Accumulated amortization what?

July 31, 2006 1:58 PM

Suggestions for good, simple to understand, accounting books?

About 18 months ago I suddenly became responsible for the financial management of a small non-profit retail store. I inherited a holy mess. I have no financial background. Through much stress and hard work I figured out where everything is, how it all works. Then I cleaned it up, had it all checked by an accountant, and documented all the processes. (I'm now using Quickbooks 2006.)

I'm very comfortable with the day-to-day aspects of the job. However, I'm getting left behind now that the accountant is talking about amortization and depreciation of assets. They've given me some Quickbooks journal entries, which are fine, and I can kind of see how it works, but I'd like to know more, and fully understand it. There are probably other areas where I should know more as well, especially given that our organization may soon be increasing in size.

I realise that taking a course would probably be the best way forward. However my free time is somewhat limited, and the only course I've seen so far looked to be mostly basic stuff that I learnt in my first week on the job. From a 10 week course maybe 2 weeks would be worthwhile.

So.... are there any books that would help me learn 'more than basics but not really advanced' accounting principles?

posted by valleys to work & money (6 comments total)

"Introduction to Governmental & Not-for-Profit Accounting" is the required text for a course with which I'm familiar.
posted by NYCinephile at 2:39 PM on July 31, 2006

I was rusty on my accounting knowledge and was having difficulty with interpreting my company's financial statements. Finance for nonfinancial managers was recommended on the Personal MBA Book List so i picked it up.

The book is dull and a little oversimplified at times, but overall it helped me get a grasp on the why behind the how.
posted by freq at 2:47 PM on July 31, 2006

Check out accountingcoach.com as well.
posted by cebailey at 2:59 PM on July 31, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Disclaimer--My wife works for this company--

Gleim who do Accounting test prep manuals (for the CPA exam and such); and they are REALLY good at that. So I would assume that their 'beginner's level' course would be pretty good as well.
posted by iurodivii at 3:04 PM on July 31, 2006

Accounting for Dummies. Seriously. It's been a while, and I didn't read it in full, so I can't really speak to its usefulness, but it does exist, and I have a friend who used it to help him through an introductory accounting course.
posted by fogster at 3:32 PM on July 31, 2006

Thanks for the responses. The book and online courses look like they might be about right. I'll spend a bit more time investigating them.
posted by valleys at 5:11 AM on August 1, 2006