Introduction 1
Book I: Basic Bookkeeping 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
Book II: Bookkeeping Day to Day 83
Chapter 1: Planning and Controlling Your Workload 85
Chapter 2: Counting Your Sales 99
Chapter 3: Buying and Tracking Your Purchases 125
Chapter 4: Doing Your Banking 141
Book III: Undertaking Monthly and Quarterly Tasks 155
Chapter 1: Adding the Cost of Value‐Added Tax (VAT) 157
Chapter 2: Employee Payroll and Benefits 171
Chapter 3: Adjusting Your Books 191
Book IV: Working to Prepare Financial Statements 209
Chapter 1: Producing a Profit and Loss Statement 211
Chapter 2: Developing a Balance Sheet 227
Chapter 3: Cash Flows and the Cash Flow Statement 245
Book V: Accountants: Managing the Business 269
Chapter 1: Discovering Different Business Types 271
Chapter 2: Choosing Accounting Methods 281
Chapter 3: Managing Profit Performance 307
Chapter 4: Cost Conundrums 331
Chapter 5: Business Budgeting 355
Book VI: Accountants: Working with the Outside World 379
Chapter 1: Getting a Financial Report Ready for Prime Time 381
Chapter 2: How Investors Read a Financial Report 401
Chapter 3: Professional Auditors and Advisers 431
Index 445