Best Online Accounting Books for Accountants

Accountants and bookkeepers know that the only way of staying afloat in the vast and ever-changing ocean of the accounting business is through constant learning and practicing.

Granted, online accounting systems are easy to use (and not just from the accountant’s point of view), but they worth nothing if there is no practical expertise behind the user.

Written by Claire and Gordon of the May family, Effective Writing: A Handbook for Accountants is mostly intended for those accountants who are planning to launch or expand their services. Therefore, the book does not focus on general accounting but on how to present yourself to future clients and earn their trust.

The 320 pages guide you through all stages of the writing process, including – but not limited to – planning, critical thinking, generating and organizing your ideas, drafting, revising and how to design your presentation. To further help you in the writing process, Effective Writing also provides material on research, the ways of writing for a workplace in a convincing manner, and the general ethics of business communication.

The author of this book, M. Darren Root, is not just a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with over 30 years of experience, but also one of the most highly esteemed thought leaders of the accounting industry. In his solo book, the cleverly named The Intentional Accountant, Root gives advice for self-employed accountants on how to turn their own entrepreneurships into true accounting enterprises. The highly practical book also draws on strategic processes and other organizational methods with which readers can pave the way to their successful accounting practice.

The price of a freshly printed copy of The Intentional Accountant starts from approximately $20 on Amazon, but those fancying the ‘paperless’ edition can purchase the book for as low as $13.

Granted, the title is a bad pun, but it is a clear proof of how influential Xero is in the world of cloud accounting.

Written by true Xero enthusiasts – namely the CEO of The Sleeter Group Inc, Doug Sleeter, and CPA, Bruce Phillips – Adding a Xero… is a 130 page-long must for accountants of the 21st century.

It gives practical advice on how to be successful using cloud-based accounting, what Xero is and how it works, and how to run a firm based on the new technology.

Out of all three books we recommended, this one is by far the cheapest: a paperback copy of the book on Amazon is just $14 (without shipping), but the eBook version is even cheaper at $13.