How to learn the language of business: Accounting

Accounting is called the language of business, and this here is the most important part of it, The Accounting Equation: Assets = Liabilities + Owner's Equity

Why is understanding this equation so important? 

• Acquiring Private Investors
• Getting a loan like SBA loans and Commercial loans
• Adding more locations to your business by purchasing another business with multiple locations
• Selling your business
• Purchasing stocks from a fortune 500 company
• IRS Audits

These are to name a few, but unfortunately, many business owners do not understand accounting. Many are wise enough to have accountants, however, I've dealt with many that do not understand the basic accounting principles. Warren Buffet credits his success in purchasing stocks from knowing how to read a balance sheet, statement of income (profit & loss statement), and statement of owner's equity of a corporation. It is not expected for a business owner to be an expert at accounting. Learning the basic accounting principles and how to read the accounting statements will be of great use. 

How can you learn?

A library card will come in handy to get access to free seminars and online courses. Also, Coursea, an educational website has free and paid online Financial Accounting courses taught by University professors in schools like Harvard, University of Virginia, Yale and many other major colleges. Finally, there are small business development departments in major cities that have a seminar on accounting and accounting software. I once went to a Quickbooks seminar and I receive a year trial of the online version of Quickbooks. Please utilize free help to gain an understanding of accounting.