Music Monday: A Unique Way to Teach the Basics of Accounting

business, humor, lessons learned, music, Teaching and Education 1 Minute

If you came here thinking you were going to see me sing something related to accounting, you are mistaken.

But, that’s a good thing. Accounting might be painful enough for many people, but then hearing me sing about accounting could push people right over the edge.

So I came across this video that some students in a high school accounting class put together. If you took an accounting class a long time ago, this may bring back some memories nightmares.

I think it’s kind of a catchy tune, but I might be a little biased.

But as often happens, the fun part of putting this post together was reading some of the comments posted about the video:

  • Yeah we watched this in class. The professor even said he’d give bonus points to anybody who got up and did the dance. Nobody did the dance.
  • I was cursed with the same experience yesterday. I’ve never considered death until i saw my professor stand up and do this dance (no way I would do that…)
  • If we don’t get an answer right, my accounting teacher makes us stand up and dance to this.
  • Passed the CPA exam by just watching this video (I wish this video was around when I was studying for the CPA exam. Could have cut out hours and hours of studying…)
  • this song/rap has been stuck in my head ever since we watched it in accounting…’debits on the left, credits on the right, debit left credit right debit left credit right…’
  • The fact that this song helped me out more than my accounting teacher did; lol
  • I listen to this on the way to school before I fail each of my accounting exams
  • Leaving this song on loop while doing my homework, let’s see if I can finish it…. or go insane whatever happens first.

And if that’s not enough accounting music for you, here’s a short electric guitar ditty from one of our own accounting teachers at Villanova:

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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98 thoughts on “Music Monday: A Unique Way to Teach the Basics of Accounting”

    2. I didn’t even like accounting before so how do you think I feel after watching this! Then I read you and Jim’s comments. Yup, you may as well shoot me too …smacking my head… isn’t going to be enough!

      Liked by 3 people

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      2. Sure, you just look at what the bank statement says you have in your account, cross out the balance in your checkbook says and write what the bank statement says and Voila, you are done! 😉

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Uh, so if you’ve written a large check that hasn’t cleared yet, you’ll think you have more money than you actually have. And then you’ll end up overdrawing your account. Does that make any sense to you?

        Liked by 1 person

      5. I figured you were kidding. Either that or you pay a lot of overdraft fees. My grandmother never reconciled her bank statement. Instead she’d withdraw $20 from her bank’s ATM, and request a printout of her balance at the same time.

        Liked by 1 person

      6. LOL! Must be something about grandmother’s.
        Brad’s Grandma divides by 10 when calculating interest for the year. She has been told so many times how there is 12 months in a year. Her reply : But its easier to divide by 10!

        Liked by 2 people

      15. Since I rarely write checks any more, and I can check my balance any time I want, I feel like I’ve got a good handle on what my bank balance is at any moment in time.

        I think a more important issue is paying off your credit card balance in full, and on time, each month.

        Liked by 2 people

      16. Oh yes! Brad has always strongly felt that way with the CC. I won’t forget when we went to buy our first house. When we sat down with the bank they couldn’t believe thaf we had no CC debt!

        Liked by 1 person

      18. It is! Brad came from a family where his Dad barely spent a penny. My dad didn’t drive us into debt but he was much more freer with money than Brad’s dad and he made a lot less money than my FIL did. I say this just to point out that I think there needs to be a healthy balance between ssving and spending. You can’t take your money with you when you die!

        Liked by 1 person

  2. I love this song, Jim. They teach the accounting equation in high school but, somehow, it seems to get glossed over in University. People that didn’t take accounting at school often don’t get this concept for years and so they never really understand what they are doing. The one thing that annoys me the most is when juniors give me journals that don’t balance. I tell them to make them balance, even if its wrong, it must at least balance. PS I am not a good teacher and have bowed out of training.

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  3. That video could get annoying pretty quickly, but they should get credit for trying. I’m more impressed with the guitar playing professor. Who knew these accountant types could be these life of the party?

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  5. On the credit side, you’ve got me to watch a rap song all the way through. I just hope it doesn’t stay in my head (not much does, so I should be ok). On the debit side, is it our right or theirs? They will all need adjustment lessons to work out L/R after that. And please tell Prof. Liedtka not to give up his day job – he just slayed Slade, and that’s a crime!

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. there can sometimes be some questionable accounting practices; hopefully if the company is big enough, the outside auditor will catch such creative accounting.

      I thought the first video was a fun and effective way to get a basic message across.

      And Prof. Liedtka, as you might be able to tell, is one of our best teachers, not only in the ACC Department, but in the entire University…

      But it’s nice to know that he has options if he decided to try something different 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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  9. Eye roll. Is there any other profession where people are so willing to make fun of themselves? Years ago, I was asked to give ‘Balance Sheet 101’ to the board of directors at the nonprofit where I worked. Up front, I told them “I searched the internet to find an accounting joke to use as an opener… there aren’t any.”

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    1. At least many of us are able to poke fun at ourselves.

      And I’ve got a couple of accounting jokes that I deliver at just the right moment in the course. A couple of the students will almost smile… 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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  10. Pingback: Smorgasbord Blogger Daily – Tuesday 23rd March 2021 – #Accounting Jim Borden, #Ireland Claire Fullerton, #Finance Sharon Marchisello | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

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