Bookkeeping Workbook For Dummies

Lita Epstein, who earned her MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, enjoys helping people develop good financial, investing and tax-planning skills.While getting her MBA, Lita worked as a teaching assistant for the financial accounting department and ran the accounting lab. After completing her MBA, she managed finances for a small nonprofit organization and for the facilities management section of a large medical clinic.She designs and teaches online courses on topics such as investing for retirement, getting ready for tax time and finance and investing for women. She’s written over 20 books including Reading Financial Reports For Dummies and Trading For Dummies.Lita was the content director for a financial services Web site, MostChoice.com, and managed the Web site, Investing for Women. As a Congressional press secretary, Lita gained firsthand knowledge about how to work within and around the Federal bureaucracy, which gives her great insight into how government programs work. In the past, Lita has been a daily newspaper reporter, magazine editor, and fundraiser for the international activities of former President Jimmy Carter through The Carter Center.

• Introduction 1Part I: Exploring Bookkeeping Basics 5Chapter 1: Deciphering the Basics 7Chapter 2: Designing Your Bookkeeping System 19Chapter 3: Sorting Out Your Business Road Map 33Part II: Putting it All on Paper 47Chapter 4: Looking at the Big Picture 49Chapter 5: Journaling — The Devil’s in the Details 63Chapter 6: Designing Controls for Your Books, Your Records, and Your Money 79Part III: Tracking Day-to-Day Business Operations with Your Books 91Chapter 7: Purchasing Goods and Tracking Your Purchases 93Chapter 8: Calculating and Monitoring Sales 103Chapter 9: Paying Your Employees 127Chapter 10: Paying Employer Taxes and Completing Related Government Reports 141Part IV: Getting Ready for Year’s (Or Month’s) End 149Chapter 11: Depreciating Your Assets 151Chapter 12: Paying and Collecting Interest 161Chapter 13: Proving Out Your Books 173Chapter 14: Checking and Correcting Your Books 185Part V: Putting on Your Best Financial Face 201Chapter 15: Showing Everything’s in Balance 203Chapter 16: Proving Your Profits 221Chapter 17: Doing Your Business Taxes 233Chapter 18: Getting Ready for a New Bookkeeping Year 241Part VI: The Part of Tens 249Chapter 19: Top Ten Checklist for Managing Your Cash 251Chapter 20: Top Ten Accounts You Should Monitor 255Chapter 21: Top Ten Problems You Should Practice 259Index 261