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 Future Accountant interested in SQL

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Tomberry
Starting Member

4 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-20 : 12:14:37
Hello everyone. I'm new here excited to meet you all. Studying to get my CPA certification in the future, I'm interested in seeing what SQL can offer to aid me as an accountant. Knowing that database information systems are very important for accounting, and knowing that SQL is a major language to access database systems, I am seriously considering learning it. I'm here today to ask a few simple things to help me get started.

1) How exactly does knowing SQL help an accountant? Does it go beyond needing to bother the IT department less often? Will knowing SQL be enough to (in theory) write one's own database system?

2) What books/software/other resources would you recommend for someone 100% new to SQL? I am, however, not a total newbie to all programming as years ago I have taken some introductory-level object-oriented programming courses in C++, so I know some basic concepts of programming.

Thank you in advance for your assistance!

lionofdezert
Aged Yak Warrior

885 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-20 : 12:28:15
Theory can be helpful just to start, SQL Server is very user friendly and easy to learn. Beside this you will find SQL Server community very helpful.
Beginning SQL Server 2008 for Developers: From Novice to Professional BY ROBIN DEWSON
will be helpful for you

--------------------------
http://connectsql.blogspot.com/
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robvolk
Most Valuable Yak

15732 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-20 : 12:31:31
Here's a pretty good intro site: http://www.w3schools.com/sql/
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jimf
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker

2875 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-20 : 12:40:41
The power users in our company are the finance guys. I thought it'd be the actuaries, but the finance guys really use it the most. And that's a really good place to start learning SQL, with the question "What might be interesting to know in this database?" T-SQL Fundamentals by Itzik Ben-Gan is a book I recommend.

Jim

Everyday I learn something that somebody else already knew
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Tomberry
Starting Member

4 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-20 : 13:03:57
quote:
Originally posted by lionofdezert

Theory can be helpful just to start, SQL Server is very user friendly and easy to learn. Beside this you will find SQL Server community very helpful.
Beginning SQL Server 2008 for Developers: From Novice to Professional BY ROBIN DEWSON
will be helpful for you

--------------------------
http://connectsql.blogspot.com/

Cool. And what software would you recommend to go with it? I mean I presume I'll need software to practice or something?
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sunitabeck
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker

5155 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-20 : 13:05:43
My favorite book on T-SQL was Professional Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Programming by Robert Vieira. I don't know whether I liked it because it was the first book on T-SQL that I ever read, or whether it is really that good. He has a nice and slightly humorous way of explaining things. The link below is for the SQL 2008 edition. When I was reading it way back when, it was the SQL 2005 edition.

http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Microsoft-Server-Programming-Programmer/dp/0470257024/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2
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Tomberry
Starting Member

4 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-20 : 13:12:30
Hmm, is Transact SQL different from SQL Server? If there are many different versions of SQL, which version should I learn? Which will be most useful?
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jimf
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker

2875 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-20 : 13:17:50
You can actually download a free version of Microsoft SQL Server. t-SQL is the Structured Query language that Microsoft uses, there are others -- mySQL,plSQL, and more. The most recent version of SQL Server is 2008, it has some new features that 2005 didn't have. Might as well start with the latest and greatest.

Jim

Everyday I learn something that somebody else already knew
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Tomberry
Starting Member

4 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-20 : 13:22:24
Since I am completely new, can you give me a primer on the relationship of one thing to another (just so I'm completely clear)? So SQL Server 2008 is the software program that allows me to use language SUCH AS T-SQL to customize/use/manage databases?
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robvolk
Most Valuable Yak

15732 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-20 : 13:23:06
Correct.
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sqltrainingonline
Starting Member

3 Posts

Posted - 2012-06-14 : 10:33:07
Let's start with question 1.

As an accountant, SQL will allow you to get data out of your corporate database, data warehouse, or data mart. If you need to investigate some numbers that don't balance are that are in a wrong account, you will be able to pull that information.

Some people think they can get aways with using Microsoft Access, and they do pretty well, but they also run into issues where Access will lock up the system.

It does go beyond needing to bother the IT deparment less often. One of the accountants I taught SQL to told me that it made it a lot easier to communicate with IT on new report requirements and increased the turnaround speed from IT.

As an Accountant, if you learned full blown SQL you would in theory be able to write your own database system. But, I think that would be overkill and you would be better off just learning to SELECT from the database.

If you are new to SQL, as an accountant, I would recommend learning the basics of the SELECT statement. This will help you get data out of the database.

My blog has some of these basic tutorials:
unspammed
I also have 30 free videos that teach these basics:
unspammed


Joey
---------
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fdtoo
Starting Member

28 Posts

Posted - 2014-09-21 : 09:26:23
Hi Tomberry. If you are interested to find out how learning SQL will help you as a professional accountant, you may download an ebook from accountingdatabasedesign.com portal. It has few books on SQL IN Accounting Terminology written by a real Accountant.
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