Bookkeeping short courses are ideal for those wanting to enhance their CV, update their skills, work in an admin or accounts team, or even manage their own business.

Our Certificate of Bookkeeping is a comprehensive foundation course that focuses on the needs of smaller businesses, allowing you to prepare budgets and set future financial goals. You will learn how to proactively manage ledgers, balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and the purchases, cash payments and general journals.

It will also give you insights into accounting laws, standards and principles that are based on current international standards, ensuring your studies maintain global relevance. Let the world be your accounting oyster!

Learning Outcomes

This bookkeeping short course is extensive, but some of the outcomes achieved include:

• Learning about the nature, scope, function and history of bookkeeping
• Exploring the difference between accountants and bookkeepers
• Studying bookkeeping terminology
• Understanding bookkeeping language
• Examining why we need bookkeeping
• Learning about bookkeeping as a management tool
• Gaining insights into bookkeeping business structures
• Exploring financial information
• Studying accounting conventions and doctrines
• Understanding accounting standards including those from Australia and the UK
• Discovering the international cooperation on standards
• Examining the balance sheet
• Gaining insights into assets and liabilities
• Learning the components of a balance sheet
• Exploring what items don’t appear on the balance sheet
• Studying the details of balance sheets
• Examining how to track business performance
• Learning how to format a balance sheet
• Exploring balance sheet allocations
• Understanding working capital
• Studying what comprises an accounting system
• Understanding the flow of information in bookkeeping
• Examining other business documents like statements, order forms and quotations
• Gaining insights into the steps in the bookkeeping process
• Exploring how to design a bookkeeping system
• Learning how to analyse business needs
• Studying how to design an accounting system
• Understanding how to design the chart of accounts
• Examining how to write a chart of accounts
• Gaining insights into designing the type of journals needed
• Learning about the double-entry recording process
• Exploring ledgers
• Studying how to open up the general ledger
• Understanding ledger accounts, the general ledger and the sub-ledger
• Examining entries resulting from transactions
• Gaining insights into recording transactions
• Learning about the different types of accounts
• Exploring a trial balance
• Studying ledger accounts and double-entry bookkeeping
• Understanding how to record entries
• Discovering analysis charts
• Examining footing ledger accounts
• Gaining insights into balancing ledger accounts
• Learning about the trial balance
• Exploring accounting for drawings
• Studying the revision of definitions and processes
• Gaining an understanding of the cash receipts and cash payments journal
• Discovering how to record cash transactions in journals
• Examining multi-column receipts and cash payment journals
• Gaining insights into what discounts are allowed
• Learning about accounting discounts allowed and received
• Exploring the credit fees and purchases journal
• Studying credit sales and credit purchases
• Understanding the credit sales journal
• Examining the debtors subsidiary journal and control account
• Gaining insights into using a debtors schedule
• Exploring the credit purchases journal
• Learning how to create a creditors subsidiary ledger and schedule
• Studying the cash payments journal and creditors control account
• Understanding the general journal
• Examining how to record non-standard transactions
• Gaining insights into designing the general journal
• Learning how to post to a general journal
• Exploring general journal entries and ledgers
• Studying how to record credit purchases of non-current assets
• Understanding how to record owners’ contributions or withdrawals
• Discovering how to record debts that are written off
• Examining recording contra entries
• Gaining insights into recording purchase returns
• Learning about the other uses for a journal
• Exploring how to close the ledger
• Studying how to close at the end of the accounting period
• Understanding how to prepare for the new accounting period
• Examining how to transfer balance day closing entries
• Gaining insights into profit and loss accounts
• Learning how to determine gross profit
• Exploring simple profit and loss accounts
• Studying balance sheets
• Uncovering how businesses make a loss rather than a profit
• Gaining an understanding of owner withdrawing revenue
• Examining the profit and loss statement (P&L)
• Learning about the balance sheet and how it relates to a P&L statement
• Exploring how to use net profit figures to evaluate business performance
• Studying profitability
• Understanding gross and net profit
• Examining cash flow margins
• And more ….

 

Important Bookkeeping Conventions

There are many rules that cover a range of situations that use accounting conventions, and they have a great deal of influence on bookkeeping practices. You will cover these in detail when you undertake bookkeeping short courses, and a few of the most important you will come across are:

 

Historical Cost Convention

This is the most commonly used accounting convention. It deals with what has happened in the past, specifically, that transactions for assets must be recorded at the amount paid at the time of purchase less depreciation (if applicable). For example, a business owner may buy a warehouse for $150,000. Ten years later they may have an offer from a buyer of $300,000, however, it still has to appear on the balance sheet at its original cost. This is because values are unpredictable and it is seen as a better approach to record historical value rather than market value.

