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Welcome to Bookkeeping All-In-One For Dummies! This book is a compendium of great Dummies content covering soup to nuts on bookkeeping with a good portion of accounting coverage as well.

The term bookkeeper may generate images of a mild-mannered person quietly, or even meekly, poring over columns of figures under a green banker’s lamp somewhere in a corner. In reality, the bookkeeper is vitally important and wields a tremendous amount of power within a company. Information tracked in the books helps business owners make key decisions involving sales planning and product offerings – and enables them to manage many other financial aspects of their business.

If it weren’t for the hard work of bookkeepers, companies wouldn’t have a clue about what happens with their financial transactions. Without accurate financial accounting, a company owner wouldn’t know how many sales were made, how much cash was collected, or how much cash was paid for the products sold to customers during the year. He or she also wouldn’t know how much cash was paid to employees or how much cash was spent on other business needs throughout the year. In other words, yes, clueless.

The creation and maintenance of financial records is also important, especially to those who work with the business, such as investors, financial institutions, and employees. People both inside (managers, owners, and employees) and outside the business (investors, lenders, and government agencies) all depend on the bookkeeper’s accurate recording of financial transactions.

Bookkeepers must be detailed-oriented, enjoy working with numbers, and be meticulous about accurately entering those numbers in the books. They must be vigilant about keeping a paper trail and filing all needed backup information about the financial transactions entered into the books. And they must be knowledgeable about all aspects of money as it percolates through a business and how to organize and present that information so that it’s useful to everyone involved in the business, including outside interests and, yes, the IRS.

That’s where this book comes in.

About This Book

Within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If you’re reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as it’s noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesn’t exist. If you’re reading this as an e-book, you’ve got it easy – just tap the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

Some figures herein use QuickBooks Pro. Because it’s the most popular financial accounting software, some chapters show you some of its advanced features where appropriate.

Foolish Assumptions

The book makes some key assumptions about who you are and why you’ve picked up this book. Much of the book assumes you are:

✔ A business owner or manager who wants to know the ins and outs of how to do the books and what’s contained in financial records. You have a good understanding of business and its terminology but little or no knowledge of bookkeeping and accounting.

✔ A person who does bookkeeping or plans to do bookkeeping for a small business and needs to know more about how to set up and keep the books. You have some basic knowledge of business terminology but don’t know much about bookkeeping or accounting, or how to create and maintain financial records.

✔ A staff person in a small business who’s just been asked to take over the company’s bookkeeping duties. You need to know more about how transactions are entered into the books, how to prove out transactions to be sure you’re making entries correctly and accurately, and how to prepare financial reports using the data you collect.

Icons Used in This Book

For Dummies books use little pictures called icons to flag certain chunks of text that either you shouldn’t want to miss or you’re free to skip. Here are the icons used in this book and what they mean:

Look to this icon for ideas on how to improve your bookkeeping processes and use the information in the books to manage your business.

This icon marks anything you would do well to recall about bookkeeping after you’re finished reading this book.

This icon points out any aspect of bookkeeping that comes with dangers or perils that may hurt the accuracy of your entries or the way in which you use your financial information in the future. I also use this icon to mark certain things that can get you into trouble with the government, your lenders, your vendors, your employees, or your investors.

This points out material that may be interesting if you really want to know a little more, but which isn’t crucial to understanding the concept at hand. You can safely skip material with this icon if you like.

When you see this icon, you have the chance to put your new-found knowledge to use. Practice your bookkeeping skills with real-world questions and story problems.

Beyond the Book

In addition to the material in the print or e-book you’re reading right now, this book also comes with some access-anywhere goodies on the Web. Check out the free Cheat Sheet at www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/bookkeepingaio for some handy bite-sized bookkeeping info, including the three elements of bookkeeping that must be kept in balance, definitions of the balance sheet and income statement, and the differences between the four types of business structures.

This book includes some extras that wouldn’t fit between the covers, kind of like the Bonus Content on a DVD. Check out http://www.dummies.com/extras/bookkeepingaio to read articles on the most important accounts bookkeepers keep, ways to manage cash using your books, tips on reading financial reports, and signs that a company is in trouble.

Where to Go From Here

Feel free to start anywhere you like. You can use the table of contents or index to zoom in on any topic you’re particularly interested in.

If you need the basics or if you’re a little rusty and want to refresh your knowledge of bookkeeping, start with Book I. For the nuts and bolts of accounting and financial reports, drop into Book II. If you already know the basics and terminology of bookkeeping and are ready for some practical advice on day-to-day activities, you might start with Book III. If you’re heading toward the end of the year and need to start wrapping things up, check out Book IV. If you’re a manager, Book V was written with you in mind.

Wherever you begin, best of luck on your bookkeeping journey!