Firm Provides Extensive and Focused Training in Accounting

As seen in The Salt Lake Tribune

How would you like to wear whatever you want to work, set your own hours that fit your personal schedule and, better still, just stay home all day?

That’s the lifestyle many have adopted by owning a bookkeeping or accounting home-based business. In fact, this type of service is rated as the best of the best home-based business opportunities available today. And, Universal Accounting Center can help you get started.

Here’s a few reasons why this type of service is so popular: the up-front investment is low; it offers a flexible schedule; and it can provide you an income of $30 to $60 per hour. A home-based business is well-suited for anyone who wants to supplement his or her income, work at home, or change careers.

According to the state Job Service, the accounting field is expected to expand by over 20 percent during the next few years. Accounting is also considered among the top 10 percent of all professions for future job growth.

Couple this with an expanding small business sector, which now accounts for over 98 percent of businesses in the United States, and you discover a great opportunity to share in the growth of small business while providing a needed service as a bookkeeper/accountant.

Cashing in on this opportunity doesn’t take long, nor need it require extensive schooling.

Universal Accounting Center, a Utah-based firm founded in 1979, can assist a person in entering the field. Within just four weeks, and individual with no prior experience can begin providing bookkeeping and accounting services to a small business either on a contract or employment basis.

“There is a notion that a person must be a CPA to perform bookkeeping and accounting services. This is simply not true,” said Allen Bostrom, a CPA and president of Universal Accounting Center.

“CPA credentials are only necessary when performing an audit or when a CPA endorsement is required for a review,” explained Bostrom.

“In fact, due to mandatory peer reviews and continuing education required of a CPA, it may be to a person’s advantage to not be certified as a public accountant when providing bookkeeping services,” he added.

To be successful, a person should be detail-oriented, comfortable working with numbers and at ease when talking with others.

Individuals that know how to account for inventory financed businesses, small manufacturing companies and construction companies are at a particular advantage.

Each of these types of businesses require specialized accounting methods beyond that taught inmost accounting curriculums.

How does Universal Accounting Institute provide so much in so little time? The Universal Accounting training system focuses exclusively on accounting for small businesses.

According to Bostrom, “When an individual wants egg salad, they go to a supermarket and buy the ingredients. Education at the local universities and colleges is similar to buying the whole store.”

He explained, “Only a small portion of the university accounting degree program is actually accounting-related, and most of the course work is emphasizing the large corporate environment and issues that apply to big business. Universal’s training, on the other hand, is uniquely devoted just to small business accounting.”

Universal is a fully registered school with the Utah State Board of Education. The course is taught by practicing professionals and completed during three-hour daily instructional sessions over a four-week period.

The courses begins with and in-depth understanding of the fundamentals of accounting, followed by hands-on experience in the complete accounting cycle for nine different businesses.

In addition, the students receive direction in how to develop, calculate fees, and work with clients or employers.

Students of the Universal Accounting course attend for a broad range of reasons and from equally diverse backgrounds. In a typical class, one-third of the students lack experience in accounting, while more than 30 percent of the students have degrees in accounting. In fact, CPAs are often enrolled in the class.

A recent graduate of Universal wrote: “In four weeks, your course taught me everything - and I mean everything - I would need to know about starting my home bookkeeping business.

“I currently have seven clients I am making more money than I did when I was employed full time and I arrange my schedule to fit my needs, not arrange my life to fit my jobs.”

Get Started Today

A List of Do’s and Don’ts

A job is so much more enjoyable when you like the people you work with. Unfortunately, there’s usually a bad apple in every bunch, and sometimes that difficult coworker can make your job more difficult. From Chatty Cathy’s to White-Collar Bullies, there are lots of personality types that can cause conflict in the workplace. But there is something you can do about it. Here are 10 do’s and don’ts that will help you deal with difficult coworkers:

1. Do examine yourself
First and foremost, examine yourself. Do you often experience difficulty with coworkers? Are you struggling with individuals that no one else has taken issue with? If you find that you are constantly butting heads with colleagues then it’s a good idea to do some reflection and determine if you are the common denominator in these situations. If you are, it’s time to work through some personal issues that may be causing the conflict.

2. Don’t avoid your feelings
Whenever there’s conflict and tension in the workplace it can take a toll on you emotionally. Acknowledge your feelings so that they don’t sneak up on you later and reveal themselves in an emotional outburst at work. Recognize that what you’re experiencing is important and needs to be addressed.

3. Do confide in a friend or family member
This will help you process your feelings. Sometimes when we’re involved in a work-related conflict it can be difficult to maintain a realistic perspective as the tension begins to warp our view. Talking with an objective third party can help with that. Not to mention you may also get some good advice on dealing with the problematic coworker.

