Accountant and Bookkeeper Articles

Now That You’ve Got Your Feet Wet

Recently we discussed what you needed to do to get yourself started in the right direction and moving your career path to where you want it to end up. You’ve put in the time and researched what you needed to, which type of a position within the accounting field most interests you. How much that person in that position stands to make and you have even looked up what type of experience you are going to need to be even eligible for your desired position.

You’ve identified what you have right now in terms of skill sets and experience already under your belt. And what work experience is just at-your-fingertips if you were to stretch yourself and step up to grasp ahold of it. You’ve started looking for those ways to network… find other like minded individuals who are in the profession that may have a different accounting responsibilities. You never know when you are going to make at least a lateral step from one company to the next. Always good to keep your options open for you.

We’ve also chatted about the training you can get to further your career. We’ve talked many times before about the pros and cons of going to a four year university, verses other forms of education. This fact is something that Universal Accounting took into serious consideration. What benefits do you receive with a four year university that makes you a better accountant? After several months of research the conclusion was found that if you were looking to be a big corporate accountant, then the four year option was for you. That’s only what they prepare you for, and teach you to do, in those accounting majors in the higher education institutions.

So What Benefit Can I Realize With Universal’s Training?
Very good question. It first all rests on the conclusion we came to when we started offering this training program. We saw that for most in the profession, accountants and bookkeepers were finding a greater opportunity for higher pay and advancement in those companies that were classified as small business operations. These opportunities have only grown over the years, from 85% of all businesses being in that small business category to approaching 91% of all business transacted are with companies with 100 employees or less.

Secondly, we found the then existing training available nationwide did little or nothing to prepare those who were in those businesses. A great need for the right accounting training was there for us to service. With Universal’s Professional Bookkeeper Program you are able to get hands-on instruction so that you can portray your accounts within a company the way they need to be for effective tracking and record keeping. In the training we teach what is the single best indicator of a company’s financial health.

Tested and proven techniques that will make your job easier and prove to your boss your expertise in helping the company to stay sound, financial viable and best yet, profitable! We’ve been down in the trenches, tested these strategies and methods in real time and have done the trial and error for you. Within 60-90 days you two can know, and put into practice what it took us years and years to perfect. Click Here to find out more about the training itself.

The “So What…” Factor
“So what does this mean for me?” you may be asking. What does the right and immediately applicable accounting and bookkeeping training going to do for your career? Frankly, it gives you more. The training affords you the ability to have the confidence in whatever may come your way in a company’s accounting needs that you know or can get the answer to it readily. This training allows you the opportunity to be able to apply what you’ve been trained in ANYWHERE to any company you come in contact with.

Most importantly, the Professional Bookkeeper Training Program gives you the luxury to be able to dictate what you can get paid, which position you will be able to occupy, and which type of lifestyle you can create for yourself and those around you.

The right training opens the many doors of accounting opportunities, and you choose for yourself which option to take!

Don’t Hesitate Another Day
Procrastination for your tomorrow is doing you no good. Take control of where your career is heading, don’t allow it to be dictated by someone else! Click Here to enroll today in what will be the difference in your earning potential, your job satisfaction and the type of things you will have access in doing throughout your life with your greater earnings. Enrolling in the Professional Bookkeeper Program gives you what you need tomorrow… today!

Want Another “Door” to Open to You?
UAC’s Professional Tax Preparer Certification May Be the Key. Check out Universal’s tax training is not only a great way to boost your resume, but it can also offer an added income stream come tax time. You’ll acquire expertise that most employers will appreciate, and you’ll be able to make money in your spare time as a tax preparer. You’ll also be able to earn a professional designation which is always a good selling point in any job interview. Don’t wait to make those career changes that you’ve been thinking about. Consider the PTP Certification your exit to success.

By David Schepp — The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News

On a recent rainy morning, Andrea Giangrande joined three other women at a career workshop, each with the hope of making their work lives more rewarding and less frustrating.

An interior designer by training, Giangrande, 32, of Somers, N.Y., recently began looking for work again after returning to the area from Boston, where she became disillusioned with her career.

Despite the image it may conjure in people’s minds, Giangrande tells the group that furnishing people’s homes and businesses is not glamorous work.

