So you want to learn more about finance and accounting?
Those of you who follow this blog regularly know that I’m quite passionate about building financial confidence in my readers. And while you can find a lot of great information on this blog, I will admit that I only cover a relatively niche topic of accounting and finance for small businesses.
Some resources here are relevant to a personal finance perspective, but it is mainly geared towards small business owners or people who are interested in starting a business. Even if you are a small business owner, there are plenty of other resources that I can recommend for you to read.
So in this article, let’s talk about what resources are available for you to build up your financial confidence (apart from this awesome website). I will keep this list brief so as not to overwhelm you with too much information.
My favourite finance and accounting resources:
Wealth and Risk NZ is arguably MY favourite financial website in NZ (apart from my own of course – haha). Sonnie Bailey is a great guy and he writes his articles in a very easy to read and fun manner. His focus is more on personal finance and wealth. In my early days of blogging, Sonnie gave me some really great advice on how to get started. I owe much of my writing tone and style to him.
Sonnie runs a financial advisory company (Fairhaven Wealth). He has also written quite a few books on the matter of personal finance. So, yeah, definitely check out his website!
- Your friendly tax department website
If you are based in NZ, the NZ IRD website is a great place to look for relevant tax information. Click these links instead if you are based in Malaysia, Singapore or Australia. Or simply search ‘*your country name* government tax website’ in your preferred search engine.
Tax websites are a great place to educate yourself on your personal and business tax obligations. Often, the answer to the question you are looking for can be found on the tax website. Bear in mind that some tax websites can be difficult to navigate. That being said, knowing a little bit is better than knowing nothing. It is a great way to prep before speaking to an accountant.
- Going to University!
If you are really serious about learning accounting and finance – you should definitely check out your local University. A degree in accounting will teach you everything you need to know about maintaining accounts for your personal life and for your business. A degree in finance will teach you how to invest your money wisely for both personal and business purposes.
Now, you might think that learning up an entire degree to sort out your finances may be a bit much – but knowledge is power! Especially in this pandemic-driven financial crisis, businesses need individuals who can advise them on financial matters. With a degree in accounting or finance, you can market your skills in these subjects and make even more money!
For those of you who follow my blog, you will know that I teach accounting and finance at the University of Waikato (Waikato Management School represent!). We offer online courses as well if you are offshore! Join us and you might even end up in my class!
Click here for accounting courses
and here for finance courses
Other links:
So I’ve covered the top three (for me anyway) resources that you can use to learn more about finance and accounting. But of course, I would be amiss if I didn’t name some other awesome websites you can check out:
Mr. Money Moustache blog – The blog that inspired the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement. Lots of great, no-nonsense advice here.
Barefoot Investor Blog – The blog written by the author of the best-selling book: The Barefoot Investor. I credit Scott Pape for inspiring me to write about finance and accounting.
Investopedia – Every accounting/finance/economic students favorite copy-paste website. The website can be dense and it is very USA centric, but there are lots of resources on financial concepts that will help you!
Do you have a favorite source of financial knowledge that you want to share with me? Do let me know in the comments or send me an email at sam@samharith.com!
Stay positive!