Bookkeeping for Dummies

Accurate bookkeeping is crucial to the success of every business—but few people relish in this highly detailed task. Luckily, this new edition of Bookkeeping For Dummies simplifies every aspect of financial record keeping, walking you through the basic skills you need to make numbers your minion. From tracking transactions and keeping ledgers to producing balance sheets and year-end reports, this straight-talking guide takes the intimidation out of bookkeeping and shows you how to make it your best friend in business.

Fully updated to include the latest coverage of accounting practices and bookkeeping software, this new edition of Bookkeeping For Dummies features tons of practical exercises to get you up and running with what you need to keep your books balanced, your finances in order and the tax inspector off your back.

• Find updated bookkeeping templates and resources available via download
• Manage day-to-day records like sales and purchases
• Produce Profit and Loss Statements and Balance Sheets
• Prepare year-end documents with confidence and ease

From the importance of keeping a paper trail to the best ways to keep payroll rolling—and everything in between—this is the ideal resource for anyone looking to learn the bookkeeping ropes.

Jane Kelly, a Chartered Management Accountant and author of Bookkeeping & Accounting All-In-One For Dummies, teaches bookkeeping courses for small businesses. Paul Barrow is a Chartered Accountant with more than 20 years' consulting, training and writing experience. Lita Epstein designs and teaches online investing, finance and tax courses.

Introduction 1

Part I: Basic Bookkeeping: Why You Need It 5

Chapter 1: So You Want to Do the Books 7

Chapter 2: Getting Down to Bookkeeping Basics 19

Chapter 3: Outlining Your Financial Roadmap with a Chart of Accounts 39

Chapter 4: Looking at Ledgers 57

Chapter 5: Discovering Different Business Types 83

Part II: Recording Day‐to‐Day Business Operations 93

Chapter 6: Planning and Controlling Your Workload 95

Chapter 7: Counting Your Sales 107

Chapter 8: Buying and Tracking Your Purchases 135

Chapter 9: Doing Your Banking 149

Part III: Preparing the Books for Year‐ (or Month‐) End 163

Chapter 10: Adjusting Your Books 165

Chapter 11: Depreciating Your Assets 183

Chapter 12: Adding the Cost of Value Added Tax (VAT) 197

Part IV: Reporting Results and Starting Over 211

Chapter 13: Producing a Profit and Loss Statement 213

Chapter 14: Developing a Balance Sheet 231

Chapter 15: Reporting for Not‐For‐Profit Organisations 249

Chapter 16: Preparing Your Year‐End Accounts 265

Part V: Payroll Preparation and Online Accounts Tools 271

Chapter 17: Employee Payroll and Benefits 273

Chapter 18: Cloud Accounting: The Modern Approach to Bookkeeping 293

Part VI: The Part of Tens 305

Chapter 19: Top Ten Ways to Manage Your Business Cash with Your Books 307

Chapter 20: Top Ten Most Important Accounts for Any Bookkeeper 311

Appendix: Glossary 315

Index 321

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