your employees), taxes payable, and interest payable. The normal balance that increases these accounts is a credit, unless the account is a contra account in which the opposite normal balance applies. Equity accounts include dividends (money owed to your stockholders), revenues and expenses. The normal balance for owner’s equity is a credit, but expenses made by your business are always treated as contra accounts. So for a transaction where a customer purchases something from your store on on account, you would debit accounts receivable and credit revenue. Each transaction is then recorded into a journal organized by month.

At the end of each month, the totals are added up from the journal and are placed into what are called “T-Accounts”. These are T-shaped charts with the debits on the left side and credits on the right. It is used to more easily find the ending balance of each account at the end of the month. After the totals of each account are found, you can now make an income statement to determine your amount of money lost or made during the month. The amount of income can be found by subtracting the expenses from your revenues. This is one of the most important financial statements that accountants have to deal with. Your income statement helps you determine if you are making profits or if you are losing money and need to improve a sector of your business.

Once you have transferred all of your journal entries into T-accounts and have made an income statement, you are then prepared to make a balance sheet. This is the basic accounting equation in which you make sure that Assets = Liabilities + Owner’s Equity. When you sum all of your asset accounts they should be equal to all of the liability and equity accounts as well. This is why anyone in any type of business should always have a basic understanding of the accounting process. With the knowledge of how money flows throughout a business, you can make wiser, more experienced decisions with your business, and protect yourself from losing money. It also allows you to take risks with your business and potentially gain a big return when it comes to the bottom line of your income statement. I’m pleased to say that I can now understand a company’s financial statements and comprehend the transactions that go on in every day business. Any business student will be more successful in their future career if they learn the crucial basics of accounting.



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Accountant Salary and Information

Job Description

An accountant provide information about financial records. This involve them in financial reporting, taxation, auditing, forensic accounting, corporate finance and so on.

They have a strategic role in companies as they provide professional and trustworthly advice. They goals is to maximise profitability on behalf of the client or the company the accountant is working for. They work in many different sectors including public firms, industry and commmerce.

Typical work activities include many different aspects of finance work… They provide financial audvice, they manage financial audits and keep a track on financial systems and budgets…

Most accountants have a specialty. There are four main kinds of accountants.

Public accountants work for public accounting companies. They do accounting, auditing, tax, and consulting work. Some have their own businesses. They do many different kinds of accounting for people outside the company.

Management accountants keep track of the money spent and made by the companies for which they work.

Internal auditors make sure that a company’s accounting records are right. They check the records to see that no one in the company is stealing. They also check to see that no one in the company is wasting the company’s money.

Government accountants and auditors make sure that government accounting records are right. They also check the records of people doing business with the government.

Accountants and auditors work in offices. They generally work a standard 40-hour week, but some work 50 hours a week or more. Tax accountants often work long hours during the tax season, from January to April. Accountants working for the government and public companies travel to audit other companies or branches of their own company.

Career Path for this Jobs

How do you get ready?

Most accountants have a college degree in accounting. Public accountants have to take a special test as well, resulting in a certification. Public accountants also must have a special license from the State in which they live. Most employers want accountants who know quite a bit about computers. Previous experience in a summer or part-time internship is also a plus.

People who want to be accountants should be good at math, and have good analytical skills. They also should be able to write well, so that they can tell others about their findings.

There is a lot of different paths people can take to become an accountant. Most of the people start as an Customer Service Representative, Junior Accountant, or Assistant Accountant.

After a couple of years, an Accountant could be promoted as Staff Accountant, Senior Accountant, Senior Staff Accountant…

Accountant Salary

How much does this job pay?

Accountant Salary: ,000 (average salary)

20,000 Salaries

Staff Accountant Salary: ,000 (average salary)

4,000 Salaries registered anonymously for this job

Senior Accountant Salary: ,000 (average salary)

1,500 Salaries registered anonymously for this job

Job Offers

How many jobs are there?

There were 1.5 million accountants and auditors in 2010.

Most of them worked in cities, because that is where the large companies tend to be.

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The Solution Is Accounting Outsourcing

Are you tired of employee drama?
Looking for ways to get ‘actionable numbers’ in real time on your desk?
Looking for ways to cut back office cost in your business?

Over the last 10 years hundreds of thousands of small businesses have sub contracted their bookkeeping function to a local accounting office.

The solution is called accounting outsourcing!

The time you save in managing the bookkeeping function will allow you to spend more time….