4. Don’t gossip
Avoid gossiping at all costs; complaining to your colleagues about the individual won’t make things any better. All it does is generate negative energy that will cause your bad feelings to build. And the last thing you want is for your nemesis to catch wind of your water cooler moments and then use them against you.

5. Do consider your options
There are lots of ways to deal with a difficult coworker; the important thing to remember is you must deal with it. You can confront the individual, standup to the individual when appropriate, publicly call them out on their behavior, or have a heart-to-heart with him/her. You have lots of options and should consider the pros and cons of each before you act.

It can be discouraging to work with an individual who is causing tension or discomfort for you in the workplace. But you must always remember that you can influence the course of your life, and that includes dealing with a difficult coworker. Come back next week when we’ll talk about the following:

6. Don’t avoid the problem
7. Do confront the coworker
8. Don’t take the low road
9. Do involve others, if necessary
10. Don’t expect poor treatment

You Bet!

Victoria Richardson started her business in January of 2004, and has seen incredibly rapid growth and profit ever since. She only spent the first 6 weeks marketing. Since then, she has had all the clients she can handle. In fact, she tells us that she has had to cut down to “only” 18 clients so that she has the quality time that she wants to spend with her children. Victoria is a stay-at-home mom and Professional Bookkeeper.

USA Today notes that while there are no statistics on the number of work-at-home moms (WAHM), the National Association of Women Business Owners reports that there are more than 10 million female-owned businesses in the USA. Many of those are run by stay-at-home moms who manage their businesses and take care of their children from the comfort of their own homes.

Perhaps you’ve wanted to return home to raise your kids but have worried about losing that stable income. But there’s no need to worry. Accounting is a lucrative profession that can easily be done while taking care of your family. Just ask Victoria.

Victoria Richardson, AAHM (Accounting-at-Home Mom)

At the time Victoria started her own accounting business she had two young children: ages one and two months. She was having ethical conflicts with her employer and had reached a point where she wanted something different.

As she considered her options Victoria said:

. . . my list of wants and needs included: complete flexibility to be able to be with my children when they needed me, if they were sick, or something had come up where they needed to spend time with me. I needed to be making at least $60,000 a year. I needed to be able to have a lot of flexibility, and wanted to work an abbreviated work week. And what I found was that … there was nothing out there that was willing to give me that package. . . . I discovered that the only option that was available for me was to be able to start my own business.

The Professional Bookkeeper Program

But Victoria knew she needed more practical education. She had a bachelor’s degree in business, but didn’t feel she had the confidence to manage the accounts of multiple clients without hands-on training. So she decided to enroll in Universal Accounting Center’s Professional Bookkeeper (PB) Program; it would give her the flexibility she needed to finish the course quickly and at her own pace.

When she was close to completing the course, she decided to quit her full-time job and become an independent contractor. Her ex-employer became her first client, and within 6 weeks she had enough clients that she could stop marketing.

Victoria feels like she has the edge and doesn’t worry about competition.

I know what they want to hear. I know what’s going to make them feel comfortable, and I know what their concerns are. And the Universal Accounting Courses taught . . . a lot of it has to do with . . . it’s semantics . . . it’s the language that you present it in. When I talk to them about increasing their profitability, they listen. It makes sense to them. I can feel confident in helping them discover what problem areas they have, and what ways they can work through that, so it’s not a situation where I feel like, you know, anybody else is coming in and giving them that because, unfortunately, that’s what they’re looking for and they’re not finding it anywhere. I can come in and do it, and I can do it and save them money.

The PB Program not only teaches you practical, day-to-day accounting for the small business, but it also trains you on marketing your unique skill-set. It gives you the edge over the competition so that you can feel confident in your ability to provide a better service for your clients.

More information on the Professional Bookkeeper Program

References

“Job Opening? Work-at-Home Moms Fill the Bill” by Stephanie Armour, USA Today

UAC Helps Financial Professionals Create Personalized Websites for their Businesses

One great way to promote your business is in having a website. People can get to know you a little better even if they are across the continent. A good website will speak directly to your target audience and let them know how you can make their lives better. A good website will represent you well and increase your clientele. A good website will also work 24/7 as a virtual receptionist, getting the word out about your business while you spend your time doing what you do best: accounting. But where do you start? Getting your own website up and running can be an intimidating endeavor. Not anymore.

The New and Improved AccountWeb Tool

Universal Accounting Center (UAC) has recently announced the release of their expanded and improved Accountweb website development tool, available exclusively for accounting, tax, and bookkeeping professionals. Within minutes you can create a personalized website for your practice, enabling potential clients to access your business even after your office closes.

Much more robust and customizable than the earlier version of the AccountWeb tool, this version includes several templates to choose from along with an in-depth and user-friendly administration tool. Additionally, users will receive an email account and the ability send out monthly newsletters, developed by Universal, to their own in-house list of accounting contacts to be used as a marketing and client retention tool.

