Best Accounting Books for Entrepreneurs

There’s nothing else that entrepreneurs hate more than accounting. But I don’t think you can be a good and successful entrepreneur without understand the basic principles of accounting.

If you are interested in starting an online business, there another collection of books that you might want to read: Best Books for Starting an Online Business.

Numbers can be difficult to process and nerve wracking to deal with — a deadly combination that will have you scratching your head most of the time. It’s a good thing, though, that numbers and information are now presented in an easy-to-decipher language.

Well, difficult or not, there are plenty of reasons why you shouldn’t ever give up on accounting no matter how much it makes you want to, particularly if you’re part of a business. Some of them include the fact that accounting:

  • helps you systematically maintain business records,
  • aids in preparing financial statements,
  • lets you compare the results of the current year to the previous year and analyze the changes,
  • helps in the decision-making process,
  • provides relevant information to everyone involved in the business, as well as other parties,
  • helps in matters of taxation,
  • and helps in the valuation of a company or a business.

If you still aren’t convinced that accounting can be easy, then perhaps the best books on accounting will change your mind. Unlike regular textbooks, the ones that are part of my roundup offers unique and effective approaches to learning beginner, intermediate, or advanced accounting.

This time around, accounting won’t be boring you to death. You’ll know exactly what to do with the numbers, figures, and super detailed information presented to you, and learn to love accounting.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants or AICPA defines accounting as a tool that allows you to record, classify, and summarize, in terms of money, and in a significant manner, events and transactions that are, at the very least, of financial character, and interpret such results.

Therefore, in light of this, I urge you to grab a copy of any of these books on our list:

Best Accounting Books

Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine - cover

Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine

by Mike Michalowicz

Recommended by 2 leaders

The most recent business book I found that had a transformative impact on my business is Profit First by Mike Michalowicz, which completely changed the way we manage our finances at Grammar Factory.

Jacqui Pretty

Founder/Grammar Factory

The Accounting Game: Basic Accounting Fresh from the Lemonade Stand - cover

The Accounting Game: Basic Accounting Fresh from the Lemonade Stand

by Darrell Mullis, Judith Orloff

Recommended by 1 leader

If you have no understanding of accounting, read a good accounting book. A good example would be The Accounting Game by Darrell Mullis.

Andrew Elliott

Founder/GoDesignerGo

Take on the Street: How to Fight for Your Financial Future - cover

Take on the Street: How to Fight for Your Financial Future

by Arthur Levitt

Recommended by 1 leader

In Buffett's 2002 shareholder letter, he explains "how accounting standards and audit quality have eroded in recent years." Specifically, he cites the downfall of Arthur Andersen accounting. "The details of this sordid affair are related in Levitt's excellent book, Take on the Street," Buffett writes.

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

The Restaurant Manager's Handbook - cover

The Restaurant Manager’s Handbook

by Douglas Robert Brown

Recommended by 1 leader

This is the bible for starting and running a restaurant. I recommend you get the printed version and the Kindle version. Use the Kindle version for quick reference and the printed version for study.

Chuck Rogers

Owner/Chuck Rogers Consulting