Accounting & Bookkeeping & Small Business Forum

[JCavis]

Hey there,
I'm looking for some advice from anyone out there. I'm 26 years old, I have a B.A. in a completely unrelated field, but I've had a little bit of bookkeeping/accounting experience and actually really enjoy it. I'm very intelligent, very good with math and computers. I have a very organized mind and hope that I can turn this into something that's useful to others and is not dreadfully boring to me. My little dream is to be able to bookkeep for several small organic farms, or small businesses, or a non-profit, or maybe even an NGO in a foreign country. My problem is trying to figure out what type of training/degree/certification I need to be able to do this? I've thought about Community Colleges, online courses, trying to get a temp job in A/P A/R or Payroll and see where it leads, etc.? Should I try to find someone who bookkeeps for a small business and shadow/apprentice with them? Or should I just check out books from the library about bookkeeping and QuickBooks and teach myself? And if I decide to take courses, how do I know that a particular school (especially with online courses) is "accredited" or legitimate, and will hold up later when I try to get a job? Any advice or direction would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Jess in Minneapolis

[TonyDent84]

As far as I know, there really isn't an actual educational degree such as MD or PhD or MA etc that corresponds with bookkeeping. I've heard one college professor when I was taking his accounting course tell me that an associates degree in accounting was required to be a bookkeeper, but I soon found out that claim had no substance to it (but it helps!). I'd recommend signing up with the Universal Accounting Center to learn bookkeeping as a profession. I went through the training and definitely say it's worth it.

[stasia2003]

JCavis wrote: Hey there,
I'm looking for some advice from anyone out there. I'm 26 years old, I have a B.A. in a completely unrelated field, but I've had a little bit of bookkeeping/accounting experience and actually really enjoy it. I'm very intelligent, very good with math and computers. I have a very organized mind and hope that I can turn this into something that's useful to others and is not dreadfully boring to me. My little dream is to be able to bookkeep for several small organic farms, or small businesses, or a non-profit, or maybe even an NGO in a foreign country. My problem is trying to figure out what type of training/degree/certification I need to be able to do this? I've thought about Community Colleges, online courses, trying to get a temp job in A/P A/R or Payroll and see where it leads, etc.? Should I try to find someone who bookkeeps for a small business and shadow/apprentice with them? Or should I just check out books from the library about bookkeeping and QuickBooks and teach myself? And if I decide to take courses, how do I know that a particular school (especially with online courses) is "accredited" or legitimate, and will hold up later when I try to get a job? Any advice or direction would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Jess in Minneapolis

I also agree that you can sign up for the UAC course. I have a bachelor's degree in Accounting and I still took the class. But I gotta be honest, one thing that has helped my business grow is the fact that I have listed my Certification in Professional Bookkeeping as one of my credentials. Other than that, I learned all my accounting knowledge and skills through the university and work experience and not through UAC.

I recommend though that you take the UAC course since you have limited conceptual knowledge in accounting and work for someone for at least a year doing their A/R and A/P. Also, ask if you can assist with month-end close and all that good stuff. UAC is good but it does not realistically prepare you for what you will encounter in your business. If it wasn't for my years of work experience in accounting, I would be making a mess with peoples' books right now. What I mean by that is UAC doesn't really prepare you for the problems you will face in your business. That's why I suggest you get work experience in accounting and see how your accounting supervisor handles accounting issues.