Bookkeeping For Canadians For Dummies

Bookkeeping made easy

Bookkeeping is an essential skill required in every industry, with a certain concentration in wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, payroll services, accounting and tax preparation. If you’re a small business owner looking for clear and concise instructions on keeping the books, tracking transactions, recognizing assets and liabilities and keeping ledgers and journals, this book is your one-stop guide to making it easier!

Bookkeeping For Canadians For Dummies covers how to create financial statements and also shows how to operate accounts for businesses. In addition, it teaches you how to recognize the assets and liabilities to the business.

• Keep the books
• Track transactions
• Compete against larger competitors
• Stay on top of journals

Small business owners keeping their own books will rejoice to have this handy guide by their side!

Introduction 1

Part 1: Basic Bookkeeping: Why You Need It 5

Chapter 1: So You Want to Do the Books 7

Chapter 2: Getting Down to Bookkeeping Basics 25

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

Part 2: Keeping a Paper or an Electronic Trail 57

Chapter 4: Ledgers: A One-Stop Summary of Your Business Transactions 59

Chapter 5: Keeping Journals 73

Chapter 6: Computer Options for Your Bookkeeping 95

Chapter 7: Controlling Your Books, Your Records, and Your Money 105

Part 3: Tracking Day-to-Day Business Operations 123

Chapter 8: Buying and Tracking Your Purchases 125

Chapter 9: Counting Your Sales 139

Chapter 10: Employee Payroll and Benefits 161

Chapter 11: Employer-Paid Benefits and Government Payroll Reporting 181

Part 4: Preparing the Books for Year’s (or Month’s) End 189

Chapter 12: Depreciating Your Assets 191

Chapter 13: Paying and Collecting Interest 203

Chapter 14: Proving Out the Cash 215

Chapter 15: Finalizing the Journals 229

Chapter 16: Checking Your Accuracy by Trial and — We Hope — No Error 241

Chapter 17: Adjusting the Books 253

Part 5: Reporting Results and Starting Over 269

Chapter 18: Developing a Balance Sheet 271

Chapter 19: Producing an Income Statement 285

Chapter 20: Completing Year-End Payroll and Reports 301

Chapter 21: Satisfying the Taxman 309

Chapter 22: Prepping the Books for a New Accounting Cycle 319

Part 6: The Part of Tens 325

Chapter 23: Top Ten Ways to Manage Your Business Cash with Your Books 327

Chapter 24: Top Ten Most Important Accounts for Any Bookkeeper 331

Appendix: Glossary 335

Index 343

Lita Epstein, MBA designs and teaches online courses on investing for retirement, getting ready for tax time, and finance and investing for women.

Cécile Laurin, CPA, CA is a Chartered Professional Accountant and teacher based in Ottawa.

• Create and maintain balance sheets
• Organize ledgers and journals
• Prepare and use financial statements

Bookkeeping made easy

Are you a business owner keeping the books yourself or an employee keeping the books for a small-business owner? The smooth financial operation of that business depends on your job as bookkeeper. If you're looking for clear and concise instructions on keeping the books with confidence, look no further. Here, you'll find everything you need to develop your Chart of Accounts, General Ledger, and journals.

Inside...

• Understand the key aspects of bookkeeping
• Set up your business's books
• Record transactions: sales, purchases, and more
• Post transactions to the General Ledger
• Prepare financial statements and reports
• Manage payroll
• Report and pay taxes