Should I take a class on how to use accounting software?
I’m looking at some accounting jobs and they say they’d like the person to know how to use Quickbooks. I’ve taken a few accounting classes but I wonder if I should take a class for this. It sort of seems like a waste of credits to take a class for this when I could be taking more accounting classes that would count for the CPA exam. Quickbooks isn’t that hard is it? Should I just apply to these jobs?
January 5th, 2009 at 4:24 am
They said to take quikbooks…..and you said……….it’s a waste of time………….dumb…………..how bad do you want the job………….not bad enough……..
January 7th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
You are correct in saying that Quickbooks is “not that hard” but as with all accounting software (and maybe more so with Quickbooks due to having less restrictions on account type usage than some packages) it is very easy to screw up a set of books. I am an IT / Business consultant and years ago was a teacher in a vocational school teaching bookkeeping courses and Quickbooks training. Over the years I have seen and continue to see on a monthly basis countless “bookkeepers” (or some who even fancy themselves accountants; there IS a difference) who dive into QuickBooks without any real understanding of the software or double-entry bookkeeping and succeed only at completely hosing the books. I would strongly recommend that you take at least one class on QuickBooks before ever attempting to get a job where you will need to use it AND before you ever take a QuickBooks class you should take a course on bookkeeping so that you can actually understand what QuickBooks is doing behind the scenes when you enter a transaction before you waste hundreds or thousands of hours creating a set of books that is absolutely useless.
Also, as an aside, most colleges and universities (where you would take courses to get your MBA and prepare for the CPA exam) do not even offer QuickBooks training. In fact, most Accounting programs in colleges and universities don’t even teach double-entry bookkeeping so it is, sadly, a skill that even most people with a BA are ill-equiped to perform without additional training.
QuickBooks courses are generally offered by local consultants who may or may not be QuickBooks Certified Professionals but who are not typically accredited schools. This does not mean that they are not worth the time and money, but it is just the way QuickBooks training has evolved over the years and because of it, you should be able to get a thorough training course on QuickBooks for a few hundred dollars or less.
Best of luck whatever you do and remember; an education is always the surest way to success.