Five Free Bookkeeping Courses to Understand Business Accounts

Bookkeeping is a chore, we get it. There is nothing drier than coming home from a day of crushing business goals and spending an hour or two making sure your paperwork is in order. Of course, it is an essential part of owning a business, there is no argument on that one, but that doesn’t make it any more fun. 

The only thing that can make it less fun is if you don’t have a good understanding of how to bookkeep. It sounds easy enough on paper, right? For some business owners, yes, bookkeeping is a breeze. However, some business owners find it one of the most painful aspects of business ownership. Thankfully there is hope and you’ll be pleased to know it comes packaged and free.

These 5 bookkeeping courses are 100% free and easy to digest. Hopefully, after completing one of these courses you will be able to make light work of your paperwork and have more time to enjoy yourself without thinking about work and crunching numbers. 

Free Bookkeeping Courses

1. Accounting Coach

The Accounting Coach is one of the best free bookkeeping courses found online. Why? Because it is easy to digest. Every section is made simple so that people without any previous bookkeeping experience can make sense of it. From accounting basics, chart of accounts, debits and credits, and equations, even the least savvy bookkeepers will find comfort in this course. 

Each of the course sections has been split into sub-sections. This is particularly useful for people who can only allocate 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there. Completing a single sub-section is perfect for this. Once you work your way through a complete section you will be presented with a bunch of practice quizzes and test questions. 

Another massive plus side to Accounting Coach is how nice their website is laid out. It’s super easy to follow and a pleasure to use. Of course, like all these types of courses, you have the choice to upgrade and receive extra videos, tests, flashcards, cheat sheets, PDFs, and certificates. Accounting Coach will charge you $49 for the privilege. All things considered, this one-off fee is more than reasonable and will certainly enhance your bookkeeping prowess.

2. Free Bookkeeping Accounting

Sam Morton is an accounting expert and off the back of his years of experience is has crafted a very impressive bookkeeping program. Free Bookkeeping Accounting is a well of accounting knowledge, and do you want to know the best part about it? Most of it is free! Upon visiting the site you will be presented with a stack of free training courses to choose from. Some are written and some are video, and all have been tirelessly designed by Sam Morton himself. 

The bookkeeping course is essentially an amalgamation of videos over on Sam’s “The Bookkeeping Master” Youtube channel. You have access to literally hundreds of training videos on this channel. Everything from bank reconciliations, excel basics, profitability, payroll basics, management accounts, and credit control can all be accessed on Sam’s channel. 

If you enjoy his videos and would like to carry on working with Sam, he also provides an in-depth training and support service. However, this is a paying service, whereas the bookkeeping course videos are 100% free. 

Also read: How to Do Bookkeeping 

3. Bean Counter

Bean Counter is an interactive website that uses cartoons to make learning about bookkeeping fun and engaging. Their free online bookkeeping course features information, quizzes, and videos that each do their part to offer people a well-rounded view of business bookkeeping. 

The course skills tests are personal evaluations only. This means that no certificate will be offered after completing the course. If you do require such a certificate, the owner of the site “Dave” has presented a list of sites that can offer you this, he’s good like that. On top of that, Bean Counter also features a tailored bookkeeping job search guide so that you can get an idea for the industry. 

As well as Bean Counter’s written bookkeeping course and subsequent skills tests, they also offer plenty of relatable videos. Videos on bookkeeping, Bookkeeping language, accounting equation, debits and credits, general ledger journals, and financial statements can all be accessed via the Bean Counter website. With hands-on experience in the industry, who better to relieve you of your bookkeeping woes than Dave.

Also read: How to Pay Employees of Small Businesses 

4. OpenLearn University

A university that offers free online bookkeeping courses? No this isn’t a hoax, this is real, and you can thank OpenLearn University for your newly-learned bookkeeping skills. Their free bookkeeping course “Introduction to Bookkeeping and Accounting” involves eight hours of introductory-level study. 

The entire course is in written format so if you are a visual learner this course may not be for you. Thankfully, the course is downloadable so at least you can dive into it in your own home and at your own pace. Unlike most free online courses that don’t offer participants a certificate upon completion, OpenLearn is ready and willing to make it official. You will receive a statement of participation for no cost once you 100% complete this course. 

The course modules include essential numerical skills, double-entry and balance sheets, and profit and loss accounts. OpenLearn treats this course as a gateway for students to take up further learning within their online university, which, unsurprisingly, is not free. 

Also read: Open a Business Bank Account

5. edX.org

edX is a popular online gateway for learning. Whether you want to sign up for a free online course or take on a Master’s degree via a university, edX can connect the dots. It is little surprise that they offer two free ACCA bookkeeping courses. These courses are available for anyone and everyone who is eager to learn bookkeeping. All you have to do to undertake one of their courses is register your name and email and you’ll be sent the course work. 

The first course they offer is called “Introduction to Bookkeeping”, and as you may have guessed, this is the least involved option of the two. Introduction to Bookkeeping provides students with a basic accounting knowledge that covers business transactions, banking, and double-entry bookkeeping. On top of these pillars of bookkeeping, this course will guide you through payroll and ledger accounts, as well as reconciliation and the preparation of a trial balance. 

The second bookkeeping course that edX offers is “Intermediate Bookkeeping”. This course is designed to prepare students for an entry-level accounting admin or bookkeeping role. The course content includes but is not limited to accounting principles, accounting concepts, business transactions, financial statements, cashbooks, reconciling control accounts, and business events. Although this course could be considered excessive for a small business owner, knowing too much about the paperwork side of your business is never a bad thing.

Also read: Marketing in Business 

Conclusion

So there you have it. The five best bookkeeping courses found online that are purposed with helping people to understand the ins, outs, and arounds of business accounts. We hope you were able to find a course within these five that you connected. A course that will be a stepping stone into the world of bookkeeping so that you can understand it as an essential part of running a successful business. 

If you haven't got the most efficient way to produce pay stubs for your employees, check out the pay stub maker today. It is so easy and convenient!

Also read: How To Make Business Cards