“It’s not ‘Will & Grace,’ ” she says, referring to the TV show that features an interior designer as one of its lead characters.

Moreover, she doesn’t buy into the argument that work is work and that nobody likes their job. “I don’t necessarily agree with that philosophy,” Giangrande says. “You should enjoy it at least a little bit.”

She hopes the half-day workshop by a career-coaching firm, will prod her to a more satisfying career.

Giangrande is typical of the clients counseled by Nicole Aliev and Kathy Kriskey, the seminar’s organizers and veterans of the corporate “rat race,” as they call it, which has chipped away at many workers’ enthusiasm toward their work lives.

Having achieved great success as corporate coaches, Kriskey and Aliev became disenchanted with their own careers. That led them in July to start Rat Race Be Gone, a career coaching and consulting business based in Aliev’s Mamaroneck, N.Y., home.

Career coaching makes sense for everyone, Kriskey says, adding that it needn’t be a long-term commitment. “Sometimes it’s just a few sessions and you totally change your perspective.”

Workers today are feeling less appreciated. Still, that doesn’t mean the workers she coaches necessarily want to leave their jobs. Rather, “it’s about changing how they view their jobs,” Aliev says.

At the core of the women’s philosophy is getting their clients to create an action plan that helps them visualize what their lives will be like a year from now, after they make changes.

Through its seminars, Rat Race Be Gone allows its clients to be vulnerable about their career choices and goals, allowing them to access advice from other members of the group who have an impartial view. By teaming them with other group members at the workshops, participants not only get free advice on how to handle their careers but also a new network of contacts, Aliev says.

In a world where workers are taught to spout bravado about the choices they’ve made in their careers, taking a glaring look at the missteps or the unhappy moments can be quite difficult, both women say.

Career coaching helps frustrated workers look at their situations from a fresh perspective.

“Recognition is a big issue,” Aliev says. “It’s acknowledging that employees go farther if they’re satisfied in their jobs.”

Many workers have stayed in unsatisfying jobs because of fear. “There was so much unknown,” Aliev says, referring to the recent economic recession and national security concerns.

But she and Kriskey have found that with the economy starting to rebound people are saying, “enough is enough.” Workers are no longer willing to stay in boring, miserable jobs any longer in the name of job security.

As for Giangrande, she came away from her four-hour workshop with a positive outlook in the knowledge that she is not alone in her discontent.

“It was therapeutic to be there,” she says.

How to Get Help and Supercharge YOUR Career

Would it be helpful to get some of this kind of coaching in your life? Would it be even better if it were free? This is the kind of coaching support that you get when you get the Professional Bookkeeper (PB) course from Universal Accounting. You will have your own coach that you can get advise from on career advancement or just get answers about Accounting and Bookkeeping principles that you are learning. This kind of unmatched support is one of the key features that really make our training unique. You always have someone to call to get answers from and to get vital career coaching.

Show Me How the Professional Bookkeeper Program Will Give Me the Training that I Need to Get a Better Job

By Dana Knight — The Indianapolis Star

Recruiters spend less than 20 seconds looking at your resume.

For every position open, only 10 percent of resumes get a second viewing after that initial scan, according to Monster.com. About 3 percent of resumes lead to interviews. And one person gets hired.

The odds are against you - big time.

“They’re looking for reasons to reject you,” says Irv Orenstein, president of Orenstein Advertising in Huntingdon Valley, Pa., who has provided job-hunting guidance for more than 30 years. “They can only consider a few. If you give them the right reason to dump yours, they will.”

So you’re thinking this is advice for the novice — a job-seeker who has never typed up a resume.

It is. But it’s for the workplace veteran, too. You would be surprised what the recruiters are saying about professionals with real jobs.

“Even when written by professionals, most resumes read like obituaries, and that’s why they get buried,” says Orenstein.

No one seems to be immune to a pathetic resume.

“We still get the resumes of people that put their pictures in with their height and weight,” says Janet Hambrock, a recruiting manager with ExactTarget, an Indianapolis software company specializing in e-mail marketing. “Don’t do that.”

Hambrock hires everyone from software engineers to salespeople. Among her biggest pet peeves: resumes written in third person. She also warns against listing personal information or hobbies.

“For the most part, that seems pretty harmless,” she says. “But the more they know about your personal life, the more they can discriminate.”

