Accounting 101 began as a passion project aimed at making small business bookkeeping accessible and understandable—without overwhelming users with the word “accounting.” It started in 1998 as a booklet included in the user manuals for M.Y.O.B. Accounting (“Accounting is a four-letter word”) and later AccountEdge (“Premium small business accounting software”), featuring the slogan:
“Here’s everything you need to know from a five-year accounting degree that you can read while in the bathroom.”
While not the most conventional approach, the message was clear: Accounting isn’t as complicated as it seems. Just as someone can drive a car without being a mechanic or apply a bandage without being a doctor, business owners can manage their books without being accountants. In fact, many people—whether running a business or a household—already engage in accounting tasks, from tracking budgets and expenses to writing checks, making deposits, paying taxes, and managing payroll.
Over the years, Accounting 101 has evolved from a printed booklet to a downloadable PDF in Acclivity’s AccountEdge and now into a fully redesigned website with rewritten content. The mission remains unchanged: not to replace bookkeepers or accountants, but to empower business owners with the knowledge to understand their language—the language of business, which is accounting.
Hearing from small business owners who have benefited from Accounting 101 is a testament to its impact. Many have shared how it helped them grasp fundamental accounting concepts—without needing to be an accountant themselves.
