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Accounting is the study of measuring, analyzing and interpreting financial activity by providing assurance of financial information, as well as compiling and preparing financial records. Managers, tax authorities and investors within organizations, companies and public agencies, such as the government, use this information to allocate resources.

Accounting electives are typically taken as directed studies, that is, taken by an individual student under the tutelage of an Accounting Area faculty member. Such electives focus on a specialized area of interest to the student and the faculty member, and can be helpful in filling in gaps in your knowledge in preparation for doctoral research. Accounting refers to the tracking of the consumption of NAS resources by users.

This information may be used for management, planning, billing, or other purposes. Accounting seeks to measure the results of an organization’s economic activities and convey this information to management, investors, creditors, regulatory agencies, consumers, and employees.

Under this broad definition, the field includes such distinct areas as auditing, management accounting, financial accounting, international accounting, tax accounting, and public-sector accounting.

Accounting topics of current concern to faculty and students. Offered only when faculty are available and sufficient student interest exists. Accounting activities may occur within or outside the organization.

Although accounting is usually identified with privately owned, profit-seeking entities, its services also are provided to not-for-profit organizations such as universities or hospitals, to governmental organizations, and to other types of units. Accounting majors have gone on to become business owners, investment bankers, loan officers, actuaries, economists, tax specialsists, and so much more.

Accounting reform measures of some kind have been taken in each generation to attempt to keep bookkeeping relevant to capital assets or production capacity. However, these have not changed the basic principles, which are supposed to be independent of economics as such.

Accounting majors need only to complete the application for scholarships available through the Department or the Deans office in order to be considered for all scholarships available in any given year. Accounting is the language of business, encompassing all phases of business operations as well as specialized accounting knowledge. Accounting is oriented to both preparers and users of financial information.

Accounting faculty members at a school of business are actively engaged in various research projects related to economic and risk management aspects of information assurance.

From the teaching perspective, information assurance is now an integral part of most accounting courses at the Smith School, including such courses as: auditing, managerial accounting, ethics and professionalism in accounting, business ethics, accounting systems, financial statement analysis, taxes, international accounting, and financial planning and control systems for managers and consultants.

Accounting Clerk positions require applicants to have basic accounting knowledge and typically some computer training. The courses offered at West Valley College include a computer component designed to give the students working knowledge of the way accounting is done in today’s technological environment. Accounting clerks post transactions in journals and on computer files and update the files when needed. Senior clerks also review computer printouts against regularly maintained journals and make necessary corrections.

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Throughout the country, busy medical practices are turning more and more toward medical billing companies because of the level of service they provide.

Any type of medical practice can use medical billing. It is a cost effective way to run the business end of your medical practice.

Small medical practices often take on the task of medical billing in order to cut corners and to save money. This can be devastating to the financial stability of the medical practice especially if it relies on the repayment from insurance companies to meet its financial obligations.

When medical personnel manually fill out the paperwork for billing, it can take long tedious hours just to make sure it is done correctly.

It is mailed to the insurance company where it is sorted in the mail room and then makes it way to the desk of the claims department where it sits in stack of medical claims waiting to be processed.

You are not guaranteed a speedy turnaround time and often it can take several months to see your return. If by chance there is a mistake on your claim, it is rejected and you have to start the process all over again.

It can be quite maddening to have to wait for a return that is not coming, and tracking a payment can be as frustrating as the rejection itself.

This is why medical billing is so critical to any medical practice. It takes all of the frustration out of the billing process because the highly trained professionals do all of the work for you.

As with any business, medical billing companies charge a fee for each claim that they process. Many people feel that the fee is not worth paying, however, when you stop and think about the service that you are paying for, you may find that it is worth the cost.

Medical billing companies provide a level of service that is second to none. The medical billing specialist code and send your medical claims electronically to insurance companies.

What this means is that the claim is sent directly to the insurance company computers where it is accepted or reject immediately and the billing service is notified within minutes. Once the claim is accepted, your payment is sent within days instead of weeks or months.

Medical billing companies also track each claim from the time it is submitted to the time you receive your check. This means that you have more time to spend with your patients without having to worry about anything else, and your office staff can devote more time to the duties of running your office.

This is what medical billing services offer their clients. An added benefit to using a medical billing company is that their acceptance rate of claims is over ninety percent meaning that the rejection rate is less than ten percent.

It just makes sense to use a medical billing company because of the advantages. The fast turnaround time is well worth the cost of the service.