One way that can happen is with an e-mail address. If you have a personal e-mail like Partyer11@aol. com or HotMama@yahoo.com, that could be a problem. Opt to create another e-mail address to list on the resume, using your first and last name or initials.

Orenstein has his own list of common errors, mistakes that even the professionals make.

Most resumes are too long. The standard rule is to write one page for every 10 years of experience, says Orenstein. He suggests that all prospective job hunters offer a resume that is just one page.

Orenstein says another mistake is listing your salary requirement. The hiring team doesn’t know you or know how valuable you are, so it can only seem too high to them.

Don’t be me-oriented. Write the resume to please the reader. Let him or her know why hiring you will be good for the company.

Use a chronology. Orenstein suggests showing the progress you have made — starting with your first job and ending with the most current. It’s human nature to follow things in chronological order, he says.

Many resumes aren’t convincing. If=you say you doubled sales in a short amount of time, be specific so they know it’s the truth.

Which sounds better? “Worked diligently to surpass sales quota on an ongoing basis” or “exceeded $1 million quarterly sales quota by at least 25 percent for six consecutive quarters”?

Numbers are good, according to Monster.com, which provided the above example.

And, above all, forget the stiff, formal language. Write the way you talk. It’s more approachable. Less uppity.

Stand Out From the Crowd

Because your resume has so little time to make its point, you need a point of differentiation, something unique. The Professional Bookkeeper designation is just the thing to add credibility and get your resume noticed!

Learn More About the Professional Bookkeeper Designation

Take Our 10-Question Quiz to Find Out

A good boss makes his men realize they have more ability than they think they have so that they consistently do better work than they thought they could. - Charles Erwin Wilson

As you travel along your career path, at one point or another you’re going to determine whether or not you aspire to lead people and organizations to greatness. But it takes more than desire to become a leader, and you must first demonstrate your management abilities before you’re ever promoted to a management position. So what does it take to lead others? Take our 10-question quiz to determine whether or not you’re boss material. This week we’ll cover the first five questions.

1. Did you think “big picture”?
Leaders must invoke an alchemy of great vision. - Henry Kissinger.

You will never become boss if you lack the ability to see the big picture. Often employees get wrapped up in their own tasks and responsibilities and are unable to envision how those things are part of an organization’s broader mission and goals. Leaders can look beyond the tedium to see the final destination and can determine whether or not the organization as a whole is on track to get there.

2. Can you inspire others?
Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there; they cause change. They motivate and inspire others to go in the right direction and they, along with everyone else, sacrifice to get there. - John Kotter

Before answering this question you should ask yourself whether or not you’re inspired to greater things, because it’s impossible to inspire others if you yourself are uninspired. Great managers incite passion and enthusiasm in their employees. The people they manage are driven to greatness because they have been moved to envision not only the organization’s potential but their own.

3. Can you manage a team?
You have to enable and empower people to make decisions independent of you. As I’ve learned, each person on a team is an extension of your leadership; if they feel empowered by you they will magnify your power to lead. - Tom Ridge

Have you had the opportunity to manage a team? If so, this was a good test-run for your leadership skills. Team management requires amazing people skills and the ability to know what team members are working on and how that work fits into the project as a whole. These leaders inspire people to work together and can move a team, and their project, to successful completion.

4. Are you a leader or a follower?
People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, the boss drives. - Theodore Roosevelt.

The word “boss” has developed a negative connotation over the years. Truth be told a good “boss” is a leader while a bad “boss” is just plain bossy. Regardless of your career path it’s important to know yourself. Are you a natural leader or follower? Both are valuable to an organization, but only one can aspire to leadership positions.

5. Are you comfortable giving directions?
The art of management is the art of directing others to get the job done right first time. - Anonymous

Bosses must direct employees. This requires that they 1) know what needs to be accomplished, 2) know who can accomplish it and 3) can articulate how that can accomplished. This is where the boss must dissect that bigger picture into employee responsibilities and tasks.

So how did you fair? Sometimes just knowing what it takes to be a leader can inspire you to begin exhibiting those traits. Come back next week when we’ll cover the last five questions:

6. Do you delegate well?
7. Are you interested in helping coworkers develop and grow?
8. Do you communicate well?
9. Are you charismatic and engaging?
10. Do you really want to be a boss?

