1. Accounting by WAGmob

This popular app provides a well-rounded educational and reference experience for those who do not always have large chunks of time to spend all at once on an app. With a wide arrange of accounting concept tutorials, quizzes, flashcards, and other interactive learning tools, users can become quite versed in accounting.

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2. Easy Books

Easy Books is a professional, mobile, business, bookkeeping app. Track time. Create and record invoices. Easily view your account information via statements, customers, suppliers, and more. This highly rated app is a real, all-in-one, accounting tool.

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3. Business and Finance Abbreviations

iPhone users can have access to a comprehensive list of business abbreviations with the Business and Finance Abbreviations app. Features also include Twitter sharing, free-search and alphabetized brackets, favorites lists, quick reference, email sharing, and more. The app also continually stays current through regular updates.

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4. Accounting Principals

Accounting Principals is a business app that can be useful to a wide array of professionals. Job-search or just browse accounting-related jobs. Stay updated with current field news. Even watch helpful videos. This app is a leader in mobile staffing solutions for anyone hiring or looking to be hired in the accounting field.

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5. Accounting Today

This application is actually a mobile version of its namesake, print magazine. Anything having to do with today’s accounting can be found within. All print magazine materials, story clipping and saving, streaming video, podcasts, and more make Accounting Today a definitive source for staying cutting-edge current in the field.

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6. Iron Money

For those searching for an all-inclusive finance management tool, this app does it all. Organize accounts, track all past and present transactions, and even analyze occurring spending habits. This app is great for recommendation by professional accountants to their clientele for finance support and planning on the go.

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7. QuickBooks Mobile

QuickBooks Mobile is the mobile version of the very popular QuickBooks. Users enjoy full customer account management with billing, invoicing, receipts, estimates, customer tracking, and much more. This app is ideal for small businesses and their particular accounting needs.

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8. Freshbooks

Freshbooks is another highly rated, full service account management tool. Similar to QuickBooks, Freshbooks provides the ability to invoice, bill, analyze accounts, produce receipts, and more. This accountant-ideal app uses cloud accounting, meaning information can be accessed from anywhere, anytime.

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9. Chaikin Power Tools

If your accounting needs have anything to do with stocks and market investment, the Chaikin Power Tools app has you covered. Users can analyze market moods and investments with a colorful and very detailed, up-to-the-minute interface. Manage stocks, create watch lists, and have the ability to deeply analyze any happenings with one simple app.

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10. H&R Block

What would accounting be without taxes? Whether you are an accountant or client, the H&R Block app gives users the ability to manage tax documents, stay on top of the latest tax-related accounting news, and learn more about the subject in general. Find a local office, contact a tax pro, estimate coming refunds, interact with personal checklists, and check return status with this valuable tax accounting app.

The purpose of this accounting resource guide is to provide accountants with quality resources covering various aspects of this vast field. Below are forty links, each with a small description, of various accounting associations, publications and conferences all seeking to serve accounting professionals by providing insight and support.

Associations

• American Accounting Association was founded in 1916 as the American Association of University Instructors in Accounting and changed to its present name in 1936. The association exists to provide support and networking opportunities to those interested in accounting education and research.
• AGN International-North America was formed in 1978 and since then has operated under the premise that the best way to catalyze the growth of its members is to enable the sharing of information and resources of members with each other.
• American Association of Finance and Accounting was founded in 1978 as an alliance of various executive search firms for the specific purpose of facilitating the recruitment of accounting and finance professionals.
• American Society of Women Accountants is an organization devoted specifically to the advancement of women within the field of accounting through the provision of networking and professional development opportunities.
• Association of Government Accountants is a support organization for government accounting and finance professionals with more than 16,000 members from all walks of public sector finance.
• Financial Management Association serves the financial management community through the advancement of knowledge regarding basic and applied research, best practices, and developing opportunities for professional interaction.
• National Conference of CPA Practitioners: is a professional organization devoted to the representation and professional advancement of CPA practitioners through advocacy, the promotion of intellectual exchange, and professional development programs which help members maintain a competitive edge in the field.
• National Association of Tax Professionals was founded in 1979 and is devoted to facilitating the success of its diverse membership of tax professionals, including but not limited to accountants and CPAs, by providing them support, professional development opportunities, and other services.
• Association of International Accountants was founded in 1928 and is a global collective of professional accountants. AIA is dedicated to developing its members into successful professionals with an international perspective by providing them with tailored, relevant services.

