Let's start on an adventure in accounting.

Think that accounting is something that you'd rather not do? Do you faint at the thought of having to navigate through debits and credits? It doesn't have to be that way. I will take you by the hand, and together we will explore the basic components to the more advanced stuff.

This website is for you, if...

....you are a small business owner, and you want to try your hand at maintaining your own financial records. But you don't know where to start. And you don't understand what is a debit, a credit, a ledger, assets, liabilities...the list goes on! You MAY want to use a bookkeeping software at some point in your business. This website will teach you all that and more, using everyday, layman terms. No jargon will be used...at least, not until we get to the advanced stuff!

....you are a student taking Accounting 101. You are may or may not major in the subject. Fact is, you've never heard of finance before this. You feel like the professor is speaking Greek to you in class. You just can't get your head around double entries or any of the other specific terms.

....you are a potential investor in a business. You understand that before you invest, you need to understand the financial affairs of that business. Does it make a profit? Is the profit sustainable? How much property and cash does the business have? Does it owe a lot of money? If so, when is the amount due? This website will teach you to read a set of financial records (formally known as 'financial statements' but okay, let's not have the jargon for now..:)) and have an idea as to whether the business is worth looking into.

....you don't mind adding an extra skill or two in your arsenal. You never know, it MAY come in useful later.

In exploring this website, throw away all your preconceptions about accounting.

It is not boring.

It is not just for bean counters.

It is useful, everyday stuff.

We will take it as an adventure.

But, as with all things worth learning, patience is needed. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day.

Related pages:

Basic Terms Intimidated by difficult terms? Never fear. We will explore the terms using language that everybody can understand.

The fundamentals A complete beginner? This is a good place to start. Learn about the fundamentals right here.

Management Accounting (MA) For internal users.  A good introduction with links to specific MA topics.

The Blog The AA Blog keeps you up to date on the changes and updates to this website. Subscribe here.

Qualifications What types of qualifications are they? Good for accountants-to-be.

The nasty (in easy-to-understand language) on what went down in corporations that have succumbed to fraud.