I love accounting

[Great Rumbler]

Well, maybe not LOVE, but Financial Accounting is one of my favorite classes I've taken so far at the university. It's actually something that I can USE, it's not just facts about some obscure civilization in Africa, or the square root of the tangent of 3.4 to the third power as X approaches 0, or anything like that but actually real stuff that I can directly translate to an actual job. And I really like that.

[A Black Falcon]

Haven't taken accounting, but I remember hating the one semester of economics I took...

[N-Man]

Whatever rocks your socks... poindexter. :p

[Great Rumbler]

Whatever rocks your socks... poindexter.

When I'm a millionaire maybe I'll slip you guys a twenty. MAYBE.

Haven't taken accounting, but I remember hating the one semester of economics I took...

Economics is very theory based, while Accounting is the application of accepted rules to real-world situations. VERY different.

[The Former DMiller]

What exactly is it that they do in accounting that you like? I'm always curious about real-world applications for math since I try to make my math classes as applicable to the real-world as possible. Some accounting may be a little too complex for some of my classes, but anything you have would be great.

[Dark Jaguar]

What is accounting? I just get this impression it's a bunch of evil trolls in some back room saying "this number isn't as big as this number, destroy this many lives to get it back in balance".

[Great Rumbler]

What exactly is it that they do in accounting that you like?

Right now we're working on double-entry accounting, where you have debits and credits that balance each other out. For example, if I spent $2000 on office equipment I'd have a debit for $2000 worth of equipment and a credit for $2000 worth of cash. This chapter we've been looking at depreciation of equipment and use of supplies as well as prepaid expenses, accrued revenue/expenses, and unearned revenue and how to enter that into a journal and ledger.

What is accounting?

Keeping track of the movement of money, equipment, supplies, rent, insurance, wages and so on as well as putting it all together to show to others who can use it.

[Weltall]

Grumbler has started down the dark, twisted path of corporate embezzlement. Woo!

[Ethos]

Good for you.

I really don't know what to say in reply, but here's a post anyway.

[Great Rumbler]

Grumbler has started down the dark, twisted path of corporate embezzlement. Woo!

You heard it here first!

[Dark Jaguar]

So you just "keep track" of things? Okay, that sounds innocent and useful enough.

Just don't go down the path of saying "hey, we "lost" a few million, even though we are still making a net profit, FIRE THEM even though they are still very useful employess and I can't really see a good reason why they specifically are to blame for the profit loss". Instead, offer the most obvious suggestion. "Hey you guys, making millions upon millions of dollars, let's just cut your wages instead of firing people this year".

[Great Rumbler]

So you just "keep track" of things? Okay, that sounds innocent and useful enough.

Every company in the world needs an accountant. Or at the very least someone who KNOWS accounting.

Just don't go down the path of saying "hey, we "lost" a few million, even though we are still making a net profit, FIRE THEM even though they are still very useful employess and I can't really see a good reason why they specifically are to blame for the profit loss". Instead, offer the most obvious suggestion. "Hey you guys, making millions upon millions of dollars, let's just cut your wages instead of firing people this year".

That's not really what accountants do. If the company is losing money it would be up to President/CEO to decide that, MAYBE the Chief Finacial Officer. The accountants work up the journals and ledgers that tell the executives/banks/government/investors what's going on in the company and where the money is going.

[Dark Jaguar]

Just to make sure I get this right, give an example.

[Great Rumbler]

An example of what exactly?

[Dark Jaguar]

Of accounting.

Namely, from what you describe I get the impression all that book keeping could just be done by a computer program. Why should I hire a human?

[Great Rumbler]

Namely, from what you describe I get the impression all that book keeping could just be done by a computer program. Why should I hire a human?

Because you'd still have to have someone who knew how to use the program and how to fix things if it messes up somewhere. And that person would be an accountant. Not to mention that the process of accounting is already becoming very complex and we've only just scratched the surface of all the things that you have to do. Such as, if you have workers under you and they haven't been paid by the end of the fiscal year you have to make sure to record that they've already done the work but have not yet been paid, as well as doing the same for money received but not earned, work done but not yet paid for, depreciation of equipment, usage of on-hand supplies, and so on. Not to mention that there are rules that every company has to abide by when doing their accounting and if you don't you'll find government auditors knocking on your door. And you've got to be able to explain to other people what everything means and set it up in a way where it can be easily read. It's not just writing everything down and then adding and subtracting all the numbers.

To explain it to you is nearly impossible, because I'm just beginning to understand it myself. But I can tell that there's nothing simple or easy about it.

[Undertow]

Of accounting.

Namely, from what you describe I get the impression all that book keeping could just be done by a computer program. Why should I hire a human?

There's a difference between book keepers and accountants. You can have all the data and facts in the world written down, but it takes an accountant to be able to analyze the data and know how to use the numbers.

[Great Rumbler]

I don't love accounting anymore.

[Sacred Jellybean]

Good, because I was about to say...

Grumbler... you crazy!

Like the lovable skinny token black guy next door in a 90s sitcom, yunno?

[Great Rumbler]

I am still in the Accounting program however. Currently, I'm in Managerial Accounting and next year I'll be in Intermediate Accounting I and Cost Accounting.

[TheBiggah]

Accounting = Language of Business

-TheBiggah-

[nickdaddyg]

Financial and Managerial are fun b/c they're easy to understand.

Accounting Information Systems, and my internship with accounting on the other hand....SUCKED!

I want to change my major but it's too late, i wanna get out of college in 4.