Lisa Capps

June 25, 2000

Professional/Academic Discourse Analysis

Oh No, Taxes!

Taxes have always been a scary word for some people. In today’s society, accountant also has that certain ‘tone" to it. When talking about an accountant, there is many different meanings, bookkeeping, auditor, or CPA. When you go to the newsstands, you may not find to many magazines discussing accounting. But, two periodicals that are out there is Business First-Columbus and Journal of Accountancy.

Business First-Columbus is a periodical that we may not see on our newsstand, but it is very popular in Columbus, Ohio. Business First-Columbus is the business newspaper for the Columbus area. It contains interviews, profiles of businesses, and personal finance. Its main subject each month is about business and regional studies. For a year subscription of Business First-Columbus, is $71.00.

In April’s issue of Business First-Columbus, author Kathy Showalter writes about the changes of a popular accounting firm. Showalter also goes on to explain the move of the 46-year-old accounting firm know as Norman Jones Enlow and Company, to downtown Columbus. The article tells how the company has formed into three area offices and how Norman Jones’ established an employee stock ownership program in October of 1999. The ESOP was not possible until Ohio changed the law that banned ownership of CPA firms by people who are not licensed certified public accountants.

Journal of Accountancy is published every month, and sells for $56.00 for a year subscription. This periodical is not found on newsstand, more likely a CPA’s office. In every issue it contains different articles, interviews, profiles, and important news of accounting for members of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

In last months issue of Journal of Accountancy one of the articles explains how to choose an accountant. This articles tell the reader what to look for and how to distinguish between a CPA, EA, Accountant, and storefront prepares, such as H&R Block. The article also suggests questions that should be asked when trying to fiend the accountant that fits you best.

Comparing both of the periodicals is easy to do. Both of them were very well written magazines. They both were easy to read and clear to understand. Journal of Accountancy was written using more of an accountant language, so it was kind of hard to comprehend the first time reading. But Business First-Columbus was very well organized.

In conclusion, there are several different publications available to accountants. Business First-Columbus and Journal of Accountancy are different from one another, but both contain similar information and look similar too. Both of these periodicals are great for accountants interested about what is going on in their "world."

Works Cited