How do you manage the finances of a business? Whether you are an entrepreneur, running a family business, or just looking to advance your career and add to your skill set, this Bookkeeping Certificate will provide you with the knowledge needed to measure, and manage, the financial health of your business. This program focuses on cash basis accounting. No one will care more about the financial health of your business than you! It’s imperative that you understand how the process works and are able to complete the accounting cycle accurately and in a timely fashion. Even if you plan to outsource your bookkeeping needs, you should still understand how the process works. No one should be clueless when it comes to the finances of their business.
This certificate consists of three one-month courses. The courses must be taken in order.
GRANT FUNDING AVAILABLE: This class is eligible for the Noncredit Strategies at Work Grant. Please call 815-224-0427 for assistance with registering and to apply a 50% discount to the cost of this class.
Understanding Debits and Credits
In this course, you will learn about the accounting equation and the five categories involved in every business (Assets, Liabilities, Owner’s Equity, Revenue and Expenses). Every financial transaction falls into one or more of these categories. Learn how to create a chart of accounts that meet the needs of your business. You will learn how double entry bookkeeping works and the process of recording debits and credits. This course will show you how to identify, analyze and record transactions using journal entries under the cash basis accounting method.
Unit 1 The Accounting Equation and Categories
- The Accounting Equation
- The Five Accounting Categories
- The Chart of Accounts
- Account Placement
- Activity ~ Categorizing Accounts
- Cash Basis Accounting vs. Accrual Basis Accounting
Unit 2 Debits and Credits
- T-Accounts
- Debits and Credits
- Double Entry Bookkeeping
- Analyze Financial Activities (Transactions)
Unit 3 Assets, Liabilities, and Owner’s Equity
- Recording Transactions for Assets
- Recording Transactions for Liabilities
- Recording Transactions for Owner’s Equity
Unit 4 Revenue and Expenses
- Recording Transactions for Revenue
- Recording Transactions for Expenses
- Activity ~ Recording Transactions
General Ledger and Month End Procedures
In this course, you will learn how to post journal entries to the correct general ledger accounts impacted by each transaction. This course will show you how to make sure your general ledger balances at the end of each month by preparing an unadjusted trial balance. You will learn how to look for errors when you don’t balance, and how to determine to correct entries. After posting correcting entries and/or adjusting entries, you will verify debits and credits equal with an adjusted trial balance. This course also goes through the steps of performing monthly bank reconciliations.
Unit 1 The General Ledger
- What is the General Ledger
- Why must the general ledger balance
- Posting to the general ledger
- Activity ~ Posting to The General Ledger
Unit 2 The Unadjusted Trial Balance
- What is the unadjusted trial balance
- Verify debit and credit balances
- Finding errors
- Activity ~ Find The Errors
Unit 3 Correcting Entries and Adjusting Entries
- Determine correcting entries
- Adjusting entries and how to prepare them
- Posting correcting entries and adjusting entries to the general ledger
- Activity ~ Preparing Entries and Posting to General Ledger
Unit 4 The Adjusted Trial Balance
- Verify the accuracy of the adjusted trial balance
- Prepare monthly bank reconciliations
- Activity ~ Prepare a Bank Reconciliation
Closing Procedures and Financial Statements
This course shows you how to create a worksheet used to adjust the account balances and prepare the financial statements. Use your financial statements to measure performance, make improvements and set goals. The final step covered in this course is closing your books and preparing them for the next accounting period; this is done by journalizing and posting closing entries.
Unit 1 The Accounting Equation and Categories
- The Accounting Equation
- The Five Accounting Categories
- The Chart of Accounts
- Account Placement
- Activity ~ Categorizing Accounts
- Cash Basis Accounting vs. Accrual Basis Accounting
Unit 2 Debits and Credits
- T-Accounts
- Debits and Credits
- Double Entry Bookkeeping
- Analyze Financial Activities (Transactions)
Unit 3 Assets, Liabilities, and Owner’s Equity
- Recording Transactions for Assets
- Recording Transactions for Liabilities
- Recording Transactions for Owner’s Equity
Unit 4 Revenue and Expenses
- Recording Transactions for Revenue
- Recording Transactions for Expenses
- Activity ~ Recording Transactions
Participate When You Want
You can participate any time of day or evening. The online classroom is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are no live real-time requirements or meetings. You decide when you participate. For the best learning, participants should log into the course on 2-3 different days of the week.
What You Will Do
For each Unit, you will:
· Access the online readings
· Listen to the audio presentation for the Unit and view the slides
· Take a self-quiz to see how much you have learned
· Engage in written online discussion with your instructor and other participants
For best learning, you should make one or more comments at 2-3 different times each day. The content (readings, audio lectures, slides) and self-quizzes are accessible for the entire course, so you can work ahead, or go back and review again, at your convenience.
Discussion
The Discussion for each Unit lasts one week. All comments are made in writing and can be made at any time of the day or night. Your instructor will log into the Discussion area at least once a day and answer questions, make comments, and respond to comments by you and the other participants. We encourage you to make 2-3 comments each day to maximize your learning and enjoyment of the course.
Completing the Course
Completion of class participation requirements is required to earn the Certificate of Completion, CEU and/or PD Hours at the end of the course.
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