Australian and New Zealand Edition Bookkeeping For Dummies®
Table of Contents
Part III: Recording Day-to-Day Transactions
Part IV: Pulling It All Together
Chapter 1: Introducing the Bookkeeping Game
Understanding the Bookkeeping Life Cycle
Figuring How Often to Do the Deed
Staying on the Right Side of the Law
Convince yourself this stuff matters
Chapter 2: Creating a Framework
Putting Everything in Its Place
Building Your Profit Loss Accounts
Separating cost of sales accounts
Itemising Balance Sheet Accounts
Adding up the assets (ah, joy of joys)
Listing liabilities (oh, woe is me)
Building a Final Chart of Accounts
Chapter 3: Going for the Big Equation
Matchmaking with Debits and Credits
Studying a little give and take
Playing the Double-Entry Game with Accounting Software
Stealing a look behind the scenes
Drilling down to the debits and credits
Choosing between Cash and Accrual
Keeping things simple with cash
Getting more info with accrual
Using one method for your books, and another for income tax
Chapter 4: Playing a Bookkeeper’s Rhythm
Muddling through in Middle Earth
Managing cashflow, wherever you are
Meeting payroll deadlines (Australia)
Meeting payroll deadlines (New Zealand)
Devising a Record-keeping System
Filing that needle in the haystack
Deciding what to keep and how long for
Developing a Bookkeeping Calendar
With golden soil and wealth for toil
Peace, not war, shall be our boast
Chapter 5: Doing Business with Accounting Software
What’s so Great about Accounting Software Anyway?
Doing books by hand — is it worth it?
Choosing the One that’s Right for You
Setting Up Accounting Software
Mopping up when the dust has settled
Protecting Your Accounting Data
Keeping private stuff under wraps
Chapter 6: Safeguarding Against Fraud
Pulling the wool off your own eyes
Figuring out how the deed is done
Controlling Money In, Money Out
Choosing signatories for bank accounts
Managing cash in a retail setting
Separating powers between bookkeepers and the cash
Setting ground rules in the workplace
Protecting Against Online Fraud
Safeguarding from the inside out
Monitoring margins with a beady eye
Staying alert to suspicious behaviour
Signing Up (Is There a Choice?)
Picking a reporting method to suit
Keeping quirky east of the Tasman
Figuring What’s Taxed and What’s Not
Transactions with no GST (NZ only)
Setting Up Tax Codes in Accounting Software
Creating a list of tax codes (Australia)
Creating a list of tax codes (NZ)
Part III: Recording Day-to-Day Transactions
Chapter 8: Recording Expenses and Payments
Recording Payments — Three Methods
Getting smart with a spreadsheet
Staying sweet with accounting software
Storing cash under lock and key
Recording Purchases, Not Just Payments
Deciding whether to use accrual accounting
Laying down the deal in plain English
Laying down the deal in debits and credits
Chapter 9: Recording Receipts and Sales
Working up a sweat with spreadsheets
Recording sales using accounting software
Recording customer payments using accounting software
Bookkeeping for Other Kinds of Income
Recording miscellaneous receipts
Dazzling everyone with your brilliance
Keeping Track of Who Owes You What
Dealing with Tricky Situations
Getting the paperwork in order
Subscribing to super (Australia only)
Submitting to KiwiSaver (New Zealand only)
Doling Out the Cash on Pay Day
Calculating superannuation (Australia only)
Taking Leave in the Land of Oz
Calculating leave on a percentage basis
Calculating hours per pay period
Calculating annual leave for full-timers and part-timers
Calculating other kinds of leave
Keeping tabs on employee details
Chapter 11: Reconciling Accounts
Deciding what bank accounts to reconcile
Calculating your true bank balance
Recording your opening bank balance using accounting software
Doing Your First Reconciliation
Reconciling accounts with spreadsheets
Reconciling accounts using software
Keeping Proof that You’ve Done the Deed
Balancing Other Kinds of Accounts
Part IV: Pulling It All Together
Chapter 12: Reporting for Payroll
Accounting for Payroll Liabilities
Checking payroll liability reports
Troubleshooting payroll liabilities
Calculating Other Payroll Expenses
Splitting hairs with fringe benefits
Hitting the payroll tax threshold
Reporting for workers comp (Australia)
Covering for accidents (New Zealand)
Getting Pedantic at Year’s End
Printing Payment Summaries (Oz Only)
Meeting Minimum Pay and Conditions
Applying the law (New Zealand)
Chapter 13: Managing Inventory and Other Assets
Buying In, Stocking Up and Selling Out
Buying inventory to fill the shelves
Selling inventory to make a buck
Calculating the value of inventory
Balancing Your Inventory Account
Figuring out if something is an asset or an expense
Depreciating Assets, One by One
Chapter 14: Mastering Tricky Situations
Recording loan interest and fees
Working with Hire Purchase, Leases and Chattel Mortgages
Taking on a new hire purchase debt
Recording hire purchase payments
Living it up with a new lease of life
Signing up with a chattel mortgage
Going for gold with GST adjustments
Separating private expenses from business ones
Shifting income received in advance
Chapter 15: Checking Your Work
Starting With the Bank Accounts
Step one: Checking that everything reconciles
Step two: Hunting for stale transactions
Step three: Drilling down on dates
Step four: Getting debtors spick and span
Step five: Sweeping through the creditors
Step six: Hunting for coding mistakes
Step seven: Balancing GST liability accounts
Understanding Control Accounts
Step eight: Balancing debtors and creditors
Step nine: Giving inventory the once over
Step eleven: Scanning transaction reports
Step twelve: Analysing summary results
Chapter 16: Creating Financial Reports
Reviewing the Accounting Cycle
Putting Your Accounts on Trial
Taking debits and credits to their natural extreme
Fighting against trial and error
Finding Gold at the Rainbow’s End
Yeehaa! Creating a Profit & Loss report
Yippee! Building a Balance Sheet first time around
Building a Balance Sheet the next time
Chapter 17: Understanding Financial Reports
Telling the Story with Profit & Loss
Putting income under the microscope
Watching expenses, dollar for dollar
Painting a Picture with the Balance Sheet
Sketching assets, black as ink
Drawing liabilities, red as blood
Sculpting equity, cast in gold
Understanding the Relationship between Profit and Cash
Why there’s profit but no cash
Why there’s cash but no profit
Reporting where cash came from, and where it went
Putting Results Under the Microscope
Comparing this year against last year
Chapter 18: Starting a New Financial Year
Out with the old year . . . in with the new
Generating end-of-year reports
Sending Data to Your Accountant
Matching the Accountant’s Figures Against Your Own
Dealing with adjustments that only make things worse
Getting creative when the accountant gives you nothing
Bridging the Communication Gap
Understanding what happens when you start a new year
Archiving data — just one more time
Chapter 19: Ten Tips for Not-for-Profit Organisations
Know and Love Your Cost Centres
Make Sure You Can Survive an Audit
Track Membership Dues with Care
Know When to use Trust Accounts
Chapter 20: Ten Tricks for Collecting Money
Chapter 21: Ten Words of Advice for Contract Bookkeepers
Figure Out Whether You Have to Register
Find Out Whether You Meet the Grade