As seen in the Salt Lake Tribune

Many would-be entrepreneurs dream of starting their own businesses, but have no idea where to begin. Theses entrepreneurs fear large personal investments with little or no return, or believe almost any home-based business idea is some get-rich scheme involving envelope stuffing or online marketing.

Yet there are many home-based businesses that are perfectly legitimate and offer significant earnings potential to entrepreneurs willing to try. In their book, “The Best Home Businesses for the 21st Century,” Paul and Sarah Edward profile more than 100 viable business ideas that can be performed in a home-based setting, such as fitness trainers to advertising consultants. Ranked among the “best of the best” is a bookkeeping service.

“Despite the availability of easy-to-use accounting software, many small business owners have neither the time nor the inclination to use the software themselves,” Edward says. “Wise business people also realize that their time can be better spent in marketing and doing the income-producing work of their business.”

Starting a bookkeeping service represents one of the lowest costs of entry for any home-based business. The main cost associated with starting such a business is purchasing a computer. The opportunities in the bookkeeping field far outweigh the costs of entry. In the Salt Lake area alone, many of the 33,000 area businesses use a freelancer to handle their accounting and bookkeeping duties, earning freelancers up to $60 per hour for their services. And with the number of small businesses in the Salt Lake area increasing rapidly (more than 1,000 new business licenses issued each month), phenomenal growth opportunities exist for bookkeepers.

A bookkeeping service can be started and operated by almost anyone. Many freelance bookkeepers gained their experience on the job or have learned through attending centers like the Universal Accounting Center, a Salt Lake City-based training center for accountants and bookkeepers. Relatively few freelancers have accounting degrees or are certified public accountants.

Allen Bostrom, CPA, and an instructor at the Universal Accounting Center, explained how someone could begin a home-based business. “We offer seminars that focus on the process of starting and marketing a bookkeeping service. We take the mystery of how to start your business right, what equipment and software you need, and what to charge your clients,” Bostrom said. “We even include information on whom to market your services to and what message to share with potential clients.

“We present valuable information to anyone interested in starting a home-based business, whether they’re experienced or not,” Bostrom said.

Bostrom said that process of getting clients is not difficult,if the person knows what to do, and will do it. Once a home-based business is established, Bostrom said the bookkeeper will often have a steady monthly income that will average $300 per month per client for only six to eight hours of work.

“Many bookkeepers pick up clients while working full-time and do work for them evenings or on weekends,” Bostrom said. “Operating a home-based business this way makes the financial transition from employed to self-employed much easier. Before long you have replaced a full-time income with part-time work.”

In addition to more income, operating a home-based bookkeeping service offers a degree of flexibility not often found in the corporate world. “Most of the bookkeeping work can be done at home so that you can plan your work around your own, or your family’s schedule,” Bostrom said. “Today with mobile phones, fax machines,a nd the Internet, you can work with clients anywhere in the world as though you were right down the street.”

Universal Accounting Center offers a free two-hour seminar to individuals wanting to start their own home-based bookkeeping business. The seminar covers the basics of starting a business including marketing and growing the business, equipment needs, fees, and more.

For further information, or to register for a free seminar, call 801-265-3777.

Get Started!

Will Your Current Career Track Achieve Your Long-Term Goals?

Most workers have experienced frustration in the progress that their career is making, or NOT making. When you find yourself doing the same thankless tasks day after day, you strive to break out of the grind and achieve something better, but how do you do it? How do you rise above the shackles of your present job? You think, “There has to be a better way,” one that can really deliver.

What Are Your Options?

All of your life you have probably had someone drill into your head the misconception that if you want to get anywhere in life, you must have a college degree. They certainly meant well, and education is a great way to improve your chances of success. Most university accounting programs prepare you well for a job in corporate accounting. But what if you want to experience variety and excitement in your career? Things that are rarely spawned in a cubicle? What then?

The simple fact is that in order for a wage worker of today to achieve their financial potential, they must either augment the income they receive or strike out on their own by starting a business. Working at a traditional job puts dollars in your employer’s pocket, and sometimes what they reap is equal to what they pay you in salary and benefits. What was once known as expected perks like retirement and good health benefits are continually watered down. Do you feel that you want to take control of your future? You can, and thousands are already reaping the benefits of getting off the job treadmill in order to turn their goals their reality.

