(Part 2) Top products from r/Accounting

This is probably more than what you are looking for, but I’ll go ahead and pass on what I have been using. I was already thinking about putting together a less expensive, non-Becker CPA exam strategy for r/accounting once I pass all the exams; so this will be a good warm up.
I haven’t taken all of the exams yet (I have passed the ones I have taken), but I can tell you the resources that have seemed to help the most far. I am pretty cheap, so I have tried to obtain my materials as inexpensively as possible (which is odd because my employer is paying for everything upfront).

For all of the exams I have purchased the Wiley CPA exam prep books; If you are lucky you might be able to find them at your local library.

I also use the Gleim multiple choice questions, and simulations. Gleim questions are in my experience more challenging than the real test questions, which make the actual exams seem not so bad (which is a great confidence booster). I try to answer 1500-2000 MC questions in the last couple of weeks leading up to the exam. I went through the Gleim regulation simulation questions once before the exam, and they really helped me a lot.

For BEC I pretty much relied on tons of Gleim MC questions, and the Wiley materials. I also used my managerial accounting textbook for reviewing cost accounting.

Additional materials I used for REG were my undergrad Business Law textbook, and the Federal Taxation book I mentioned in my last post.

For FAR (the test I am preparing for now), it had been so long since I took any financial accounting courses, I felt I needed a more fundamental review. I have been working through Schaums Outline of Intermediate Accounting I, Second Edition and Schaums Outline of Intermediate Accounting II, Second Edition. I have also been reading Governmental Accounting Made Easy, which has been helping with governmental accounting concepts (I never covered this in school). I am hoping that Wiley and Gleim materials will be sufficient for IFRS.

I’ll have to get back to you on AUD in a few months, but I am assuming that it will probably be a Gleim, Wiley, and old text book combo.

I hope that this helps. It has worked pretty well for me, but everybody learns a little different. Good luck!

Definitely I recommend going to a tax pro. There are plenty of online articles on "how to choose a tax professional."

One option available to you is that you can do a Qualified Joint Venture. Basically, this means you do a Schedule C, one for each of you, and you just split the revenues and expenses.

Definitely get educated Tax Mama has a good book for the self-employed (I haven't read it but she is a trusted source of information). She also has a website that describes taxation in a more plain language.

Get into good bookkeeping and tax compliance habits now. Self-employed individuals tend to shoot themselves in the foot when they don't bother getting educated on taxes. It's boring, but it can make a huge difference on your profitability.

The fact that you are on here asking questions is a very good sign. Good luck on your business, I'm sure you will do great!

Ok, well a lot of Introductory Accounting books are really more about bookkeeping than anything else. I'd avoid those. If you want to get a head start, the Phillips and Libby one is good. I teach it in my Intro Accounting class. This is an older edition, but you can get a used version for $3.00 on Amazon so that's a plus. Everything builds on the concepts in this book. To succeed in Accounting, you have to master debits/credits and journal entries. There are lots of great YouTube videos on Accounting concepts too so if there's something in the book that's not making sense, see if you can find a good video on the topic.

Here's a link to purchase the Phillips and Libby book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0078025370/ref=sr_1_1_twi_har_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1465504702&sr=8-1&keywords=fundamentals+of+financial+accounting+book+libby

Also, I haven't read this book, but it sounds like it covers all the basics well.

https://www.amazon.com/Accounting-Made-Simple-Explained-Pages/dp/0981454224/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465504552&sr=8-1&keywords=intro+accounting+book

Best of luck!

Sup Stab-Stabby,

Before you read what I have to say, I highly suggest checking out this sub: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bookkeeping/ . I asked a question there about bookkeeping and got some pretty honest and straight forward advice.

Anyways - from what I understand (and I could be wrong, anyone feel free to correct me), it's essentially making journal entries and making the ledger, writing up invoices and income statements.

You absolutely for sure need to have some basic concept regarding what to debit and credit when there is a transaction, and other basic accounting rules.

If you are not well versed at all in accounting (like I was and still am, however I've been studying in my spare time), I highly suggest you read this book: https://www.amazon.com/Accounting-Made-Simple-Explained-Pages/dp/0981454224

The author explains the accounting concept and doing things like a book keeper would do very simply, and straight to the point.

You do not need to be a math wizard to be a bookkeeper, but you need to do things like Add, subtract, multiply, or divide in accounting terms.

For example: Return on Assets = Net Income/Average Total Assets.

But I'm not sure if you'd use something like that in bookkeeping, it's more of keeping records I'm assuming .

I do want to point out that you're not insane considering a career like this. I'm in the exact same position - decided I needed a career change and started looking into different careers out of desperation. Found accounting to be doable / interesting, financially stable, seems to be a decent job market and it's something that doesn't take long schooling wise compared to... let's say law school or becoming a doctor.

Hope this helped you out in some way or another

Do all accountants have as great a personality as yourself?

I'm asking for like 3 mini paragraphs that explains what forms of accounting are used for those career paths. Not a lecture on how I have to "work harder". What's the point of having r/accounting if people from other fields can't ask simple questions?

