Module 1- Personal Bookkeeping and Accounting

Lesson 1: Introduction

In the introduction we will cover a brief overview of the history of accounting and bookkeeping through the eras then moving into the difference between bookkeeping and accounting as well as the how a typical day and month in the life of a bookkeeper could look. There is another history section looking at the double-entry system. The last topic covers the accounting frameworks that exist as well as the users and uses of financial statements. There is also a really fun section to help your understanding of how to apply bookkeeping principles to everyday life.

Lesson 2: The Accounting Cycle

Building on the concepts of the first lesson, we will move into exploring the accounting cycle, key processes that can be managed within the finance function as well as typical transactions that you could expect to see in various businesses. There is an interesting section with factors to consider when deciding to embark on opening your own business. 

Lesson 3: Building Blocks

Although theoretical, Building Blocks is absolutely essential. It covers the key definitions that will be used and developed throughout the bookkeeping course. Another key concept that will covered is the definition and application of T-accounts. This is a fundamental lesson that gets you into the meat of bookkeeping and lays the foundation to make bookkeeping a breeze. 

Lesson 4: The Accounting Equation

The Accounting Equation, where accounting meets algebra. Although not as technical we will look at the fundamental principle linked to the balance sheet being the accounting equation as well as practical ways to apply the equation. This lesson is quite practical and where the fun really begins as we will begin to capture basic transactions and practice the principles of the double-entry system using our debits and credits. 

Lesson 5: Cash Books and Cash Receipts

Looking at the first of many sub-ledgers that will be covered in the course, the cash receipts journal. We will cover the cash receipting cycle in depth to solidify your understanding of this process as well as the types of revenue that can be earned so this will definitely be a lesson for everyone. 

Lesson 6: Cash books and Cash Payments

Having a look at the second of many sub-ledgers that will be covered in the course, the cash payments journal. We will cover the cash payments cycle in depth to solidify your understanding of this process as well as the types of payments that can be made. This is also a very practical lesson so be sure to bring your “calculators”. 

Lesson 7: General Ledger and Trial Balance – part 1

We begin to bring all the concepts learnt in the previous lessons to see the bigger picture. We will cover the last few steps of the accounting cycle and begin to create a general ledger using the practical’s from the previous lessons. We will look at financial periods and cycles so you can get a sense of the how finance works in practice and end off with a brief look at the theory of a trial balance. 

Lesson 8: General Ledger and Trial Balance – part 2

This is the culmination of all the concepts of the lessons in module 1 and entails an in-depth look at the general ledger and using it as a basis for the preparation of a trial balance. There will be a fun practical to apply your skills from start to finish and firmly cement the steps of the accounting cycle in your library of bookkeeping knowledge.

Module 2- Personal Bookkeeping and Accounting

Lesson 1: Bank reconciliations

 We are going to cover the basic principles of performing reconciliations, why we perform reconciliations and how to do bank and petty cash reconciliations. Once the reconciliations are complete the next steps are to resolve any items that appear as differences and one of the sections will cover this in depth. 

Lesson 2: Trade receivables

Another category that appears on the balance sheet is trade receivables. This lesson will look at the definition of trade receivables and other receivables. With trading there is always a risk of customers defaulting so there is an informative section covering the accounting of bad debts, the allowance for bad debts as well as surprise recoveries. An important means of analysing the debtor’s book is through the use of an age analysis, and there will be some practical examples. The end of the lesson then moves on to briefly look at scenarios where you may make prepayments and pay deposits and how to account for these types of transactions. 

Lesson 3: Inventory

If your revenue model includes the sale of goods, this lesson is for you. It looks at the difference between stock and inventory as well as the different types of inventory and valuation methods. It also covers the techniques for managing your inventory and options for various inventory management systems. 

Lesson 4: Fixed assets

This is a fun lesson covering fixed assets, the importance of them as well as the different types of fixed assets. This lesson also has a practical section where we look at accounting for the depreciation of assets, the different depreciation models and ends off with a useful topic on managing the fixed asset register. 

Lesson 5: Accounts Payable

Further down on the balance sheet is where payables exist. We will explore the definition of payables, accounting for discounts received from suppliers and creating a creditors age analysis. There will also be a section on credit terms and the impact of the terms on your cash flow. The last section looks at accounting for accruals, so it will touch on the matching principle again as well as accounting for a new type of liability called income received in advance. 

Lesson 6: Equity and liabilities

We will revisit the concept of retained income but goes into greater detail regarding transactions that impact on retained income. There is an exciting topic on accounting for loans and the amortisation of loans as well as a new category of liabilities called deferred revenue. The section will end off with a brief discussion on contingent liabilities and provisions.  

Lesson 7: Payroll

Payroll and human resources are two crucial processes in a business. This lesson looks at the difference between the two as well as a detailed look at each process. It then moves on to accounting for payroll and the tricky withholdings as well as other deductions to be aware of, which can all be managed in a system. Therefore, the last section briefly covers the options available for automating the payroll process through a software package. 

