Foreword

I first met Veechi Curtis more than ten years ago at an MYOB accounting software conference. I was the technical presenter and Veechi was there in her capacity as a bestselling author of numerous accounting software and small business titles. Since then — many years, many conferences and many chats later — it has become obvious to me that Veechi has a passion for sharing her knowledge about bookkeeping and small business in a creative and committed way that always sheds new light on the topics.

Bookkeeping For Dummies provides an intelligent but easy-to-follow approach to helping you understand what you have to do to ‘keep the books’. Veechi starts by explaining the basics, introducing the essential bookkeeping concepts, but she also embraces more complex and advanced bookkeeping topics, including the latest on the rules and regulations regarding working as a contract bookkeeper. At the time of writing, the new Australian legislation regarding what services a contract bookkeeper can provide is just coming into force. The public’s perception of bookkeepers is set to change, with increased recognition being given to bookkeeping as a profession.

I helped found the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) in Australia in 2006. ICB is the largest bookkeeping institute in the world and aims to promote and maintain the standards of bookkeeping as a profession. All kinds of people, with different backgrounds, experiences and qualifications, are involved in ‘keeping the books’. Although some people seek out bookkeeping as a profession, others end up working as bookkeepers almost by accident — which is fine, but without training, they often lack the skills to do the best job possible.

My vision for ICB is to help bookkeepers find information and resources, and access insurance and quality support. Given ICB’s aim to provide bookkeepers with information of the highest quality, I’m very proud to write this foreword for Veechi’s book.

Good luck — and happy bookkeeping!

Matthew Addison

Executive Director, Institute of Certified Bookkeepers

March 2010