Let’s take a minute to compare a tradition job with contract work to see which will better provide you with the control, flexibility, and financial potential that you seek:

Universal Accounting Center Can Help You Do This!

Your financial future is in your own hands. When you start your own successful accounting service, your success is your own. If you can find the courage to take the first step, we will give you the tools, support, and training you need to start your own profitable accounting and bookkeeping service.

The Professional Bookkeeper PB Program

While universities and other accounting training programs prepare students to work for large companies, over 85% of accounting opportunities are with small businesses that need accountants who understand their unique needs. For over 25 years UAC has been training individuals like you who are looking to become contract accountants.

The Universal Practice Builder (UPB) Program

One you have the skills, you’ll need to market them to a niche market. For years we’ve been offering the Universal Practice Builder Workshop, designed to train you how to market your practice in order to experience significant growth and profitability. You had to attend this two-day workshop in order to glean all the amazing information offered. Now, to accommodate students and make this information more convenient, we have turned this workshop into a DVD program. Imagine all that you could learn from our experience training thousands of individuals like you! You could earn $30,000 in new annualized billings in only 12 months, learn tactical goal planning and setting, and be trained in generating 15 to 25 qualified leads per month!

Receive a Free Gift

But wait, there’s more! We want you to take advantage of this offer so you can fulfill your dreams. And what better way to help you accomplish that than by combining these two powerful programs with another profit-building program, QuickBooks Made Profitable, for FREE! Learn how to draw more clients to your business using QuickBooks.

This offer won’t last long. Get yourself an early Christmas present and enjoy a profitable business in the New Year. Order now!

Contract employee, freelance accountant, self-employed bookkeeper. They’re all basically the same thing. When you do contract work, you are in business for yourself, working for clients who can choose to employ your services long-term or temporarily. There are many perks to consider when weighing the pros and cons of contract work. But before making any rash decisions you must determine whether or not you’re ready to run your own business.

I’m a freelance writer so I’m familiar with contract work. There are perks. You can spend the entire day in your bunny slippers. You can work early in the morning and spend the afternoons with your children. You can labor hard and long one week only to take it easy the next, controlling the ebb and flow of your workload. But there are also some serious differences between contract work and full-time employment. And I wouldn’t call them cons, but they do have a significant impact on your life should you choose the path of self-employment. Ask yourself these 5 questions to determine whether or not you’re ready to become a contract employee:

1. Are you self-motivated?
The biggest difference between contract work and full-time employment is the paycheck. When you have a full-time job you can expect a paycheck every week, two weeks or once a month, depending on the pay schedule. When you are a contract employee you only get paid for billable hours, meaning you won’t get a paycheck until you submit invoices. This means you are responsible for managing your time, prioritizing your work and finishing projects. As a contract employee you’ll have no boss (other than yourself) to crack the whip and see that you get it done.

2. Are you a go-getter?
I can promise you that work won’t fall from the sky into your lap (or onto your laptop); you must be willing to find work when necessary. This means changing your perspective so that you recognize an opportunity (or potential client) when you see it, and more importantly, go after it.

3. Are you organized?
You must be able to prioritize projects and allocate your time well. And don’t forget that some of your time must be spent building good relationships with your clients. It also helps to have all your files in order so you can minimize wasted time by finding what you need quickly and efficiently.

4. Are you flexible?
The 9 to 5 schedule is out. You must be willing to rethink your work schedule to accommodate some clients and projects (and of course, your family). Learning how to juggle all those interests will require flexibility (and a hearty dose of creativity).

5. Can you manage uncertainty?
As mentioned in number one, there’s a certain amount of uncertainty or risk involved in becoming a freelance accountant. But any investment requires a certain amount of risk, so don’t let that scare you away. The best way to deal with uncertainty is to have a contingency plan that anticipates problems before you encounter them.

Universal Accounting Center’s Special Business Package

Another way to manage the uncertainty is to ensure you have all the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed. Universal Accounting Center (UAC) can help you appeal to a lucrative niche market: small business. Not only that, but we’ll train you how to market those skills and build a significant client base that will ensure your success.

