I have compiled a list of 14 of the best accounting websites and accounting blogs that can assist you with staying up-to-date on important accounting topics, learning accounting principles, and troubleshooting issues with your accounting software.
1. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)
- Who it’s for: Accounting and finance professionals, investors and analysts, accounting students, and small businesses
- Topics covered: Accounting standards updates and codification
- Why I like it: The Financial Accounting Standards Board is the official website of the body responsible for setting Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). It provides comprehensive information that covers all aspects of accounting standards, from the codification to the latest updates.
Most of its resources are available free of charge, including educational webinars, videos, and publications to help understand and apply accounting standards. You have access to a searchable database of all authoritative GAAP pronouncements, which is the go-to source for official accounting guidance. There is also an opportunity to participate in the standard-setting process by reviewing proposals and submitting feedback.
2. Accounting for Management
- Who it’s for: Self-learners, accounting students, and small business owners with little accounting knowledge
- Topics covered: Accounting principles and concepts, financial assets, stockholders’ equity, and job-order costing systems
- Why I like it: Accounting for Management provides free education and instruction. Using explanations, exercises, problems, quizzes, and calculators, the website offers clear and concise information for all types of accounting situations.
The “Exercises” section, for instance, presents unique problems that an accountant may encounter and provides the appropriate solution. You can take one or more of the 20 quizzes available to ensure that you have mastered the material. This site also has usable calculators that are grouped into four categories: capital budgeting techniques, cost volume and profit (CVP) relationships, standard costing and variance analysis, and accounting ratios.
3. QuickBooks Tips and Tricks
- Who it’s for: QuickBooks users, accountants, and ProAdvisors
- Topics covered: Pricing changes and software developments
- Why I like it: Available on LinkedIn, the QuickBooks Tips & Tricks group shares knowledge, experiences, and best practices with the software. Its purpose is to facilitate discussions, problem-solving, and learning within the QuickBooks community. The group is structured like a message board, with the most recent posts appearing first.
The group’s admins will post useful info, such as opinion-based articles about the software’s new developments, like the discontinuation of the QuickBooks Desktop products. Users can also post questions to the group about how to perform certain tasks within the software. While not all of the questions posted will receive a response, I still consider this a good resource for networking with other QuickBooks users.
4. Accounting Coach
- Who it’s for: Small business owners, bookkeepers, and accounting students
- Topics covered: Basic concepts, such as how to reconcile a bank account or read a financial statement, and the difference between concepts like cash vs accrual basis accounting and debits and credits
- Why I like it: CPA Harold Averkamp’s blog Accounting Coach is an easily accessible resource as Averkamp has developed an entire curriculum to help audiences learn accounting topics in an easy-to-navigate course-like format. He presents accounting concepts alongside tutorials and an extensive Q&A about each topic. He also includes practice quizzes and puzzles to reinforce your knowledge.
A paid version includes flashcards, cheat sheets, and more formal tests for each topic. One of the best features of this blog is the ability to search for specific accounting terms, and then sort them by various uses of each concept.
5. Accounting Today
- Who it’s for: Small business owners and accountants
- Topics covered: Tax law, technology, accounting standards, audit and assurance, and wealth management
- Why I like it: Accounting Today is a respected trade magazine that was started in 1987 and services the public accounting profession. While the print version still has strong distribution, the website provides valuable information on industry topics. Articles are written by a broad network of contributors, and comment forums often provide additional information.
The Accounting Today podcast covers in-depth discussions on the latest issues with thought leaders who specialize in various aspects of the accounting industry. Recent topics include employee stock ownership plans, accounting and AI, and how to navigate generational shifts in accounting. A resources section also provides web seminars, white papers, and special reports about hot topics in the accounting industry.