Regardless of the package you choose, you will have access to:

• UAC Support
• A personal domain (i.e. www.rickpotter.com)
• The ability to change, remove, add textual content in the form of posts or page.
• The ability to update user and contact informatio.
• The ability to display any UAC designations you have earned (PB, PTP, QBS.
• The ability to add personal Link.
• An upload images feature
• UAC’s basic database of images (with resize and customization features.
• Basic listing in the Accountweb.net director.
• 100 MB Web Spac.
• 1000 MB Transfe.
• 1 Email addres.
• The rebuild-website functio.
• RSS fee.
• Automatic search engine submissions (ping notifications.

“In past years, Universal provided a relatively simple website to its students but the customizability was limited,” said Mike Rigby, Accountweb developer. “With this new upgrade, the user will be able to choose from a large variety of templates, text, and domain names, making their web site unique to their situation.”

Imagine how difficult it would be to create your own website with all the above features without spending much of your own time managing the process. Now imagine that UAC can manage that process for you, enabling you to create a strong web presence without expending much energy.

To see a sample of a website developed from the Universal Accountweb platform, go to www.UniversalAccountingServices.com.

Whether you run a full-time accounting practice or do taxes on the side, you need a website that tells potential clients about your business even when you are unable to. You can add this URL to your business card, increasing your marketing efforts with minimal cost. If you haven’t yet developed a website for your business, today is the day! Order your subscription now-your website will be up and running while you do other important tasks in the 1-2 business days. And if you are a Universal Accounting student you will receive a free six-month trial!

Accountweb Website Signup

(Note: The setup process will adjust for all students terms and the free trial that was sold to them.)

The old adage is true . . .  that the only thing constant is change. Times are changing; are you keeping up with the changes or are you becoming obsolete?

Buggy Whips — a Lesson in Obsolescence

At one point in time, selling buggy whips was a lucrative income. Once the automobile came into being, buggy whip industries vanished. Over time, people learn to fix automobiles and even as recently as the late 70’s, a mechanic’s job was no where near as complicated as it is now. The carburetor disappeared and in comes the fuel-injector. What does that mean? It means that the mechanic’s skills became outdated in just a few short years. Today, computers have infiltrated the automobile to the point where auto mechanics needs as much or even more training in electronics and programming than they do in the workings of the mechanical side of things.

Speaking of computers, when’s the last time you found out that your software or operating system needs to be updated? Until recently, on my home computer, I’ve been using Windows Me (Millennium) which came out only five years ago. Already, several of the latest versions of software that I use cannot be used on a Millennium machine. I had to upgrade to Windows XP. Just in the 3 years that I’ve been in school to learn computer programming, my future-scheduled classes have changed 4 or 5 times. Every few months, a new software or programming language becomes the emphasis because it’s gaining market-share. In fact, the information learned in one of my classes is almost obsolete only two years later.

People who work in the call-center industry are having to learn new skills because of the recent laws that impact the way businesses can communicate with customers. The list of changes and updates to the world as we know it is constant and never-ending.

An Industry Where You Don’t Have to Re-Tool Every Few Years

The point is that in most major industries, auto-mechanic, computer programming, business management, technology, etc the industry changes and employees are constantly needing to “re-tool” and learn new skills, and employers are constantly looking for the person with the best skill set. Unfortunately even if you are the best buggy-whip manufacturer and designer in the entire universe as we know it, you are not likely to find employment that will meet your income and lifestyle needs.

So the question you must be asking yourself at this point is “what’s the point of training if I’ll be obsolete by the time I’m done training?” Well the answer is that there is at least one industry out there that hasn’t changed for over 500 years . . .  Accounting and Bookkeeping.

If you want a stable job in an industry where you won’t be obsolete in a few years . . .  accounting.

If you want a skill that EVERY business not only needs, but must have by law . . .  accounting.

If you want a career where your boss can’t afford to lose you . . .  accounting.

Accounting Hasn’t Changed Much in Over 500 Years!

The first person to put into print the accounting concepts that are still used today was an Italian monk named Luca Pacioli (pronounced pot-CHEE-oh-lee), in the year 1494. However, the concepts were not even created by him; they were actually a description of a system used by merchants during the Italian Renaissance. He described the same accounting cycle that we used today:  journals; ledgers; inventories; assets; liabilities; income; expense accounts; year-end closing, etc. He even made the observation that until the debits equaled the credits, do not go to sleep.

The reason this system has survived for so long is because it works! Because of it’s stability and consistency, according the US Department of Labor, Accounting opportunities will grow by 20% by the year 2014.

