Accountant and Bookkeeper Articles

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

Nike does it. Starbucks does it. Even Nabisco does it. In fact, it’s all the rage. Branding. And before you say that branding is only for businesses, let me clarify by saying that branding is all the rage in career advancement.

When a company brands their products and services they are making a public promise that they will live up to the name, or the brand they have created. The same idea can apply to a person trying to advance is his/her career.

Ten years ago Tom Peters first introduced the concept of personal branding in a FastCompany.com article entitled “The Brand Called You.” He said, “Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.”

So how do you create your own personal brand? Here are three simple steps:

1. Define Your Brand

Ask yourself, what makes you different? In what ways do you rise above your colleagues and offer more to employers? And don’t confine yourself to your current job description and job title. Consider what you’ve done this month, this week, today, in order to stand out and make a statement. The characteristics that make you different also define your brand.

Peters explained, “You’re every bit as much a brand as Nike, Coke, Pepsi, or the Body Shop. To start thinking like your own favorite brand manager, ask yourself the same question the brand managers at Nike, Coke, Pepsi, or the Body Shop ask themselves: What is it that my product or service does that makes it different? Give yourself the traditional 15-words-or-less contest challenge. Take the time to write down your answer. And then take the time to read it. Several times.”

These 15 words are the start of your own personal brand. Use them to focus your efforts as you move through the next two steps.

2. Enhance Your Profile

Perhaps you feel that your brand could use a little help. Never fear. You can always enhance your profile in order to create a more powerful brand. In what ways would you like to stand out? Define those areas and then take action to enhance them. Volunteer for new responsibilities in the workplace, take a community enrichment course, enroll in a professional training program, or earn a certificate or professional designation. It’s never too late to build a brand of your own. And while you enhance your profile you’re also promoting your brand by letting your current employers and all your colleagues know what you wish to do well. For example, if you enroll in UAC’s Professional Bookkeeper Program, you’re telling employees that your brand has expertise in small business accounting; you’re also telling them that you’re willing to enhance your skills as you enhance your brand. This is a great step in the direction of promoting your brand.

3. Promote Your Brand

Once you’ve determined what, exactly, your brand is, you must take measures to promote it. Like any business, you must market yourself in such a way that your brand takes on a life of its own, becoming memorable and attractive. Consider all the ways you can showcase your brand and all those characteristics that make you a unique employee. Volunteer for specific projects at work, teach an enrichment course in your community, write an article for a local publication, or join a panel discussion. Any of these things would get your brand more exposure as you focus on letting others know what makes you distinct.

As Peters said, “It’s over. No more vertical. No more ladder. That’s not the way careers work anymore. Linearity is out. A career is now a checkerboard. Or even a maze. It’s full of moves that go sideways, forward, slide on the diagonal, even go backward when that makes sense. (It often does.) A career is a portfolio of projects that teach you new skills, gain you new expertise, develop new capabilities, grow your colleague set, and constantly reinvent you as a brand.”

Universal Can Help You Enhance Your Brand

Let Universal Accounting Center help as you consider all the ways you can create a personal brand. Our DVD 4 pack is designed to let people like you discover those skills that can make you a more valuable employee. The DVD 4 pack includes the following DVD’s:
Introduction to the Professional Bookkeeper Program–Learn how becoming a Professional Bookkeeper will improve your accounting skills and help you in your accounting career.
Introduction to the Professional Tax Preparer Certification–Learn how becoming a Professional Tax Preparer will improve your tax skills and help you in your career.
Start Today and Have Your Own Bookkeeping Service–Learn how to make over $80,000 per year working from home while getting more clients than you can handle. Know how to charge your client so you can afford to take that next vacation while they get such a great deal they will be telling all their friends about you.

The Art and Science of Getting Clients–Learn proven marketing strategies designed to help accountants market their skills in order to get more clients.

Each of these DVD’s can help you better define your own brand. Order now and save nearly $25.00 on this valuable set. For less than $20 you can be on your way to a valuable personal brand.

By Anita Bruzzese — Gannett News Service.

