While the country bemoans the current economic crisis, those with accounting experience need not be alarmed.  Inflation may rise, the housing market may flounder, and stocks may continue to fall, but accounting professionals can count on one thing: job security.

According to Robert Half International, the largest specialized financial recruitment service, the hiring of accounting professionals is intended to increase in the last quarter of 2008.  Max Messmer, chairman and CEO, says, “Businesses need a strong financial function to see them through all economic cycles.  This has created ongoing demand for accounting and finance staff with specialized abilities and expertise. In particular, firms seek staff and senior accountants, financial analysts, and internal auditors.”

The article goes on to state that most hiring will occur in the small business sector-those organizations with just 20 to 49 employees.  Thus, candidates with expertise in small-business accounting would fare best in the current job market.

Expertise in Small Business Accounting

Most universities and training programs prepare graduates for work in Fortune 500 companies.  This means that the majority of accountants are unfamiliar with the day-to-day accounting tasks required by small businesses.   This is an unfortunate situation considering that 50% of small businesses fail within the first five years, and much of that failure is attributed to poor financial management.  These businesses need an expert, a specialist trained to cater to their unique needs.

Over 25 years ago, Alf Bostrom recognized the lack of training available for accountants working with the small business sector; as a result, he established Universal Accounting Center.  UAC’s flagship course, the Professional Bookkeeper (PB) Program, is designed to prepare accounting professionals for the unique demands of small businesses.  Not only is this course taught by seasoned professionals, but it is based upon years of experience preparing bookkeeping professionals for this valuable niche market.

The course consists of the following four modules:

Module 1-Accounting Made Easy.  You will master the tools, procedures, and underlying principles that make up the bookkeeping processes of all businesses.  You will also understand the core building blocks of accounting and bookkeeping.

Module 2-Practical Small Business Applications.  You will apply your understanding of the core accounting principles to specific industries.  You will learn to set up books from scratch, do payroll like a seasoned pro, and much more.

Module 3-Advancing your “Account-Ability.” You will learn sure ways to set up complete bookkeeping systems and manage the books for a variety of more sophisticated industries.

Module 4-Building a Successful Accounting Service. You will learn the steps to finding paying clients.  Upon completion of this module you will be able to start and grow an accounting practice following a proven program tested and perfected since 1979.

Whether you’re interested in earning a promotion at work or if you would like to start your own bookkeeping service, this course will see that you accomplish your career goals.  And if you pass the final PB exam with a score of 90% or greater, you’ll earn the Professional Bookkeeper designation. Earning professional certification will enable you to best take advantage of these hiring increases.  It will give you both the expertise and confidence necessary to secure your next accounting position.

This is an amazing window of opportunity.  Don’t allow it to close on you!  Take advantage of current market trends and enroll in the Professional Bookkeeper Program today!

References

“More Accounting Jobs Expected in Q4.” 4 Sept. 2008 SmartPros

A Recession-Proof Startup

Gas prices are going up and with them are concerns over the economy and job security. Luckily, the accounting industry makes a showing in two of the five top ranking recession-proof jobs, according to Jobfox.com, an online job service backed by some of the most prestigious US investors.

Rob McGovern, CEO of Jobfox explained, “During this critical period of economic slowdown, these are the professionals who have been least affected by six consecutive months of job losses in the United States. Difficult times, unfortunately, are already here for many low-skilled workers. However, Jobfox continues to see aggressive hiring activity for many critical positions.”

Coming in at number four and five are 1) accounting & finance executive and 2) accounting staff. And it’s no wonder. Small to large businesses are all required by law to perform certain accounting functions. So regardless of how tough the economy gets, businesses still need accountants to manage their financials.

What Businesses Need

Nearly ever business responds to a recession by streamlining their budget which often means scrutinizing current positions to see how they might cut back and save some money. These same businesses would find the option of contracting a freelance accountant to manage their bookkeeping very appealing. Why?

How much more would a business have to pay you if you were on their payroll? Consider a yearly salary along with health and retirement benefits as well as the cost of your cubicle and everything in it. Don’t you think these same businesses would prefer working with a qualified contract accountant who would charge them a monthly fee to do everything an in-house accountant would do? It would save them a considerable amount while affording you the freedom to work for as many clients as you choose.

Small Business Accounting Services

While most large corporations already have accountants on their payroll, and prefer to keep it that way, small businesses are in dire need of a professional who will not only understand their unique needs but cater to them. A contract accountant specializing in small business accounting is just what they need.

