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I think it's great that someone is trying to teach this topic to software engineers and I accept that it's hard to teach but I think that this document doesn't

I think it's great that someone is trying to teach this topic to software engineers and I accept that it's hard to teach but I think that this document doesn't do a good job. Covering the "balancing" of debits and credits as the starting point is too abstract. GNUCash's (which I use for my personal accounts) guide is unhelpfully down right now, but you can find it here: http://www.gnucash.org/docs/v2.4/C/gnucash-guide/ http://www.gnucash.org/docs/v2.4/C/gnucash-guide/ I also found Accounting Demystified very useful: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Accounts-Demystified-Astonishingly-Simple-Accounting/dp/0273744704/ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Accounts-Demystified-Astonishingly-S...

nbouscal 11y ago
The post basically read like a summary of the first class in my accounting degree. I would be very surprised if the average software engineer has less tolerance for abstraction than the average accountant. Debits and credits are the foundation on which all of accounting is built. I don't see why you would start anywhere else.
- calpaterson 11y ago
  When you consider how many people leave "Accounting 101" classes without really understanding anything the traditional way starts to look quite bad
  - tmornini_ey 11y ago
    Good point. Do you know or believe it to be higher than most other classes?
- throwaway_97 11y ago
  I too depised these things when I took accountancy in school but by the second year I had accepted their value and now cannot see how else it could have been better. Debit/Credit is the foundation of double entry. Most people think accountancy = bookkeeping. They dont get Double entry system. It's understandable, it took me a considerable time to grasp it.
  - tmornini_ey 11y ago
    Well said!
uberweb 11y ago
gnucash is great. i use it for my freelancing business and it's UI is not great, but packed with functionality.
wtbob 11y ago
GnuCash is great; I credit it with changing me from a '$20 in my pocket/$0 in my pocket' guy in college to someone who's doing pretty comfortably now. It's all about understanding how money dances through a series of accounts.
tmornini_ey 11y ago
Sorry to hear that you didn't like it. :-( Thanks for the links, I'll take a look!

nbouscal 11y ago

The post basically read like a summary of the first class in my accounting degree. I would be very surprised if the average software engineer has less tolerance for abstraction than the average accountant. Debits and credits are the foundation on which all of accounting is built. I don't see why you would start anywhere else.

calpaterson 11y ago
When you consider how many people leave "Accounting 101" classes without really understanding anything the traditional way starts to look quite bad
- tmornini_ey 11y ago
  Good point. Do you know or believe it to be higher than most other classes?
throwaway_97 11y ago
I too depised these things when I took accountancy in school but by the second year I had accepted their value and now cannot see how else it could have been better. Debit/Credit is the foundation of double entry. Most people think accountancy = bookkeeping. They dont get Double entry system. It's understandable, it took me a considerable time to grasp it.
- tmornini_ey 11y ago
  Well said!

uberweb 11y ago

gnucash is great. i use it for my freelancing business and it's UI is not great, but packed with functionality.

wtbob 11y ago

GnuCash is great; I credit it with changing me from a '$20 in my pocket/$0 in my pocket' guy in college to someone who's doing pretty comfortably now. It's all about understanding how money dances through a series of accounts.

tmornini_ey 11y ago

Sorry to hear that you didn't like it. :-( Thanks for the links, I'll take a look!