Bookkeeping For Dummies

Lita Epstein, MBA, designs and teaches online courses in investing, finance, and taxes. She is the author of Trading For Dummies and Bookkeeping Workbook For Dummies.

• Introduction 1Part I: Basic Bookkeeping: Why You Need It 5Chapter 1: So You Want to Do the Books 7Chapter 2: Getting Down to Bookkeeping Basics 15Chapter 3: Outlining Your Financial Road Map with a Chart of Accounts 27Part II: Keeping a Paper Trail 41Chapter 4: Ledgers: A One-Stop Summary of Your Business Transactions 43Chapter 5: Keeping Journals 55Chapter 6: Computer Options for Your Bookkeeping 71Chapter 7: Controlling Your Books, Your Records, and Your Money 81Part III: Tracking Your Day-to-Day Operations with Your Books 99Chapter 8: Buying and Tracking Your Purchases 101Chapter 9: Counting Your Sales 113Chapter 10: Employee Payroll and Benefits 127Chapter 11: Employer-Paid Taxes and Government Payroll Reporting 149Part IV: Preparing the Books for Year’s (or Month’s) End 163Chapter 12: Depreciating Your Assets 165Chapter 13: Paying and Collecting Interest 175Chapter 14: Proving Out the Cash 185Chapter 15: Closing the Journals 199Chapter 16: Checking Your Accuracy — By Trial and Hopefully No Error 211Chapter 17: Adjusting the Books 221Part V: Reporting Results and Starting Over 231Chapter 18: Developing a Balance Sheet 233Chapter 19: Producing an Income Statement 245Chapter 20: Completing Year-End Payroll and Reports 259Chapter 21: Satisfying the Tax Man 271Chapter 22: Prepping the Books for a New Accounting Cycle 289Part VI: The Part of Tens 297Chapter 23: Top Ten Ways to Manage Your Business Cash with Your Books 299Chapter 24: Top Ten Most Important Accounts for Any Bookkeeper 303Appendix: Glossary 307Index 311