The Professional Bookkeeper PB Program

While universities and other accounting training programs prepare students to work for large companies, over 85% of accounting opportunities are with small businesses that need accountants who understand their unique needs. For over 25 years UAC has been training individuals like you who are looking to become freelance accountants. And it doesn’t matter how extensive your experience; our program is designed to help beginner, intermediate, and expert accountants.

The Universal Practice Builder (UPB) Program

Once you have the skills, you’ll need to market them to that niche market. For years we’ve been offering the Universal Practice Builder Workshop, designed to train you how to market your practice in order to experience significant growth and profitability. You had to attend this two-day workshop in order to glean all the amazing information offered. Now, to accommodate students and make this information more convenient we have turned this workshop into a DVD program. Imagine all that you could learn from our experience training thousands of individuals like you!

This new program offers the following:

• $30,000 in new annualized billings in only 12 months
• Tactical goal planning and setting
• The generation of 15 to 25 qualified leads per month
• Phone marketing instruction and training
• Training in the benefits of newsletters and websites
• 12 proven marketing strategie.
• Financing options

Receive a Free Gift

But wait, there’s more! We want you to take advantage of this offer so you can realize your potential. And what better way to help you accomplish that than by combining these two powerful programs with another profit-building program, QuickBooks Made Profitable, for FREE!

And if you don’t recognize what a valuable offer this is, let us tell you! Over 80% of the small businesses that use accounting software have chosen QuickBooks. But knowing that is not enough to build a bigger client base. UAC has created this program to teach you how to use QuickBooks to generate more clients. You’ll be trained in a proven system of how you can use QuickBooks to attract larger numbers of potential clients offering expert QuickBooks services. Learn how to leverage your time, meet potential clients and offer them services that will help them reduce taxes, increase profits and put money in the bank in such a way that you will be asked the question that we are all longing to hear: “How much do you charge for your services?”

With this one investment you’ll not only achieve your potential but you’ll surpass it! Your practice will grow and become more profitable than you could have imagined. Take advantage of this special package quickly, before we run out of inventory. We expect them to go fast, so order now!

Starting your own accounting and tax practice can be terrifying and exciting at the same time.

There are lots of pluses in working for yourself: you can work when you want to, uncap your salary, and wake up every morning to a job you love.

But you aren’t being realistic if you don’t also consider the negatives: you bear all the responsibility and risk, you face potentially long hours, and no there’s guaranteed salary. Those last few thoughts could be enough to paralyze anyone from taking the plunge. But you can be realistic about starting your own accounting and tax practice while preparing for potential glitches and obstacles. Here are nine questions to help determine whether or not you’re truly ready to start your own business.

1.Are you self-motivated?

If you start your own tax practice, you’ll be your own boss, and if you need a boss to tell you what to do and when to do it, then you probably should continue to be someone else’s employee. But if you’re self-motivated, proactive, and dynamic, you’ll be able to manage your practice rather than have the practice manage you.

2. Are you passionate about accounting and tax preparation?

If you answer “no” to this question, than go back to the drawing board. You should be passionate about your business, otherwise you’ll dread the work you do, regardless of how skilled you are. But if you are passionate about accounting and tax preparation, it will exude from you, drawing more clients who trust your enthusiasm and confidence.

3. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

List them if you have to. What are you good at and what holds you back? Once you know your strengths you can capitalize on them. Once you know your weaknesses you can either work to overcome them, or enlist the help of others. Maybe you just need a little training to give you more skill and knowledge.

4. It is financially feasible for you to quit your job to start your own business?

This is where you ask yourself if you should continue to grow your practice in your spare time, or if you have enough clients to quit your full-time job and support yourself. Maybe you’re ready to quit regardless, but do so with a well-padded savings account that can fill in the gaps until your income can sustain you.

5. What are your business goals?

You should articulate your objectives. Defining your goals will help you determine the steps necessary to accomplish them. It will also help you assess your success and continue to progress, setting new goals once you’ve achieved your original goals.

6. Do you have a marketing plan?

If you’re not sure how to market your practice, you need to develop a plan before you open your doors to business. Don’t expect your three good clients to carry you into retirement. A successful business person is good at maintaining relationships with current clients while doing what’s necessary to get new ones. That’s how you grow a business that will be satisfying and financially rewarding.