These are the list of books that just arrived from amazon.com. I should have them read in 2-3 weeks:

http://www.amazon.com/Accounting-Dummies-John-Tracy-CPA/dp/1118482220/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369466046&sr=1-1&keywords=Accounting+for+dummies

http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Financial-Reports-For-Dummies/dp/0470376287/ref=pd_sim_b_10

http://www.amazon.com/Accounting-Equity-Credit-Analysts-Morris/dp/0071429697/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369465988&sr=8-1&keywords=Accounting+for+m%26a

http://www.amazon.com/Financial-Statements-Step---Step-Understanding/dp/1601630239/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369466133&sr=1-2&keywords=reading+financial+statements

Are there any canonical texts that I'm missing? Mind you, I have a scarce amount of free time due to upcoming internship and my reading list for corporate finance/valuation. So like don't be a dick and tell me I have to read a 1500 pg encyclopedia.

This is what we use in our Intro to Financial courses. Naturally, this is the Canadian edition, but I'm assuming that the American version is just as useful. Concepts are explained clearly with myriad real-world examples.

This is a repost from Hacker News. There are some good comments there and a mention of the interesting sounding book Algebraic Models For Accounting Systems.

Visit your local library and look for bookkeeping/accounting books not prescribed for college. They tend to be more concise and easier to understand if you're new to accounting. Something like this.

I don't think there is a clear black or white answer to this, other than sitting back and taking the time to think about it. I had a professor who was an ex-Big 4 tax partner who was also very philosophical and recommended to all his students to read this book: "How Will You Measure Your Life" by Clayton Christenson. Amazon Link My professor is still married with his first wife, and has five children; his kids happened to go to my high school as well, strange.

Found it. I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty tempted to buy this .....

EDIT: Found it for $10 on QVC! $15.50 after S&H.

There's a whole book about creative accounting: https://smile.amazon.com/Detecting-Accounting-Fraud-Analysis-Ethics/dp/0133078604?sa-no-redirect=1 (written by my professor)

• Try this for working capital: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071635319/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• And this for inventory analysis: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071762523/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  Make sure you look through the table of contents before purchasing...it might not be what you need.

Thank you. Do you think that working from the Schaum's book will be sufficient? It's this one: https://www.amazon.com/Schaums-Outline-Principles-Accounting-Fifth/dp/0071635386

You mean something like an Asus MB169B+, which my firm already issues to every single staff? A 24" monitor won't fit in a laptop bag.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013XFJKGI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_RD8gybA81BYM4

https://www.amazon.com/Milylove-Non-slip-Wrinkle-Bandage-Formal/dp/B07T95GCW2/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_193_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&refRID=886N1PBP78A8BHKQKAYY

Not as violent as the ones that hook to your socks

https://www.amazon.com/Comfortable-Computer-Reducing-Eyestrain-Eyeglasses/dp/B00BQ7KBV4/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1474581407&sr=8-1&keywords=gamma%2Bray%2Bglasses&th=1

Gamma Ray glasses, built like a tank. I do get weird looks when people see me switch between these and my reading glasses for meetings.

> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013XFJKGI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_RD8gybA81BYM4

So that monitor is 15.6". Did you encounter any problems when dealing with Excel sheets, especially when they have frozen rows?

In the same boat as you. Ended up with a Maths minor and rarely get to use any of it. However, there is this book, which examines accounting from a purely abstract algebra/group theory point of view. So higher maths can be used, but mostly in a pure maths sense, and not so much applied.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B005QB8YZ6/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new

Here is the link - http://www.amazon.com/Financial-Accounting-Student-Value-9th/dp/0132751216

Try an old textbook: $5 used

I haven't had a chance to look through it yet but I found this a couple weeks ago when I was looking for review material. They have several books that cover the full range of accounting and they're affordable.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0071762507?pc_redir=1408428804&robot_redir=1

I bought these (with zero magnification) and they changed the game for me. You might not tell a difference right away, but your eyes will be less exhausted at the end of the day.

Trial and error, baby!

http://www.amazon.com/Accounting-Dummies-John-Tracy/dp/1118482220/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415466105&sr=8-1&keywords=accounting+for+dummies

http://www.amazon.com/Internal-Controls-Policies-Procedures-Hightower/dp/0470287179/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415466141&sr=8-1&keywords=internal+controls

You'll definitely want to learn some basis in accounting theory. If you have a working knowledge of the framework, you will be able to apply those basics to somewhat more complex situations with guidance from the codification.

Also, get learned on internal controls. As the controller you're going to be more-or-less responsible for ensuring that there are policies and procedures in place to mitigate the risk of fraud. If it happens, it will be your head. Don't let that shit happen!

Other than that, my only worry would be if you have to report to any creditors, etc. They may be weary of you having little accounting knowledge outside of quickbooks on-the-job training. Have a good CPA in your back pocket.

This is the book that my university used to teach us intermediate accounting. The term "intermediate" can be a bit of a misnomer because it's a fairly difficult class for many people.

Intermediate Accounting, Reporting and Analysis (2nd edition) by Wahlen, Jones, and Pagach

https://www.amazon.com/Intermediate-Accounting-Reporting-James-Wahlen/dp/1285453824



And this is a book that my university used to teach us about managerial accounting. Managerial could likely resemble the operations rotation.

https://www.amazon.com/Managerial-Accounting-Decision-Motivating-Performance/dp/0137024878



Practice problems helped me understand harder stuff.