Publications

• Management Accounting Quarterly is a refereed online journal geared toward both academics and practitioners in the fields of finance and accounting. The journal provides in depth articles on a wide range of topics relevant to accounting and accounting management.
• Accountancy Magazine is a United Kingdom publication and the leading monthly magazine for UK chartered accountants. The magazine features a wide range of articles by specialists and commentators devoted to keeping its readers on the cutting edge of the field.
• International Accountant is a bi-monthly magazine produced by the Association of International Accountants. The magazine covers a wide range of accounting and finance related topics with an international perspective.
• Global Accountant is an online magazine styled website with both a free side and more in depth subscriber side that provides its readers with news, technical articles, training opportunities, and career articles featuring a global perspective and insight into the international development of the financial industry.
• Journal of Corporate Accounting and Finance is a bi-monthly journal that provides its subscribers new insights into corporate finance and accounting. The journal is geared specifically toward finance executives but the content is beneficial to anybody employed in a corporate accounting or finance capacity.
• Accounting Today is a magazine styled website featuring content that ranges across the landscape of the accounting field as a whole. The site includes not just articles, but podcasts, videos, and more.
• Accounting and Business Magazine is an international accounting magazine published ten times per year in six different forms, each tailored based on the region of the subscriber, to best highlight news and events affecting that particular region.
• Journal of Accountancy has been published continuously since 1905 and is the primary publication of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Articles cover a broad range of topics, ensuring that accountants from all corners of the industry will benefit from its insights.
• New York Times Accounting is a portion of the New York Times website that collects all stories and articles related to the field of accounting in one convenient place.
• Wall Street Journal Accounting is part of the Wall Street Journal’s website that collates all accounting related articles and stories and organizes them on one page for the convenience of the reader.
• Accountancy Live is an online magazine with both free and subscriber only content. Accountancy Live is an independent resource that prides itself on being written by accountants and for accountants.
• Accounting, Auditing, and Accountability Journal is a journal devoted to the dissemination of accounting knowledge. AAAJ prides itself on providing subscribers with high quality articles focused on the interaction between accounting and auditing, and their socioeconomic and political contexts.
• Journal of Accounting Research is a quarterly journal that publishes original research utilizing a variety of proven research methods to study all aspects of the accounting field.
• International Journal of Accounting seeks to advance the scholarly and professional understanding of accounting on the international stage. The journal focuses specifically on the application of accounting techniques to international economic transactions.
• Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies is a new journal focusing primarily on the development of accounting infrastructure in emerging economies with the goal of aiding them in adapting their accounting infrastructure to the rate of growth of the economy.
• The CPA Journal Online is a technical-refereed publication produced by the New York State Society of CPAs aimed at educators, practitioners and regulators in the field of finance.
• International Journal of Critical Accounting is a peer-reviewed international journal that examines new trends in critical accounting and the issues faced by companies in a rapidly developing financial market.
• The Accounting Review is one of the most highly recognized journals in accounting and is published by the American Accounting Association. This journal is dedicated to publishing the most influential cutting edge research in the accounting field while explaining and demonstrating accounting related research methods.
• Contemporary Accounting Research publishes cutting edge research in accounting, primarily aimed at understanding the role of accounting within organizations.
• Journal of Accounting and Economics seeks to advance the understanding of the relationship between economic theory and accounting practices.
• Accounting, Organizations, and Society seeks to explore the relationships between accounting, human behavior, the processes and structures of organizations, and the social and political environment.
• Review of Accounting Studies is an outlet for important theoretical, empirical, and experimental work and research. The journal maintains a steadfast devotion to academic rigor in all forms of accounting research.

