Accounting is divided into financial accounting (financial accounting) and operational accounting (operational accounting). Mandatory financial accounting (FiBu) records current business transactions as a cash flow statement - expenses and income. Voluntary operational accounting (BeBu) presents the internal accounts of a company in actual values in the form of costs and revenues.
In principle, accounting serves as a means of accountability for the operations manager vis-à-vis his various stakeholders and as a management tool for the operations management. Accounting allows decisions to be made, investments to be planned and changes to be monitored.

Financial accounting (Fi Bu) is part of a company's accounting system and records all operational transactions that lead to a cash flow. This includes income and expenditure. Alternative sub-areas of accounting are accounts receivable accounting or accounts payable accounting. All companies with an annual turnover of more than CHF 500,000 in the last financial year are obliged to keep double-entry bookkeeping, including the preparation of annual financial statements and a balance sheet.

The duration of the financial accounting training depends on the type of training:

• One day or a few days for a basic course
• usually 2 semesters for accounting clerks
• 3 to 6 semesters for finance and accounting specialists

Ask the school offering the course of your choice about the specific duration.

The purpose of financial accounting is to determine the overall result of a company. This serves to document the financial situation and changes in inventories. It documents profit or loss in an accounting period.

Financial accounting explained simply:

• A sub-area of operational accounting
• Covers all business transactions that can be expressed in figures
• All expenses and income are included
• In large companies, financial accounting is further subdivided into accounts payable (incoming invoices) and accounts receivable (outgoing invoices)

There are the following types of financial accounting training:

• Basic course
• Course for advanced learners
• Practical course
• Refresher course
• Course for software such as ABACUS
• Accounting course
• Reporting and analysis courses

In a financial accounting course you learn the following:

• Financial accounting (FIBU) - basics
• Legal basis
• Structure and organization of accounting
• Account assignment and posting of business transactions
• Simple calculations, currency, interest

The financial accounting basics are:

• Accounting basics
• Business transactions (chart of accounts, VAT, goods accounts)
• Account system
• Income statement
• Opening balance sheet