Bookkeeping Basics Course

Lesson 1 • Types of Business Entities

Covers sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations and how entity type affects recordkeeping structure. Prepares students to adapt methods to different business contexts.

Lesson 2 • The Accounting Equation Explained

Introduces Assets = Liabilities + Equity as the foundation of all recordkeeping. Every subsequent transaction concept builds directly on this equation.

Lesson 3 • Key Financial Statements Overview

Surveys the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement at a conceptual level. Students understand what each report communicates before learning to build them.

Lesson 1 • Revenue and Expense Accounts

Defines income and expense account categories and explains how they feed the income statement. Students practice assigning transactions to the correct account type.

Lesson 2 • Asset Accounts in Depth

Distinguishes current assets from long-term assets and maps each to real business examples. Reinforces the accounting equation by showing how assets are tracked.

Lesson 3 • Building Your First Chart of Accounts

Guides students through constructing a complete chart of accounts for a sample business. Applies all five account types in a structured, hands-on exercise.

Lesson 4 • Liability and Equity Accounts

Covers accounts payable, loans, and owner equity accounts with practical examples. Connects liability and equity tracking back to the accounting equation.

Lesson 1 • Recording Basic Journal Entries

Walks through the format of a journal entry and applies debit-credit rules to common transactions. Builds the skill of translating business events into accounting language.

Lesson 2 • Posting to the General Ledger

Demonstrates how journal entries transfer to individual ledger accounts. Students see how the ledger accumulates balances that feed financial statements.

Lesson 3 • The Logic of Double-Entry Bookkeeping

Explains why every transaction affects at least two accounts and how this prevents errors. Establishes the conceptual framework before introducing debit and credit mechanics.

Lesson 4 • Identifying and Correcting Entry Errors

Covers common debit-credit mistakes and the methods used to detect and fix them. Reinforces accuracy as a professional standard in bookkeeping.

Lesson 1 • Sales and Revenue Transactions

Covers recording cash sales, credit sales, and sales returns with correct journal entries. Connects revenue recording to the income statement and accounts receivable.

Lesson 2 • Cash Receipts and Payments

Focuses on recording all cash inflows and outflows, including collections and vendor payments. Builds the foundation for cash management and bank reconciliation.

Lesson 3 • Payroll Transactions and Withholdings

Explains how to record gross wages, employee withholdings, and employer payroll costs. Students understand payroll's impact on both expense and liability accounts.

Lesson 4 • Source Documents and Transaction Evidence

Identifies the source documents that support each transaction type and explains proper retention. Establishes the audit trail concept critical to professional bookkeeping.

Lesson 1 • Why Bank Reconciliation Matters

Explains the purpose of reconciling the bank statement to the cash ledger balance. Frames reconciliation as a key internal control and error-detection tool.

Lesson 2 • Reading a Bank Statement

Teaches students to interpret all sections of a bank statement accurately. Identifies deposits, withdrawals, fees, and interest entries that affect reconciliation.

Lesson 3 • Adjusting Journal Entries from Reconciliation

Covers the journal entries required to update the books after reconciliation is complete. Connects reconciliation output directly to the general ledger.

Lesson 4 • Step-by-Step Reconciliation Process

Walks through the complete reconciliation procedure from start to adjusted balance. Students complete a practice reconciliation using a realistic sample statement.

Lesson 1 • Bad Debt and Allowance Methods

Introduces the allowance method for estimating uncollectible accounts and writing off bad debt. Students record the necessary adjusting entries and understand their income statement impact.

Lesson 2 • Accounts Receivable Aging Reports

Explains how to prepare and interpret an AR aging schedule to monitor overdue balances. Connects aging data to cash flow forecasting and collection decisions.

Lesson 3 • Managing Accounts Receivable

Covers the lifecycle of a customer invoice from creation to collection. Builds on credit sales recording to include tracking, follow-up, and reporting.

Lesson 4 • Managing Accounts Payable

Covers recording vendor bills, scheduling payments, and maintaining the AP ledger. Reinforces purchase transaction recording from the daily transactions chapter.

Lesson 1 • Types of Adjusting Entries

Categorizes adjusting entries into deferrals and accruals with examples of each. Students identify which accounts require adjustment before financial statements are prepared.

Lesson 2 • Depreciation and Asset Adjustments

Explains straight-line and units-of-activity depreciation methods and their journal entries. Connects accumulated depreciation to the balance sheet presentation of fixed assets.

Lesson 3 • Preparing the Unadjusted Trial Balance

Demonstrates how to extract account balances from the ledger into a trial balance format. Students verify that total debits equal total credits before making adjustments.

Lesson 4 • Completing the Adjusted Trial Balance

Applies all adjusting entries to the unadjusted trial balance to produce the adjusted version. The adjusted trial balance becomes the direct source for financial statement preparation.

Lesson 1 • Preparing the Balance Sheet

Constructs the balance sheet using asset, liability, and equity balances from the adjusted trial balance. Students verify that the accounting equation holds in the final report.

Lesson 2 • Preparing the Statement of Cash Flows

Introduces the indirect method for preparing the cash flow statement from income and balance sheet data. Students classify cash flows into operating, investing, and financing activities.

Lesson 3 • The Accounting Cycle Summary

Reviews all steps of the accounting cycle from transaction analysis through closing. Reinforces the complete workflow students have built across all core chapters.

Lesson 4 • Closing Entries and Temporary Accounts

Explains how to close revenue, expense, and drawing accounts to reset them for the next period. Students record all four closing entries and verify the post-closing trial balance.