Accountant and Bookkeeper Articles

Advance Your Career This Season

The holidays are still two months away. That’s plenty of time to change the course of your future. Are you interested?

Perhaps you dream of earning a promotion or securing a more desirable position with another employer. Maybe you’d just like to make extra money on the side. Or perhaps you’d like to eventually start your own accounting practice. Whichever most interests you, we have the course that will help you accomplish your ambitions, and it’s called the Professional Bookkeeper (PB) Program.

One Course, Several Possibilities

The PB Program is designed to train students in small-business accounting. While others spend years in various training programs, this distance-learning course enables you to earn professional certification in 60 hours or less. Not only that, but those other training programs prepare students to work with big businesses which comprise less than 20% of accounting opportunities. It is the small business that needs your attention and will provide you with a roster full of clients. That or your new-found skills will enable you to earn a promotion or secure that job managing a small business’s books.

Whether you’ve spent years in the accounting industry or have yet to learn the difference between a debit and a credit, the Professional Bookkeeper Program will help catapult your professional life in a new and prosperous direction. Here are just a few things this program enables you to do:

• Master accounting for retail and wholesale businesses
• Determine and establish the accounting method that best fits any given 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
• Confidently consult with business owners on key business issues
• 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

Imagine enhancing your resume with all the above-listed skills. Or perhaps, consider how they might it look in a brochure for your new accounting practice. We’re confident that you recognize the value in acquiring this valuable expertise.

With over 25 year experience training professionals in small-business accounting, Universal Accounting Center understands your needs and your prospective clients and/or employer’s needs. That’s what makes this training program so valuable. And in addition to learning small-business accounting, you will also learn how to market your new-found skills, securing the clients necessary to sustain your new business venture!

Additional Services and Skills

The more complementary services you can master, the better, for your professional future or the longevity of your new business venture. More than 80% of small business use QuickBooks software to manage their books. Mastering QuickBooks will make you a QuickBooks authority, enabling you to offer QuickBooks seminars and attract more potential clients by demonstrating how they can use this product effectively. The Professional Bookkeeper’s Guide (PBG) to QuickBooks is designed to help you accomplish that.

Not only will the PBG enable you to manage your own books more efficiently, but it can increase your bottom line as you add QuickBooks consultation, help and setup services to your menu. With hands-on training you can earn a second professional designation as a QuickBooks Specialist that will give you the creditability you need to either advance your career or convince prospective clients that you are an outstanding bookkeeper!

After successfully completing this program you will be able to do the following:

• Enter, set up, and analyze books
• Choose or create a chart of accounts designed specifically for your business
• Write checks, collect payments, and make deposits
• Track progress invoicing, bank draws and retainage to control your cash flow
• Maintain, calculate and report payroll, including W2’s, 941’s and 940’s. Also create and track 1099’s for subcontractors
• Track, collect, and pay city, county and state taxes
• Track how much you or your clients are making or losing on each customer and/or job by assigning and tracking costs on specific jobs
• Create budgets for jobs, customers, departments, or for your whole company and/or your clients’ companies
• Create graphs that give you and your clients a whole new perspective on a company’s finances
• Produce statements and use data to help clients make informed business decisions

With two simple courses you could be well on your way to a more lucrative career and/or a profitable accounting practice. And in less time than your peers might spend in a training program you could be enjoying the profitability of your newfound skills and expertise.

Don’t wait to change the course of your future. Fall forward into a bright and lucrative future as an accounting professional. Enroll in the PB and PBG programs today!

Negotiating an Equitable Solution

Chances are you will encounter more conflict in the workplace than you would like. But working through conflict can be a positive experience if handled properly. In this two-part series we’re sharing 12 steps on negotiating an equitable solution. Last week we examined the following six steps:

1. Don’t ignore the conflict.
2. Gather all parties for a discussion.
3. Determine exactly what the conflict is.
4. Recognize that the conflict should not pit employees against one another; it should pit employees against the problem.
5. Identify shared concerns.
6. Distinguish facts from opinions.

This week we’ll cover the final six:

7. Step away, if necessary.

Regardless of how well negotiations seem to be going, there may come a time when participants need a break. Those involved in conflict resolution should be allowed the chance to step away from discussions when they become too heated or even lose their focus.