So it would seem that it’s clear that accounting is a safe field to go into, but I’m going to guess that you weren’t born knowing how to be a bookkeeper, and like most people would need some training to move into this field. Or you might be lucky enough to already be in the field, but you need to fine tune your skills or have that piece of paper that proves to your boss that you’re worth more than he’s paying you.

Well you basically have two choices; you can either spend four years getting an accounting degree or you can take a condensed accounting course like we offer here at Universal Accounting Center. According to our students, you’ll find that you will learn more in our 60 hour course than you will in a four year degree; plus it’ll only take you four weeks, not four years.

Read a Detailed Comparison of the Professional Bookkeeper course vs. traditional university training

A good friend of mine who happens to be a business owner and a CPA has a saying that he always used when it came to the training and disciplining of his staff . . .  “If you can’t change the people, change the people.” Of course, what he meant by that was that if you couldn’t change the behavior of the people (change the people), then get new people (change the people). Unfortunately some people end up in situations where they can’t upgrade their skill sets fast enough to keep up with the demands of the job market. When that happens, the new guy right out of college with the newer more updated skills get the job when the company “changes the people.”

If you don’t want to be the one being changed by the company, then change yourself. Get into a career that is stable and has proven itself for the past 500 plus years . . .  ACCOUNTING. This is what we do best. We help you change, so you don’t have to be changed. We offer the best accounting and bookkeeping training money can buy.

“This economy has a need for well trained accounting personnel and Universal Accounting is supplying just that. The intensive training your graduates receive is a highly marketable asset in today’s market. Dollar for dollar I have found no better educational value than Universal Accounting program.”
—Brett Thompson (AccountTemps Staffing Manager)

Less Expensive Than University Training

Many students in the Professional Bookkeeper program were amazed when they found out how much less expensive that distance training can be compared with traditional university training. For less than you would probably pay for a single semester of college, the Professional Bookkeeper program trains you in the complete range of small to mid-sized business Accounting.

Learn How Much Less You Will Pay With Professional Bookkeeper Training

Get Started Today!

Now is the time; this is the place. Don’t wait any longer to get into a career that is stable and in high demand.

Accounting has been called the second oldest profession in the world. The need to track income and expenses has existed for hundreds of thousands of years, and considering how businesses are growing, the need for accounting will continue to exist for hundreds of thousands of years to come. Do you want a job that offers that much security?

You’ve probably already heard that accounting and bookkeeping jobs are growing at a quick pace. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that by 2008 accounting jobs will increase by 20%! That’s just two years from now. “In addition to openings resulting from growth, the need to replace accountants and auditors who retire, or transfer to other occupations, will produce numerous openings in this large occupation,” the bureau said in a recent report. Imagine how many jobs that represents. And imagine how many of them you could choose from.

A Four-Year Degree is Not required
But I don’t want to put my life on hold while I take four years to get a university degree Is that the thought running through your mind? While accounting and bookkeeping positions do require specialized education, accounting instruction does not have to take place on a university campus. Nor does it require a degree.

Small Businesses Are Looking for a Few Good Accountants
Over 85% of the opportunities in the accounting field are within small businesses. Universities prepare their students for corporate accounting which doesn’t address small business needs. More than 50% of small businesses fail, and much of that failure can be attributed to lack of accounting expertise. Imagine contributing to the success of small business, which will build your own community while providing you with job satisfaction and security. But how do you go about it?

UAC’s Professional Bookkeeper Program Has the Answer
At Universal Accounting, we understand the needs of the small business like nobody else. We’ve helped people like you advance their career in small business accounting for over 25 years. With a curriculum designed specifically to address the needs of small businesses, Universal Accounting offers the most complete small business accounting course anywhere. And depending on your schedule and situation, it will only take you 60 hours to complete. Does that career path interest you?

Endless Opportunities
The Professional Bookkeeper Program will enable you to advance in your current job. Even non-accounting positions can be enhanced with accounting knowledge; this designation alone could impress your boss and earn a promotion.Or maybe you’d like to start your own business offering bookkeeping services to clients of your own. This one program can open doors you might not have known existed.

In an informal pole taken by the success coaches here at Universal Accounting, we contacted 100 graduates of our Professional Bookkeeper Program 12 months after their graduation. 74% are now working in the accounting field, have been promoted to a management position or own their own accounting business.

Visit Universal Accounting Center Today!
If this sounds good to you, right down your line of thought and your plan of action don’t procrastinate taking the next step. Learn more about our Professional Bookkeeper Program today.We’re so confident that our program will work for you that we offer a 100% money-back guarantee. If, after completing all of the learning activities, you do not feel that you have received your money’s worth, simply return the materials to Universal Accounting Center, for a complete refund. There aren’t many universities out there that would make that promise to its graduates.

Don’t wait another day to change your career and change your life.