Conferences

• Growth and Profitability Summit is a conference hosted by Accounting Today with content featuring accounting techniques and best practices concerning growth and profitability.
• Financial Reporting and Accounting Conference is the leading financial reporting and accounting event in Canada. The conference focuses on the most important emerging issues facing both privately held and publicly traded companies.
• Journal of Accounting and Economics Conference is sponsored by William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester and Charles Rivers Associates. The goal of the conference is the exploration of the relationship between economics and accounting.
• AICPA Digital CPA Conference focuses on how CPAs may adopt and take advantage of innovative technologies increasingly available to small and mid-sized businesses.
• International Conference on Business and Economic Research features multidisciplinary content applicable to all aspects of the financial industry, from accounting to banking.
• Annual Accounting Conference is co-sponsored by various universities and private and public institutions in the state of Utah and has been held annually for 36 years. Presentation topics include tax laws, audit updates, and financial statement reporting.
• Events in America Accounting Conferences List provides accounting professionals with a list featuring a large collection of specialized and relevant conferences.
• The Sleeter Group’s 2012 Accounting Solutions Conference is a conference focused on a multidisciplinary approach to the exploration of accounting solutions and brings together accounting professionals, consultants, partners, and developers for three days of collaboration, networking, and innovation.
• Conference on Financial Economics and Accounting is hosted by the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University that utilizes a selective, refereed method for choosing its speakers to ensure attendees will experience only the highest quality content.

Blogs come in many forms, from the collaborative blogs of major publications featuring the perspectives of many different professionals, to the personal blogs of accounting and finance professionals devoted to sharing their insights gained from years of experience. This list features the top accounting and finance blogs from both the collaborative and individual blogging circles, covering a wide range of topics within the industry including taxes, personal finance, investing and more. Read on for our picks for the best Accounting and Finance blogs of 2012.

Best Accounting and Finance Blogs

1. Business Exchange: Accounting and Finance is the finance blog page of Bloomberg’s Business Week. The blog features professionals from many of the wide variety of aspects of the accounting and finance world, tackling the most pressing issues in finance and accounting today.
Highlight: Fraud Happens: A Practical Guide for Nonprofits to Reduce Their Risk

2. Public Financial Management is a blog of the International Monetary Fund, covering international public financial policy and practice issues. The blog primarily addresses the challenges faced in various economies across the globe and tactics for improving public financial management.
Highlight: Simplifying Budget Documents – Time for an International Standard?

3. Accounting Today’s Blog, titled “Accounting Tomorrow”, features writers from across the industry. The bloggers share their insights and theories about various accounting and finance issues facing companies and accounting practitioners throughout the field.
Highlight: NJSCPA names 2012 Women of Note

4. Book Mark Lee is the blog of Mark Lee, is a thirty year veteran of the accounting field who has worked as a tax advisor for top international companies and consulting firms. Mark Lee has now started his own tax advice business and maintains his blog, which he uses to share his wisdom garnered over three decades in the field.
Highlight: 9 accountants’ business card mistakes

5. Accounting Web’s collaborative blog features contributions from professional accountants from many areas of practice. The blog is broken up into several categories of interest including Bad Guys, Fraud, the IRS, Technology, Watchdog, and guest articles.
Highlight: Commitment Statements For Partners & Admin Assistants

6. Accounting Coach is a website and blog run by 25 year industry veteran Harold Averkamp. The goal of the site is to change the way people learn accounting principles while also making information on accounting freely available to everybody at all times. The blog has a casual question/answer style that appeals to professionals and laypersons alike.
Highlight: What is the self-employed person’s FICA tax rate for 2013?