The Professional Bookkeeper Program is specifically designed to help you master all those tasks required by the small business owner. Here’s a sampling of what you will accomplish:

• Master Accounting for Retail and Wholesale Businesses
• Establish the Accounting Method that Best Fits the Business
• Set up an Efficient System for a “Ma & Pa” Manufacturing Company
• Track Job Costs Simply and Efficiently for a Construction Company
• Effectively Handle Flooring for an Inventory Financed Business
• Consult on Key Business Issues with Confidence
• Enter Data Quickly and Accurately
• Prepare Payroll like a Seasoned Pro
• Avoid Costly IRS Penalties
• Spot and Avoid Dangerous Trends Before They Become Tragedies
• Save a Company Thousands of Dollars in Auditing Costs
• Start Your Own Bookkeeping and Accounting Business, Using a Step-by-step Approach
• Acquire clients Quickly and Cost-Effectively
• Work with Clients Skillfully
• Prepare a Loan Application Package
• Make Positive Change Happen!

You will learn everything you need to know to start your own accounting practice with confidence and ease.

Market Those Skills

Unfortunately some accounting practices struggle-not because they cannot perform the required tasks-but because they cannot secure the necessary clients to sustain their businesses.

Accountants, while skilled in numbers and calculations, are not necessarily comfortable marketing those services. In order for their practices to thrive, freelance accountants must break through that barrier, learning and using effective marketing strategies to target those small businesses owners most likely to retain their services. But how do you do that?

The Universal Practice Builder Program is designed to help accountants learn the art and science of getting and keeping clients. This DVD-based program will teach you 12-proven marketing techniques that will help you secure 15 to 25 qualified leads per month. Not only that, but you will hone your presentation skills and be trained in organizing valuable seminars through which you can retain even more clients. You’ll also have 3 months of free master coaching where UAC professionals will help you set and achieve your business goals.

This program also comes with a guarantee that you will earn $30,000 in increased annualized billings in just one year! Pair that with the specialized accounting skills you will learn in the Professional Bookkeeper Program and you have a recession-proof startup that will carry you and your family to a much-improved lifestyle.

Don’t wait for the economy to dictate when you can start living your dream. Take advantage of this time to start your recession-proof business and improve your financial standing while others stand around watching. Enroll in these two programs today!

References

“Jobfox Top 20 Most Recession-Proof Jobs.” 14 July 2008 Jobfox.com

Tools of the Accounting Trade

Learn what is all involved in the coursework and materials of the Professional Bookkeeper Program

You’ll find 3 Modules designed specifically for you:

• Accounting Made Easy — Getting to you the foundational steps you need to have to be able to properly and effectively service the company you work for. Ledgers and Journals as well as Subsidary Ledgers that each professional will need to be familiar with.
• Practical Small Business Applications - Hands-on practice on the various types of accounting you will run into within your career. Getting to you the experience accountants like you need to be exposed to for well-rounded training.
• Advancing Your Account-”Ability” — Gets into the nitty-gritty of setting up books from scratch and properly establishing books for existing businesses. Plus much, much more.

Below you will be able to view a sample of what you can expect in your training course and the quality of the instruction you will receive from the leaders in the industry. This brief rundown of what is in Module I, featuring Allen Bostrom, President of the Universal Accounting Center, details for you the first stages of instruction which Module I contains. The beauty of learning this way, is being able to rewind and view the material as much as you need to.

Create for yourself a learning atmosphere and let all of the Professional Bookkeeper’s valuable instruction to seep in. You can do it!

Please allow (according to you’re Internet link - Dial-Up verses DSL) time for the video to load so you will not have any interruption in the playing of the video clip.

Click On The Play Button To Start

How Does This Benefit You?

You can work on gaining the knowledge and practical application at your own pace! You control how quickly you go through all of what the instructor is teaching. You tailor the course instruction to what is best for you and the style of learning you learn best with! By getting the right foundation for your Accounting career, even if it turns out to be a refresher course, you know that you are getting started out on the right foot. The confidence of knowing you have the knowledge and the wisdom the right training can provide is crucial to how you perform your duties. And rest assured, with the Universal’s course you will have that confidence to take you to that next promotion!

“This course offers a comprehensive review of the accounting process, as well as providing a system to help you help yourself. The instructors not only teach, but offer an unheard of level of support. I woul highly recommend the course to anyone.”
—Laura Ogden

“After graduating from this course I now feel competent to run my own bookkeeping/accounting business. I want to thank the staff at Universal Accounting for the outstanding course of instruction.”
—Gary Hamblin

“I wish I had taken this class five years ago. I’ve been working in the accounting field for over 10 years and didn’t know half of what I learned in one month in this class. I feel completely qualified now to accept a position of great responsibility with a large organization or to be self employed. I’m excited about the potential for money making that this course has given me.”
—Kris K. Trout

What’s Next For Me?

