Accounting Resources
Engaging with different types of resources will help you understand your industry on a deeper level.
Caution
When using resources on this guide, continue to evaluate credibility and relevance for your audience. A resource can be considered credible in one situation but questionable in another, or its quality can suddenly degrade. Additionally, credible resources can still contain problematic content like content marketing, inaccurate opinion pieces, flawed research, or misrepresented evidence.
Professional Organizations
Professional organizations and trade associations promote their industries and provide networking opportunities to members. Their websites offer information and educational materials for professionals in the industry.
The following examples are professional organizations for professionals in accounting fields:
Trade Publications
Trade journals or trade magazines provide industry-specific insights, giving prospective professionals an insider’s view of the field.
The following examples are trade publications with a focus on accounting:
Popular Magazines
Popular magazines, although aimed at a general audience, can be useful for understanding an industry in a larger context or from a consumer’s point of view.
Popular magazines that could be useful to professionals in accounting include:
- Barron’s
- Bloomberg Businessweek
- Fortune
- Harvard Business Review Digital
- Harvard Business Review Print
- MIT Sloan Management Review
Note, this publication is ending it’s print version in the fall of 2026.
Newspapers
Newspapers cover current events relevant to professionals in all fields.
Newspapers with useful coverage for accountants include:
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UW-Madison students can create a free personal account through the library
Podcasts
Most industries have reputable experts who podcast about their chosen field, providing an insider’s look. These types of information resources vary widely and require vetting, but can be credible.
The following resources offer useful perspectives for accountants:
Books
Most industries have notable books that insiders find useful or that have had an influence on that industry. Asking insiders is the best way to find out which books are considered essential in your field.
Here are a few examples of influential books related to accounting:
- Conspiracy of Fools (Kurt Eichenwald)
- Final Accounting: Ambition, Greed, and the Fall of Arthur Andersen (Barbara Ley Toffler)
- The Reckoning: Financial Accountability and the Rise and Fall of Nations (Jacob Soll)
Scholarly Journals
Scholarly journals publish in depth research, usually conducted by professors.
The following resources offer useful perspectives on accounting:
- Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
- Accounting Horizons
- Accounting, Organizations and Society
- The Accounting Review
- Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory
- Contemporary Accounting Research
- Critical Perspectives on Accounting
- Foundations and Trends in Accounting
- International Journal of Auditing
- Journal of Accounting and Economics
- Journal of Accounting Research
- National Tax Journal
- Review of Accounting Studies
- Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal
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More information
This guide details strategies for effective workplace communication and approaches for research in professional settings.