Course Offerings

Individuals with functional bookkeeping skills or those who have finished a basic accounting or bookkeeping course will be prepared to become nationally Certified Bookkeepers, as recognized by the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (AIPB). Participants will apply a hands-on approach using the Intuit QuickBooks Online accounting application to evidence understanding. Course instruction will focus on preparing learners to master adjusting entries, accounting errors, payroll, depreciation, inventory, internal controls, and fraud prevention. Students who complete this course should be able to demonstrate bookkeeping expertise and be prepared to pass the AIPB Certified Bookkeepers certification exam.

Course Objectives

Introduction:
• Discuss how to become a Certified Bookkeeper
• Identify bookkeeping employment opportunities
• Practice using Intuit QuickBooks Online

Mastering Adjusting Entries:
• Define accruals and deferrals
• Calculate and record adjusting entries for accrued revenue and expenses
• Calculate and record adjusting entries for deferred revenue and expenses
• Construct an adjusted trial balance, add the adjustments and complete the adjusted trial balance

Mastering Correction of Accounting Errors:
• Perform the monthly bank reconciliation and find and correct errors revealed by it
• Find and correct errors in the trial balance
• Find and correct accrual errors discovered before the books are closed
• Find incorrect deferral errors discovered before the books are closed

Mastering Payroll:
• Carry out the basic payroll function, including paying wages, withholding, depositing and reporting taxes, and preparing federal forms
• Explain basic reporting of wages and taxes for Forms 940, 941, 944, 945, W-2, W-3, and 1099
• Make journal entries for the payroll distribution, payroll-related expenses, payroll liabilities, and remittance of employer taxes

Mastering Inventory:
• Record inventory purchases and sales and determine the cost of goods sold and end inventory under the perpetual method
• Record inventory purchases and sales and determine the cost of goods sold and ending inventory under the periodic method
• Compute and record cost of goods sold and ending inventory using weighted-average and moving-average costing
• Compute and record cost of goods sold and ending inventory using first-in, first-out (FIFO) costing
• Compute and record cost of goods sold and ending inventory using last-in, first-out (LIFO) costing
• Compute and record changes in inventory under the lower of cost or net realization value (LCNRV) rule

Mastering Depreciation:
• Describe how qualifying assets are depreciated on the financial statements and tax return
• Depreciate for book purposes assets purchased at any time during the year under the straight-line, units of production, declining balance, and the sum of the years' digits methods
• Depreciate both listed assets and real estate for tax purposes
• Depreciate vehicles, including passenger automobiles, for tax purposes

Mastering Internal Controls and Fraud Prevention:
• Install basic internal controls, including segregation of duties, for preventing employee theft of inventory and other non-cash assets, signs of such theft, and the schemes that are used to steal
• Understand the basics of background checks on applicants to reduce the likelihood of hiring employees who still, how to ensure or bond employees who have access to company cash, and how to segregate duties to minimize the chance of employee fraud or theft of cash
• Install internal controls that prevent check fraud by employees or customers, how to spot counterfeit or altered checks, and the basics of check-fraud schemes
• Implement internal controls that prevent credit card fraud by customers and know how to spot counterfeit credit cards
• Establish controls that prevent vendors from cheating you

Outline of Instruction

Introduction:
1. Becoming a Certified Bookkeeper by AIPB
2. Bookkeeping employment opportunities
3. Getting started using Intuit QuickBooks Online

Mastering Adjusting Entries:
1. Introduction
2. Why we use accruals, deferrals and other adjustments
3. Accrued revenue
4. Accrued expenses (accrued liabilities)
5. Revenue collected in advance (unearned revenue)
6. Prepaid (deferred) expenses
7. Other end-of-period entries
8. From unadjusted trial balance to financial statements
9. Applying your knowledge to the trial balance
10. Exam preparation

