Complete Practical Bookkeeping
Gain vital bookkeeping know-how and skills to use in any business venture with this practical approach to managing finances.
Duration
Approx 14 weeks3 hrs per week
Start the bookkeeping journey to develop key accounting skills
Bookkeeping is one of the most important aspects of running a business. Not only does it help you keep accurate records of your expenses and income, but it provides you with vital information that can help with budgeting, improve decision-making, and aid in cash flow.
On this ExpertTrack, you’ll understand how and why businesses need to maintain accounting records, and how these records end up creating a full set of financial statements.
You’ll gain a solid understanding of basic accounting as you learn about the essential business documents needed for finances. With this knowledge, you’ll learn how to carry out key accounting processes including double-entry bookkeeping.
Learn how credit sales are recorded on financial statements
To develop your accounting skills, you’ll delve into non-cash transactions to understand the implications of credit sales and purchases.
By exploring these more advanced transactions as well as the role of VAT, you’ll gain knowledge of further considerations a business has to make on a daily basis.
Understand the importance of controls within an accounting system
Controls within accounting help reduce errors, ensuring the validity and reliability of the figures within your financial statements.
You’ll explore control accounts as well as the process of reconciliation to maintain the accuracy of your financial information.
Explore the banking system and payroll accounting
On the final course of this ExpertTrack, you’ll delve into other accounting functions such as payroll and the banking system.
You’ll learn banking terminology and the skills to help you navigate the banking system successfully before exploring payroll within a business.
Accurate payroll does more than pay your employees. It helps you calculate expenses, keep financial statements correct, and builds trust with your employees when they are consistently paid on time.
By the end of this ExpertTrack, you’ll have strong theoretical knowledge and the practical skills to ensure you know how to complete bookkeeping within any business context.
Key skills you will learn
- Identifying business documents and transactions
- Applying the concepts to double entry bookkeeping
- Understanding the difference between different types of entity
- Understanding the difference between different types of accounts
- Undertstanding the relevance of VAT and accounting for it
Learning outcomes
By the end of the ExpertTrack, you’ll be able to...
- Describe the effect that different forms of payment will have on an organisation’s bank balance.
- Discuss the role the payroll function plays within the business.
- Explore the business Cashbook as well as Petty cash and see how they are maintained
- Identify the risk of errors arising and the need for the journal to correct these errors.
- Evaluate VAT, how it works and who is subjected to it.
- Discuss how returns of goods are dealt with from both the seller and the buyer’s perspective.
- Define common terms used in accounting including capital income, capital expense, revenue income and revenue expense.
Experience required
This ExpertTrack is designed for complete beginners and requires no prior experience or knowledge.
You’ll start with the basics before moving onto intermediate and complex transactions and how you account for them.
Getting started
You’ll gain skills in bookkeeping and accounting which will help if you are new to business finance or if you have some prior knowledge that you wish to build on. It will also be useful if you are currently studying accounting or a related subject and wish to gain a practical viewpoint to ensure a sound understanding of concepts, theory, and application.
You’ll gain confidence and practical knowledge that you can apply in the workplace. This understanding will also be hugely beneficial if you have just started your own business and need to know how to create your own financial statements.
ExpertTrack course overview
Course 1
Introduction to Accounting and the Accounting System
Learn the essentials of accounting to develop practical skills and knowledge to use in the workplace or for your own business.
4 weeks
3 hours per week
Week 1
Introduction to accounting
- Welcome
- The fundamentals of business, accounting and the financial statements
- Accounting systems - business transactions & documents
- Accounting systems - books of prime entry
Week 2
Accounting for transactions - basic principles
- Welcome
- Introduction to double entry bookkeeping
Week 3
Ledger accounting and double entry bookkeeping
- Welcome
- Ledger accounting
Week 4
Ledger accounts to the financial statements
- Welcome
- Ledger accounting - balancing off the ledger accounts
- Preparing a trial balance
- Preparing the financial statements
Course 2
Accounting Transactions: Further Considerations
Take your accounting knowledge further as you understand different transactions and how these appear in the financial statements.
3 weeks
3 hours per week
Week 1
Credit sales, VAT, discounts and returns
- Welcome
- Credit sales
- VAT on sales
- Discounts on sales
- Sales returns
Week 2
Credit purchases, VAT, discounts and returns
- Welcome
- Credit purchases
- VAT on purchases
- Discounts on purchases
- Purchase returns
Week 3
Accounting for inventory in stock
- Welcome
- Accounting for inventory
- Inventory valuation
- Closing inventory, opening inventory and double entries
Course 3
Controls within an Accounting System
Learn how to use accounting controls to ensure financial statements are accurate, valid, and reliable.
3 weeks
3 hours per week
Week 1
Subsidiary ledger and control accounts
- Welcome
- The general ledger and subsidiary accounts
- Sales and purchase returns
- Control accounts and reconciliations
Week 2
Errors and suspense accounts
- Welcome
- The journal: new entries within
- Errors
Week 3
Bank reconciliations
- Welcome
- Reconciling the cash book to the bank statements
Course 4
Other Accounting Functions: Payroll and Banking
Learn how the banking system works and instil trust in employees as you develop payroll skills to correctly pay staff on time.
3 tests
4 weeks
3 hours per week
Week 1
Payroll
- Welcome
- Payroll
Week 2
The banking system
- Welcome
- The banking system
Week 3
Practice assessment
- Welcome
- Task 1: Double entry bookkeeping and ledger accounting
- Task 2: Ledger accounting, the trial balance and preparing financial statements
- Task 3: Reconciliations and testing various controls
Week 4
Final assessment
- Welcome
- Final assessment
Prove you're job ready
Highlight the new, job-relevant skills you’ve gained and supplement existing qualifications with a hard-earned, industry-specific digital certificate – plus one for every course within your ExpertTrack.
- Learn the latest in your chosen industry or subject.
- Complete each course and pass assessments.
- Receive certificates validated by the educating organisation.
- Impress employers with learning outcomes you can add to your CV.
- Make your career dreams a reality.
Download a PDF
How ExpertTracks work
Join an ExpertTrack to master new skills in your chosen specialist area. Work through a series of topic-focused courses at your own pace, and pass the final assessment to earn a digital certificate award which proves your expertise.
Decide if the ExpertTrack is right for you with free access to the full suite of courses and assessments for a week.
Pay a monthly subscription fee of $39 for as long as it takes you to complete the ExpertTrack. You can learn at your own pace and cancel at any time.
Receive a certificate for every completed course and pass the final assessment to earn a digital certificate.
Use your specialist training to progress further in your career or build expertise in areas you’re passionate about.
World-class learning with Kaplan
Kaplan UK is a leading international provider of educational and career services. Building on a rich heritage of more than 50 years of training accountants and financial professionals, Kaplan UK serves more than 48,000 students a year, both based in the UK and from overseas, who train for AAT, CIMA, ACCA and ICAEW qualifications.
Established
1971Location
London, UK
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ExpertTracks are a series of online courses designed to help you master new skills in specialist areas. You pay a monthly subscription fee which includes access to all courses within the ExpertTrack, as well as assessments and the final digital certificate.
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