If you’re a woman with children, you are probably used to being called something like “Bobby’s mom.”

Or if you’re working for someone else, you might be known as “Susan’s assistant.” There are monikers that could be worse, of course, but maybe you’re getting a little tired of being known by such titles.

If so, then Robin Fisher Roffer said you must be the one to change your “brand.”

“Branding is something that begins in college,” she said. “You declare a major, and that’s the first time you say who you are. Or you get your first job, and the boss pigeonholes you. This is the moment when we have everything in front of us, and we get branded.”

Roffer, who develops and produces brand strategies, marketing plans and promotional campaigns, often advises women that they must take steps to “develop their own reality.”

She said that if more females in the workplace “took off their masks of who we think we should be and became the real person we are,” then women would be much happier.

“I tell women that we are standing on the shoulders of giants, and it’s our turn to be real,” said Roffer, who is based in Los Angeles. “Women are so scared, and they’re jockeying for turf, but we need to declare who we are and honor ourselves.”

She said women need to:

Dig deep. There’s only one you - you are distinct and authentic. That means you need words to express your personal beliefs, values, how you want to live and what you consider the most important to your inner-life and well being. “Your challenge is to capture the essence of what you have to offer, create interest and enthusiasm for it, and enhance your image in the business world,” she said.

Define dreams and put them into action. Create a mission statement for yourself and write it down. “You are very likely to get what you ask for, because when you finally uncover and get serious about your heart’s desire, the universe starts listening,” she said. “When you think of a mission statement, think trumpets in the background; imagine a drum roll.”

Go after the target audience with a vengeance. No matter what your mission or goal, identifying and earning the devotion of your target audience is critical to your success. Just don’t be fake.

Avoid crash and burn. It’s important to overcome inner fears that can stop you in your tracks. “In many cases the thing you are afraid to do is in fact the one thing you need to do to solidify your brand,” Roffer said.

Recruit a squad of brand cheerleaders. Look for guides, teachers and promoters among your friends and family and colleagues who can smooth your path and help create an atmosphere for success. Listen to their advice.

Learn the secrets to packaging your brand. “In any business situation, appearance counts, big-time,” she said. That means you must not only make your exterior appealing to your target audience, but also make it a genuine reflection of your inner self.

Get comfortable in your own skin. You’re not perfect; no one is. But you can develop your personal style and make it part of your brand. How do you show others that you’re creative, or steady, or self-deprecating, or curious?

“A lot of people think that charisma is something you’re born with, and they’re right,” Roffer said. “But what not everyone knows is that we’re all born with it. Whether or not we all use it is another question.

Be Seen As the Winner You Are

Certification is a key way to convince others in your workplace that you are competent and that others can count on you. The training that you receive in the Professional Bookkeeper program is the kind of background that you need to show that you can do what you say you can and get the attention of your employer. Get noticed and get paid what you are worth!

Learn How the Professional Bookkeeper Designation Can Help You Be Seen As a Winner!

There’s More Than One Way to Peel a Banana

Strike while the iron’s hot. And the iron’s hot right now! Tax season can result in a lull of business for some accountants. For others it is a time to gain more clients as a result of small business owners looking for help managing their finances. Right now most business owners working as sole proprietors; LLC’s or corporations are going through their financials right now with the guy or gal who did their taxes last year.

Right about now these business owners are realizing that their tax professional isn’t an accounting expert, like you. They are realizing their current system which includes a shoe box full of receipts doesn’t pass as a solid financial plan. Yet a great many are realizing that because they were busy running the business doing what they are good at they missed countless opportunities to harness their income power, and now they are facing a situation where they may even owe the IRS money. Still there are many others who are now facing fines, fees and penalties because of the way they did (or didn’t do) their accounting.

You are probably saying, “So how does this help me right now?” The iron is hot, remember? This is an opportune time for you to step in and be the hero! Here are a few suggestions:

First, pick the “low laying fruit.”

