Article Description:
Whether a manual or computerised accounting system is in use, an accountant's or bookkeeper's job can be made much easier if he or she has reasonable to expert skills in the use of spread-sheets.
Article Body:
The efficient use of spread-sheets can be of immense benefit to both basic bookkeepers and high level accountants, as well as to all levels in between. There are two main areas where a skill in the use of spread-sheets will prove to be beneficial to bookkeepers and accountants of all levels. These areas can be classed as "Pre General Ledger" and "Post General Ledger". In both areas, the knowledge of V.B.A. (Visual Basic for Applications) will be very useful to automate repetitive tasks, although, even without macros, well designed spread-sheets with relevant formulas will simplify and speed up many tasks. Lotus 123 macros, are much easier to create than V.B.A. macros, but now Excel seems to have become the "industry standard" the creation of macros require a knowledge of the more difficult V.B.A. It is recommended that, in an organization of any size, with an accounting department of (say) five people or more, at least one staff member, who need not necessarily be the department head, should be given the opportunity to gain the skill of writing macros using V.B.A.
1) Pre General Ledger
Some examples of tasks in this area of accounting are set out below.
a) Salaries and Wages
Spread-sheets can be a great substitute for specially written software for the calculation of wages and salaries, especially if the payroll is not particularly large, say less than 50 employees.
b) Cashbooks
Now that online-banking has become so popular, many sites give the user the option to download transaction lists in Excel readable formats. Quite often the format used is "C.S.V" (Comma Seperated Values) but Excel can easily convert this to the normal "xls" or the more up-to-date "xlsx". In all probability quite a lot of formatting will be required to make the spread-sheet more readable, but a V.B.A. macro could be written to do this automatically. Very good spread-sheet designers can even automate the allocation of common types of expenditure into individual columns to reduce the amount of posting into the general ledger, and, indeed, some more sophisticated accounting programs can accept entries directly from spread-sheets.
c) Fixed Asset Registers
Fixed Asset Registers are ideally suited to spread-sheets. The calculation of depreciation can be done with formulas in whatever style the organisation's accounting policies demand, and journal entry formulation can be automated.
These three examples are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tasks that can be simplified and speeded up with the use of well-designed spread-sheets, whether they use V.B.A. macros or not. The pricing of goods, jobs, or services is another area where spread-sheet skills can come to the fore. But it's not only pre general ledger tasks that can benefit from the use of spread-sheets. Read on for examples of tasks that can be simplified after whatever system is in use to produce the trial balance.
2) Post General Ledger
Many more sophisticated computerised general ledger packages include an integrated report generator. These vary in flexibility and ease of use. In many cases it is easier and more flexibility can be obtained by exporting a trial balance into a spread-sheet and then, either manually or using a V.B.A. macro, format reports using the spread-sheet software. Another benefit of using spread-sheets to generate reports is that it is easy to produce graphs to highlight important points. Some reports that derive their figures from general ledgers and can be formatted using spread-sheet technology are:
a) All aspects of End of Financial Year Financial Accounts
b) Periodic Management Accounts showing current period and year to date figures
c) Periodic Management Accounts showing what percentage each category of sales and expenses are of total sales
d) Periodic Management Accounts showing budgets and comparing actual figures to budgeted
figures either as positive or negative amounts or percentages
So the list goes on, limited only by the imagination of the users and the needs of the organisation.
This article has only scratched the surface of why it is important that finance department staff should be good spread-sheet operators. For example it has not touched on the production of budgets, the production of cash flow forecasts and many other aspects that are important to any well-run enterprise.
About the Author (Plain Text)
Phil Ramage CA (Scot) CA (Aust)
For more information and, if needed, assistance, go to:
http://www.bookkeeping-theeasyway.com
(C) 2011 Philip Ramage All rights reserved
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
New E-book - The ABC of Bookkeeping - Helps Students and Small Business People With The Basics of Double-Entry Bookkeeping
Bangkok, Thailand – 2nd January 2011 – Phil Ramage C.A. (Scot) C.A. (Aust), a semi-retired qualified accountant with over 40 years experience, announces the release of his unique electronic book (e-book) – Bookkeeping - The Easy Way. The new e-book is designed to help students and small business people improve their understanding of the basic concepts of the 500 year old Italian art of double-entry bookkeeping.