 

Business Entity Convention

This convention separates the business owner from the business in accounting terms so that their personal and business dealings remain separate. In other words, transactions within the business related to the business, not the owner. So for example, when a business owner invests money into the business, it is recorded as a liability that the business actually has to the owner.

 

Going Concern Convention

This convention assumes the business will continue its activities indefinitely and is, therefore, able to meet its current and future commitments. Because of this assumption, a business can classify both liabilities and assets as short, medium or long term and report them as such on the balance sheet. This prevents the write-off as the costs of the organisation’s long-term assets within one accounting period instead of over many years. It also allows assets to appear at the purchase value rather than at market value.

 

Accounting Period Convention

In order to compare past to present business performance, a bookkeeper needs to produce accounting reports at meaningful intervals. These can be weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually, however, they must not be any longer due to taxation requirements. In most cases, these are produced according to the financial year, which starts on the 1^st July and ends on the 30^th June each year. An organisation’s profit and loss account should show the income and expenses relating to the period they were incurred rather than when income was received or an account was paid.

 

Verifiability Convention

Bookkeepers should always be able to confirm their organisation’s figures, and all stakeholders should be able to look at the figures and use the data to come to the same conclusions. In order to do this, a business needs to produce evidence of its business transactions. These can take the form of invoices, bank statements and receipts etc. — basically any document that was used to record transactions in the books.

 

Monetary Entity Convention

Finally, a simple one for you! This convention states that the monetary unit that is used is relevant to the country the business is operating in. So in Australia, it is the Australian dollar, in America, it’s the US dollar and in the UK, the British Pound and so on. How many of the currencies of each country can you name?

 

Top 10 Celebrity ‘Bean Counters’

If you’re thinking of doing some bookkeeping short courses, you’re actually in good company. Many of the worlds rich and famous actually began their career as number crunchers. And they are the perfect examples of how logic and creativity can masterfully combine.

 

#1 – J.D. Rockefeller

An American entrepreneur and business magnate, Rockefeller started his career as an assistant bookkeeper for a shipping company. And his experience certainly paid off, with him widely considered the wealthiest American of all time, and one the richest people in modern history.

#2 – Mick Jagger

The legendary frontman of the Rolling Stones actually studied Finance and Accounting on a scholarship at the London School of Economics. Unfortunately, number-crunching gave Jagger no satisfaction (pun intended) and he only lasted a year. We would imagine 1960’s rock would have sounded entirely different had he graduated.

 

#3 – Eddie Izzard

Successful British comedian Izzard followed in his father’s footsteps studying Accounting and Financial Management at the University of Sheffield. Unfortunately, he failed most of his exams and moved into the world of stand-up comedy instead. All we can say is … who’s laughing now?

 

#4 – Janet Jackson

The tenth and youngest child of the Jackson family, Janet gained fame in the 1970s and 1980s as an actress, singer, songwriter and dancer. Before that, she studied accounting, and five Grammy awards later still often comments, “If I wasn’t singing, I’d probably be an accountant”.

 

 #5 – John Grisham

The best-selling author of legal thrillers earned a degree in Accounting at Mississippi State University graduating in 1977. Intending to become a tax lawyer, Grisham first bestseller, The Firm, sold seven million copies and in 2019 he published his 40^th novel.

 

#6 – Venus Williams

This tennis pro and former world number one pursued a degree in Business Administration at Indiana University and once commented, “I have to say the accounting part almost killed me.” Venus, along with her sister Serena, are credited with ushering in a new era of athleticism in women’s professional tennis.

#7 – Robert Plant

Had Plant’s Dad had his way, Robert would have ended up as a Chartered Accountant with the rock legend working with a private accountancy tutor when he was just 16. However, this headstrong teen decided he would rather crunch music riffs than numbers, and went on to front iconic English band, Led Zeppelin.

#8 – Chuck Liddell

Karate, kickboxing and martial arts expert, Liddell holds an amateur kickboxing record of 20 wins and two losses with 16 of his wins coming from a knockout. However, he also knocked out a BA in Business and Accounting in 1995 at the California Polytechnic University.

 

#9 – Kenny G

One of the best selling artists of all times, jazz saxophonist Kenneth Gorelick has had global sales totalling more than 75 million records. Winner of a 1994 American Music Award for his album Breathless, KG also holds a degree in Accounting from Washington University.

 

#10 – Gibby Haynes

Achieving music notoriety for being the frontman of (many would say the inappropriately named band) Butthole Surfers, rockstar Haynes studied Accounting at Trinity University in Texas. He was also once named ‘Accounting Student of the Year’. Inspiration for undertaking some bookkeeping short courses indeed!

 

Learn the foundations of accounting and number crunch your way to a successful finance career our bookkeeping short courses, such as the Certificate of Bookkeeping!