Peter Geisheker is CEO of The Geisheker Group marketing firm. http://www.geisheker.com
One of the types of clients that Peter helps are medical billing services. http://www.apexmedicalbilling.com

“Just when you thought Sarbanes Oxley concerns had been sufficiently addressed so that non-public companies could take the issue off their dashboard, things have changed, ” says Gary W. Patterson, Enterprise Risk Management expert and speaker. He forewarns that Enterprise Risk Management (also referred to as ERM) will soon become a business issue for almost every business on the planet, including family-owned businesses, private companies, and nonprofits. This is a strategy shift for many of these organizations, which up until this point thought Sarbanes Oxley (sometimes affectionately known as Sarbox) applied only to public companies, and big ones at that.

One major reason for this sea change in philosophy is that both Standard & Poor and Moody are soliciting comments on their approach to ERM analysis and how they plan to factor it into their ratings. Their discussions will accelerate activity under way where bankers, governmental organizations, and regulators, in particular, have been considering the need for stronger corporate governance. For them Sarbox is an easily obtainable platform to use for drafting programs they believe should exist in corporations directly or indirectly under their jurisdiction. Lest you have any doubts, note how user friendly definitions from Wikipedia describe this trend.

“In business, enterprise risk management (ERM) includes the methods and processes used by organizations to manage risks (or seize opportunities) related to the achievement of their objectives. ERM provides a framework for risk management, which typically involves identifying particular events or circumstances relevant to the organization’s objectives (risks and opportunities), assessing them in terms of likelihood and magnitude of impact, determining a response strategy, and monitoring progress. ERM can also be described as a risk-based approach to managing an enterprise, integrating concepts of strategic planning, operations management, and internal control. ERM is evolving to address the needs of various stakeholders, who want to understand the broad spectrum of risks facing complex organizations to ensure they are appropriately managed. Regulators and debt rating agencies have increased their scrutiny on the risk management processes of companies.” per wikipedia.

Exactly when ERM programs will be implemented is a tougher question. Understandably, non-public companies have a range of reasons for preferring to delay the time when ERM factors will apply to them. However, the question is WHEN – not IF – some form of Enterprise Risk Management requirements will be applied. Family-owned business, other forms of private companies, and non-profits have been forewarned in a number of publications, speeches, and white papers over the last two years.

Some will say that we are drowning in white papers on ERM, corporate governance, Board of Directors, and risk analysis available and dismiss the issue. But those who are proactive, not reactive, will find the time well spent if they begin some level of enterprise risk management dialogue before something critical happens and your company is being second guessed by the ratings agencies, your auditors, or worse yet, a trial attorney.

The topic most companies neglect at their peril is the impact of a fast-approaching clean-energy-influenced economy. Here, we must reassess how much sooner we need to think about a renewable energy world as it relates to areas of your business that will be impacted both positively and negatively, and how that will change your company’s current and long range business plans, including the magnitude of those changes. After all, most C-level executives and their top management teams that I know do not like being second guessed and blind sided.

Gary W. Patterson has helped companies improve their profitability, reengineer their business models, and strengthen or gain competitive advantage in the marketplace. You can reach Gary at www.FiscalDoctor.com or take the free Fiscal Test at http://fiscaldoctor.com/fiscaltest.html.

Cost accounting is a complex subject that specialist accountants use to examine and report on business expenses to ensure financial control. Such expert cost accounting might involve absorption costing, marginal costing, break even and variance analysis. Such specialist accounting techniques are not usually available to the small business as they lack a cost accountant.

The good news for small business is that the majority do not need such specialist costing analysis as then proprietor usually has intimate detailed knowledge of all business expenses incurred. Or at least the small business believes he has that knowledge.

In truth it is not until regular bookkeeping records are produced that the small business can stand back and examine the real effect of the business expenses on the profitability of the business. And by virtually taking a third party view of the costs and effect of those expenses on profitability can the financial decision be taken to improve profitability.

Producing accounts on a monthly basis using accounting software suitable for the size and accounting experience of the small business owner is the first step to improving profitability. The second step is to review those accounts and determine just which cost items can be changed.

Costs occur and behave in different ways. Some business expenses may be regarded as fixed costs which others are termed variable or semi variable costs. The impact of sales volume increases or decreases variable costs and the marginal gross profit produced while turnover has little impact on fixed costs in the short and medium timescales.

Having produced a monthly profit and loss account and started the accounting for profit review of the financial figures it is useful to separate the nature of the expenses into those that are fixed and those expenses which are variable costs and those expenses which are semi variable costs.

Fixed costs means the level of expenditure does not vary with normal changes in sales volume in the short and medium term at least. But being fixed does not mean the rice of that expense cannot be reduced by examining both the value for money obtained and whether that cost is necessary in the first place.

Fixed costs of a small business might include such items as rent and premises costs, insurance and indemnity premiums, capital costs of fixed assets, administrative, legal and professional fees. Another way to view what is and what is not a fixed cost is to determine which costs are incurred to provide the base operating facility of the business.