Building relationships with customers, staff and vendors
Allows you to take the time to create systems in your business so it runs like a franchise.

Outsourced bookkeeping can include bill payment, sending invoices, payroll and advanced functions like Chief Financial Officer tasks.

Outsourced Bookkeeping

If you looked back to the beginning of your business – could you justify ever putting the time energy and money into setting up a bookkeeping department again.  Most owners say they wish outsourcing was common 5 or 10 years ago – they would have saved years of employee drama and bad numbers.

Working on tasks your customers don’t know about like payroll, accounts payable or buying advertising is plum nuts – focus all your effort on building a loyal client base if you want to be successful.

The Power of Partnering with an outsourced accounting firm

Accounting is far more difficult then most business owners believe.  Plus, as a group we are reluctant to hire expensive top notch staff.   By using our services you only pay for what you need, but more important we have 5 levels of staff on each account.   80% of all outsourced accounting work can be done by low paid people.  That way you can afford to put a few hours in at the sr. bookkeeper and maybe one hour a week at the CPA level each to make sure your numbers are ‘actionable.’

Focus on your business when you have a dependable local firm managing your back office

We have an indepth staff to provide accounting outsourcing for your firm.  You will finally be able to stop worrying about the bookkeeping function as we take care of all staffing, quality and cost factors on your behalf.   You’ll no longer have to hire, train or worry about retention as we provide a total team for each client.

Other benefits of accounting outsourcing and outsourced bookkeeping

Accounting outsourcing cuts your capital expense as you no longer need the overhead
Accounting outsourcing stops your wasted hours of management time dealing with staff
Accounting outsourcing delivers real time accounting that is accurate

The Question is Not Whether to Outsource But What to Outsource

The reason we went into outsourced accounting as a business ten years ago was the answer to the three main questions from the Outsourcing Research Council:

If you were starting the company today, would you elect to perform this function internally?
Are you so good at performing this activity that others would hire you to do it for them?
Will tomorrow’s CEO come from that skill set?

Very few small businesses answer these questions any other way then, “NO.”   In our business we strive to outsource everything off the owners desk that cost under 0 per hour to get done.  We move everyting off our staffs’ desk if it cost less then 30 an hour. Outsourced bookkeeping starts under so it is a prime target for cutting cost.

Cut back office infrastructure with outsourced accounting

So in the accounting function you have low level tasks such as entering a bill and paying a bill, followed by receivables and bank account reconciliation, then payroll all the way up to CFO level cash and asset management.

You may be wise to start your outsourced accounting relationship with the very basic work and review your local accountants service before asking them to help you in more advanced services.

Most small business owners want to do the transactions themselves or have the spouse do them because it seems easy.  This is a giant mistake.  One little thing goes wrong and the entire set of books are at question.   Bad numbers = guessing on what’s working in your business.

Accounting Outsourcing has dividends for a small business of 1 to 100 staff

Accounting outsourcing provides a series of benefits according to the  The Outsourcing Institute.

Focus on customers not back office. Accounting outsourcing frees you up to put time and energy into customer acquisition and resales.

A local accounting firm has the capabilities already in place –Accounting outsourcing firms use multiple staff for each client with an expert on payables handling your bills while someone else who knows payroll takes that problem.  You get the best staff for the lowest cost when you outsource bookkeeping and accounting.

Go Paperless.  Most outsourced accounting firms use Delegation Magic to manage your documents and work flow.  This will reduce your back office cost and improve your business systems. As far as we can tell it is the best document management system for a small business outsourcing accounting and other low level tasks.

Shared Capital Expenses.  When you are outsourcing your accounting you will tap into the software, training, skill set, experience and communication skills of a team that has been around for some time. Setting all this up in your business, by yourself can take years of effort – that you don’t need to waste time on.

Cutting cost:  Although you will pay an outsourced accounting firm more per hour then in house staff, it generally takes them about half the time to do your work as an in house employee takes.  On average your in house bookkeeper takes 15 minutes to complete a transation when you consider all time and effort.  Outsourced bookkeeping firms using document management systems and on line connectivity can do the same work in 3 to 7 minutes.   You capture economy of scale cost reduction because your tapping into someone elses infrastructure.