Lesson 8: Debtors and creditors reconciliations

The principles of reconciliations are revisited due to its importance and then the proceeding sections look at performing two more crucial reconciliations in a business including debtors and creditors. The last topic again looks at the process of clearing these differences to ensure you stay on top of your debtors and creditors balances. 

Module 3- Personal Bookkeeping and Accounting

Lesson 1: Errors

This lessons revisits identifying errors and takes a deeper look at how to identify various errors as well as correcting them through the use of suspense accounts. There is a detailed practical demonstration at the end to help solidify the skills and knowledge acquired throughout the lesson. 

Lesson 2: Year end procedures

We are going to cover the month end and year end procedures that are cause for much anxiety for accountants and bookkeepers. The topics include how to conduct a month end and year end procedures and unpacks the subtle differences between the two processes. There are great tips and tricks throughout the lesson to help you keep organised and make month end and year end a breeze. 

Lesson 3: Accounting concepts

This is a very theoretical lesson around all the basics of accounting concepts, which will help provide the context regarding why producing accurate financial statements is the main objective at the forefront of every accountant’s mind. We will take a look at the objectives for achieving reliable financial statements and how to achieve those objectives by applying the assumptions, which form the basis of preparation. There is a section around the fundamental qualitative characteristics of useful information as well as the enhancing qualitative characteristics, so you can produce the best quality annual financial statements. 

Lesson 4: Internal controls part 1

How to create a sound internal control environment to help you in preventing and detecting the potential for fraud and errors? We will unpack what are the internal control objectives, the components of a control environment and the limitations of internal controls. 

Lesson 5: Internal controls part 2

This is the second edition of all things internal control. In this lesson we dive into the practical side of setting up a control environment to suit your needs and look at the process from risk assessment to establishing the controls to address the risks identified. 

Lesson 6: Audits

What happens during the mysterious audits times? It looks at both internal and external audits, who are the auditors and what exactly they do besides hound you for documents and cause you great anxiety. To help you look forward to your next audit, there will also be a section on how to prepare for your best audit yet. 

Lesson 7: Budgeting

Budgeting is one of the key management tools used by every business. This lesson looks at creating personal budgets as well as budgets for your business using one of the various budgeting methodologies, which will be covered in one of the topics. This is a very practical lesson with great tips, tricks and considerations to help you create useful, good quality budgets whether it be manually or in excel. 

Lesson 8: Forecasting

Another vital management tool for businesses is the cash flow forecast. This is the next step after the budgeting process has been completed. While not 100%accurate, this exercise is critical to managing your cash flows successfully. 

Module 4- Personal Bookkeeping and Accounting

Lesson 1: Elements of the AFS

The final and most exciting module kicks off with a recap of the key accounting concepts learnt throughout the course to date. This sets the stage for taking a deep dive into the structure and make-up of annual financial statements. It looks at the different types of financial statements as well as the elements that make up the financial statements in order to prepare you for your creating your very own set towards to the end of the module in an informative case study. 

Lesson 2: Balance Sheet

Usually the first report in the annual financial statements is the balance sheet. So this lesson touches of the classification and presentation of all the elements in a balance sheet. We will also take a look at different types of balances sheets and use all the skills learnt to create a balance sheet in Excel. 

Lesson 3: Income Statement and Retained Earnings

The income statement or statement of profit and loss and other comprehensive income is another key report that looks at the financial performance of a business. We will look at ways of preparing one for your business and how it feeds into the statement of retained earnings. We will cover the classification and presentation of these two key reports to get to grips with the various layouts and then utilise these skills to create your own reports.  

Lesson 4: Cash Flow Statement

This is going to be a really fun lesson, where we look at the different methodologies for preparing cash flow statements as well as the elements contained with in a cash flow statement. I will then show you a trick or two to remove the frustration of getting your cash flow statement to balance so we will end off with a fun practical.  

Lesson 5: Notes to the Financial Statements

Financial statements would be quite arbitrary without the note disclosures and additional information to provide the context and extra details. This is a very interesting section of the financial statements and very bespoke for each business. We will delve into the required note disclosures according the International Financial Reporting Standards and look at checklists that can aid in ensuring the completeness of your disclosures.  

Lesson 6: Interpreting Annual Financial Statements

Interpreting the financial statements on using the statements and note disclosures in order to draw certain conclusions at a high level. We will look at creating a checklist with steps for completing a basic analysis and interpreting the results. 

Lesson 7: Accounting ratios

This is a part two to the interpretation of annual financial statements. In this lesson we venture back into the land of mathematics, where we utilise maths to help calculate key accounting ratios in order to provide further insight into the financial health and performance of a business. 

Lesson 8: Consolidation

A consolidation and wrap up of the concepts learnt throughout module 4 and includes a detailed walkthrough of a set of integrated annual financial statements, where you will get the opportunity to apply the knowledge acquired throughout this module. To further embed your knowledge and skills we will end off with a great practical, producing a full set of financial statements including certain notes in Excel.