8. Listen actively.

This is probably one of the most important steps in conflict resolution. Everyone has their opinions, but in order for conflict resolution to be successful, coworkers must stop arguing and taking side; everyone needs to listen actively. This requires participants to set their differences aside and listen to what others say with intent. Rather than using the time to plan their next argument, they should focus on what others are saying, weighing these perspectives carefully.

9. Be willing to compromise.

There’s a reason this step follows the last. You cannot compromise unless you have listened to all sides and considered countless options. To reach this point you must be willing to release your desire to achieve your outcome and your outcome alone.

10. Brainstorm solutions.

There may be solutions that no one has considered. In order to achieve a resolution that all parties feel comfortable with, everyone involved must brainstorms possible solutions. You may be surprised at the satisfactory resolutions you encounter when coworkers work together to create them.

11. Identify equitable solutions.

From the solutions you’ve brainstormed, determine which are equitable and meet the needs of all parties.

12. Consider the one the best suits everyone’s needs.

Select the one that best resolves this conflict for all involved. Before reaching this step you may need to return to others, like listening actively, stepping away, or distinguishing fact from fiction.

The better prepared you are to deal with conflict, the more likely you’ll be to facilitate a satisfactory resolution. Also, the more experience you have with conflict resolution, the more comfortable you will become achieving equitable solutions.

Create Your Ideal Work Environment

Often when working for another employer, it can be difficult to struggle against a system that you have no influence over. When you start your own accounting practice, you are able to determine policy, hire your own employees, and have final say in what does and doesn’t happen in the workplace. This is one of the most appealing aspects of self-employment.

The Professional Bookkeeper Program

Not only will this course train you in small business accounting, but it will enable you to use the accounting information you generate to act as a Profit Expert for your clients. You will become confident watching key indicators that diagnose a business’s health. You will understand how accounting, marketing, and production should all work together in order to create a thriving business. And you will become well versed in key marketing strategies designed to attract the clients who would most benefit from your valuable services. And you can find all this in one accounting course, you ask? YES! The Professional Bookkeeper Program has it all.

The Professional Bookkeeper’s Guide

The Professional Bookkeeper’s Guide to QuickBooks is another valuable program. When you learn how to use QuickBooks to better manage your clients’ accounts, you are learning how to work more efficiently, making more money in less time. Not only that, but more than 80% of small business owners already use QuickBooks! That’s the majority of your prospective client base!

When you master QuickBooks, you are gaining expertise in the software program used by your clients; doing so will prepare you to do much more than just help clients with their books, but you also make yourself available as a QuickBooks consultant, offering help and setup services. This will increase your potential bottom line and make you even more valuable to clients.

If you find yourself frustrated with a system over which you have no influence and would like to take charge of your own business and manage your own affairs, order this valuable package today! In just a number of months you could be on your way to a more independent and lucrative lifestyle. Enroll now!

12 Steps in Negotiating an Equitable Solution

Conflict isn’t always a bad thing. It’s a red flag that alerts you to a situation that needs to be addressed in order for employees and supervisors to enjoy a healthier work environment. In fact, when you approach conflict with the intention to negotiate an equitable solution, you can achieve greater understanding and perhaps find a resolution that greatly improves things altogether.

But in order to find that equitable solution you need to know how to resolve conflict. In this series we will present key steps that will help you do that. And this particular article will examine the first 6 of 12 steps in practicing conflict resolution in the workplace:

1. Don’t ignore the conflict.

There are some problems that should be allowed to sort themselves out. But when a conflict begins affecting multiple parties and the work climate, a manager may need to step in and apply the following steps in workplace conflict resolution. Otherwise, when involved in a conflict with another employee, you may consider taking the following steps yourself.

2. Gather all parties for a discussion.

It helps to have everyone present to voice their perspective. When you isolate parties and have them present their views, you add an extra, unnecessary step into the process that does little more than allow employees to vent in attempts to bias your opinion of the conflict.

3. Recognize that the conflict should not pit employees against one another; it should pit employees against the problem.

The biggest problem in workplace conflict is that people begin to see themselves in conflict with coworkers rather than problems. When employees realize that they can join forces to resolve their common problems, it becomes easier for them to talk through their conflicts. In order for conflict resolution to be successful they must stop seeing their coworkers as opponents.

