Accounting and Bookkeeping Tutorials

Need some additional help understanding bookkeeping and accounting ? Check out these free tutorials.
Free Bookkeeping Tutorial
Learn To Read Financial Statements
Gina L. Gwozdz provides easy to understand lessons for anyone who wants to know how to do bookkeeping for a small business.
So, you want to learn Bookkeeping!
by Bean Counter's Dave Marshall

This free bookkeeping tutorial is geared to business owners, managers, and individuals who have not had any formal bookkeeping training or on the job experience and need or want to learn the basics of bookkeeping. In other words, this tutorial is for beginners (newbies) and is only an introduction into the world of accounting. They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Well my goal is to make you dangerous.

Free On Line Version of So, you want to learn Bookkeeping! Tutorial

My free So, you want to learn Bookkeeping! introductory tutorial introduces you to basic bookkeeping and my style of presenting information. In addition to my Introductory Tutorial, I've "cooked up" some additional courses (Bean Counter Series Of Bookkeeping Tutorials) for those of you wanting or needing some additional bookkeeping education. If you've acquired a taste and have an appetite for more of my kind of cooking you need to check out these additional tutorials.

Bean Counter's
  So, you want to learn Bookkeeping!
    Chart Of Accounts
Bean Counter's
  So, you want to learn Bookkeeping!
    Merchandise Inventory
Bean Counter's
  So, you want to learn Bookkeeping!
    Special Journals
Bean Counter's
  So, you want to learn Bookkeeping!
    Cash
Bean Counter's
  So, you want to learn Bookkeeping!
    Payroll

These additional free tutorials are presented on my Bookkeeping Tutorial Site which I've set up and is dedicated to providing my own series of bookkeeping and accounting tutorials aimed at the small business man or woman or anyone wanting to learn the basics of bookkeeping and accounting.

So exactly who can benefit from my courses ?

Ebook Version available for each tutorial ! E-Book Version Of Bookkeeping Tutorials
Study offline, print out a hardcopy, and also acquire a handy accounting reference book.

My bookkeeping tutorial site also provides free bookkeeping and accounting tests and quizzes. Check it out and see what you know.

Interested and wanting to check out the tutorials or quizzes ? Click on Bean Counter's Bookkeeping Tutorials.

Online and Campus Based Degrees

Bachelor Degrees

Get the degree you need for the career you want.

Other Excellent Bookkeeping Educational Resources

Since I offer my own accounting courses, why would I recommend someone elses ? My answer is made up of three reasons.

  • Different teachers or instructors use different methods and techniques for presenting accounting learning materials. What a student might not grasp or understand from one teacher, they might easily grasp from another.
  • There are other excellent accounting and bookkeeping training tutorials besides my own.
  • Lastly, repetition. The more times your exposed to something, the more likely it's going to sink in.

Real Life Accounting
My tutorial served you the salad. If you're ready for the meat and potatoes, you need to check out the Real Life Accounting site. John Day's course Accounting for Non-Accountants is a 20 hour online course in accounting basics. It is a self-paced tutorial that can be taken conveniently in your own home or office.

Who can benefit fom the course ?

Sorry not free, but a bargain for $99.00. The small fee entitles you to access the course and related materials for a full year.

No Risk ! John's Guarantee
John's so sure that you'll benefit from his course that, if upon completion of his course, you are not fully satisfied, 100% of your tuition fee will be refunded. How can you lose ? Real Life Accounting

More free bookkeeping and accounting tutorials

Accounting and Business Courses
provided by:
Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
Small Business Development Center

Their E-Learning site is one of the largest collection of free entrepreneurial training resources available on the internet.

The courses are provided free of charge. However, you do need to register and once you have completed the course you need to complete a short survey. Certificates of completion are also available.

Bean Counting 101 (not associated with my site)
Free, online video series that covers the basics of accounting provided by a-systems.net and Arnold S. Grundvig, Jr. Easy to understand explantions and examples. Note: Uses plus sign (+) to denote debits and minus sign (-) to denote credits.

