The Benefits of an Accountancy Career

here is an increase in demand for knowledgeable CPAs all over the world. When you say knowledgeable, the accountant must know how to perform various duties like bookkeeping, tax preparation, company audits, and even project management. The demand for the best CPAs in different industries is due to the updated laws, business practices, and the reliance to technology.

Here's great news to those accountancy graduates who love to work with numbers and who are willing to learn the newest accounting software – there are a lot of job opportunities out there, waiting for qualified accountants. According to statistics, the accountancy field is growing at a very fast rate. Presently, there areabout 1.2M accountants in different industries including corporations, public agencies, charitable organizations, and educational institutions; this is the best time to join the accounting field.

If you've earned a Master's degree in accounting, the better because you have a higher chance of landing a job; those who have a bachelor's degree can also take advantage of the various job opportunities online or in the local papers.

The licensing requirements for accountants vary from state to state. This is a very important consideration when choosing a degree program in accounting. Before you can take the exams to become a CPA, you will need a 150 hours course. By 2009, almost all the states in the US will follow the same requirements.

About the salary of accountants, the lowest rate is roughly $35,000 per year and that is for starters only. Once you're hired and you've been with a company for many years, the salary will naturally increase. Did you know that the senior accountants can earn as much as $80,000 per year on the average? That's a lot of money, right? Being an accountant has its benefits, especially in term of salaries.

It seems that accountancy graduates of today are given more job opportunities. You should be thankful because unemployment is prevalent in many areas. If you're a graduate of accountancy, it means that you have better chances of finding a good paying job as compared to graduates of other courses. If you try to analyze the business situation, accountancy is essential to the success of a business organization or company. With the growing number of business worldwide, big scale or small scale, accountants are badly needed.

Source: http://www.globalfinanceworld.com/finance/accounting-finance/the-benefits-of-an-accountancy-career/

Cost Benefit Analysis-Whether you should outsource your Bookkeeping to Professional Book Keeper

What is a role of a bookkeeper in your organisation : BOOKKEEPERS keep complete, up-to-date, and accurate records of accounts and financial arrangements. Bookkeepers verify and enter information into journals and ledgers or into a computer. They periodically balance the books and compile reports and financial statements. Bookkeepers also receive, record, bank and pay out cash. They balance checkbooks with monthly bank statements. They may calculate employee wages from plant records or time cards and issue payroll checks.

Some of the other work they may do includes posting accounts receivable and payable, prepare and make bank deposits, record payrolls, maintain inventory records, purchase supplies, prepare purchase orders and do expense reports. Bookkeepers may also make schedules, sort documents, and file bills. These type of jobs are found in every industry and may have various job titles, such as accounts payable clerk, accounts receivable clerk or assistant bookkeeper. Cost of a Bookkeeper : The pay for these jobs depends upon experience, clerical skills, the level of responsibility and the job location. Beginning salaries go from minimum wage to $ 15 per hour. Experienced Bookkeeper can make $ 20 an hour. After having worked for three years with the same firm, a Bookkeeper can earn at $ 25 per hour.

A Bookkeepers usually work 40 hours a week; sometimes it may be necessary to work overtime. Some employers have fringe benefits such as paid vacations and sick leave, life and health insurance, and bonuses. Other benefits that the employer may include are participation in a credit union, or retirement and profit sharing plans. Advantage of outsourcing Bookkeeping work to a professional bookkeeper : There are several distinct advantages to outsourcing your bookkeeping functions. First and foremost is saving money. You get what you pay for and if you don't pay for quality than you won't have quality service. However, you can save money by outsourcing because you won't be paying for employer payroll tax expense, workman's compensation and general liability insurances, vacation time, sick time, health insurance and other benefits a good full time bookkeeper will expect from his/her employer. Just remember, however, that these costs will be built into the consultant's hourly rate and their fee will reflect these costs. Any bookkeeping consultant who has not taken these costs into consideration is not a bookkeeper you want - if they don't know enough to include these costs into their fees, then they don't know enough to be a help to your business. You should expect to pay at least three times what you would pay an experienced full charge bookkeeper.

And just how do you save money by paying three times the amount you would pay an employee? Well, let's see. There will be no recruiting, interviewing and training costs for start. And if you should find yourself unhappy with the services there will be no additional recruiting, interviewing and training to replace your bookkeeper. Also, you will not have to be concerned about law suits such as sexual harassment, unlawful firing, age discrimination, sexist, etc. Or an increase in your unemployment rates because you laid off an employee that you really wanted to fire but had no lawful cause to do so. So right away we have less time and money spent and potentially less hassle if things don't go well. And of course you will not be paying workman's compensation and general liability insurance premiums. Also any worthy bookkeeper will expect at least two weeks vacation, coverage for sick time, health and dental insurance and even perhaps more benefits. Most professional bookkeepers will have their own offices saving you space within your office. So you will not be buying that extra desk, calculator, computer and computer software. Your bookkeeper will be providing all of that as part of his/her fee. No software updates, computer maintenance, training costs, etc. Of course should you prefer to have your computerized bookkeeping records available to you at your office, a small investment in software installed on your computer makes this possible. Also no office supplies to be paid for. You will be amazed at just how much pens, pencils, and paper can be used by a bookkeeper.

