Small-business bookkeeping 101

If you are an Enrolled Agent (EA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), or aspiring bookkeeper or accountant, the concepts that we cover in this section will be familiar to you. However, if you are brand new to bookkeeping, make sure you grab a notepad to take notes, and a cup of coffee to stay alert.One of the benefits of using QuickBooks to manage your books is that you don’t need an accounting degree to learn how to use the software. However, you should have a basic understanding of how bookkeeping works and what’s happening behind the scenes in QuickBooks when you record transactions.The key aspects of small-business bookkeeping are the following:

• Money coming in to your business (sales)
• Money going out of your business (expenses)
• Inventory and fixed asset purchases
• Tracking the money you owe (liabilities)
• Using the chart of accounts to properly track everything
• Accounting methods – cash versus accrual
• Double-entry bookkeeping

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