Entrepreneur Network
A series of articles by Ed Zimmer, The Entrepreneur Network, Ann Arbor. Good summary of bookkeeping and accounting topics.

Basic Bookkeeping
Part of Commerce Clearing House's Business Owner's Toolkit. Covers the importance of good records, bookkeeping basics, recording transactions, closing the books, and preparing financial statements.

More good accounting and bookkeeping informaion provided by CCH.
The Accounting System-Overview
Before you can set up your accounting records, dive into your day-to-day transactions, and get your books ready for end-of-month or end-of-year reporting, you must gain an understanding of basic accounting concepts. Accounting is the method in which financial information is gathered, processed, and summarized into financial statements and reports. For a more in-depth explanation of the accounting system, take a look at the following:

Accounting Basics
Definitions of Accounting Terms
Cash vs. Accrual Accounting
Who Can Use The Cash Method?
Single- or Double-Entry Accounting

Their Business Guides also provide some useful small business information.
CCH Small Business Guides

Bookkeeping & Accounting Systems - PDF
Guidebook #28 of the Entrepreneurs Guidebook Series provided by Smallbusinesstown.
Good introductory bookkeeping and accounting e-book course.

For addional ebook business courses check out their main site.
Smallbusinesstown
Smallbusinesstown.com features 91 FREE online guidebooks from The Entrepreneur's Guidebook Series available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. These electronic books are inspired by the growing need to simplify business planning and at the same time provide comprehensive guidance.

Intro to Accounting
presented by simplestudies.com
Intro to Accounting - Simple - a complete online accounting course for beginners with sample problems and their solutions.

Basic Bookkeeping
presented by nrbarton.co.uk
This tutorial is aimed at people keeping the books for a small business. Although this is a UK site and the amounts are stated in pounds instead of dollars, the basic concepts presented are useful for us Yanks as well.

Acounting Advice
presented by lemoineandjames.com
This site's purpose is to provide practical how-to explanations and comments about accounting and bookkeeping.

How to Read an Annual Report
presented by MoneyChimp
Their guide explains the three important financial statements using the annual report of a fictitious company. An interactive diagram also helps to illustrate what an annual report is and what it should attempt to convey.

Introduction To Financial Statements
presented by bizzer.com
Introduction to financial statements and financial statement concepts. Some of the concepts covered are the accounting equation, double entry accounting, and debits and credits. Also, the two basic financial statements the balance sheet and the income statement are introduced.

Finance Tutorials
presented by exinfm.com
Site provides some excellent free finance and business tutorials.

How Accounting Works
presented by howstuffworks.com
Good overview of what accounting and bookkeeping is and how it applies to businesses.

MyOwnBusiness
Too often people fail in business because they make avoidable mistakes! This free online business course provides the basic do's and don'ts for entrepreneurs. This course is intended for both start-up and already operating businesses.

Principles Of Accounting
A complimentary online accounting textbook written by Dr. Larry Walther, CPA, CMA. Excellent aid for reviewing accounting principles.

Small Business Bookkeeping & Accounting
Bookkeeping & Accounting Tutorial
You cannot ignore an integral part of your business and have it stay healthy indefinitely. As in any other area of your life, knowledge is power. So why not spend a bit of time learning just how bookkeeping is done, what it can tell you, and how to get it done well. Then when you understand the process, you will be in a position to pick which parts you want to do yourself and which you want to contract out. Even if you contract it all out, at least you'll know how to judge if it's being done well.

Beginning Bookkeeping Tutorial
Designed as an aid to learning the basics of bookkeeping and accounting.
Developed by:
Paul D. Melton , MS, MBA, CPA
Associate Professor of Accounting
West Virginia University Institute of Technology

Live Spider Free Accounting Textbook
Accounting Alive is used in over 200 New Zealand secondary schools. Thanks to our New Zealand buddies for providing Accounting Alive as a free download.