7. Who would your competition be and what would you offer that they don’t?

You should do a little market research to see if the area can sustain another accounting and tax practice. What are they currently doing that you could improve on? This could also be where you get some ideas on marketing. How are they drawing clients and how could you improve on those methods?

8. Will your family support your decision?

This is not the type of decision you casually break to your spouse. “Honey, guess what I did today?” In order to succeed, you’ll need your family’s support. Be sure to discuss all the pros and cons together before making any decisions, because in a crunch you just might need to enlist their help in order to succeed.

9. Will you be happy working for yourself?

Ask yourself if you’re truly interested in being a financial service provider. Will you enjoy managing the business-end of your practice? Is this something you will enjoy doing everyday? If you’re unhappy having your own practice, then nothing else will compensate for your dissatisfaction. But, on the other hand, if it’s something that will challenge and excite you, then pursue it with gusto.

Asking yourself the right questions can determine whether or not you’re ready to start your own tax practice. And just because you don’t have the right answers now doesn’t mean you can’t open your practice later. It just means that you have a bit more to do in order to prepare for success.

Universal Accounting Center Can Help You Finance Your Small Business

There are ways you can finance your new business venture, relieving some of the financial stress associated with starting your own business. Universal has a manual and CD called Financing a Small Business. It contains everything you need to know about funding your new venture, for one low price! Don’t wait to prepare for entrepreneurial success. Order now!

May Not Be As Scary As First Thought

We’ve all gotten stuck in rush hour traffic, gridlocked going in a direction that you decide, too late, isn’t the best way to go. You begin to feel that your exit is much too far away. The same exact thing can also happen to your career. You may get going in one direction, going along all nicely then suddenly realize that you’re gridlocked in the wrong accounting and bookkeeping track, seemingly with no exit in sight. But don’t panic. Here are five things you can do to switch lanes and find your way off the road you’re currently traveling and onto the road that’s a better match forwhat you want to do in the accounting field.

Research
First, do your research! A change should only follow much thought and reflection, and a little internet research wouldn’t hurt. It’s important that you take the time to study out the new accounting track you want to enter. Know what’s required for those employed in those type of positions, the experience and expertise needed, whether or not you would be able to move up, and where you might find those types of jobs.

And don’t leave your current position on a whim because you’ve heard collections specialists or credit managers are all the rage. Switching jobs simply because it’s trendy or a friend thinks it’s the most lucrative job around are not good reasons to risk the security of your current position. Change careers because it’s something you really feel strongly about.

Take Inventory
Because you are in the bookkeeping and accounting profession already, many of your skills and experience are transferable. Take inventory of what you now do and, following the research encouraged above, see how it might apply to the position you would like to get. Remember, a lot relies on how you present your skills and experience. If you know what a job requires you can often communicate your ability to do it by showing how your expertise can be properly applied.

A lot of your experience has nothing to do with accounting or bookkeeping but is still seen as valuable by potential employees. Do you have any experience with startups? Small businesses? Big businesses? Large projects? Unsupervised projects? High-pressure work environments? Difficult clients and/or coworkers? Remember these experiences when selling yourself to a potential employer.

Network
Look at your contacts to see if there’s anyone with connections to the type of position you’re looking for. Make an effort to meet people in this new field of interest. You can learn more about general job satisfaction and requirements by talking to others. And once you make solid contacts, they can keep you informed of any openings they become aware of.

Moonlight
Some of the experience that may be required could be obtained after your day job, either in the form of a part-time job or through freelancing work. Not only will this added effort look great on a resume, but it will also show how willing you are to extend yourself in order to break into a new field. That speaks volumes to potential employers of your dedication.

Get Some Training
Increasing your skillset is always a plus. And some of that required experience and expertise can be obtained through a training program. Again, that looks great on your resume and reminds employees of your dedication.

By Amy Lindgren — Knight Ridder Newspapers

When people get stuck in their job searches or career changes, it’s sometimes because of poor technique.

Their resumes need revision or they interview poorly, for example. These problems are relatively easy to diagnose and repair, provided the individual is not too discouraged to keep on trying.

But sometimes the problem runs deeper. If jobs are difficult to find, should the job seeker switch fields, or dig in and try harder? If a new career requires relocating, should the person go for it or hold off until the kids have graduated?

