Learning Accounting Basics

[Mike Becher]

I'm looking to invest in my education in accounting. I have an ok/mediocre idea of what I'm doing. I'm extremely organized and precise with tracking income & expenses on an excel spreadsheet. I've read "The Book on Rental Property Investing" and adopted the excel format that matches the Schedule E (form 1040) form you fill out for tax time. I don't do my own taxes, and have been told by the person who does them for me that I'm tracking things well. But I want to understand more about accounting and the processes that go into it (instead of just performing the tasks I know need to be done), how to leverage taxes and just general specifics about accounting. 

I'd prefer an online class setting if there is something out there like that. A book or other resource is great too as long as it's not all theory and no practicality. In the end, I want to know what a business owner should know about accounting, the systems that should be in place, and the documents that should be on hand.