Budgeting, Cash Forecasts, & Business Plans
All you need to know and were afraid to ask about Budgeting, Cash Forecasts, and Business Plans. Excellent links to articles, tutorials, and tools to aid your company in budgeting, cash flow management, and business plans.

Free Accounting Textbook
provided by:Freeload Press

Publications from Freeload Press are designed for use in college courses and professional reference. Thanks to commercial sponsorship, these titles are available as free e-book downloads. You do need to register (free) in order download these books.

Basic Bookkeeping
The journey into the world of finance can be interesting and exciting with the right knowledge and experience. Whether you are a new business setting up your records and bank accounts or an established business preparing a loan request or financing plan, this short course is for you.

College-Cram
An excellent free site for reviewing accounting and bookkeeping topics such as adjusting entries, the accounting cycle, depreciation, chart of accounts, debits and credits, financial statements, and more. Learn from "brief tutorials" that cover a single topic called Cramlets™. Practice using their Bottomless Worksheets and Flash Cards. Review and test your accounting and bookkeeping knowledge by working with their quizzes and Smartacus Study Sheets™. Does require a quick free registration in order to access the materials.

AccountingInfo
Site provides study guides for beginning, intermediate, and advanced accounting courses. A guide is also provided for anyone interested in understanding financial reports. Good examples of key accounting and bookkeeping concepts.
TeachMeFinance
Simple examples teach basic finance concepts such as present and future values.
Accounting Principles
These free tutorials were prepared by an instructor at Columbia College as an additional learning tool for students enrolled in his Accounting Principles classes. He has made them available to anyone wanting to learn about bookkeeping and accounting.
ManagementHelp
Over 72 topics, including Accounting & Bookkeeping, providing valuable how to do information for small businesses.
Conweb
Want to know the true value of your business ? Learn how to properly value your business. Free valuation tutorial, but does require user to sign up.
Bean Counter's Break-Even Analysis
Business owners and managers need to be familiar with tools and techniques that aid them in making decisions. Find out how break even analysis can benefit your business.
ICMBA-Main Page
The Internet Center for Management and Business Administration (ICMBA's) site (netmba.com) providese quality business knowledge tutorials and resources.
    Accounting     Finance

Understanding Accounts
Ideally these resources are best experienced with a browser that supports both frames and javascript.

This is a self paced course covering Understanding Accounts and Double Entry Bookkeeping presented by Cybertrain and Mike Capstick. The course assumes no prior knowledge and is ideal for a small business operator trying to get to grips with how Accounting actually works.

Accounting Coach
AccountingCoach.com provides:
  • Over 200 pages of crystal-clear accounting explanations and practical examples.
  • More than 300 short questions/drills with click-and-read solutions to provide further guidance.
  • Highlighted terms and account titles linked to a glossary of over 500 terms with easy to read and understand definitions.
  • 100 exam questions and answers similar to those written by the author for his own accounting students.
  • Accounting Principles
    Accounting Principles II
    Cliff Notes provides quick help on various accounting and bookkeeping topics.

    Business Management Program
    Self-study management program online designed specifically for existing and future small business owners, CPAs, consultants, professional managers, and students. Their site provides inexpensive pay for business tutorials; however, they allow you to access and use some of their information for free. Some excellent information can be accessed and learned just from their free lessons.
    StudyFinance-Main Menu
    Although StudyFinance.com is the web site for students of introductory finance at the University of Arizona, this site has some excellent accounting and financial information. Check out their Overviews and Lectures.
    Basic Financial Statements
    Types Of Business Organizations
    Ratio Analysis
    Capital Budgeting
    Time Value Of Money
    Other Financial Topics
    Bookkeeping and Record Keeping Basics
    Presented by American Express
    Proper bookkeeping is important to sustaining and expanding a business. Without it, you run the risk of hitting cash flow crunches, wasting money, and missing out on opportunities to expand. When you are devising or revising your bookkeeping routine, remember that the purpose of bookkeeping is to help you manage your business and to enable the IRS to evaluate your business activity. As long as your bookkeeping achieves both of these objectives, it can - and should - be as simple as possible.

