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Learn accounting for free

accountingcoach.com

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Re: Learn accounting for free

#91

Post by joshgrib »

revskill wrote: post #80

All of this could/should be replaced with coding. Why not illustrating concepts by some coding with a database ? It sucks, when those finance specialists have no idea on coding to teach others, which left a hole on those sucking ERP software to fill (but failed). Or, if you can't teach using programming, you still don't get it.

Not sure if this is exactly what you mean, and haven't fully dove into it, but if anyone is looking for a "programming based" accounting solution this one if very cool - https://hledger.org

Simple input format that reminds me of a markdown for finances, and then you can slice and dice the raw data in a bunch of ways for reports

Re: Learn accounting for free

#92

Post by vymague »

There are other online resources to learn accounting. A lot of them are listed on https://hledger.org/accounting.html#accounting-links .

https://www.dwmbeancounter.com/ is often mentioned on similar threads. People also like to link to beancount's manual http://furius.ca/beancount/doc/double-entry .

But I agree with mindslight's comment. They all kinda suck. Reading an actual textbook like the top comment suggested is probably better.

Re: Learn accounting for free

#93

Post by revskill »

joshgrib wrote: post #91
revskill wrote: post #80

All of this could/should be replaced with coding. Why not illustrating concepts by some coding with a database ? It sucks, when those finance specialists have no idea on coding to teach others, which left a hole on those sucking ERP software to fill (but failed). Or, if you can't teach using programming, you still don't get it.

Not sure if this is exactly what you mean, and haven't fully dove into it, but if anyone is looking for a "programming based" accounting solution this one if very cool - https://hledger.org Simple input format that reminds me of a markdown for finances, and then you can slice and dice the raw data in a bunch of ways for reports

There are many ERP software which does the accounting for you.

The point is, accounting should not be so hard that you need an ERP software to do it for you.

So the issue is in the education, when most of financial professional doesn't know to use programming to teach the concept.

Re: Learn accounting for free

#94

Post by avianlyric »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #89
brewdad wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not until the interest accrues. You could (no idea why you would) borrow $1MM and immediately pay it back before owing any interest. You would need to reflect this on your books but nothing material has changed.

> You could (no idea why you would) borrow $1MM and immediately pay it back before owing any interest. Can you in fact do that? It's possible with a residential mortgage in the US, because there are laws prohibiting prepayment penalties. And I think even those don't apply to refinanced mortgages?

Yes, just because it’s hard to find a lender that will except those terms doesn’t mean it’s not possible.

Re: Learn accounting for free

#95

Post by teh_klev »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #56
teh_klev wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Frank Wood's book "Business Accounting 1" Pretty sure that was the book I grudged most having to pay for when I was at college in 1986. I truly despised accounting ;) Three years later and I end up writing code to extend dbFlex and supporting Pegasus accounting software, go figure :)

I found it in 2005 or 2006, a year or two after my MBA, and a few months after I started studying for professional accountancy exams. I wish I'd found it earlier. It was more in-depth than the MBA material on financial reporting, and was presented more logically than the study guides I'd been using.

I think it was variances that tipped me over the edge. However what little latent knowledge I managed to stash away in my brain seemed to stand me in good stead later on. I guess another thing that stuck and thought was actually useful as a student was how to reconcile my bank account and cheque book.

Re: Learn accounting for free

#96

Post by reactspa »

If anyone can recommend resources to learn Law (U.S. Law, specifically), please share. (I've skimmed Law for Dummies... it was somewhat helpful.)

In particular, the terminology used in Law (e.g., "dismissed without prejudice") is very alien to me. And I'd like to make better sense of what I'm reading/hearing when I encounter such terms.

