Hiring a Bookkeeper

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#21
Posts:
2887
Joined:
21-May-2018 7:50am
Location:
Northern MI and Coastal SC
sjrcpa wrote:Do they still teach T accounts in school?


Yeah, it is still taught in the entry level accounting classes. I believe they remain on the CPA exam, too. Most people don't have a clue about T accounts, and I agree everything is worsened when viewing things from an accounting perspective vs. banking perspective. I had software available to me when I was in college and while I did occasionally use it for assignments, it was NOT provided by the school--we are expected to do everything the old fashioned way. I am 35, so this is not THAT long ago.

Software tends to make it worse, and people dumber. Peachtree (and whatever it is now called, Sage 50...?) says "increases" and "decreases" for various G/L accounts. NOT the way to think of it, but I lose that battle all the time. Glad Intuit has not gone that route and forces you to know normal balances for G/L accounts.

I do recall when I first started out in accounting 16 years ago, I was stunned at how the CPA I worked for could tell me how every single account would be either debited or credited depending on the circumstances. I had learned basic accounting but had not memorized normal balances, so I was baffled at how he could remember them. Well, I reached that point long ago but I still make mistakes when I do things too quickly, and I'll admit with GJEs I do not always put the debits, first, simply out of laziness.
 

#22
Posts:
100
Joined:
14-May-2019 3:57pm
Location:
Idaho
I graduated from college within the last 10 years and the professors still taught how to use T accounts. Our tax class also had to manually fill out a few tax returns with different scenarios. Quickbooks is good software if you know what you are doing, but it always amazes me how some bookkeepers can manage to screw it up in ways I didn't know was possible.
 

#23
Posts:
6043
Joined:
22-Apr-2014 3:06pm
Location:
WA State
TheAnswerMan wrote:I graduated from college within the last 10 years and the professors still taught how to use T accounts. Our tax class also had to manually fill out a few tax returns with different scenarios. Quickbooks is good software if you know what you are doing, but it always amazes me how some bookkeepers can manage to screw it up in ways I didn't know was possible.


I like to point out to people that there are bookkeepers and there are QB data entry technicians. Each has their role, but you need to know which you're getting when engaging (as an employee or contract solution).
~Captcook
 

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