The bottom line:  Outsourcing accounting will provide you with lower cost, better and actionable numbers you can use daily to run a better business and best of all no more employee drama

 

KC Truby

 

Ffxi Accounts Is Not An Easy Option

 

World of warcraft account (Ffxi) is a game liked by many people. It is feasible to trade for an account, i.e. purchase it from someone or sell yours to the other one. Although the rules of Blizzard TOS strictly does not permit to this, but still, people carry it out. Ffxi accounts have enabled the feasibility to get some bucks for your account. The main criteria for trading of Wow account is that there will be a possibility of getting indulged with an Account trader having intentions of selling your account with fake records. Ffxi accounts should be considered in such a way that you get what you deserve for your account.

There are many users who begin the game with the intention of selling their accounts. They do not leave a chance to get a good amount of money or better account option for the account they’ve been maintaining from long. Ffxi accounts are not an easy option because it is tough to deal with the people trading for the game account.

Blizzard’s Wow characters have gained more popularity than only being as a game. It has actually become a platform for trading of the accounts globally. There are millions of people who have cracked the final stages and reached to the experience of getting awesome features of the game. Ffxi accounts give a conclusion of the fact that they have become real commodities and people have actually started trading them.

Now, there are a few reasons given for which people opt for their ffxi accounts:

Get real bucks by choosing the option of ffxi accounts: There is an option to sell the personalized accounts through any part of world. You can use the options of forums, social media, message boards, online advertising and turn your account as a source to give you real money. The value of your account depends on the game level on which you’ve reached, skills of the player, server of character and such factors.

Easy and simple way for ffxi accounts: Ffxiv accounts trading have become very simple and you can easily approach to the people requiring to sell or buy their accounts. There is no complication for ffxi accounts and it is an easy process for getting the real bucks by selling your hardly built profile. The trading can be done and cash can be taken through various Online Medias.

Option of beginning again with Wow: You can easily re-begin the game by making other profile. It may be the time to change the character and story. The concept is completely different from the other popular games and you can go for Ffxi account for getting a valuable profile. You can make cash, but be sure that you are selecting a right mode, which is wanted by many people. Go for a thing required by many people and then begin your adventure for a new beginning.

The ultimate feature of Wow games is that you can play in multiple modes and experience the new features by trading your accounts. Although, you may get the best deals; but a real player won’t give the profile to the hands of other people so soon.

Visit http://www.gametag.com/ for buying ffxiv accounts, swtor accounts, warhammer accounts, world of warcraft account, aion accounts, eve character, warhammer online accounts, eq2 account, age of conan accounts.

Career Opportunities in Accounting

 There are a lot of things one can learn from a career in accounting. One of the most important lessons is learning how businesses work. To point out, one of the many successful businessmen were previously accountants who decided to work their way in business. Why? It is because accounting is the language of business. Accounting is the system, which quantifies business activities, transforms information into reports and communicates the output to top level management. So, here are some of the career options in accounting.

Public Practice. One may start his or her career in accounting as a public accountant. These are accountants who render services with a fee as well as staff accountants employed by them. Public accountants coordinate or work in partnerships, which offer their accounting services to individuals, businesses and governments. However, one should be a certified public accountant to be able to practice individually or as members of public accounting firms. The work of public accountants includes auditing, taxation and management advisory services. It should be noted that public accounting has been the frequently traveled path of most accountants as it provides excellent opportunities to achieve business experiences, which are multifaceted.

Education. Accountants may also be hired as researchers, professors or reviewers. These people make sure that there is continued development of the profession through making an effort to clear out and face emerging issues by doing research and distribute the obtained results to all.

Commerce and Industry. Any corporation whether big or small has an accounting group. The accounting group organizes and prepares financial statements; keeps track of costs, takes care of tax issues and works on international transactions. Over time in practicing accounting, one may be hired as vice presidents for the finance department. They could also be hired as chief accountants, cost accountants, internal auditor or budget officer. The responsibilities and the scope of the activities within this field of accounting vary widely dependent on the size of the company and the level of position.

Government Service. Accountants in the government service either work at the local or state level or the federal level. Government accountant manage and put together budgets, keep track of government costs and analyze programs of the government. Their work can improve the conditions of the public. However, there is higher tendency for it to be political; thus, their work is subject to bureaucratic impediment. The work of government accountants is very crucial. It is in government accounting that provides great development to a lot of organizations to controller and most probably to higher administrative positions. Government accountants are largely employed at the federal level. These include the Department of Defense, the General Accounting Office as well as the Internal Revenue Service.

So, there you go. Those were some of the myriad opportunities in the accounting profession. But one must always remember that success is not always attached to the accounting profession. If one wishes to attain success, one must work hard for it.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Accounting