Bookkeeping I

 

STUDY BOOK KEEPING AT HOME 

I was very satisfied with the service I received from ACS when I did my Bookkeeping Course. I emailed my assignments using my login at the ACS site and received them back, marked within a week. The comments of the tutor were comprehensive and helpful. The administrative staff also were very quick to reply to any of my emailed questions. Barbara Kale

 

BECOME A  BOOKKEEPER!

 

• Improve your job opportunities or prospects for advancement
• Start a small business, or seek work with an established business

Bookkeeping can provide you with a great, flexible and secure career. There are always jobs advertised for bookkeepers in every city. Bookkeeping may provide a pathway to extend your career into many other aspects of accounting, finance and business administration. The choice is yours.

 

This is a wonderful solid foundation course for anyone working or wanting to work in bookkeeping, including:

• Business owners and Managers
• Administration or accounts employees
• Anyone seeking a career as a bookkeeper.

Lesson Structure

There are 13 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction
   • What are Accounting Systems
   • Uses for Financial information
   • Who Uses financial information
   • Accounting Conventions (Entity Convention, Historical Cost Convention, Accounting period Convention, Going Concern assumption, Matching Principle, Consistency principle, Verifiability, Conservatism)
   • General Accounting concepts , relevance, reliability, materiality, comparability)
   • Accounting Standards in UK and Australia
   • Case Study
   • Doctrine of Materiality
2. Balance Sheet
   • Definition of Balance sheet
   • Assets
   • Liabilities
   • Proprietorship
   • T Form Balance sheet
   • Narrative Style Balance Sheet
   • Classification in Balance sheet (Current Assets, Non current Assets, Current Liabilities, deferred Liabilities)
   • Working Capital
   • Calculating Working Capital
   • Which Items Appear in balance sheet
   • Summary
3. Analysing and Designing Accounting Systems
   • Bookkeeping Cycle
   • Different Approaches to Bookkeeping
   • Simplest Approach
   • Steps in Bookkeeping Process
   • Abbreviations
   • Assets, Liabilities and Proprietorship
   • Designing an Accounting system
   • Ownership of a Business
   • Types of Business
   • Users of Financial Information
   • Flow of Information
   • Financial reports
   • Designing the ledger
   • Naming Accounts
   • Designing a Ledger
   • Source Documents
   • Cash Transactions
   • Credit transactions
   • Returns and Allowances
   • Statement of Account
   • Other business Documents
   • Use of Business Documents
   • Overview of accounting System
4. The Double Entry Recording Process
   • The Ledger
   • Beginning the ledger
   • Entries Resulting from transactions
   • Recording transactions
   • Example
   • Trial Balance
   • Ledger Accounts and Double Entry accounting
   • Analysis Chart
   • Footing and Balancing Ledger Accounts
   • Trial Balance
   • Alternative presentation of Trial Balance
   • Accounting for Drawings
5. Cash Receipts and Cash Payments Journal
   • Nature and scope of Journals
   • Cash Receipts and Payments in journals
   • Cash Receipts Journal
   • Cash receipts Journal –Simple Version, Multi Colum Journal
   • Cash Payments Journal
   • Multi Column Cash Payments Journal
   • Discounts allowed, and Discount Received
6. Credit Fees and Purchases Journal
   • Scope and Nature of Credit Sales
   • Credit Sales Journal
   • Debtors Subsidiary Ledger
   • Debtors Schedules