As a professional pursuing the best accounting training possible, you don’t want to leave anything to chance when it comes to your financial future and your career path. We work on the philosophy that you only get one chance to make a good first impression, and when you are going into your employer (potential or current) and start the negotiations for your next step up in your career, you want to have the surety that whatever the situation as a “Certified Professional Bookkeeper” you’ll be able to confidently handle it for the company.

Click Here and find out more about how to get that self-assurance through Universal’s Professional Bookkeeper Program.

If you’re an accountant or want to become one, you’ve picked the occupation of champions. Not too surprisingly, a large number of CFO’s were first accountants. And we’re finding that the number of CEO’s with an accounting background is increasing as well.

The workforce is kind to accountants. Largely due to the retirement of baby boomers, reputable accountants are in high demand. For the past few years the US Department of Labor has reported that by 2008 accounting jobs would increase by 20%. That great forecast has been extended to 2014!

In an article written for Insight Magazine, John Challenger, CEO of outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas in Chicago, said, “It’s a good time. You’re a free agent. It’s one of the hottest professions in the country. You’re always in demand.”

Some suspect that accountants are being considered for top executive positions due to Enron and other corporate scandals. Accountants are viewed as professionals who can exhibit more financial accountability then their MBA counterparts.

Kevin Dancey, CICA’s president and CEO, explains that accountants are not only trained in analyzing financial information, but the importance of ethics is also stressed throughout their training. “That’s very important to shareholders,” he says. “When you’re part of a profession like ours, having that strong code of values and ethics is very important, and that’s been ingrained in our training” (”Shortcut to the C-Suite . . . “).

Regardless of how you cut it, accounting is a great occupation: the occupation of champions. “It’s a career that offers a good route to the CEO or CFO spot,” says Challenger. “It’s a great place right now to build a career.”

Universal’s Professional Bookkeeper Program Can Provide the Training Your Need

Whether or not you have a degree, practical training in accounting could be just the thing you need to climb that professional ladder and reach the level to which you aspire. Whether that’s account manager, auditor, CFO or CEO, Universal Accounting Center’s Professional Bookkeeper Program can help you skip a rung or two.

In less than 60 hours you could complete practical training in accounting that will give you the confidence and skills you need to move ahead in one of the brightest occupations around. Not only that, but you’ll find the program inexpensive and convenient, allowing you to study at your own time and pace.

Employees Can Expect Higher Raises, Says CareerJournal.com

PRINCETON, N.J — Workers in the U.S. can expect a 3.7 percent pay raise in 2005 — the second straight year of increased raises for employees after a three-year decline — according to a report on CareerJournal.com, The Wall Street Journal’s executive career site.

The 2005 expected increase is slightly higher than the 3.6 percent average raise in 2004, according to data compiled by Salary.com. Average salary increases bottomed out at a five-year low of 3.4 percent in 2003, after hitting a five-year high of 4.4 percent in 2001. A 3.7 percent pay raise would mean that an average worker earning $34,000 a year can expect to see an additional $24.19 per week. Those with a salary of $100,000 can expect an increase of $71.15 per week.

“We are in the early stages of an upswing,” says Tony Lee, publisher, CareerJournal.com. “The projected salary increases for this year are a ray of sunshine following several years of salary freezes and layoffs.”

CareerJournal.com offers these tips on how you can earn more as the job market improves:

• Keep track of your successes to present to your boss.
• Document your fair-market value by researching free salary data on sites such as CareerJournal.com.
• Learn the art of salary negotiation-the better you are at negotiating, the better your chances of being successful.
• Ask what needs to happen for you to earn a raise in the future, and try to get a commitment in writing.
• “Having another job offer also is a great tool in negotiating a raise with your current employer, but be prepared to leave if your employer doesn’t meet your terms,” Mr. Lee adds.

Focused Education Is Key to Getting the Best Raises

In the accounting and bookkeeping fields, you need a way to stand out from the crowd to move up to a better job. The training that is taught in the Professional Bookkeeper (PB) program gives you that edge over other applicants. The PB designation proves to employers that you have the real-world skills needed to get right to work with minimal training.

Learn More About the Professional Bookkeeper (PB) Program

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