Understand your accounts, build reliable bookkeeping routines and work through GST questions with clear examples and source-linked explanations.
Choose a clear start date, reconstruct supported assets and obligations, document uncertainty and keep current transactions complete while resolving the past.
Read guide · 5 minA team glossary connects familiar words to actual records, calculations and actions, reducing confusion during reporting and handovers.
Read guide · 5 minAn owner introduces capital when personal money or property becomes a resource of the business without creating an ordinary customer sale. In a sole proprietorship, debit the asset received and credit the…
Read guide · 5 minCorrect a personal purchase in a proprietor’s books by moving it out of business expenses and into drawings, while preserving the original payment. If the amount must be repaid by an employee, director or…
Read guide · 5 minA cash sale increases cash and records sales revenue, with any tax collected credited separately to the relevant tax liability. If the customer pays a rounded amount, post the small difference to a…
Read guide · 5 minRecord a credit sale by debiting the customer receivable and crediting sales and any applicable output tax. When payment arrives later, debit the receiving bank or cash account and credit that same…
Read guide · 5 minMoney received before the business has earned the sale should normally be tracked as a customer advance or other appropriate obligation. Debit bank when the money arrives and credit the advance account.…
Read guide · 5 minAdjust a customer advance by debiting the advance liability and crediting the customer receivable created by the sales invoice. This applies money already received to a bill now due. It should clear the…
Read guide · 5 minA credit purchase records what the business has received and the amount owed to the supplier before payment. Debit inventory, purchases, an expense or an asset according to the item acquired; debit…
Read guide · 5 minAn advance paid before a supplier delivers goods or earns its fee is generally recorded as an asset representing the business’s right to future supply or repayment. Debit Supplier advances and credit Bank.…
Read guide · 5 minWhen goods are returned to a supplier, reduce the recognised purchase or inventory amount and adjust the supplier balance using supported return and credit-note records. If input tax must be reduced, record…
Read guide · 5 minA customer return usually requires two assessments: how the original sale and customer balance change, and what value, if any, the returned goods bring back into inventory. Record the accepted financial…
Read guide · 5 minRecord an approved settlement discount by debiting the appropriate discount or revenue-adjustment account and crediting the customer receivable, alongside the actual bank receipt. First establish what the…
Read guide · 5 minA discount received on settlement reduces the amount the business must pay a supplier. Debit the supplier payable for the liability being cleared, credit bank for the actual payment and credit the…
Read guide · 5 minRecord a bank charge by debiting the relevant bank-fee expense and crediting the bank account from which it was deducted. Where a supported invoice includes recoverable GST, separate the eligible tax from…
Read guide · 5 minUse a payment-gateway clearing account to connect gross customer collections with the smaller amount deposited into bank after fees and other adjustments. Record sales from the underlying transactions, then…
Read guide · 5 minRecord bank interest as interest income rather than sales or owner capital. Debit bank for the amount credited, debit a supported tax-deducted receivable where applicable and credit gross interest income.…
Read guide · 5 minA business loan receipt normally increases bank and creates a borrowing liability. Debit Bank and credit the appropriate loan account for the supported amount borrowed. The receipt is financing, so it…
Read guide · 5 minSplit each loan instalment using the lender’s supported allocation between principal, interest and any additional charges. Debit the loan liability for principal, debit interest expense or the appropriate…
Read guide · 5 minWhen an expense has been incurred but the supplier’s bill has not arrived, record a supported accrual: debit the relevant expense and credit an accrued-expense liability. The estimate should relate to goods…
Read guide · 5 minFor an annual subscription that provides service over twelve months, recognise the unused benefit as a prepaid expense and release it to expense over the service period on a supported basis. The payment…
Read guide · 5 minIf income has been earned under the applicable recognition policy but the invoice has not yet been issued, debit an appropriate accrued-income or unbilled-revenue asset and credit revenue. When the invoice…
Read guide · 5 minService fees received before the related work is earned should be tracked as unearned income or another appropriate customer obligation. Debit bank for the receipt and credit the liability, with any…
Read guide · 5 minA refundable deposit is generally an asset for the payer and a liability for the recipient while the contractual right to repayment remains. Record the payment or receipt separately from rent, sales or…
Read guide · 5 min