My journey into accounting began during my freshman year of college. The Hotel School at Cornell University required a lot of accounting courses and it came to me very easily. I spoke with my faculty advisor (who just happened to be one of the accounting professors) and decided to take the required accounting courses to be able to sit for the CPA exam once I graduated.

Even back in college I knew I wanted to be my own boss and realized that a complete understanding of accounting was something that was critical for any business. Once out of college I got a job with a small CPA firm in downtown DC and worked for them for four years. My foundation was in both audit and tax. I passed the CPA exam in Maryland in 1981 two years into my first job.

After several job changes and valuable life experiences I went out on my own in 1990 and have been working with small and medium businesses in the DC metroplitan area ever since.

When I began working in 1979 everything was still done by hand except for most taxes that were processed by an outside service bureau. There was no such thing as a personal computer. How times have changed. I can't imagine not using a computer or accounting software. Along the way I became I Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and I'm currently working towards becoming a Certified Peachtree Advisor.

In the accounting world today when working with small businesses a thorough understanding of accounting princples only gets you half way there – you also need a complete understanding of accounting software applications. In this blog I will be talking about all aspects of small business accounting and small business accounting software. Please come back often and join the conversation.