Basic Bookkeeping Course

Lesson 1 • Core Financial Vocabulary

Introduces essential terms: assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses. Precise vocabulary enables accurate reading and recording of transactions.

Lesson 2 • The Accounting Equation

Presents Assets = Liabilities + Equity as the structural rule governing every entry. Students verify equation balance using simple numerical examples.

Lesson 3 • Business Entity and Record Keeping

Explains the entity concept and why personal and business finances must stay separate. Introduces source documents as the starting point of every record.

Lesson 1 • Modifying and Maintaining the Chart

Covers adding, merging, and retiring accounts as a business evolves. Proper maintenance prevents reporting errors and keeps the ledger clean.

Lesson 2 • Account Types and Their Purpose

Classifies accounts into five types: assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses. Understanding classification drives correct entry placement throughout the course.

Lesson 3 • Designing a Chart for a Small Business

Guides students through selecting accounts relevant to a specific business type. Decisions made here directly shape the ledger structure in later chapters.

Lesson 1 • Recording Basic Transactions

Applies debit-credit rules to common transactions: sales, purchases, payments, and receipts. Students write complete journal entries with correct account names and amounts.

Lesson 2 • Logic of Double-Entry Bookkeeping

Explains why every transaction affects at least two accounts and how this self-checks the books. Connects double-entry logic to the accounting equation from Chapter 1.

Lesson 3 • Identifying and Correcting Entry Errors

Teaches how to spot imbalanced entries, wrong account use, and transposition mistakes. Error correction skills protect the integrity of all downstream reports.

Lesson 1 • The General Journal

Introduces the general journal as the chronological record of all transactions. Students format entries with date, accounts, amounts, and a brief description.

Lesson 2 • Posting to the General Ledger

Explains the process of transferring journal totals to individual ledger accounts. Accurate posting is the bridge between raw entries and financial statements.

Lesson 3 • Special-Purpose Journals

Covers sales, purchases, cash receipts, and cash payments journals for high-volume transaction types. Specialised journals reduce repetitive work and speed up posting.

Lesson 1 • Errors That Affect the Trial Balance

Identifies posting errors, transpositions, and omissions that cause column totals to differ. Students use the difference amount to locate the source of each error.

Lesson 2 • Errors That Do Not Affect the Trial Balance

Covers compensating errors, wrong-account entries, and complete omissions that leave totals equal but records wrong. Students learn why a balanced trial balance is not proof of perfect records.

Lesson 3 • Purpose and Structure of a Trial Balance

Defines the trial balance as a listing of all ledger account balances in debit and credit columns. Its role as a pre-statement accuracy check is established here.

Lesson 1 • Accrued Revenues and Expenses

Covers entries for income earned but not yet received and expenses incurred but not yet paid. Students calculate and record accruals using realistic business scenarios.

Lesson 2 • Depreciation of Fixed Assets

Introduces straight-line depreciation as the standard method for spreading asset cost over useful life. Students compute depreciation expense and record the adjusting entry.

Lesson 3 • Prepaid Expenses and Unearned Revenue

Addresses deferrals: costs paid in advance and revenue received before it is earned. Students allocate prepaid balances and recognise unearned revenue correctly.

Lesson 1 • The Balance Sheet

Presents assets, liabilities, and equity at a specific date using the adjusted trial balance. Students verify that total assets equal total liabilities plus ending equity.

Lesson 2 • Statement of Owner's Equity

Shows how net income and owner drawings change beginning equity to ending equity. This statement links the profit and loss account to the balance sheet.

Lesson 3 • Articulation Between Statements

Traces how figures flow from the profit and loss account through equity into the balance sheet. Understanding articulation helps students catch cross-statement inconsistencies.

Lesson 1 • Closing Temporary Accounts

Explains why revenue, expense, and drawing accounts must be zeroed at period end. Students write the four closing entries that transfer balances to retained equity.

Lesson 2 • The Full Accounting Cycle Overview

Maps all steps from source document to post-closing trial balance as a continuous cycle. Seeing the full cycle reinforces how each prior chapter fits into the whole process.

Lesson 3 • Reversing Entries and Period Transitions

Introduces optional reversing entries that simplify recording accruals in the following period. Students decide when reversals are beneficial and record them correctly.