    Finance Essentials Tutorial
    Presented by the University Of Scranton
    Site designed for finance students but has some excellent information about both finance and accounting.

    QuickMBA
    Provides a good quick overview of major accounting and bookkeeping concepts.
    Financial Accounting
    Underlying Assumptions and Principles
    Single Entry Bookkeeping
    Double Entry Bookkeeping
    The Accounting Equation
    The Accounting Cycle
    The Source Document
    Journal Entries
    The General Ledger
    Debits and Credits
    The Trial Balance
    Adjusting Entries
    Closing Entries
    The Financial Statements
    Accounting Standards
    The Balanced Scorecard
    Accounting 101
    Tutorial by MYOB provides a good overview of the basic concepts and principles of bookkeeping.
    Reading Financial Statements
    IBM presents a very nice tutorial on how to read and understand financial statements. If you want to know what all those figures mean go here.

    Motley Fool - How to Read A Balance Sheet
    This introduction to balance sheets is presented by The Motley Fool, a company that aims to "educate, amuse, and enrich."

    Understanding Financial Statements
    Financial Statements as a Management Tool
    The Arkanasa Small Business Development Center provides some excellent information about understanding and using Financial Statements.

    Beginners' Guide to Financial Statements
    This site is part of the US Securities and Exchange Commission and provides an introduction to accounting terms and definitions of financial statements.

    Finance & Accounting Topics
    blandon.co.uk is a site for university and college students studying Business or Corporate Finance. The website covers the sort of topics that university courses in business finance usually contain.

    BizEd is a another good UK site that provides instruction, tutorials, and other aids for understanding financial and accounting topics. Worth a visit.
    Financial Accounting
    Management Accounting

    Management Accounting presented by Professional Education Organization International

    This course is a review of concepts of how accounting is designed to help management make its most important financial decisions.

    Capital Budgeting
    Prentice Hall has provided an excellent Capital Budgeting site called Corporate Finance Live. This web site makes use of new internet technologies to present an interactive learning tool for those wanting to learn about Capital Budgeting and the Time Value of Money. The emphasis of this site is on the quantitative areas of Corporate Finance. Several applications and tools have been developed to help individuals obtain an understanding of these concepts. The site also serves as a universal and quick financial reference.

    Wach World
    John Wachowicz , Professor of Finance at the University Of Tennessee, provides you with a web site that contains all sorts of finance, accounting, and management information.

    Basic Accounting Tutorial
    By Michael Worthington provides excellent slide presentations explaining key accounting concepts.
    Walter R. Davis School of Business and Economics
    Elizabeth City State University
    Constituent Institution of the University of North Carolina System

    Matt H. Evans CPA
    Good free business training courses ! Be sure to read the help file in order to properly use the courses on your computer.

    Venture Line
    New York State Society of CPAs
    Small Business Dictionary
    Don't understand what an accounting term means ? Look it up.

    Financial Accounting presented by Professional Education Organization International

    This course is a review of the fundamental concepts of accounting.
    After completing this review course the student should have an adquate understanding of

  • how the financial position of a firm is represented in its financial statement
  • how most common transactions are handled
  • why the accrual method of accounting is useful to reflect the financial position of the firm
  • the importance of organizing an accounting system that meets the needs of the firm
  • what the income statement and balance sheet represent

    Fundamental Analysis of Financial Statements
    Tutorial on Fundamental Analysis and Valuing a Company plus detailed explanations of key accounting terms.

    Additional Tutorials compliments of Investopedia ......
    Another tutorial on Analyzing Financial Statements.
    Advanced Analysis of Financial Statements

    Tutorial on ratio analysis plus detailed descriptions of key ratios.
    Ratio Analysis

     
     
    Guide to Financial Statements
    This is an excellent 45 minute online tutorial on financial statements developed by Baruch's Computing and Technology Center (BCTC) and Kognito Solutions LLC with the cooperation of Baruch's Stan Ross Department of Accountancy.
    Requires Free Flash Player

    Fundamentals Of Accounting
    Study guide based upon resources provided free to the public by McGraw-Hill Higher Education. The book is Marshal, McManus, and Viele, Accounting: What the Numbers Mean, 6/e.