Mastering Correction of Accounting Errors:
1. Introduction
2. Where errors occur and how they are found
3. The bank reconciliation
4. Finding and correcting errors using the unadjusted trial balance
5. Correcting current period accrual errors
6. Correcting current period deferral errors
7. Exam preparation

Mastering Payroll:
1. Introduction
2. An important note about Covid-19 federal tax programs
3. Employees v. non-employees
4. Federal and state wage-hour law
5. Paying employees under federal law
6. Employment records and payroll recordkeeping
7. Employee data: form W-4 and state withholding allowance certificates
8. How employers withhold and deposit federal taxes
9. Federal employment reporting forms and due dates
10. When wages become taxable
11. Other reporting rules
12. Payroll entries
13. Exam preparation

Mastering Inventory:
1. Introduction
2. Introduction to accounting for inventory
3. Inventory recordkeeping using the perpetual method
4. Inventory recordkeeping using the periodic method
5. Inventory costing: The weighted-average and moving-average methods
6. Inventory costing using the FIFO method
7. Inventory costing using the LIFO method
8. Inventory costing using the lower of cost or net realizable value rule
9. Exam preparation

Mastering Depreciation:
1. Introduction
2. Depreciation on the financial statements v. tax return
3. Depreciation under GAAP
4. The straight-line method of depreciation
5. The units of production method of depreciation
6. The declining balance method of depreciation
7. The sum of the years' digits method of depreciation
8. Depreciation under federal income tax depreciation rules
9. Tax depreciation of vehicles
10. Exam preparation

Mastering Internal Controls and Fraud Prevention:
1. Introduction
2. How dishonest employees steal inventory
3. How to prevent or spot employee theft
4. Check fraud
5. Credit card fraud
6. How vendors cheat you
7. Computer and Internet fraud
8. Forms, patterns, and red flags of bribery
9. Operations that support frauds and scams
10. Exam preparation

Contact Hours

96

CEUs

1

Industry Standard, State or National Certification

Certification

The American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (AIPB)

Website

https://aipb.org

Certification Learning Outcomes/Requirements

Pass the four-part national certification exam:
1. Part 1-At Prometric: Adjustments and Error Correction
•Test 1: Accruals, Deferrals, and the Adjusted Trial Balance
•Test 2: Correction of Accounting Errors and the Bank Reconciliation
2. Part 2-At Prometric: Payroll and Depreciation
•Test 1: Payroll
•Test 2: Depreciation
3. Part 3-Back-of-the-Workbook Exam: Inventory
•Included in the workbook Mastering Inventory
4. Part 4-Back-of-the-Workbook Exam: Internal Controls
•Included in the workbook Mastering Internal Controls and Fraud Prevention

Submit evidence of at least 2 years of full-time bookkeeping experience or 3,000 hours of part-time or freelance experience before or after passing the national exam (can include internships and tax- or accounting-related volunteerism, such as Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) but not simply office work)

Sign a Code of Ethics

CE or CU Articulation

No

Prerequisites

Prior to course enrollment, students should have foundational bookkeeping or accounting skills or knowledge in alignment with the Bookkeeping: Intuit QuickBooks Certified User Online course.

Learning Supplies Needed

None

Clinical Site/Special Facilities

None

Requirements for Successful Completion

90% attendance
Demonstrate an understanding of at least 70% of the course material taught.

Accreditation/Special Approval Requirements

N/A

Intended Audience

Individuals who want to expand their knowledge and skills in bookkeeping or accounting and those who want to successfully prepare for the relevant industry certification exam(s).

Specific Industry or Business Support Needs

Bookkeeper, Accounting, Office Assistant, Administrative Assistant, Freelancing

Wake County Need for Industry Positions

According to Burning Glass Technologies, Wake County has a high demand for bookkeeping skills.

Industry or Job Titles Related to Training Outcomes for Employment

Bookkeeper

Accounting

Office Assistant

Administrative Assistant

Freelancing

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Course Contact Information

Joy Curry
919-866-5370
[email protected]