Bookkeeping For Dummies

Lita Epstein, MBA, is a financial writer who focuses on career growth and business topics. She earned her MBA from Emory University and her BA from Rutgers University. Lita has written more than 50 books, including Reading Financial Reports For Dummies.

• Introduction 1Part 1: Basic Bookkeeping: Why You Need It 5Chapter 1: So, You Want to Do the Books 7Chapter 2: Getting Down to Bookkeeping Basics 17Chapter 3: Outlining Your Financial Road Map with a Chart of Accounts. 29Part 2: Keeping a Paper Trail 45Chapter 4: Ledgers: A One-Stop Summary of Your Business Transactions 47Chapter 5: Keeping Journals 59Chapter 6: Computer Options for Your Bookkeeping 77Chapter 7: Controlling Your Books, Your Records, and Your Money 87Chapter 8: Securing Your Online Bookkeeping 105Part 3: Tracking Your Day-to-Day Operations with Your Books 111Chapter 9: Buying and Tracking Your Purchases 113Chapter 10: Counting Your Sales 125Chapter 11: Employee Payroll and Benefits 143Chapter 12: Employer-Paid Taxes and Government Payroll Reporting 165Part 4: Preparing the Books for Year’s (or Month’s) End 177Chapter 13: Depreciating Your Assets 179Chapter 14: Paying and Collecting Interest 189Chapter 15: Proving Out the Cash 199Chapter 16: Closing the Journals 213Chapter 17: Checking Your Accuracy — By Trial and (Hopefully) No Error. 225Chapter 18: Adjusting the Books 237Part 5: Reporting Results and Starting Over 247Chapter 19: Developing a Balance Sheet 249Chapter 20: Producing an Income Statement 263Chapter 21: Completing Year-End Payroll and Reports 277Chapter 22: Satisfying the Tax Man 289Chapter 23: Prepping the Books for a New Accounting Cycle 305Part 6: The Part of Tens 311Chapter 24: Top Ten Ways to Manage Your Business Cash with Your Books 313Chapter 25: Top Ten (Okay, Eleven) Most Important Accounts for Any Bookkeeper 317Glossary 321Index 325