If by changing the base of the business or negotiating better rates for those base expenses the fixed costs can be lowered then the pressure on generating gross profit is reduced. Fixed expenses may also contain such waste expenditure and any non essential expenditure in this area should be reviewed for potential elimination on the basis that if it can be dispensed with without affecting sales volume then chop out that expense as waste.

Variable costs depend heavily on the products or services being provided but are essential the cost of goods and services being sold. Often called direct costs the variable costs of a business should be reviewed for ways to reduce the unit cost either by sourcing cheaper supplies at the same quality levels or negotiating more effective prices. The volume of purchases can obviously affect the variable cost and consideration may be given to placing regular orders, higher volume orders or negotiating settlement discounts.

Direct costs are perhaps one of the one most influential cost areas in that the lower the direct cost that can be achieved reduces the sales volume required to reach and exceed the beak even point and also puts less pressure on the fixed costs.

Semi variable expenses would be those items which the small business makes definite decisions to buy depending upon the requirements of the products and the level of volume required. Many semi variable costs are dependent upon the management decisions of the small business owner and are a critical area in which the success or failure of the business may depend.

Semi variable costs may include the advertising and promotion costs of the business, perhaps the transport and distribution costs, direct employees and goods or services bought in to support the sales volume.

Each variable cost should be reviewed and a decision made on whether value for money is being obtained. That review should also examine whether the level of support the semi variable costs provide to the achievement of financial success is adequate, improvable or could be dispensed with.

Accounting for profit is the key area in which to examine all costs. Accounting or bookkeeping software can be a useful tool to identify the volume and levels of expense. The nature and performance of each expenditure classification should be subjected to the critical review of the small business owner to generate either a higher or safer financial performance.

Terry Cartwright, accountant and CEO at DIY Accounting, designs accounting software http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/ on excel spreadsheets providing complete single and double entry bookkeeping systems http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/bookkeeping.htm

It is a natural phenomenon for small business to be deeply involved in the particular skills and operations of the business. A fundamental issue that many small businesses overlook is that the particular industry in which they work and their personal skills are just tools of the trade not the trade of business itself. That trade of business is to produce a satisfactory bottom line.

While all business keeps financial records and many use accounting software the serious benefits of producing the accounts has a tendency to be restricted to accounting for tax purposes. The most useful function of a good bookkeeping system is however to use the financial information to generate higher levels of profitability.

The first step is to acquire and adopt an accounting software package suitable for the skills and knowledge of the small business. The second essential step is to produce a regular monthly income and expenses statement, usually called a profit and loss account.

Any individual monthly profit and loss account is of useful by limited value as a financial tool. Several consecutive monthly financial accounts can be indicative of where action can be taken to use the bookkeeping tool as a tool for accounting for profit.

Having produced a set of monthly accounts the next stage is to simply sit back and look at the numbers. The financial numbers tell the story of how the business has performed financially and with an intimate knowledge of how the figures came about the small business owner is perfectly placed to consider all potential options.

Sales turnover is a critical area to be considered. The historical sales income should be viewed in three separate modes being sales volume, sales prices and marginal profitability, the most critical and important of which is likely to be marginal profitability.

It is useful to stand back from the numbers and consider how the sales volume was achieved, what the driving forces where to achieve that level and what additional promotion can be done to increase sales volume even higher. Thinking about how the sales volume was obtained is the basis for determining how even higher levels can be produced in succeeding months.

Selling prices are often driven by market forces and product costs. An important area to consider is whether the sales prices obtained where the maximum prices obtainable at the same volume. Other considerations would be to consider the effect of increasing sales prices which would increase profitability if the same volume is maintained and even the effect of reducing sales prices if the volume of business increases to produce a higher level of gross profit.

Businesses in niche markets can charge a high selling price for the products or services without affecting the demand for the goods. On the other side of the coin the supermarket approach could be adopted by generating high volumes of sales from promoting the products at the lowest available prices.

The most critical area to be considered is the marginal profit from different products or services. The marginal profit is the gross profit which is the difference between the net selling price and the variable cost of that business area.

A lot of time can be spent working in the wrong direction, By identifying the most profitable items compared with the time and effort involved the small business can become more financially efficient by diverting more effort to those areas producing the highest financial returns.

The essential tool to this study is to maintain accounting records on a regular basis and produce a monthly profit and loss account. Periodically take a step back and consider the direction, future and opportunities available based on historical performance and the changes required to positively influence the bottom line, using and viewing the accounting software as a business tool. That tool is accounting for profit.

Terry Cartwright, accountant and CEO at DIY Accounting, designs Accounting Software at http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/ providing accounting solutions for small to medium sized business in the UK with payroll software at http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/payroll.htm for up to 20 employees