Practical Accounting Course

Lesson 1 • The Purpose and Scope of Accounting

Defines accounting's role in business decision-making and stakeholder communication. Grounds students in why accurate financial records matter before any technical work begins.

Lesson 2 • Core Accounting Concepts and Assumptions

Covers the going-concern, accrual, consistency, and materiality assumptions. These concepts govern every recording decision made throughout the course.

Lesson 3 • The Accounting Equation

Introduces Assets = Liabilities + Equity as the structural backbone of all financial statements. Students practise verifying equation balance after each transaction.

Lesson 4 • Ethics and Professional Conduct in Accounting

Examines integrity, objectivity, confidentiality, and professional competence as non-negotiable standards. Students analyse case studies of ethical breaches and their financial consequences.

Lesson 1 • Debits, Credits, and Account Types

Explains how debits and credits increase or decrease each account type. This rule set is the engine behind every journal entry in the course.

Lesson 2 • The Chart of Accounts

Demonstrates how to design and number a chart of accounts for a small business. A well-structured chart enables consistent classification throughout the accounting cycle.

Lesson 3 • Posting to the General Ledger

Covers transferring journal entries to individual ledger accounts and maintaining running balances. Accurate posting is the prerequisite for a reliable trial balance.

Lesson 4 • Preparing the Trial Balance

Shows how to extract account balances and confirm total debits equal total credits. Students identify and correct common posting errors using the trial balance.

Lesson 1 • Reversing Entries and Cycle Efficiency

Introduces optional reversing entries that simplify the next period's accrual recording. Students evaluate when reversing entries save time without introducing errors.

Lesson 2 • Closing Entries and Post-Closing Trial Balance

Explains how to zero out temporary accounts and transfer net income to retained earnings. The post-closing trial balance confirms only permanent accounts carry forward.

Lesson 3 • Source Documents and Transaction Analysis

Identifies invoices, receipts, contracts, and bank statements as the evidence base for entries. Students practise extracting debit-credit implications from each document type.

Lesson 4 • The Adjusted Trial Balance

Demonstrates rebuilding the trial balance after all adjusting entries are posted. Students confirm that the adjusted figures are ready for financial statement preparation.

Lesson 1 • The Statement of Cash Flows

Covers operating, investing, and financing sections using both direct and indirect methods. Students reconcile net income to cash from operations using the indirect method.

Lesson 2 • Financial Ratio Analysis

Applies liquidity, profitability, efficiency, and solvency ratios to completed statements. Students benchmark ratios against industry norms to draw actionable conclusions.

Lesson 3 • The Income Statement

Builds single-step and multi-step income statements from revenue and expense accounts. Students calculate gross profit, operating income, and net income line by line.

Lesson 4 • The Balance Sheet

Organises assets, liabilities, and equity into a classified balance sheet. Students verify that the accounting equation holds after all adjustments and closings.

Lesson 1 • Trade Debtors and Credit Management

Records credit sales, returns, and allowances whilst managing customer credit risk. Students design credit terms and evaluate their impact on cash flow timing.

Lesson 2 • Bank Reconciliation

Reconciles the company's cash book balance to the bank statement balance monthly. Students identify outstanding cheques, deposits in transit, and bank errors systematically.

Lesson 3 • Estimating and Recording Bad Debts

Compares the provision method and direct write-off method for uncollectible accounts. Students calculate bad debt expense using percentage-of-sales and ageing approaches.

Lesson 4 • Revenue Recognition Principles

Applies the five-step recognition model to identify when and how much revenue to record. Students distinguish point-in-time from over-time recognition across contract types.

Lesson 1 • Perpetual vs. Periodic Stock Systems

Contrasts real-time perpetual tracking with end-of-period periodic counting. Students record purchases, sales, and adjustments under both systems.

Lesson 2 • Trade Creditors and Purchase Cycle

Records purchase orders, receiving reports, and supplier invoices through the three-way match. Students manage payment terms to capture discounts and avoid late penalties.

Lesson 3 • Accrued Expenses and Prepaid Management

Tracks accrued wages, utilities, and interest alongside prepaid insurance and rent. Students record period-end accruals and systematically amortise prepaid balances.

Lesson 4 • Stock Costing Methods

Compares FIFO, LIFO, weighted-average, and specific identification for cost assignment. Students calculate closing stock and cost of sales under each method.

Lesson 1 • Asset Disposal, Impairment, and Revaluation

Records gains and losses on asset sales, retirements, and trade-ins. Students test assets for impairment and record write-downs when carrying value exceeds recoverable amount.

Lesson 2 • Depreciation Methods and Schedules

Applies straight-line, declining-balance, and units-of-production depreciation to fixed assets. Students build full depreciation schedules and select methods based on asset usage patterns.

Lesson 3 • Intangible Assets and Amortisation

Distinguishes purchased intangibles from internally generated ones and applies amortisation rules. Students record patents, trademarks, and goodwill and assess impairment annually.

Lesson 4 • Acquiring and Capitalising Fixed Assets

Determines which costs to capitalise versus expense when acquiring property, plant, and equipment. Students record asset purchases, improvements, and self-constructed assets correctly.

Lesson 1 • Variance Analysis and Performance Reporting

Calculates price, quantity, and efficiency variances for materials, labour, and overhead. Students interpret variances to identify operational problems and recommend corrective actions.

Lesson 2 • Job-Order and Process Costing

Applies job-order costing to custom production and process costing to continuous manufacturing. Students calculate equivalent units and cost per unit under the weighted-average method.

Lesson 3 • Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis

Calculates contribution margin, break-even point, and target profit under varying assumptions. Students perform sensitivity analysis to assess risk from price and volume changes.

Lesson 4 • Cost Behaviour and Classification

Classifies costs as fixed, variable, mixed, or step-fixed and models their behaviour. Students use high-low and regression methods to separate mixed cost components.