“This e-book is for anybody who is looking to improve their skills in the fields of bookkeeping and simple accounting,” said Mr Ramage. “It sets out the basics of double-entry bookkeeping in a never before seen fashion, using diagrams. It also, metaphorically eases the understanding of ledger accounts by comparing them to stories and pictures. This might sound confusing, but it really does simplify the process of understanding what is an art, rather than a science.”
Highlights from Bookkeeping - The Easy Way include:
- How to select which accounts in the ledger require to be adjusted, to ensure the ledger accurately represents the enterprise.
- By simply examining a unique and never seen before diagram, how to know when an entry should be a debit or a credit and so ensure that everything is right
- Several other proven steps to ensure the ledger is accurate, and therefore the resulting Sets of Accounts that are extracted from it, paint an accurate picture of the business
- How to decide whether an accrual or a prepayment needs to be reversed in the following month or year, thus avoiding a possible duplication of a charge against the profits
- Many proven strategies for getting it right every time
- Discover in a matter of minutes whether an account tells a story or paints a picture. This is a brand new concept, or metaphor, which has never been used before in any of the boring old text books that have been published in the past.
- Finally another new concept to make things clear. Is an account a “Goodie” or a “Baddie”. What the devil does that mean?...The book makes sense of it all!
The e-book is available for sale at http://www.bookkeeping-theeasyway.com for $27.00.
The e-book is written by Phil Ramage. Phil was born in Scotland, where he qualified in the mid-seventies. Since then he has worked in England, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Thailand, and Indonesia. He has worked both within professional accounting offices, in commerce, and as a self-employed consultant. He has extensive experience and expertise in all aspects of accounting, and bookkeeping, using both manual and computerized systems. For most of his career, however, he has specialized in the use of computerized accounting packages and the development of spread-sheet solutions to every day recurring problems. A physical incapacity has forced him to be almost house-bound, tended by his Thai wife of 28 years. But his mind is still active, and he has taken to writing and web-site design with gusto.
Contact: Phil Ramage
Email: phil@phil-ramage.com
Phone: +66 8 9695 6296
Phone: +66 8 9695 6296
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Double-Entry Bookkeeping - The World's Reclusive Necessity
Article Description:
Throughout the entire world, no organisation larger than a street-corner shoe-shine boy could survive without utilising the art of double-entry bookkeeping. However, only a very small proportion of the world's population is even aware of its existence.
Article Body:
The majority of the world's population, especially in developed countries, are aware of the use of accountancy within all kinds of organisations, whether they be commercial, governmental, charitable or any other kind of enterprise involving the use of money. Accountants produce accounts of several different types. Accounts to help run the organisation as efficiently as possible, accounts to meet conditions set down by governments, accounts to satisfy the requirements of taxation authorities and, in larger enterprises, accounts to keep shareholders and other interested outsiders informed of how well the organisation is operating.
The majority of the world's population also understand that the main basic skill of a house builder is bricklaying, and that the main basic skill of a successful author is an above average skill in the art of writing. However, what percentage of the world's population knows what the basic skill of an accountant is? A small minority, I would suggest.
The basic skill of an accountant is the art of double-entry bookkeeping. Double-entry bookkeeping was first evolved in Italy, late in the 15th century. But it is still the basis of all manual accounting systems, and all accounting computerised software available today, from the most simple, to the most sophisticated. It is used to control the finances of the smallest corner-store to the World Bank.
Without double-entry bookkeeping, the world could not operate as it does today, but, despite its importance, only a very small proportion of the world's inhabitants have any idea of how it works and a huge percentage of the world's population doesn't even know that the term exists.
