From the course: Accounting Foundations: Bookkeeping

The language of business

From the course: Accounting Foundations: Bookkeeping

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The language of business

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- For both of us, accounting has been at the center of our professional development for over 35 years. I enjoy the process of analyzing the financial statements of companies. - I enjoy knowing how those financial statements are produced, as well as their strengths and their limitations. - I have also enjoyed teaching accounting for lo these many years, I continue to be disappointed when I see that not everyone shares my fondness for the intricacies of accounting. - Yes, even people in our own family. - I know, even people in our own family. Now, people say that accountants speak a foreign language. - People accuse us of using top-secret code words, such as debits and credits, balance sheets, accrual, closing. - Well, we're here to tell you that those words aren't top-secret, those words aren't in a secret code. Instead, those words are associated with a language, accounting, which is commonly called the language of business. - And is the case with learning any new language, there's a learning curve, but if you're willing to put in the time, you can become fluent in those top secret code words. Before you know it, you can be speaking accounting. - Now, in this course, we'll cover the mechanics of accounting, commonly called bookkeeping. - [Earl] Bookkeeping is the routine systematic method of accumulating financial information, analyzing that information, inputting it into an accounting system, and then summarizing the resulting information into reports that can be used by decision-makers. - [Jim] We will learn about an ingenious system that was developed over 500 years ago, and is still in use today. - [Earl] We will learn about the mystery terms debits and credits, and we'll see how debits and credits are just shorthand for accounts increasing or decreasing in value. - [Jim] We will learn about journal entries, T-accounts, ledgers and trial balances. Before you know it, you will become comfortable with these terms, what they mean, and how they are used. - Now, that's not to say that this course is going to be a stroll through the park. Just as learning any new language requires some diligence, so it is with the language of accounting. But hang in there, you can do it. - Now before taking this course, we would encourage you to have a look at our course Accounting Fundamentals. - That course provides an overview of the field of accounting and helps you see where bookkeeping fits in the grand scheme of accounting things. - With that said, this bookkeeping course is designed to be self-contained, but the Accounting Fundamentals course provides some helpful context. - So are you ready? - Are you excited to learn a new language? - Are you ready for the challenge? - Well, ready or not, here we go.

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