Earn · Online small business basics
Bookkeeping course for small business and the self-employed
Six lessons: records that work, categories and software (Xero, QuickBooks and others), invoices and invoice scams, Australian GST and BAS, UK VAT and Making Tax Digital, US sales tax and estimated tax, and a month-end routine. General education, not tax advice. Self-paced, not an accredited qualification.
About this course
bookkeeping and accounting basics for small business.
Starter · About 1 hour of learning · 6 lessons · 12 quick checks · 1 download
Who it's for
Sole traders, side-hustlers and small business owners in Australia, the UK, the US and elsewhere.
How it works
6 guided lessons in your browser, with worked examples, exercises and a quick check after each lesson. Progress is saved in this browser only, and you can restart at any time. You start with just your first name and email, and you can take one whole course that way. After that, a free account lets you continue past lesson 1.
Sources we rely on
19 published sources, mostly regulators and official bodies, listed below so you can check the original guidance yourself.
By the end you can
- Explain bookkeeping versus accounting and set up clean records
- Set up categories and meet AU, UK or US record-keeping rules
- Issue invoices that meet the basic rules and stop invoice fraud
- Describe GST, VAT and US sales tax registration in general terms
- Run a month-end routine and know the rules before keeping books for others
Downloads
- Small business bookkeeping workbook .xlsxRecords health check, chart of accounts, transactions, invoice log, GST/VAT/sales tax tracker, tax calendar, month-end checklist and 30-day plan, with Jess’s example.
Rules by country
Learning time
About 1 hour of learning. May count towards your CPD or professional development; check your professional body's rules. Estimated from reading time, exercises, quick checks and downloads.
Sources
Check the originals.
How these courses are made. Spotted an error or out-of-date rule? Send a correction.
Education only. We make no earnings or income claims: results depend on your skills, effort, market and many other factors, and most new ventures earn little at first. We don't teach investing, crypto trading, network marketing or dropshipping schemes, and we don't use affiliate links.
- Recordkeeping · Internal Revenue Service
- Cash basis · GOV.UK
- Overview of record-keeping rules for business · Australian Taxation Office
- Business records if you’re self-employed: how long to keep your records · GOV.UK
- How long should I keep records? · Internal Revenue Service
- Invoicing and taking payment from customers · GOV.UK
- Tax invoices · Australian Taxation Office
- Business email compromise · FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
- Report Fraud: the place to report, prevent and learn about cyber crime and fraud · Report Fraud, City of London Police (UK)
- Registering for GST · Australian Taxation Office
- BAS agent registration · Tax Practitioners Board (Australia)
- Register for VAT · HM Revenue & Customs, GOV.UK
- Check if you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax · HM Revenue & Customs (GOV.UK)
- Business records if you’re self-employed · GOV.UK
- Choose a business structure · U.S. Small Business Administration
- Sales and use tax · Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
- Estimated taxes · Internal Revenue Service
- Check if you need to register for money laundering supervision if you’re an accountancy service provider · HM Revenue & Customs (GOV.UK)
- PTIN requirements for tax return preparers · Internal Revenue Service
Publisher
Who publishes this course.
Published by trainyourself.org, a trading name of Combine TRS Pty Ltd (ABN 42 112 983 678), Brisbane, Australia.
How it's made: researched from published official, regulator and platform guidance, then run through automated quality checks against our course depth standard and automated source checks that match each rule to its official source, listed above. Read how these courses are made.
Last updated:
General education only, not tax, accounting, legal or financial advice. Spotted an error or an out-of-date rule? Send us a correction.
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