In my experience, almost every “stuck” job search has at its root an unmade decision.

Career changers who don’t actually change careers but spend years complaining about their current work have not made up their minds to stay or leave. They live in limbo instead, finding it easier to suffer loudly than to accept the situation gracefully or act to change it.

Likewise, job seekers who don’t send out resumes or who won’t network are practicing a type of job search sabotage that stems from not being committed to the work they are seeking.

If you don’t really want the job, it’s very difficult to motivate yourself to go after it. That’s not to say these job seekers don’t want to work — they just haven’t decided which job they want and what they will do to get it.

In truth, the act of deciding is more difficult for most of us than the process of implementing whatever decision we make. Part of our problem stems from a lack of training in the practice of decision-making itself. Following are two books, from two very different viewpoints, that may help you develop this key skill.

Decide! How to Make Any Decision, by Karen Okulicz, 2002, $10, available at www.okulicz.com or 1-888-529-6090. Okulicz’s approach to decision-making is extremely simple. In her slim book, she outlines just three steps that relate directly to that task and five more steps to help the reader act on a decision.

The decision-making steps are: exercise, to clear your mind; make a list of current problems and the solutions to those problems; and ask yourself yes-no questions.

The implementation steps include standards such as visualizing the outcome and putting away doubt and fear. On the one hand, this approach is bound to frustrate someone on the horns of a dilemma.

Not sure about relocating? In step three you are instructed to ask yourself, Should I move? And accept the first answer that comes into your head, yes or no. This advice is the equivalent of having an exasperated friend shout, “Just decide already!” Which may be Okulicz’s point.

As she notes in the book’s final chapters, most bad decisions are either reversible or redeemable. If you choose the wrong training program, you’ll still learn something. If you took the wrong job, you can take another one. At least you will have moved forward in some way.

The Problem Solving Journey: Your Guide for Making Decisions and Getting Results, by Christopher Hoenig, 2000, $20. Hoenig’s approach to decision-making is as complex as Okulicz’s is simple.

His six steps all involve graphs and case studies, drawing on resources as diverse as ancient Chinese cultures and modern capitalist product launches. He even includes a scale to help you determine your personal problem-solving style and the flaws and strengths of your style.

As the title indicates, this book is more about problem solving than decision making. In the world of job search, the two are different, though intertwined disciplines.

Your problem may be unemployment, but the decision that will help you solve that problem is which job to go for and how. Or your decision may be whether to solve the problem with a job or through self-employment or some other means.

While this book is not specifically about employment, it does a nice job of differentiating the problem-solving and decision-making steps. This is a good book for those interested in the larger dimensions of problem solving and the decisions that flow from that process. Hoenig’s writing is clear and literary, with practical applications of a very theoretical subject.

If, on the other hand, you’re just trying to make a decision and move forward in your life, you might be better served by the simple, motivational approach described by Okulicz. Can’t decide? Call the library and see which book is available. Then get started.

Amy Lindgren, the owner of a career-consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn., can be reached at alindgrenpioneerpress.com.

Stuck In Your Career? How to Get Moving Again

Without constant forward motion, careers stagnate. We find it easy to do what we have always done, and get what we have always gotten. So how does one break out of the rut that they have found their career in?

When your employer sees you, is their vision limited by what they have seen you do in the past? You need something to get noticed. It is an established fact that if an employer cannot picture you in a role, they will not put you there either. If you work in Accounting, Bookkeeping, or a related field, the best way to get noticed is with additional training. And the best way to get accelerated training is with the Professional Bookkeeper program. In just 60 hours of video-based teaching that you learn at your pace, you will learn the full Accounting process that will make your boss notice you and picture yourself in internal promotional opportunities as they arise.

Maybe even more important is that upon successfully completing the Professional Bookkeeper course, you will be able to add the PB designation to the end of your name. Bearing the PB designation states boldly to potential employers that you have what it takes to do the entire Accounting process from clerk to Full Charge Accountant with emphasis on small to mid-sized business accounting. The PB designation proves that you have the hands-on skills to work in a variety of Accounting tasks and can be called upon to perform a broad range of Accounting and Bookkeeping responsibilities. With the PB designation, you show that you know!

Learn How to Accelerate Your Career With the Professional Bookkeeper Program