The most recommended accounting books

I am a Partner at Dalberg Global Development Advisors, where I lead a lot of our finance and investment advisory work with development finance institutions, family offices, and impact investors. I also serve on several impact investment and field-building organization advisory boards and regularly contribute to the ecosystem through thought leadership and speaking engagements at leading conferences. Over the course of my 20+ year career, I have played the role of advisor, investor, and technical assistance provider on more than 200 individual projects across the globe.   

The financing of private firms is fascinating and a bit mysterious. It remains misunderstood and regularly gives birth to hype and excesses. I started my career working for a venture capital fund at the top of the Internet financial bubble, in 2000. This experience has imprinted my career and derailed my ambitions. It also fueled my thirst for knowledge. I started from essentially a virgin theoretical and academic land. I developed a body of practical and academic knowledge. Writing and publishing my books seemed to be the next logical step. I enjoy reading books on the sector and recommending them.

I have been a coach to business owners for the last 25 years, with a concentration on exit planning for the last twelve. During that time I have personally worked with over 500 owners. I’ve written 4 books on the subject, two of which were award winners. I’ve seen so many owners who built excellent businesses, but are stymied by how to leave them without deserting their employees and customers. Almost two-thirds of business owners over 60 years old have no plan for the transition of their businesses. I am on a mission to fix that.

I come from an engineering background and early in my career I discover financial modelling as I had to assess the viability of business plans. I deal with financial models the last 20 years of my professional carrier as a Group Financial Officer of SIDMA STEEL SA. Moreover, I am teaching financial modelling in the American College of Greece, Deree, at University of Nicosia in collaboration with Globaltraing and many other places abroad. I am a numbers person, and I am fascinated by financial modelling as it provides you a tool to support effective decision-making. 

I did all the right things to become a corporate lawyer or an academic, but learned those were not for me.  What I love is solving problems, with other people. And that is what negotiation is all about. Whether it’s work on a big transaction or trying to stop a civil war, putting a deal together up front, or trying much later to pick up the pieces of a relationship gone wrong, what I most enjoy doing is figuring out what we need to solve for, who has to be involved, and how we are going to get there. These books have helped me get better at doing that.

I joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 2008 and by 2015 I was a Sergeant who had made all the same financial decisions most service members make…tattoos, alcohol, cars, chasing tail, etc., and had a negative net worth to show for it. Then I read Rich Dad Poor Dad and the light came on. I started buying houses, and by 2021 I exited the military as a financially free millionaire and spend my time helping service members and veterans learn how to build wealth. The military is one of the best places to set yourself up for success, and these books will help you get started on that journey!

My books are non-fiction. However, the best stories are always how a character really changes. These books brought permanent change to me. One important value I see evaporating in this world is the ability to ask honest questions and the courage to willingly follow the evidence. I try to give readers a fresh and inspiring look at things like never before. Similarly, with every book recommendation, each author brought me a new perspective and added unexpected formats for learning. My advice is if you want to specialize in something, pursue diversified learning to maintain solid footing instead of specializing yourself into some specialized niche. Never lose your curiosity. 

As an economics student I was told that corporate merger would typically enhance financial performance, because of scale economies, market power or the acquirer’s superior management. As an auditor of recently acquired firms I found disorganization, demoralised staff, and weak profits. As a researcher I found that most mergers had failed to boost profitability, a finding that was mostly replicated by researchers over the subsequent 40 years. In the meantime, helped by my co-author, one of my aims has been to provide an explanation of this evidence, recounted in ‘my book.’ I’m an academic ‘lifer’ at Cambridge University – latterly Professor of Financial Accounting and Acting Dean of Cambridge’s Judge Business School. 

As an economics student I was told that corporate merger would typically enhance financial performance, because of scale economies, market power or the acquirer’s superior management. As an auditor of recently acquired firms I found disorganization, demoralised staff, and weak profits. As a researcher I found that most mergers had failed to boost profitability, a finding that was mostly replicated by researchers over the subsequent 40 years. In the meantime, helped by my co-author, one of my aims has been to provide an explanation of this evidence, recounted in ‘my book.’ I’m an academic ‘lifer’ at Cambridge University – latterly Professor of Financial Accounting and Acting Dean of Cambridge’s Judge Business School. 

I’m Heather Smith and I love writing. I love Accounting and AccounTech. I gratefully sit at the Ikigai inflection point, where my profession, passion, vocation, and mission intersect, and I can use my explanation skills to empower others in the accounting industry. Ikigai is a Japanese concept referring to something that gives a person a sense of purpose, a reason for living. Believing Accountants don't save lives, Accountants save livelihoods; I use my superpower of explanation to educate the accounting profession about accounting technology and modern accounting practices. I do this through many channels including my latest book Xero for Dummies, 5th edition.