6. 5 Minute Bookkeeping
- Who it’s for: Small business owners and/or QuickBooks users
- Topics covered: How to find and hire the right bookkeeping or accounting professional, how and when to write off a bad debt, and how to close the books in QuickBooks Online
- Why I like it: Editor and CPA Veronica Masek of 5 Minute Bookkeeping knows the value of a small business owner’s time and, therefore, ensures that the articles on her website are short and succinct. She can simplify even the most complex accounting topics and provides tutorials that are straightforward and easy to follow, with the added bonus of screenshots and infographics.
Each article is accompanied by a video tutorial. Masek also has a whole section dedicated to QuickBooks Online, with tips and tricks, tutorials, and articles about ecommerce accounting.
7. Fit Small Business
- Who it’s for: Small business owners, QuickBooks users, and accountants
- Topics covered: Hundreds of editorial articles on topics including accounting, HR, marketing, finance, and retail; Fit Small Business is an excellent resource for all aspects of small businesses
- Why I like it: The Accounting section of Fit Small Business can be especially helpful in choosing your accounting software. It emphasizes key areas in accounting that are essential for small businesses, and to obtain the most accurate results, Fit Small Business uses a case study method that evaluates the fitness of particular software in small business accounting.
You’ll not only find articles that focus on a particular industry—such as construction or retail—but also software reviews, buyer’s guides, and articles that compare one software with another. If you’re a QuickBooks Online subscriber, you’ll find the 55 Free QuickBooks Online Tutorials very helpful. You can also sign up for the company’s newsletter, which offers articles that are based on topics of interest to you.
8. Hector Garcia, CPA
- Who it’s for: Anyone looking to increase their knowledge of QuickBooks
- Topics covered: QuickBooks-related articles that delve further into the software itself, with topics such as the future of QuickBooks or the real pros and cons of QuickBooks Online
- Why I like it: Hector Garcia, CPA, the principal accountant at Quick Bookkeeping & Accounting LLC, an accounting firm based in Miami, is an Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. His website offers an array of both free and paid resources. His videos are always thorough, engaging, and presented in an easily understandable manner. In fact, the Fit Small Business accounting team ranked his Advanced Webinars by Hector Garcia, CPA as one of the best QuickBooks training courses with live webinars.
He also has a YouTube channel that highlights specific QuickBooks and tax topics, such as business tax deductions and red flags. The channel currently has over 280,000 subscribers, and the videos are offered free of charge.
9. 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy
- Who it’s for: Individuals and small business owners
- Topics covered: Retirement planning, investor education, creating a plan for paying off debt, improving your credit score, and working with a CPA
- Why I like it: 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy is a free public service that’s made available by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) with the goal of helping individuals to better understand their finances and develop money management skills. While this website isn’t specifically geared toward small business owners, it’s nonetheless useful because many of the topics it covers can apply to them and it makes each topic easy to understand, even for the most inexperienced.
The site also offers calculators, personal finance videos, and “Ask the Money Doctor,” which gives you the opportunity to submit a question. There’s even a section in Spanish, which has translations of many of the articles that are available.
10. Evergreen Small Business
- Who it’s for: Small business owners
- Topics covered: Tax accounting, financial planning, and small business management; recent articles include “How Corporations Are Taxed,” “How Does a Corporation Pay Its Shareholders?” and “How Does a Corporation Dissolve or Discontinue Operations?” and there are also informative pieces on subjects related to managing a business, such as challenges associated with entrepreneurship
- Why I like it: Founded by Stephen and Elizabeth Nelson, two Seattle-based CPAs, Evergreen Small Business offers an abundance of information for small business owners. While their specialties are tax concerns of S-corps, foreign tax issues, and small business consulting, they also provide financial planning services.
Evergreen Small Business also offers free LLC formation kits for every state and S-corp kits for $37.95. A selection of monographs—including “Small Business Tax Deduction Secrets,” “Business Planning Workbook,” and “Sample Corporate Bylaws”—is also for sale.
