Course outline
Basic Bookkeeping (South Africa)
Course 1: from source documents to financial statements
Learn to keep a small South African business's books by hand. This course is based on the CAPS curriculum, but it is not an accredited course and doesn't lead to a formal qualification. You'll follow one business, Kleinbos Coffee Roasters, through three months of real-looking transactions: source documents, journals, the general ledger, the trial balance, reconciliations, year-end adjustments and the financial statements.
- Case study
- Kleinbos Coffee Roasters
- To unlock each module
- Pass the previous quiz (70%)
- Certificate
- Pass the final assessment (70%)
What you'll learn
- 1
Welcome to bookkeeping
What a bookkeeper does, why accurate records matter, and meeting Kleinbos Coffee Roasters.
- 2
Source documents
Invoices, credit notes, receipts, EFT proofs, bank statements and petty cash vouchers: what each one proves and where it's recorded.
- 3
The accounting equation
Assets = Owner's equity + Liabilities, and how every transaction keeps it in balance.
- 4
Double entry: debits and credits
The debit and credit rules for assets, liabilities, equity, income and expenses, including capital and drawings.
- 5
The chart of accounts and the general ledger
Account codes, B and N folios, T-accounts, and balancing an account at month end.
- 6
Cash journals: CRJ and CPJ
Recording money in and money out in the Cash Receipts and Cash Payments Journals, with cost of sales under the perpetual stock system.
- 7
Credit journals: DJ, CJ, DAJ, CAJ and the General Journal
Credit sales and purchases, returns in both directions, and entries that belong in the General Journal.
- 8
Posting and the trial balance
Posting journal totals to the ledger, drawing up a trial balance, and finding errors that do and don't affect its balancing.
- 9
Debtors and creditors
Subsidiary ledgers, control accounts, the debtors age analysis, and reconciling a creditor's statement.
- 10
Petty cash
The imprest system, petty cash vouchers, the Petty Cash Journal and restoring the float.
- 11
Bank reconciliation
Comparing the cash journals with the bank statement, journalising bank-only items, and preparing a bank reconciliation statement.
- 12
Year-end adjustments
Prepaid and accrued expenses, depreciation, bad debts written off and stock shortfalls at 28/02/2026.
- 13
Financial statements
Closing transfers, the Income Statement and the Statement of Financial Position for a sole proprietor.
- 14
Bookkeeping in practice
The full bookkeeping cycle end to end, month-end routines, keeping records safe, and professional ethics.
VAT and income tax are covered in Course 2.