We’re guessing you personally know many individuals who own their own businesses-those who are going through the pain we just spoke of. Ask them how things are going with their taxes this year. Be prepared to hear everything they want to tell you about it. Sympathize and empathize and then ask this one question: “Can I help you plan better for next year?”

Be the hero—the one with all the accounting answers. Those you talk to will welcome your input. Now, take note; you can give a tidbit here and a tidbit there, but make sure they understand that what you are offering is not a free service. If they like what they hear, encourage them to enlist your accounting services. Set those boundaries as clearly and early as possible. You’ll avoid lots of confusion later if you take these precautionary steps in the beginning.

Second, enlist those who are currently doing business with you.

We all have what business management guru Stephen R. Covey calls a “Circle of Influence”: a group of individuals that you know and affect on a close level. In business that circle of influence includes those you do business with daily, weekly, or monthly. These individuals don’t necessarily have to be clients; they could be those who you buy your water cooler services from. They could be the delivery service you use. They could be the copy store where your P.O. box is located. They could even be the local donut shop where you buy your daily treat. Whether the individual is a business contact or a client, this individuals you have positively influenced are the ones that could potentially refer you to those in their circle of influence.

Many times students of Universal Accounting have recounted how someone they knew had a friend with a business and because they were in this circle of influence, that friend became a client. This marketing tactic works exceptionally well when the one doing the referring is a client of which you’ve taken good care. See how you can harness the influence of others to do some good business with them.

Third, wear your accounting business “on your sleeve.”

Now this doesn’t mean that everything you say is about accounting or your practice. Life is a balance and you have to find that balance with your professional life and your private pursuits. But how many times have you been out and about to find others engaged in a conversation in which you could have participated? How many times have you ridden silently up an elevator full of people? Could there have been someone there in need of your particular services? Pick and choose those opportunities within your comfort level, but try not to let opportune moments pass when you could be handing out your business card or sharing your services with potential clients. Who knows, the next time you sit down at your child’s ballgame the parent next to you could be your next new account.

Fourth, proactively seek out like-minded businesses.

You have one or two businesses that you are working with, and you are really starting to like working with that type of business. Are there others in that industry you could contact? Local eateries, print shops, car dealerships etc. You already know their “lingo” and their hot buttons from working with previous clients. Why not try to market yourself as a specialist for that industry?

Take the opportunities presented to you as an accounting professional. Building your accounting practice isn’t tough; it just takes consistent effort to meet potential clients. Soon you will have to turn business away or partner with others in order to manage those clients you will be able to attract with these solid marketing tactics.

If you would like to learn more about marketing your services, adding tax services to your menu, becoming a Professional Bookkeeper, or starting your own accounting practice, order our special 4-DVD pack which includes the following:

Introduction to the Professional Bookkeeper Program. Learn how becoming a Professional Bookkeeper will improve your accounting skills and help you in your accounting career.

Yes Sample Marketing CD. Learn how to introduce your services to a potential client. Use this either for role playing, watching it while meeting with your client or passing them out.

Start Today and Have Your Own Bookkeeping Service. Learn how to make over $80,000 per year working from home while getting more clients than you can handle. Know how to charge your client so you can afford to take that next vacation while they get such a great deal they will be telling all their friends about you.

The Art and Science of Getting Clients. Learn how to get more clients by using our proven methods.

You can learn more about the countless opportunities that await you as a financial professional. Don’t delay your grand future. Order now!

Financial Professional DVD 4 pack

Getting noticed often spells the difference between success and failure.

Jonathan Winters once said, “If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it!”

It isn’t enough to be a great employee or business owner, and it doesn’t matter if you own your own Accounting and Tax Service or you work in the corporate world, getting noticed is crucial to your clients, your supervisor, and your career.

When I was sixteen, I drove the delivery truck for my dad’s industrial business. For many of our customers, I was the face of the company. I was the one they worked with. I tried to keep the truck and myself clean and polished. I wanted to put forward the best image I could. Before long, I was taking orders and making sales… and I was the delivery boy!

Even if you don’t have the opportunity to be in front of your company’s clients, when your company’s clients are talking about your company, they are often talking about you.