11. Insightful Accountant
- Who it’s for: Small business owners and accountants
- Topics covered: Latest updates on accounting software, such as QuickBooks or Xero, and articles on workforce management specifically geared toward accountants
- Why I like it: Small business owners seeking insightful information, especially as it relates to the latest accounting trends, will want to bookmark Insightful Accountant. You can also subscribe to its free digital magazine. In addition to its free content, it offers a premium membership for $595 per year. This gives you access to additional content, including various CPE webinars and Q&A discussions.
Perhaps the most useful section of the website is “Webinars & Events,” which contains information about live events, training courses, and educational webinars. The “IA en Español” section contains Spanish translations of many of the articles on the website. Insightful Accountant also features a directory of productivity apps that can help to streamline your business, such as DocuWare or Fyle.
12. Small Business Taxes & Management
- Who it’s for: Small business owners
- Topics covered: Tax tips, links to tax forms and withholding tables
- Why I like it: Focusing specifically on small businesses, Small Business Taxes & Management is a no-nonsense resource that’s ideal for readers who just want the facts. Updated daily from Monday through Friday, the website features a tip of the day, editorial information, and several references with links to special forms and withholding tables. Readers can also write in with specific questions, which may be answered directly via email or in a future issue.
I recommend this website because of its helpful tax information for small business owners, although its user interface could use some improvement and updating. There’s an “IRS quick links” section that includes links to special filing season alerts and a priority guidance plan. It has been providing tax and management guidance since 1980 and aims to provide accurate and authoritative information to its users.
13. Principles of Accounting
- Who it’s for: Accounting students and self-learners
- Topics covered: The accounting cycle, current and long-term assets, liabilities, equity, financial reporting and analysis, cost accounting, budgeting, performance evaluation, and decision-making; there’s also a glossary of accounting terms for quick reference
- Why I like it: Principles of Accounting provides a free online textbook with chapters on financial and managerial accounting, a fantastic resource for learning accounting concepts and principles in a structured and easy-to-understand manner. The content is presented in traditional textbook format, with chapters, sections, and clear explanations. It incorporates numerous diagrams, charts, and tables to visually illustrate concepts and make them easier to understand.
Each chapter includes examples and practice problems with solutions to help reinforce learning. Additional resources include short streaming videos that explain key concepts and provide additional examples, Excel templates for various accounting tasks and calculations, and ExamCram, which gives you access to unlimited exams for specific accounting topics.
14. The Accounting Podcast
- Who it’s for: Anyone looking to stay current on accounting industry trends and best practices
- Topics covered: Latest accounting technology trends (such as AI and cloud accounting), industry news and regulatory changes, tax updates and strategies, and career advice for accountants. Examples of recent topics are Intuit’s strategic shift towards enterprise solutions and Xero’s new features like bank reconciliation.
- Why I like it: The Accounting Podcast is a valuable resource hosted by CPAs and technology enthusiasts Blake Oliver and David Leary. True to its name, the podcast focuses on accounting, bookkeeping, and tax topics. Shows include roundups of accounting news, analysis, and interviews.
Oliver and Leary have a conversational and engaging style, with occasional humor. The Accounting Podcast also provides free NASBA-approved CPE credits for listening with the Earmark CPE app. The weekly episodes are typically around an hour long and are a mix of news discussions, interviews with industry experts, and deep dives into specific topics.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes, there are many other resources that can be helpful to small business owners. These include podcasts, books, and online courses. You could even seek out a mentor, who can provide you with guidance and support as you start and grow your business.
There are several different ways to stay updated, which include subscribing to newsletters from business websites and blogs, connecting with industry leaders and experts on Twitter and LinkedIn, attending webinars and online events, and joining online communities and forums.
Bottom Line
Small business accounting websites and blogs can be invaluable resources for staying abreast of accounting trends and increasing your knowledge of accounting in general. Whether it’s tax topics, accounting software reviews, or information related to a specific industry, the websites I have featured address these topics in a clear and comprehensive manner.