   • Cash Receipts Journal and Debtors Control
   • Credit Purchases Journal
   • Creditors Subsidiary ledger
   • Creditors Schedules
   • Cash Payment Journal and Creditors Control
   • Multi Column Credit Journals
7. The General Journal
   • Classifying transactions
   • The General Journal
   • Posting a General Journal Entry
   • General Journal and Subsidiary ledgers
   • Debtors Subsidiary ledger
   • Recording Returns of Supplies or materials to Creditors
   • Recording Credit Purchases of Non-Current Assets
   • Recording the Contribution or Withdrawal of Assets by an Owner
   • Contra, or Offsetting, Entries
   • Correcting Recording Errors through the General Journal
8. Closing the Ledger
   • General Journal
   • Process for Balancing a Ledger
   • Posting a General Journal Entry
   • The General Journal and Subsidiary Ledgers
   • Debtors Subsidiary ledger
   • Recording Returns of Supplies or Materials to Creditors
   • Recording Credit Purchases of Non-Current Assets
   • Recording the Contribution or Withdrawal of Assets by an Owner
   • Contra, or Offsetting, Entries
   • Correcting Recording Errors through the General Journal
9. Profit and Loss Statement
   • Two methods of dealing with ledger accounts
   • Final Accounts Closing the general ledger
   • Profit and Loss account
   • Closing the Ledger account
   • The General Journal and Closing Entries
   • The General Journal, Transfer of Net Profit
   • Accounting for Net Loss
10. Depreciation on Non-current Assets
    • Scope and Nature of Profit and Loss Statement
    • Preparing a Profit and Loss statement
    • Link between Profit and Loss and the Balance Sheet
    • Assessing Net Profit figure
    • Rate of Return
    • Return on owners Equity
    • Gearing
    • Net Profit ratio
    • Direct and Indirect Expenses
    • Gross Margin
    • Functional Classification
    • Extraordinary Revenues and expenditures
    • Calculating Cost of Materials Used
11. Profit Determination and Balance Day Adjustments
    • Scope and Nature of Depreciation
    • Depreciation of Non current assets
    • Methods of Calculation Depreciation
    • The Straight Line Method of Depreciation
    • The Reducing Balance Method of Depreciation
    • Production Units (Units of Use) Method of Depreciation
    • Other Methods
    • Asset Registers
    • Disposal of Non current assets
    • Amortisation of Intangible assets
    • Cash Control: Bank Reconciliation and Petty Cash
    • Adjustments to Final accounts
    • Accruals and Pre Payments
    • Bad Debts
    • Depreciation
    • Treatment of Discounts
    • Balance day Adjustments and Profit Determination
    • Cash Accounting
    • The modified cash Method
    • Accrual accounting
    • Prepaid Expenses
    • Accrued Expenses
    • Prepaid revenue
    • Accrued revenue
    • Adjusting for Stocks of Supplies
    • Ten Column Multiple worksheets
    • Alternative approach to Recording Prepayments
    • A More Comprehensive Treatment of Trial Balance
    • Partnerships
    • Companies
    • Clubs and Non Profit Making Organisation
    • Ways of Handling money
12. Cash Control: Bank reconciliations and petty cash
    • Petty Cash book example
    • Bank Transactions and the cash book
    • Bank reconciliation statements
    • Methods of Controlling Cash
    • The Cash Cycle
    • Liquidity and Cash Flow
    • Points of interest for Professional Bookkeeping
13. Cash Control: Budgeting
    • Nature of a Budget
    • Types of Business Budgets
    • Schedules for Collections from Debtors
    • Cash Budgets and Decision Making
    • Budget Performance Reports