Re: Learn accounting for free

#97

Post by jltsiren »

mindslight wrote: post #85
dugmartin wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quickbooks uses double entry accounting at its core but hides it as single entry accounting (like Quicken) by presenting most UI as entries into registers that represent assets (like the checkbox register or invoices) or liabilities (like bills or credit cards) while hiding owner's equity behind a year-end closing dialog. For example instead of having to learn what accounts to debit and credit when invoicing and then…

So these "T accounts" are exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. Reading that page they just seem to be a visual method to represent negative numbers, explained very verbosely? This seems like it might have been a really valuable invention for someone in 1494 or even 1894. But in 2021 when we're comfortable with defining rich semantic models, it just seems quaint and limiting. Like for instance as shown it leav…

I learned accounting as a CS student and did it for a few years for volunteer organizations that were too small to consider professional services. The order I learned things was probably very different from how accounting is taught in schools, but it was appropriate for someone with my background.

From my point of view:

Elementary accounting is just a simple formal system. If you are used to formal reasoning, you can learn it in a few hours.

Basic accounting is all about the way of thinking. You learn the data model implied by the system and the key concepts behind it. You learn about things you are supposed to model within the system and how to accomplish that. And you learn about reporting, because nobody wants to see your low-level data. They want various views to the data based on richer data models. The accounts used in reporting are rarely the same as the ones used in accounting.

Intermediate accounting is about applying those basic principles in a specific regulatory environment. A lot of confusion about accounting arises when people try to jump directly from the elementary model to the specific requirements without first understanding what they are trying to accomplish and why.

Re: Learn accounting for free

#98

Post by djbebs »

xbryanx wrote: post #34
antaviana wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AFAIK, borrowing money does not change Equity, because it increases Assets (more money in the bank) and Liabilities (more debt) by the same amount so Equity stays the same.

Where are you borrowing this money without any interest? "Money you borrow" and "cost to borrow that money" are rarely the same value.

Interest is not reflected in the balance sheet, but in the income and cashflow statements.

Re: Learn accounting for free

#99

Post by [deleted] »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #19
rahimnathwani wrote: post #9

Background: I'm a qualified accountant, and have taught courses on accounting and finance. My thoughts on OP: I read through the first two parts of the first course on this site: - Part 1 Introduction to Accounting Basics, A Story for Relating to Accounting Basics - Part 2 Income Statement Based on what I read, I could not recommend this. You could get to the end of the 'income statement' part, without encountering a…

If you're a mathy person, you might find this brief explanation is enough to get going. Where I say 'you', I mean 'your company', not you personally. * Assets: things you own (e.g. tractor, money in bank, money owed by customers) * Liabilities: things you owe (e.g. unpaid supplier bills, loan owed to bank) * Assets and liabilities are both measured in a single currency (e.g. $). * Equity (aka 'book value'): A measure…

[deleted]

Re: Learn accounting for free

#100

Post by PopAlongKid »

mindslight wrote: post #85
dugmartin wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quickbooks uses double entry accounting at its core but hides it as single entry accounting (like Quicken) by presenting most UI as entries into registers that represent assets (like the checkbox register or invoices) or liabilities (like bills or credit cards) while hiding owner's equity behind a year-end closing dialog. For example instead of having to learn what accounts to debit and credit when invoicing and then…

So these "T accounts" are exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. Reading that page they just seem to be a visual method to represent negative numbers, explained very verbosely? This seems like it might have been a really valuable invention for someone in 1494 or even 1894. But in 2021 when we're comfortable with defining rich semantic models, it just seems quaint and limiting. Like for instance as shown it leav…

>whether the transaction has tax relevance,

It is almost always a matter of the account having tax relevance, not each individual transaction that involves that account.

> the only way to represent that expense in strict double book is to have 2 accounts for (Repairs_Tax, Repairs_Notax)

There are very few accounts that need to be split like that for tax purposes. Meals & entertainment are one such (although the tax laws about that change from year to year sometimes), and maybe the part of dues to a professional organization that are for political lobbying purposes. It's really not a problem at least in the U.S. tax code.

And note, as I previously commented, it is quite common for a business to have at minimum two sets of books, one for tax and one for book (the company's own internal representation of its financial position).

>[T-accounts] just seem to be a visual method to represent negative numbers

T-accounts are an instructional tool, they are not used for actual production accounting purposes. And they don't represent negative numbers, they illustrate a journal entry's effect on the general ledger accounts. Therefore, there is no need to include a date attribute. Rest assured, in a real double-entry system, every single debit and credit is date-stamped.

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