7. The Accounting Onion is a blog focused on peeling back the layers of accounting to expose and study what is underneath. The author is Dr. Tom Selling, Ph.D., and licensed CPA. Dr. Selling is the author of the book International Financial Reporting and Analysis, published by McGraw Hill.
Highlight: Why Nothing Sticks to Auditors when Loans Go Bad

8. Where Every Penny Matters is the blog of Tampa Bay CPA Nicholas Pennewell. Nicholas specializes in working with individuals and non-profit organizations; his blog focuses on providing readers with a practical, personal perspective on the industry.
Highlight: President Obama’s Health Care plan and some different ways to comply!

9. Taxable Talk is the blog of Russ Fox, an EA with Clayton Financial and Tax. The blog covers tax news, theory and application.
Highlight: Is a Simplified Home Office Deduction Better?

10. Wandering Tax Pro is the blog of 40-year tax professional Robert D. Flach. The blog is devoted to providing readers with commentary on tax policy and practice.
Highlight: Choosing a Tax Preparer

11. Q Detective is an investment finance blog devoted to delving into the state of various companies and providing readers with analysis and strategy applicable to a wide range of investing concerns.
Highlight: Is Google In Need of Groupon coupon?

12. Going Concern is devoted to covering the accounting and finance industries, and the people responsible for shaping them and defining their culture.
Highlight: How We Averted the Fiscal Cliff: As a CPA, People Might Expect You to Know This Crap

13. The Aleph Blog offers readers the insights of David J. Merkel, owner of Aleph Investments. The blog covers the personal thoughts of the author on investing and the right way to manage other people’s money.
Highlight: The Order of Battle in Financial Planning for Ordinary Folks

14. re:The Auditors covers a wide range of subjects within the financial industry, but is primarily concerned with commenting on news involving the big four auditing firms: Deloitte, PwC, Ernst&Young, and KPMG.
Highlight: “Wait! I Was Just Getting Started…”

15. Mauled Again is the blog of James Edward Maule, a tax law professor at Villanova University’s School of Law. Mauled Again’s content primarily features commentary on tax law, policy, and theory.
Highlight: Spinning Taxes and Tax Spinning

16. Our Taxing Times is the blog of Trish McIntire, an Enrolled Agent tax professional and entrepreneur. The blog primarily focuses on keeping readers up to speed on changes in tax law, and the tax industry as a whole.
Highlight: Bring It In.

17. Roth and Company PC’s Blog focuses on the climate of the tax industry and important issues related to taxes facing the United States.
Highlight: Cobbler’s children go barefoot, tax lawyer’s income goes unreported.

18. The Summa is a general interest accounting blog on which its author shares opinions on financial accounting and regulation, accounting education, and accounting entertainment and humor.
Highlight: Flipping

19. Five Cent Nickel is a personal finance blog covering topics applicable to the every day lives of laypersons and financial professionals.
Highlight: How We Paid Off Our Mortgage in Under Ten Years

20. The Wall Street Journal website features blogs on every aspect of business and has many accounting and finance contributors offering everything from in depth articles for finance professionals to practical advice for the average individual.
Highlight: What the New Law Means for Taxpayers

21. Financial Times has a blogs section covering the wide array of subjects within the finance and accounting industry.
Highlight: Can Haz Spredshetz

22. The Economist features economics blogs covering a variety of topics that, while they do not deal with the finance and accounting industries directly, have a distinct impact on those industries.
Highlight: National balance sheets

23. Forbes blogs feature content on every aspect of business from entrepreneurship to personal finance, and money management.
Highlight: Insane Bulls And Bears

24. The Conscience of a Liberal is the blog of the Nobel Prize in Economics winning Paul Krugman and features content related to politics, the finance industry and economics as a whole.
Highlight: Fiscal Affinity Fraud

25. Tax Mama’s Tax Quips features tax advice applicable to the average person. The content is topical and primarily targeted at individuals and the tax professionals that serve them.
Highlight: Health Insurance Zinger

26. Don’t Mess With Taxes is a blog that brings its readers daily, weekly, and monthly tips and articles for simplifying taxes and increasing the individual’s understanding of how they work.
Highlight: Is New York’s high cigarette tax rate why the Empire State tops the smuggler list?