So why is this ancient art called double-entry bookkeeping? Why not just call it bookkeeping? If an accountant needs to record a transaction, surely that's what he or she does? He or she records a transaction. Why is there a need for the word "double"?
The answer lies in the fact that all transactions in fact affect two or more aspects of the enterprise, so that two or more entries are required. For example, when a business makes a sale, it may be for cash or it may be on credit. If the sale was for cash it has to be recorded that the total sales made have increased, and also that the total cash owned by the entity has increased. If the sale was on credit it has to be recorded that the total sales made have increased, and also that the customer now owes the entity money that has to be collected in the future.
There are a million other examples but, in each case, more than one category needs to be adjusted. Double-Entry Bookkeeping is a skill that more people, especially small business people should be much more familiar with. Don't you agree?
About the Author (Plain Text)
Phil Ramage CA (Scot) CA (Aust)
For more information and, if needed, assistance, go to: http://www.bookkeeping-theeasyway.com
(C) 2011 Philip Ramage All rights reserved
About the Author HTML
Phil Ramage CA (Scot) CA (Aust)
For more information and, if needed, assistance, go to:
<a href="http://www.bookkeeping-theeasyway.com">www.bookkeeping-theeasyway.com</a>
(C) 2011 Philip Ramage All rights reserved
Throughout the entire world, no organisation larger than a street-corner shoe-shine boy could survive without utilising the art of double-entry bookkeeping. However, only a very small proportion of the world's population is even aware of its existence.
Article Body:
The majority of the world's population, especially in developed countries, are aware of the use of accountancy within all kinds of organisations, whether they be commercial, governmental, charitable or any other kind of enterprise involving the use of money. Accountants produce accounts of several different types. Accounts to help run the organisation as efficiently as possible, accounts to meet conditions set down by governments, accounts to satisfy the requirements of taxation authorities and, in larger enterprises, accounts to keep shareholders and other interested outsiders informed of how well the organisation is operating.
The majority of the world's population also understand that the main basic skill of a house builder is bricklaying, and that the main basic skill of a successful author is an above average skill in the art of writing. However, what percentage of the world's population knows what the basic skill of an accountant is? A small minority, I would suggest.
The basic skill of an accountant is the art of double-entry bookkeeping. Double-entry bookkeeping was first evolved in Italy, late in the 15th century. But it is still the basis of all manual accounting systems, and all accounting computerised software available today, from the most simple, to the most sophisticated. It is used to control the finances of the smallest corner-store to the World Bank.
Without double-entry bookkeeping, the world could not operate as it does today, but, despite its importance, only a very small proportion of the world's inhabitants have any idea of how it works and a huge percentage of the world's population doesn't even know that the term exists.
So why is this ancient art called double-entry bookkeeping? Why not just call it bookkeeping? If an accountant needs to record a transaction, surely that's what he or she does? He or she records a transaction. Why is there a need for the word "double"?
The answer lies in the fact that all transactions in fact affect two or more aspects of the enterprise, so that two or more entries are required. For example, when a business makes a sale, it may be for cash or it may be on credit. If the sale was for cash it has to be recorded that the total sales made have increased, and also that the total cash owned by the entity has increased. If the sale was on credit it has to be recorded that the total sales made have increased, and also that the customer now owes the entity money that has to be collected in the future.
There are a million other examples but, in each case, more than one category needs to be adjusted. Double-Entry Bookkeeping is a skill that more people, especially small business people should be much more familiar with. Don't you agree?
About the Author (Plain Text)
Phil Ramage CA (Scot) CA (Aust)
For more information and, if needed, assistance, go to: http://www.bookkeeping-theeasyway.com
(C) 2011 Philip Ramage All rights reserved
About the Author HTML
Phil Ramage CA (Scot) CA (Aust)
For more information and, if needed, assistance, go to:
<a href="http://www.bookkeeping-theeasyway.com">www.bookkeeping-theeasyway.com</a>
(C) 2011 Philip Ramage All rights reserved
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