Hi - I am interested in earning a booking certificate from the local college here ( my husband is starting a business and I would like to help him keep the books). The classes consist of Bookkeeping I, II and III and Quickbooks. QB is the starting in Nov. - the others don't start until Feb. My question is - should I have any knowledge of bookkeeping to take this class, or should I wait until I take Bookkeeping I ? I know the difference between a debit and a credit, but that's about it :)
The 3 bookkeeping classes are not listed as pre-requistes.
Thanks-
Quick books is made for people with no bookeeping backround. However it dose help to have some knowledge. You should pick up a copy of bookeeping for dummies, (don't laugh) and just read it prior to the class. Also make sure that your accountant is familiar with quick books, that helps alot when you have questions for them.
If you have a good instructor, you should be fine. I teach computerized accounting (using QB) at a local college. I realized that not everyone retains the knowledge of accounting. I have accountants, management, and administrative assistants take my class. Accounting I & II are prerequistes for the class. I have found students need to be "refreshed" on the basics of accounting (ex. setting up the purchase of a fixed asset) as I teach. You may be fine.
If you would like to get a jump on the bookkeeping part, I suggest you find a copy of a good college textbook. I learned from Warren, Reeve, Fess books and still use them for reference. I further suggest a copy of the Financial and Managerial Accounting 6E. This is a very complete book and would be helpful for you in many ways in the business.
I hope the college is using the Intuit "QuickBooks in the Classroom" book. I like it for it's "hands-on" approach and the flow of learning. There is another popular one, but the first lesson is running reports (how did we get here???). It is a better advanced book.
Good luck and enjoy the experience,
Paul Falada
Certified ProAdvisor
Certified POS ProAdvisor
I would recommend the workbook "QuickBooks 2004" for Windows. I use this workbook in my classes at the local Vo-Tech School. It is a self-paced book and it covers each area step by step. At the end of each lesson is a practice exercise which asks you to accomplish the task just covered in the lesson. The following is a link to that company's web site where that book may be purchased: http://www.tlr-inc.com/index.htm