27. More Money is the personal finance blog of Money Magazine and features content applicable across the board to accounting and finance professionals as well as laypersons.
Highlight: Should you tell adult children about your finances?

28. Bank Think is an American Banker blog devoted to tackling accounting and finance issues within the banking industry.
Highlight: What I Learned from a South African Banker

29. Bank Innovation covers the impact of innovation, technological and otherwise, on the finance and banking industry.
Highlight: True Story: How I Lost Money on My Savings Account

30. The Fraud Files is a blog covering the seedy side of the finance industry and concerns itself with commenting on the latest cases of fraud, scams, scandals, and accounting/finance related court cases.
Highlight: Multi-Level Marketing or Pyramid Scheme?

CPA Practice Assessment Tool

For CPAs who own their own practice, this tool is a great way to improve business. A quiz helps to identify any areas of weakness in the practice. Once any areas of deficiency are identified, a clear strategy for change is outlined.

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My Accounting Teacher

This app is an invaluable tool for beginning accounting students. Each basic accounting concept is broken down into easily digestible learning modules. Each module accommodates all styles of learning by offering content that includes written instructions, video tutorials and audio lectures. Practice exams conclude each module to test comprehension.

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Jobs & News-FINS.com

This app from The Wall Street Journal combines a financial news center with a career site. Those interested in accounting can browse the latest stories relevant to the financial community. The career side of the app enables users to fine tune resumes, get hot leads on jobs and peruse interviewing tips.

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Financial Abbreviations

This handy app offers a cheat sheet of accounting abbreviations. This is a great app for students, and those who have been in the business for years will also find it useful. This comprehensive list of financial terms breaks down the definitions into easy to understand language.

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Accounting Principals

Newly graduated accounting students and seasoned accountants will find this app very useful in the quest for a job. Accounting Principals gathers all finance jobs into one convenient site for users to browse. The sorting feature allows job hunters to filter career postings by location, experience and company.

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Journal of Accountancy News App

This app offers up to the minute news, letters from top accountants and videos relevant to the field. The format allows for a great deal of customization. A library feature allows users to build a database of articles for future use, and an alert feature sends a notification when news relevant to the user’s interest appears. Only members of the American Institute of CPA are eligible to use this app.

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Accountancy Magazine

The Accountancy Magazine app is perfect for the busy student or professional. It wraps up the latest news and industry information into an easy to read package that is delivered once a month to the user’s iPad. The app includes all major accountancy developments, insightful articles and the newest tax law information.

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CFO Magazine for iPad

For corporate accountants who need to get the latest corporate finance news as it happens, the CFO Magazine app delivers. The format allows the user to delve deeply into current issues or just briefly skim the most important topics.

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Accounting Equation Lite

Students will find the Accounting Equation Lite app a great tool for learning difficult calculations. The app gently guides students through basic accounting equations and helps to correct common errors. The color-coded system keeps equations organized and linked to sample statements.

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Accounting Today

Accounting Today offers an app to enrich the knowledge of the average accountant. Daily news updates, relevant statistics and informative videos ensure that the user is abreast of all the latest accounting information.

Richard Wilkinson: How Economic Inequality Harms Societies

In this video, Richard Wilkinson shows real-world data on the effects of economic inequality, and how everything from health, to life expectancy, to trust, gets worse the larger class separation is.

Shlomo Benartzi: Saving For Tomorrow, Tomorrow

Shlomo Benartzi give us the low-down on what he calls “Behavioral Finance.” How can we take our understanding of the financial mistakes people make and turn those same challenges into solutions?

Jacqueline Novogratz on Escaping Poverty

Jacqueline Novogratz shares the touching story of a woman named Jane, an African woman forced into prostitution, and reminds us that when we talk about poverty we have to look at the entire economic spectrum.