Do you put your best foot forward?

Do you complete your assignments on time? Do you give your clients or supervisor the information they need in a timely and concise manner? Do you look the part? Believe it or not, the answers to these questions are a key factor in the image that others develop of you and your company. They can make the difference between getting the promotion you’re looking for or the big client for your company.

Take a minute to print this page out and rate yourself on the following few items. From (1) I really need to work on that, to (5) I’ve got this nailed!

“There’s always room at the top!” -Zig Ziglar

Earl Nightingale use to say, “Every industry has the man on the white horse.” He is the guy who can always be counted on. It doesn’t matter what happens to the industry or individuals within the company, the man on the white horse is always in demand. He always has the best job. He always makes the most pay. He’s always the first considered for promotion. And he can be you!

Once you are on your white steed, you’ll be noticed by your co-workers, your supervisor and your clients. They will all be talking about you!
Learn more about how to get your employer, co-workers and clients talking about you.

How do I become the Man on the White Horse?

A great place to start is the Universal Accounting Professional Bookkeeper Program! You’ll learn the ins and outs of current accounting practices that will directly impact the bottom-line of your company or that of your clients. Whether you own your own Accounting and Tax Preparation Business or not, this will be the first step for you to become the “Man on the White Horse” in your company.

Under the Universal Business Model (UBM), there are three business functions that must work well together in order to increase profit. Accounting is one of these three functions. If you work in any department that deals with accounting, bookkeeping or taxes for any business organization, you have access to much of their financial data, and as a result, you have the capacity to become a priceless resource: the Profit Center Expert.

Accounting, marketing, and production are the three functions that must work well together to ensure success. Any business function that acts independently of the other two can doom a company. For example, if production has not told marketing what it currently produces, marketing dollars are wasted. Likewise, if accounting does not tell production what products are profitable, the company losses money.

As a accounting professional, you should not only encourage communication among these functions (when possible), but you should lead by example in freely sharing your information with others. This begins with the business owner — freely communicate and explain your findings. And your focus should not only be to prepare taxes, but to help your clients save money, and possibly make more money next year. Encourage tax planning and show your clients how they may be able to save money in the end by working with you year-round.

You have access to financial data that can inform crucial decisions and make the entire company more profitable. And when you encourage this communication, others will follow suit, especially when they see how it can improve business. When one business function is working well, but the others are failing, it is like two people on a small boat out to sea. One person says to the other accusingly, “Your half of the ship is sinking!” When the boat goes under, it will be of little comfort to the accuser if his half of the boat sank last.

A good example of this is a frame shop that frequently bragged about how much business it was stealing from its competitors. But once you looked at it more closely, it was found that every sale was losing money. They were outselling their competitors only because their competitors couldn’t afford to sell the frames at those low prices either. The key difference is that their competitors were aware of this fact. A profit expert not only has access to this information, but shares it with those in marketing and production so the business doesn’t lose money.

The important thing to learn here is that these functions can begin working closer together today. Finding the problem is only useful when there is still time to do something about it. A coroner wastes his time scolding bodies on his slab when he tells them they should have exercised more. Make sure that you don’t wait to analyze your financial data during a “post mortem” exam. Begin working more closely with the other two functions today. This will not only improve business profitability, but it will increase your value as a tax preparer.

As an accounting professional you enjoy the tremendous capacity to increase your value to the businesses you work with. Imagine advancing from your current position to full-financial service provider. You will then have the ability to inform business owners of key decisions they can make to increase profit and enjoy true financial success.

Universal Accounting Center can help you become the Profit Center Expert of any organization you work with. UAC’s expertise in small business accounting can help any tax preparer become that invaluable cog in the business machine. Most small businesses lack the confidence and the knowledge to analyze their fiscal standing and make profitable financial decisions. With training as a Professional Bookkeeper, you could provide the information and direction they need to make their businesses succeed. Don’t wait to give yourself a promotion as the Profit Center Expert of those businesses you work with. Enroll today!