Now, more than ever, a career in accounting is something you should take the time to consider. Accounting is leaving its reputation for providing long days of mundane work in the dust as the amount of duties and tasks it offers varies more and more.

Accounts are required each year for tax and financial control purposes with preset dates by which those accounting records must be submitted and penalties for failure to deliver on time. While in the UK self employed business can use its own accounting period the tax position can become more complex if the accounts use a basis period rather than the standard financial tax year.

All companies and self employed businesses including dormant non trading companies have a legal requirement to keep a set of annual financial accounts for tax purposes. There are rules governing the accounting year end date at which the set of accounts is made up which have advantages and disadvantages to the business.

People assume both bookkeeping and accounting are one and the same. In reality both differs.

When times get hard and 2008 has all the hallmarks of being a difficult financial year control over cash flow is critical. The best defence in these days of the credit crunch is to introduce and monitor cash flow liquidity at the earliest stage of which stock levels and inventory control can be crucial elements.

Many small business owners wonder if accounting is a necessary evil. Those who run the accounting system speak a language of credits and debits. Most business owners feel they can not speak this language.