Your consultant bookkeeper will either ask you to drop off the work at their office, will pick it up at your office or some may even offer remote bookkeeping service. And by having your bookkeeping done off site, your bookkeeper will be able to work more efficiently and accurately because her/his office will most likely offer less distractions than your busy office. All of this is saving you money. And the best reason for outsourcing is that you control the amount of money spent on bookkeeping. What I mean by this is that the person you hire to do your bookkeeping will be doing just that - not answering the phone, dealing with drop-bys, chatting to other employees, etc. Also you can start with just a few hours a month and add on when you need to and then adjust downward again should it be necessary.

Can you imagine finding an employee to start with only four hours a month, then asking them to put in 20 hours a week for awhile and then back down to four hours a month again. I don't think you would keep them for very long, but a free lance bookkeeper is able to work around these variables and even more importantly expects to work with flexible schedules. So have I convinced you yet? If so, then just remember "you will get what you pay for". Go for top quality because your financial records are the core of your business and without great bookkeeping you cannot expect to succeed no matter what type of business you have. After all don't you think you are worth it ?

About Autor :

Mr.Bhaskar Thakkar is a qualified Chartered Accountant and professional bookkeeper from India. He is a president of M/s. BT Associates, Chartered Accountants. The said firm provides Book keeping, Accounting, Auditing and Tax preparation services to various Chartered Accountants in UK, US and Canada. The firm is also specialized in preparation of VAT returns, Payroll Processing. Visit 1. btassociate.com,. A division of said firm provides various outsourcing solutions please visit 1. jobs2india.com., to get more details.

Choosing The Right QuickBooks Software For Your Business

Whether you are upgrading your accounting software or making your first software purchase, when you decide to make an investment in accounting software, you’ll want to do your homework, but where do you start? Features, ease of use and price are things you’ll want to investigate before making your purchase.

Your first concern should be to determine what you want to get from your investment. Don’t jump right in, take some time to evaluate what you need to know. Each edition of QuickBooks provides a different level of information. Ask yourself if you want just the basics, such as tracking cash, or do you need to track more information like inventory or job costing? If you only need the basics, you can start with the SimpleStart edition. Do you track inventory? Inventory can be tracked in Pro, Premier and Enterprise editions, but more advanced inventory features, such as, tracking costs associated with assembled items and setting price levels by customer or customer type is best handled in Premier and Enterprise Solutions. Businesses that have hundreds of thousands of inventory items, customers, or vendors will find that Enterprise Solutions has the capabilities to handle your business needs without compromising the flexibility features that we’ve come to appreciate in other QuickBooks Editions.

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Web-Based Accounting - Your Accounting Tasks Made Easier With Internet

You might be a leader in the market as far as your ranking is concerned. But given to the ever changing scenario due to the peaks and troughs of the market, there is this unsaid uncertainty. And when the question is of speed is concerned, web-based accounting has all the answers for you. With a simple click of the browser, you are able to manage your accounting related tasks like accounting, cash-flow management, customer relationship management (CRM), inventory control and marketing. You are saved from paying up large sums of money on the hardware and software and instead have top pay up a small amount as fee. A wave of transformation is sweeping business with the help of e-Peach tree, Intacct e-ledger or the QuickBooks online. Internet is the medium from where the companies can have an access to personal information, which includes earnings, income tax holdings, retirement plans, vacation days etc.

A number of advantages await the client company, which has an access to web-based accounting. Using the concerned software, business organizations can reduce their sales returns from a larger percentage to a smaller one. To stay ahead in the race to the top, it is imperative for the companies to set up a computer network. The plus point of this step is that the members of any business organization can keep up the pace with the fast pace of information technology. For sharing any financial information, Ethernet is the preferred choice because of its speed and reasonable cost. Web-based accounting helps the useful data to travel very quickly, particularly if a virtual private network or VPN is set up. This type of accounting system can be useful even for a small business set up. For a speedy growth in the market, the organization can hire a value-added reseller or VAR for the purpose of wiring and system configuration. Utilizing ‘Linux’ in such cases also results in the high performance of the said company.

Web-based accounting packages are used generally in a company for a speed-based management of its accounts. A small business system can customize its accounting system within hours for its clients. Typically, a small organization begins with the preparation of system documentation providing detailed procedures, which includes system activation and de-activation, accounts cycles, sales and purchase cycles, cash receipts, journal entries, financial reports and error corrections. The hallmarks of purposeful system documentation are its ability for an easy user access, systematic specific information including a table of contents, page numbers, etc. It should be also borne in the mind that the procedures should be complete, in easy-to-follow steps. Security of the documentation system should be fool-proof and a thoroughly professional approach should be maintained.

Innumerable advantages await the client companies if the web-based accounting package is installed. This type of effective system enables small businesses to track their progress on a timely basis. The data sheets and other related financial information is always up to date because of the efforts on the part of organizations to periodically submit new features and other upgrades. The completion of technology plan is finally followed by the matching up of the software products with the company’s goals and objectives. An expert handling of the whole process of installation of the software is step in the right direction. Consultants are hired for this purpose, who categorize the available products in the market. They evaluate the bought up software on the basis of competing services, value-added features, unlimited nation-wide dial-up, efficiently workable web-based email, management of the associate traffic etc.

ArticleSource: http://www.accountingtips4you.com/2008/06/30/web-based-accounting-your-accounting-tasks-made-easier-with-internet/