Bill Gates: How State Budgets are Breaking US Schools

Businessman Bill Gates shows the accounting tricks that are used to balance state budgets running a deficit, and how education funding is what gets cut in an attempt to cover the difference.

Steven Levitt: The Freakonomics of McDonalds vs. Drugs

Author Steven Levitt gives a humorous lecture demonstrating that being a drug dealer pays less than minimum wage, that gangs are like McDonalds, and that being sentenced to death row is comparatively safe.

Hans Rosling: New Insights On Poverty

Researcher Hans Rosling uses colored bubbles to show how poorer countries are typically healthier than rich countries. Technology is what can pull countries out of poverty, but progress comes at the expense of the earth’s climate.

Daniel Goldstein: The Battle Between Your Present and Future Self

Every decision we make has an impact on our Future Selves. Will we save for our Future Selves, or spend now to satisfy our Present Selves? Daniel Goldstein uses the Behavioral Time Machine to help us understand how our current decisions determine our future well-being.

Iqbal Quadir Says Mobiles Fight Poverty

Iqbal Quadir shares stories of his youth in Bangladesh, and his later life as an investment banker, to demonstrate that mobile phones are a tool against poverty by protecting workers against lost or wasted time.

John Gerzema: The Post-Crisis Consumer

John Gerzema tells us about “The Great Unwind” wherein consumers cease to be afraid and start taking action, leading to positive change in the country’s economy. He names four interesting cultural shifts that motivate consumer behavior, and shows how businesses are spending more thoughtfully.

Benjamin Wallace: The Price of Happiness

Is it truly possible to buy happiness? Benjamin Wallace embarks on a quest to sample the most expensive and coveted products in the world including Kobe beef, Zimbabwean blue jeans, and a $6,000 toilet. His conclusions might not be what you expect.

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Saving the world is all very well, but at the end of the day, who’s going to balance the books? Accountancy may not be as exciting as the traditional jobs of Hollywood action heroes – archaeologist, super spy, bat-themed vigilante – but that doesn’t mean that they haven’t had some pivotal roles in movies. Calculators at the ready as we list the 10 most memorable Hollywood accountants in history!

10. Shallow Grave: David Stephens

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In Danny Boyle’s debut movie, Christopher Eccleston co-stars with Ewan McGregor as David Stephens, an everyman chartered accountant who becomes involved in some grisly goings-on at an Edinburgh flat. The three white-collar Scottish protagonists discover their flatmate dead of an overdose (alongside a huge pile of cash), and decide that instead of reporting it to the police they will dispose of the body in the titular shallow grave in order to keep his money for themselves. Eccleston’s bizarrely sympathetic performance and the iconic scene where the camera shoots his face from above stood out, even amongst the other talented up-and-coming actors in the cast, and won him the recognition which got him many of his later roles.

9.The Royal Tenenbaums: Henry Sherman

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The Royal Tenenbaums was a 2001 movie about a family of ridiculously talented ex-child protégés, with Danny Glover playing against type as soft-spoken accountant Henry, the love interest of Anjelica Huston’s archaeologist. Of all the quirky characters in the movie Henry stands out as possibly the most unusual, precisely because there isn’t anything unusual about him (except maybe his habit of keeping skeletons in his office!). His chemistry with the brash ex-lawyer and patriarch of the family (played by Gene Hackman) is just one of the movie’s many highlights.

8. Midnight Run: Jonathan Mardukas

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In the 1988 road movie Midnight Run, Charles Grodin’s Jonathan Mardukas is another accountant who uses his skills for unconventional purposes: he’s a runaway white-collar criminal who has defrauded a mob boss of several million dollars. Even playing across from Robert De Niro as the gruff bounty hunter hired to bring him back to jail, Grodin more than holds his own as an actor. The script is smart and funny, but it’s the hilarious chemistry between the two leads (described by Roger Ebert as being two of the finest actors of their generation) which really makes the movie fun to watch.