4. Determine exactly what the conflict is.

What, exactly, is the problem? Often employees are stewing over different issues without even realizing it. When you’re able to pinpoint all the issues and articulate why they’re problematic, you have a starting point from which to find equitable solutions.

5. Identify shared concerns.

Your discussion will have a friendlier tone when you attempt to find shared ground-what do you agree on? While parties may not see eye-to-eye on some issues, they should be able to find common concerns. If all else fails, you should attempt to agree on the importance of resolving the conflict. Most conflicted parties should at least be able to agree on that.

6. Distinguish facts from opinions.

Once employees have shared their opinions it’s time to note the facts. It’s important to realize that fact and opinion are often two separate things. In fact, this step alone might clarify the problem for both parties and enable them to gain necessary perspective as they realize that perhaps the problem wasn’t what they had initially imagined.

Almost everyone encounters conflict in the workplace at least once in their careers. And if you plan to manage others, your chances of encountering conflict are even more likely. It’s important that you learn how to resolve conflict not only between you and other employees, but also among coworkers you might eventually supervise.

Return next week when we will discuss the following:

7. Step away, if necessary.

8. Listen actively.

9. Be willing to compromise.

10. Brainstorm solutions.

11. Identify equitable solutions.

12. Consider the one the best suits everyone’s needs.

Have You Ever Considered Starting Your Own Practice?

Resolving conflicts among coworkers can be frustrating when you don’t agree with company policy and approach. If you’ve ever considered starting your own practice, with your own policies and business practices, now’s the time to learn more about just how easy it can be. Universal Accounting Center has been helping professionals start their own bookkeeping services for over 25 years! If you’d like to learn more about our course, the Professional Bookkeeper Program, order our video “Start Today” and watch actual course content while learning just how profitable your practice can be. Order the DVD today or watch it online for free! What have you got to lose but a long future as someone else’s employee? Change your future today!

How Successful Managers Ensure Successful Communication with Employees

The problem with communication…is the illusion that it has been accomplished. - George Bernard Shaw.

Many attempts to communicate are nullified by saying too much. - Robert Greenleaf

We have two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak. - Epictetus

Communication is extremely important for those accountants who want to excel and advance their careers. It’s so important, in fact, that we’ve dedicated a two-part series to developing effective communication skills. Last week we discussed the following four tips in accomplishing that:

1. Determine your message
2. Select the most appropriate communication method
3. Ask for feedback
4. Listen with intent

To become a manager you must have excellent soft skills. Communication is absolutely necessary if you are to manage well. Perhaps as an accountant you thought developing those skills would never be a priority. They’re not, if you are content being managed by someone else.

This week we will cover the final four tips in developing effective communication skills as an accounting manager:

5. Speak up!

In order to instill confidence in those you are speaking with, you must speak with confidence. This requires you to speak up and speak clearly. This might take practice and a little introspection as you determine how you can project a more confident image when speaking with others.

6. Tackle difficult topics

Often we avoid those topics that need the most attention. It may be difficult to talk with an employee about objectionable behavior or address a team about their questionable approach. But in order to manage successfully you are required to tackle the difficult topics, to speak about that which most would want to avoid. It may sound ugly, but that’s why you’re the manager. That’s why you get paid the big bucks.

7. Practice presentation skills

Managers give presentations. They deliver proposals, reports, and even announcements in staff meeting. If you plan on becoming a manager you must practice your presentation skills. Perhaps this will require you take a class or practice in front of the mirror. Regardless of the method you choose you must become comfortable, or at least appear comfortable, presenting messages before groups of people.

8. Allow everyone the opportunity to voice opinions

Good managers make an effort to become familiar with their coworkers’ opinions. Not necessarily their political views or their food preferences, but what they think about the climate at work and how the company is handling projects and work flow. The manager who doesn’t listen to his/her coworkers is missing out on valuable information.

An Accountant’s Role

There are three business functions that must work well together in order to increase a company’s profitability. And you guessed it; accounting is one of these three functions. Accounting, marketing, and production are the three functions that must work well together to ensure success. If you would like to learn how to improve communication among these different functions while increasing your employer’s profitability you must read In the Black by Allen Bostrom, President and CEO of Universal Accounting Center.

This book will enable you to become a more valuable employee and, if you’re not already, a prime candidate for a managerial position. For less than twenty dollars you could advance your career while strengthening your employability. Order your copy of In the Black now!