How long does it take to master accounting is a common question that is not easy to answer. One reason is that accounting is a very large topic and is not easy to fully define. Accounting can be thought of a subset of business or, in some cases, of law. The topic of business, in general, is way too large for any one person to master because it touches so many related fields. Deciding to focus on accounting is a step in the right direction for many learners because it allows us to set more defined goals. Accounting is still a huge topic, however, and we generally need to specialize further and set more short-term goals. Having accounting mastery as a long-term vision, rather than a short term goal, can help us develop a vision and allow us to set short term goals along the way. For example, we may set goals to get a degree in accounting and break this goal up into smaller chunks including classes, and then tests, and then study time and so on. Once we achieve the goal of a diploma, many of us run into a problem. We achieved our goal and need another. It is also possible to learn accounting on the job rather than go the academic path. Choosing to learn accounting on the job and our own generally requires more specific planning and goal setting because we do not have the structure of the formal educational path, but it is very doable and helps develop the skills of setting goals and charting our course. Supplementing our accounting resources in much easier than many would think. The order of most formal accounting programs is well defined. We can look up the textbooks of large publishers and see that the order of the content is much the same across the major accounting textbooks of those publishers. The outline of the accounting textbook, the table of contents, can provide a structure for us to supplement our accounting resources. For more accounting information see accounting website. http://accountinginstruction.info/