  • Great accounting and bookkeeping multimedia courses presented by CIT Small Business Lending.

    Note: These courses require Macromedia's Free Flash Player. If you don't have it already installed on your computer, get your Free Macromedia Flash Player

    Preparing a Balance Sheet
    With a properly prepared balance sheet, you can look at a balance sheet at the end of each accounting period and know if your business has more or less value, if your debts are higher or lower, and if your working capital is higher or lower. This course shows you to prepare a balance sheet.

    Creating a Profit and Loss Statement
    Ask yourself: Exactly how are my products and services affecting my business? How much money am I actually making because of those products and services? An income statement answers these and other financial questions. An income statement tells you and any stockholders how your net assets have increased or decreased. This course shows you to prepare an income statement.

    Managing Your Cash Flow
    This course provides a detailed look into the various sections of a cash flow statement. It also describes two methods used to calculate cash flow from operating activities, indirect and direct with examples that will give you an edge when it comes time to prepare a cash flow statement of your own.

    Running a Profitable Company
    This course provides some simple profitability ratios and analytical procedures that can help determine your company's present and future financial standing. With your findings, you can identify company trends and compare current figures to your business's historical performance. Once this essential data is in hand, you will be able to evaluate your business in relation to your competition and industry norms.

    Preparing a Cash Budget
    Just as you would not purchase new furniture for your home without enough cash, or at least a solid plan to cover a personal loan from your bank, your business needs the same careful handling of its expenditures. All businesses, no matter what type or size, need to properly develop a plan for their expected cash intake and spending. This plan is commonly known as a cash budget, and will provide you with a blue print of how the business will operate financially.

    Other sites providing the same courses as well as additional accounting and business tutorials are:
    Bank Of America
    Score
    Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

    Learn from over 150 valuable tools and articles in 7 categories with Virtual Advisor's Training.
    Some major topics covered are:
    Prepare A Balance Sheet
    Prepare An Income Statement
    Create A Cash Flow Statement
    Analyze Ratios
    Analyze Profitability
    Determining Your Company's Legal Structure
    Prepare a Cash Budget
    Develop A Business Plan
    Identify Your Target Market
    Conducting A Market Analysis
    Analyze Your Competition
    ZeroMillion-Financial Management
    The Financial Magement Series includes:

    1. Introduction to Financial Management
    2. The Necessity of Financial Planning
    3. Understanding Financial Statements
    4. Financial Ratio Analysis
    5. Forecasting Profits
    6. Financial Management Planning
    7. Understanding Money Sources
    8. Credit and Collection Methods
    9. Watching Your Profit
    10. How To Reduce Costs

    Other Management Series (topics) include
    Starting a Business Series
    Personnel Management Series
    Writing Your Business Plan
    Attributes of a Perfect Product
    Sales and Marketing Series
      and more.

    Walter's Accounting Library
    Walter Antoniotti editor of the site and author of the Quick Notes Series has put together a very useful site dedicated to providing all sorts of free useful business related learning materials.

    Walter's site also has additional Libraries that cover other useful business topics and subjects.

    Some good small business courses are provided by Suite101.com
    Running Your Own Small Business
    This course strips down the operation of a small business to its essentials:

    • Producing quality products and services.
    • Pricing your products and services fairly and profitably.
    • Following an operating and organizational plan to success.
    • Treating employees and subcontractors well.

