A Bookkeeping Course or Accountancy School for a Career Boost?

When you need to understand business finance, a bookkeeping course may be much too basic to help you reach your goals. On the other hand, a degree from an accountancy school may be much more complicated than what you need and way too expensive.

If your goal is to better understand numbers, finance and accounting cycles, then an Accounting Basics Career Diploma may provide all the guidance you need. The diploma is a quick and affordable way for anyone to get started in career accounting for a large or small business.

Bookkeeping vs. Accounting—What’s the Difference?

Accounting involves the A-to-Z process of setting up and maintaining the finances of a business. It goes far beyond simple data entry. Accounting includes analyzing the financial position of a business by looking at its sales, overhead, operating results and more.

If you have money, earn money, or spend money, you’re already doing some accounting. It’s just on a very small scale. Think of yourself as the business. Your job skill is what you sell. Your cost of living is your overhead. Your operating results show if you’re successful at selling your skill and covering expenses. Are you making money or going into debt? At accountancy school, you will dig deep into financial analysis and theories. You could do coursework all the way up to the doctorate level... if you have years and tuition money to invest in your studies.

Bookkeeping is a toned-down version of accounting. It focuses more on keeping the books and recording transactions for financial accounts. If you’re balancing your bank account on a regular basis, you’re doing bookkeeping. A bookkeeping course can sharpen your skills, but may not offer you much beyond the basics. If you’re looking to position yourself to an employer as a valuable asset, you need to do more.

The Best of Both Worlds—Bookkeeping & Accounting

So, if a full accountancy degree is too much and a basic bookkeeping course is too little, where does that leave you?

Let’s look at what businesses need. Companies of all sizes have on-going needs for individuals who can keep accurate books but who also understand finance at a deeper level. Small businesses often seek assistants with many skills who can manage tasks from reception to marketing to bookkeeping. Large businesses may seek specialists who manage only one part or function of a larger accounting department. Having accounting knowledge beyond basic bookkeeping on your resume will set you apart in either environment.

You can get those resume-boosting skills through the Accounting Basics Career Diploma program at PCDI Canada in as few as four months. The curriculum dips your toes into the accounting functions all businesses need at different times in their business cycles.

The program starts with accounting language and then takes you through transactions, ledgers and worksheets. You’ll learn bookkeeping for accounts receivable, accounts payable, cash accounts, inventory management and more. Plus, you’ll cover some corporate finance, accounting cycles, and the accounting standards to which most companies agree to adhere.

The bottom line? You’ll graduate with a good understanding of the basics of accountancy. Employers of all sizes will value your knowledge.