Accounting Skills: Helping Small Businesses and Families Achieve Success. Accounting professionals have played an important role in the growth of commerce and private companies. They are the financial backbone on which most companies and individual businesses depend. There are many responsibilities and levels in the accounting field depending on the institution, such as auditing, payroll, financial record keeping, and reporting. Accounting is vital to success in the accounting field because there needs to be a record of money spent and received, analyzes performed, and records kept. Some people thrive in the small business world and others have a hard time surviving in the ever-changing economy because they don't keep their financial records in the right order because they don't know how to do it. Some find themselves having to take out small business loans to stay on top ending up in a debt mess or even, at times, bankruptcy. This also plays an important role in your personal life if you don't know how to track your spending. It's easy to end up living beyond your means. By keeping a record of all your income and comparing it to your monthly debt obligation, you may be shocked at the amount of money wasted on unnecessary expenses, making life difficult in today's economy. Hundreds of people, at one time or another, have visited a small Ma & Pa shop or family-run business, some just starting out or have been in business for two or three generations. Coming from a small town and watching new businesses struggling, others that have been around two or three lifetimes close their doors is a troubling sight. To have a successful business they must physically record all transactions or personal budgets in correct accounts. Al......middle of paper......ReferencesAmerican Institute of Certified Public Accountant. (2012). Retrieved March 30, 2014, from: http://www.aicpa.org Cagan, Michele CPA (2006). The accounting book for everything. Retrieved March 29, 2014, from www.barnesandnoble.comCampbell, Rhonda. (n.d.). History of Accounting Abstract. March 30, 2014 from: http://www.ehow.com/about_4740424_history-of-bookkeeping.html Complete dictionary of scholarly biography. (2008) Pacioli, Luca. Retrieved March 29, 2014, from: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2830903265.htmlPinson, Linda. (2008). Keeping the Books, eBook 7th edition. Retrieved March 23, 2014, from: Kaplan University Online Library, http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzIyNzg0M19fQU41?sid=e4053f77ba6c4e49b0b1520bed796b3@sessionmgr4002&vid=2& format