    Wiseguides
    WiseGuides offers a unique service to the accounting community. FREE TAX and ACCOUNTING courses. All of their courses are FREE to use -- you only pay for CPE credit (not the course). Thus if you, or your staff, just want to study any or all of their 100 tax, accounting, and management courses be their guest for FREE.
    Note: Membership is required but is Free !
    • Signup/Registration and Login Page
      Login/Register
    • Course Listing -Excellent Tax Courses - Accounting Courses - Management Courses and ..... More !
      Course Listing

    Products For CEOs & Entrepreneurs Worth Their Weight In Gold
    The Secrets Of A Serial Entrepreneur TM Series
    The Only CEO & Entrepreneur Training Products Series
    Developed by a Serial Entrepreneur and Longtime CEO

    Systems, Tools, Ideas and Information Available Nowhere Else. All written, developed, or personally reviewed and approved by, a 15 year CEO who has launched eight startups, grown two companies to over $100 million in sales, raised over $40 million in investor financing while earning his investors over $1 billion.

    Cost Accounting Guide presented by relevant.com.
    If you are new to the world of cost accounting in a manufacturing environment or just looking for an overall refresher on the subject, this document is for you.

    Sloan School Of Management (Business School)
    Listing of All Available Course Materials by Subject
    MIT OpenCourseWare (MIT OCW) makes the course materials that are used in the teaching of almost all their undergraduate and graduate subjects available on the Web, free of charge, to any user anywhere in the world. MIT OCW is a large-scale, Web-based publication of MIT course materials.

    Quick Cost Accounting Overview provided by South-Western College
    Introduces the management accounting sub-branch of accounting. Provides background information about this branch of the accounting profession, and examples of the underlying terminology used in this area of accounting. The terms “managerial” accounting, “management accounting,” and “cost” accounting often are used interchangeably. The emphasis of “cost” accounting, however, is on the costing of products and services, one primary function of management accounting.

    Accounting and Business Video Lectures Courtesy of Indiana University - Kelly School Of Business

    Topics covered include:Accounting and Business, Types & Forms of Organizations, Double-Entry Accounting, Accrual and Cash Basis Accounting, Debits & Credits, Merchandising Accounting, Internal Control, Receivables, Inventory, Depreciation, Stocks & Bonds, Debt vs Equity, Financial Statement Analysis, Managerial Accounting, Cost Behavior and Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis, Break Even, Differential Analysis, Budgeting & Standard Cost, Decentralized Operations, Capital Investment Analysis, and more.

    Introduction to Business and Management (Course W200, Indiana University)
    Introduction to Business and Management - Broadband
    Introduction to Business and Management - Dial Up

    Foundations of Accounting (Course A200, Indiana University)
    Foundations of Accounting

    Accounting and the Business Environment (Course A186, Indiana University)
    Accounting and the Business Environment

    Free Computer Training
    Free Computer Training Courses and Computer Tutorials. Welcome to One of the Very Best Computer & IT Education and Training Gateways on the Web.

    Think You're Ready For The Big Leagues ?

    CPA Exam Review
    The computer-based Uniform CPA Examination consists of multiple-choice questions and simulations (case studies) hat test the knowledge and skills required of entry-level CPAs. To familiarize candidates with the format and functionality of the examination, a tutorial and sample tests are provided.

    The Tutorial
    The tutorial is basically a guided tour of the CPA Examination. It demonstrates what candidates should expect in terms of question types, what tools and resources they will have to work with and how to use them, and how they will be expected to navigate through the various parts of the examination.

    Because it is designed to show candidates how the examination functions, it is very important that candidates review the tutorial before they take the examination. The tutorial is NOT available at test centers. It does NOT contain actual examination content.

    The Sample Tests
    Sample tests provide candidates with a preview of the real examination experience. They give them an opportunity to become familiar with examination format and content, and also to observe examination functionality in action. (Candidates are advised to learn how the examination functions by reviewing the tutorial before they review the sample tests.)

    Sample test software allows candidates to download and answer a set of multiple-choice questions for all sections, as well as one simulation for all sections except Business

    L10 Web Stats Reporter 3.15
    LevelTen Hit Counter - Free PHP Web Analytics Script
    LevelTen dallas web development firm - website design, flash, graphics & marketing