Bookkeeping Assistant Course

Lesson 1 • The Bookkeeping Cycle Overview

Maps the full cycle from source documents to financial statements. Provides a roadmap that frames every chapter that follows.

Lesson 2 • The Accounting Equation

Explains Assets = Liabilities + Equity and demonstrates how every transaction preserves this balance. Students apply the equation to simple scenarios.

Lesson 3 • What Bookkeeping Is and Does

Defines bookkeeping, distinguishes it from accounting, and explains its role in business operations. Establishes the professional context for all subsequent skills.

Lesson 4 • Professional Standards and Ethics

Covers accuracy, confidentiality, and ethical obligations of a bookkeeping assistant. Connects professional conduct to legal and business consequences.

Lesson 1 • Recording Journal Entries

Teaches the format and logic of general journal entries, including date, accounts, amounts, and narration. Students practice entries for sales, purchases, and payments.

Lesson 2 • Chart of Accounts Setup

Guides students through designing and numbering a chart of accounts for a small business. A well-structured chart is the backbone of accurate recordkeeping.

Lesson 3 • Posting to the General Ledger

Demonstrates transferring journal entries to ledger accounts and maintaining running balances. Accurate posting is essential before trial balance preparation.

Lesson 4 • Trial Balance Preparation

Shows how to extract ledger balances into a trial balance and verify that debits equal credits. Introduces common errors that a trial balance can and cannot detect.

Lesson 1 • Sales and Revenue Transactions

Covers recording cash sales, credit sales, and service revenue with correct account coding. Builds directly on journal entry skills from Chapter 2.

Lesson 2 • Petty Cash and Minor Expenses

Establishes a petty cash fund, records disbursements, and performs replenishment entries. Teaches controls that prevent misuse of small cash funds.

Lesson 3 • Accounts Receivable Management

Explains the lifecycle of a customer invoice from issuance to payment or write-off. Accurate receivables tracking directly affects reported revenue.

Lesson 4 • Purchase and Expense Transactions

Teaches recording inventory purchases, operating expenses, and supplier invoices. Students distinguish capital expenditures from operating expenses.

Lesson 1 • Electronic Payments and Digital Transactions

Addresses recording of electronic transfers, direct debits, and online payments in the books. Ensures students handle modern payment methods with the same rigor as checks.

Lesson 2 • Understanding Bank Statements

Explains bank statement components: deposits, withdrawals, fees, and interest. Students learn to read statements accurately before attempting reconciliation.

Lesson 3 • Correcting Journal Entries

Teaches how to record adjusting entries discovered during reconciliation, such as bank fees and errors. Connects reconciliation findings to the general ledger.

Lesson 4 • Cash Internal Controls

Introduces segregation of duties, authorization limits, and daily cash counts as fraud-prevention tools. Strong controls reduce risk and support audit readiness.

Lesson 1 • Payroll Records and Compliance

Covers required payroll records, retention periods, and employee pay statements. Proper documentation supports audits and protects both employer and employee.

Lesson 2 • Payroll Concepts and Terminology

Defines gross pay, net pay, deductions, and employer contributions in a bookkeeping context. Establishes the vocabulary needed for accurate payroll entries.

Lesson 3 • Recording Payroll Journal Entries

Demonstrates the two-entry payroll method: recording gross wages and recording the payment net of deductions. Students post complete payroll cycles to the ledger.

Lesson 4 • Calculating Employee Pay

Covers hourly, salaried, and commission pay calculations including overtime. Accurate calculation is the prerequisite for correct payroll journal entries.

Lesson 1 • Prepaid Expenses and Deferred Revenue

Teaches how to record and adjust prepaid assets and unearned revenue over time. Correct treatment prevents overstating or understating income in any period.

Lesson 2 • Preparing the Adjusted Trial Balance

Combines unadjusted balances with adjusting entries to produce the adjusted trial balance. This document is the direct input for financial statement preparation in Chapter 7.

Lesson 3 • Accrued Revenues and Expenses

Covers entries for revenue earned but not yet billed and expenses incurred but not yet paid. These entries ensure the period's income statement reflects true activity.

Lesson 4 • Depreciation of Fixed Assets

Introduces straight-line and units-of-activity depreciation methods and their journal entries. Accurate depreciation allocates asset cost across the periods it benefits.

Lesson 1 • Balance Sheet Construction

Organizes assets, liabilities, and equity into a properly classified balance sheet. Students verify that the accounting equation holds in the final statement.

Lesson 2 • Income Statement Construction

Builds the income statement by organizing revenues and expenses to calculate net income or loss. Directly uses the adjusted trial balance completed in Chapter 6.

Lesson 3 • Formatting and Presentation Standards

Covers heading formats, date conventions, and rounding rules for professional financial statements. Consistent presentation builds credibility with stakeholders.

Lesson 4 • Closing Entries and Post-Closing Trial Balance

Demonstrates closing temporary accounts to retained earnings and verifying permanent balances. Closing entries reset the books for the next accounting period.

Lesson 1 • Month-End Close Procedures

Establishes a structured month-end checklist covering reconciliations, accruals, and report generation. Systematic closing procedures reduce errors and meet reporting deadlines.

Lesson 2 • Error Detection and Correction

Teaches systematic methods for locating and correcting bookkeeping errors without distorting records. Builds the diagnostic mindset essential for a reliable bookkeeping assistant.

Lesson 3 • Retail Business Inventory Cycle

Applies periodic and perpetual inventory methods to a retail scenario, including cost of goods sold. Extends Chapter 3 skills to inventory-intensive businesses.

Lesson 4 • Service Business Full Cycle

Processes a complete bookkeeping cycle for a service-based business from source documents to financial statements. Reinforces every skill taught in Chapters 1 through 7.