Hi John,

Thank you for your praise of the piece. Regarding accounting programs...I think it depends on many different things, especially, a) what you are trying to accomplish by studying accounting; and b) where you live. In talking with accountants over the years most confess that they cannot understand the perspective of analysts wanting to extract information from financial statements. Most accounting programs spend a lot of time defining terms and teaching techniques for recording transactions. What you need instead is a criminal's mind set when you learn this kind of information. Namely, "How do I alter this income statement item to ensure our profit target is met so I get my annual bonus so my spouse will stop bickering me about that vacation property?" Few accounting professors go into that territory. If I were in your shoes I would look to simply take a course in forensic accounting, or to read any one of the excellent books on financial statement analysis. My favorite is: "How to Read a Financial Report" by John Tracy.

Yours, in service,

Jason