7. Stranger than Fiction: Harold Crick

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Frat pack star Will Ferrell’s only serious project to date was the rather underrated 2006 movie Stranger than Fiction. It’s the story of an ordinary IRS employee who starts hearing a voice in his head, narrating everything that happens to him. It turns out that rather than being insane, he’s the main character of a long and rather strange novel (which appears to be a buddy comedy between him and his wrist watch – don’t ask). Unfortunately, the author is famous for killing off the main character of all of her previous books, so Harold and his love interest must find a way to save him from his fate. Ferrell gives a surprisingly good performance as sober, serious Harold – a world away from the goofier roles which made his name.

6. Dead Man: William Blake

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The impossibly cool Johnny Depp plays William Blake, a meek (but still gothic-looking – this is Johnny Depp, after all) accountant fleeing across the Old West after being accused of a murder, all the while being pursued by murderous (and cannibalistic!) hired killers. He is accompanied by a Native American named Nobody, who is attempting to convince him that he is actually the reincarnation of his namesake as well as an important part of the spiritual world. The movie was praised for Depp’s exceptional performance, as well as its Neil Young soundtrack and well-researched portrayal of Native American culture.

5. Hitch: Albert Brennaman

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Amazingly, King of Queens actor Kevin James was once considered a rising star in film comedy, and his little-deserved popularity was partly down to his role as an accountant in 2005 sex comedy Hitch. Playing opposite Hollywood heavyweight Will Smith, James offered up a funny but very human performance as the bumbling Albert Brennaman – a likeable goofball, held back in romantic matters by a combination of shyness and his prodigious weight. Remember that when you see him heading for box-office oblivion in movies like Here Comes The Boom…

4. The Untouchables: Oscar Wallace

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Traditionally, great cinematic villains have met their ends in a dramatic way: in a life-or-death struggle with the hero, falling into their giant death ray’s main reactor,* even by being gunned down in a blaze of glory by police. Robert De Niro’s Al Capone, though, is probably the first to be brought down by an accountant’s tax fraud investigation. Unassuming number-cruncher Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith) turns out to be a crucial member of the elite Untouchables police team, feeding them the information which leads to them finally bringing the infamous crime lord to trial. De Niro’s performance as a confident, managerial, CEO-type gangster makes the innocuousness of his defeat even more compelling.

3. Schindler’s List: Itzhak Stern

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Holocaust drama Schindler’s List featured many great characters, but the real meat of the story was the relationship between gruff German businessman Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) and his Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley). It is this friendship which helps convince Schindler to make his leap into heroism by rescuing hundreds of Jews from the Nazi death camps and sheltering them in his factory. Kingsley’s performance as Stern really brings home the idea of a man surviving in a truly terrifying era of history, but still being determined to live through it with dignity. Even better, he and Schindler were both real historical figures!

2. Ghostbusters: Louis Tully

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In Ghostbusters, Rick Moranis begins by playing an over-the-top role as geeky pint-sized accountant Louis Tully, who just happens to live in an apartment custom-built to facilitate the end of the world. Amusingly, Tully is equally strange and awkward even after being possessed by the ancient servant of a demon god! The movie is recognized as timeless comedy classic, and Moranis’ delivery helps to sell some of its funniest lines. Who else could deliver “Does anybody wanna play Parcheesi?” and “many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor” with an equally straight face?

1. The Producers: Leo Bloom

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Gene Wilder did some of his funniest work as hyper-neurotic, blanket-dependent number-cruncher Leo Bloom in the Mel Brooks movie The Producers. In his role as the meek and vulnerable Leo, the future Willy Wonka star made the character into a perfect foil for Zero Mostel’s megalomaniac producer Max Bialystock. The poor man is clearly not cut out for a life of crime and during the pair’s scheme to defraud investors in their Broadway play he becomes prone to increasingly hysterical (and hilarious) panic attacks. Despite his being incredibly crooked, it’s hard not to feel sorry for him – maybe it’s Wilder’s puppy-dog eyes which do it!