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Explain types of balance sheets, assets, liabilities.
• Design an accounting process.
• Utilize ledgers, transaction records, trial balances.
• Define what a business’s liquidity is and the two calculations used to measure it.
• Prepare a credit fees journal
• Prepare a credit purchase journal
• Post a fees journal to the general ledger
• Post a purchases journal to the general ledger
• Describe management of taxes that relate to goods or services

What You Will Do

• What is an accounting standard?
• What is an accounting convention?
• Explain the link between the concept of reliability and the principal of verifiability.
• Explain the link between the going concern assumption and accounting period convention.
• Explain the accounting entity convention.
• State the balance sheet equation in two different forms.
• Define the terms, assets, liabilities and proprietorship
• What is the difference between a T-form balance sheet and a narrative form
  • balance sheet?
• Define the difference between a Ledger & Journal?
• Define source documents?
• Explain what a chart of accounts is and why is it used?
• What journals are used in an accounting system.
• Prepare a list of transactions in ledger accounts on double entry principles.
• Explain the purpose of the general journal for a business which uses special journals.
• Describe the benefits achieved by a business through the introduction of multi-column journals.
• What is the purpose of the sundries column in a cash receipts journal?
• What is the difference between credit fees and credit purchases?
• Describe the key sections of a general journal
• State four transactions that would be recorded in a general journal.
• What is a bad debt? What is the role of the general journal in relation to bad debts?
• What is the purpose of the profit and loss account
• What is a current account?
• Outline the basic functions of a Profit and Loss Statement.
• How is gross margin calculated for a service firm?
• What is meant by functional classification and what are the benefits?
• What is depreciation?
• Outline the differences between the cash and accrual methods of determining
  • profit.
• Explain the role played by a ten column worksheet.
• State and describe five different ways of controlling cash receipts.
• What is a bank reconciliation?
• Describe five events which may cause a balance on a bank statement to be different from that shown in a firm’s books.
• What details should be recorded in a petty cash book?
• State and describe four different types of budgets the management of a service firm may prepare.
• What is a cash budget and what is its purpose?
• What is a budget performance report and what is its purpose?

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CAREERS IN BOOKKEEPING

• Work is relatively secure (competent bookkeepers are in demand)
• It can pay very well
• It takes a particular personality to succeed (many people find bookkeeping boring…which is a good thing for bookkeepers: that’s why they are employed by others to do it)
• For the best chance of success in this profession you need to be good with figures, able to focus well and have a natural ability to be well organised

Typical jobs or career paths

Many bookkeepers are self employed, running a small business and sub contracting services to regular clients. Working on an hourly rate that can be more than double an average wage, this type of bookkeeper can earn a very good living with relatively little capital outlay.

Some self employed bookkeepers will build up their clientele to a point where they start employing other bookkeepers, or even accountants and other financial services professionals. It is possible from a small start as an independent bookkeeper, to build a substantial business, though this is generally the exception rather than the rule.

Skilled bookkeepers may also find employment in other small businesses or larger organisations in finance (eg. Banking) or just about any other industry.

Remuneration and Advancement Opportunities

Bookkeeping is only one aspect of the broad range of activity which makes up the finance industry.

Bookkeepers have a capacity to earn very good money if self employed; but when employed in another organisation, the opportunity for advancement may be more limited as they compete with graduates from accountancy and finance degrees.

Nevertheless, an outstanding bookkeeper may sometimes be offered opportunities to undertake further studies and advance into managerial positions, ahead of a less practical university graduate.

A degree can help, but in the world of money, an ability to manage money for better profit is always going to be more impressive than a formal qualification.

Stress & Responsibility

Dealing with money weighs heavier on some people than others.

Bookkeepers must be honest, ethical and take their job seriously. Despite the responsibility, they must also be able to keep a balanced perspective on life. The job should never overwhelm them.

Insurance

If you are going to establish a business as a bookkeeper; talk to an insurance agent before starting. Ask about Professional Indemnity Insurance, sickness cover (to provide an income if you are sick) and anything else.

Legalities

Different types of bookkeeping businesses will have different legal obligations, depending on your country (or state), scope of activity, office location, etc. Consider if any of the following apply:

• Trading hours
• Staff employment (wages and conditions)
• Consumer protection
• Legislation re: sale of goods
• Health laws
• Town Planning requirements
• Weights and measures laws
• Uncollected goods laws
• Sales tax
• Lay-by regulations Laws relating to shoplifting
• Restrictive trade practice laws
• Prices justification legislation

Be sure you know the implications of these laws on your proposed business before commencing or committing yourself.

This BOOKKEEPING I course may be all you need.

For an even more thorough professional training though, you might consider a more substantial course such as a Certificate in Financial Management (ACS provides options to construct such a certificate using your own choice of electives, for example:

• Bookkeeping I & II
• Financial Management
• Starting a Small Business
• E Commerce
• Professional Practice for Consultants

Beyond this Bookkeepers today need computer skills; and normally will work with either MYOB or Quick books software. With a sound understanding of bookkeeping gained from this course, most computer literate people will be capable of teaching themselves to use to use this software (or others).