Bookkeeping skills are incredibly helpful for those wanting to work in the finance industry, or for those who are wanting to start their own business and are keen to keep an eye on their finances themselves. If you’re looking to get into bookkeeping and progress your skills further, we have spent the time researching the best bookkeeping courses available online. We’ve included both free and paid courses, that are suitable for all levels, to ensure that you find a course best suited to you!
But first, let’s answer a very important question – what exactly is bookkeeping?
Bookkeeping is the process of collecting information, recording events and organizing records to make better decisions. Bookkeeping allows businesses to keep track of their equity, revenue, profit, losses, expenses, and assets. It’s the day-to-day upkeep of a business financial records that make detailed and more in depth analysis later down the line simple and straight forward.
If you are an aspiring bookkeeper, someone wanting to work in finance, or a small business owner hoping to track your finances better, you can learn the basics of bookkeeping through online learning. Suitable for all levels, I have spent the time researching the best online bookkeeping tutorials out there. So, if you’re looking to progress your bookkeeping skills, there will be an online course out there for you!
1. 12 Simple Steps to Get Started with Your Bookkeeping (Skillshare)
- Level: Beginner
- Completion time: 25m
- Cost: 14 day free trial
- Certification: No
- Number of people who have completed the course: 1,300
- Course rating: N/A
In this short course 25 minute course you will learn 12 simple steps that are designed to help you feel confident with starting bookkeeping. Taught by Michelle Cornish, a former accountant with a passion for writing and teaching, you can walk away feeling ready to take control over your finances.
The first step to be discussed is learning how to assess your needs. After, you will cover the other steps, such as how to separate business accounts, how to determine account set up, how to record income and expenses and how to reconcile accounts. You’ll also have the opportunity to complete a hands-on class project, whereby you’ll complete each of these 12 steps and share the accounting app that you have decided to use.
2. Bookkeeping Basics #1: Understand the Fundamentals (Udemy)
- Level: Beginner
- Completion time: 4h 32m
- Cost: $79.99
- Certification: Yes
- Number of people who have completed the course: 19,838
- Course rating: 4.6/5 (out of 4,554 ratings)
Best suited for business owners who want to have a good idea about their finances so that they can run their business to the best of their ability. Using easy-to-understand discussions and videos, you will learn the basics of how money is tracked and what that means for your business. You’ll cover what an income actually is, the five W’s of bookkeeping, reading financial reports, the top 10 mistakes small businesses make and some tips for good bookkeeping.
This course is also accredited by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, meaning that if you complete all videos and score 70% of higher on the final exam, you get an internationally recognized certificate to show off to employers and coworkers!
3. Accounting Foundations: Bookkeeping (LinkedIn Learning)
- Level: Beginner
- Completion time: 1h 39m
- Cost: 1 month free trial
- Certification: Yes
- Number of people who have completed the course: N/A
- Course rating: 4.8/5 (out of 3,748 ratings)
Join accounting professors Jim and Kay Stice as they walk you through the 4 key steps of the bookkeeping process. You’ll cover analyzing transactions, recording the effects, summarizing the effects and preparing financial reports.
With a deep understanding of these 4 key steps of the bookkeeping process, you should feel confident with the components of journal entry, including debits and credits, and the essential questions that any good bookkeeper should be asking during this phase. Finally, you should feel confident translating ledger information into financial statements and will even have a certificate to prove it!
4. Accounting & Bookkeeping Masterclass – Beginner to Advanced (Udemy)
- Level: Beginner
- Completion time: 11h 58m
- Cost: $79.99
- Certification: No
- Number of people who have completed the course: 86,195
- Course rating: 4.6/5 (out of 3,394 ratings)
Suitable for complete beginners wanting to know all about the concepts of accounting from scratch, this 11 hour course offers you an in depth insight into the world of bookkeeping.
In an interactive and easy to follow format, you will cover everything you need to know to get you started with accounting. You’ll kickstart by looking at the basics of accounting, whereby you’ll cover what rules to follow and what are the accounting standards and various accounting terms. The course will then take a turn to look at more complexed ideas, such as discounts and sales taxes, fixed assets and financial statement preparation. With all this new knowledge, you should feel confident in providing financial support to your own business and to others.
5. Bookkeeping for Small Businesses Using Google Sheets – Templates Included (Skillshare)
- Level: Beginner
- Completion time: 49m
- Cost: 14 day free trial
- Certification: No
- Number of people who have completed the course: 1,439
- Course rating: N/A
If you’re a small business owner who is looking for a short course to get to grips with accounting and bookkeeping, then this course is the one for you!
You will start by learning whether your businesses can actually use cash bookkeeping, before moving on to look at how the cash bookkeeping cycle works. After, you’ll be introduced to a Google sheet template (which is downloadable so you can keep it forever) and will be talked though how to add in revenue and expenses. This short course then closes off by looking at the practical uses of Google sheets and how you can use them for profit and loss statements!
6. Certificate in Bookkeeping (The Career Academy)
- Level: Beginner
- Completion time: 140h
- Cost: $500
- Certification: Yes
- Number of people who have completed the course: N/A
- Course rating: N/A
This Career Academy course is an employer recognized course that is designed to help you develop bookkeeping skills so that you can use them to improve your career prospects.
You will learn to balance the books, prepare VAT returns, analyze and interpret profit and loss and how to write a balance sheet. You’ll receive certification at the end of the course to solidify your new skills and will be able to walk away with the skills, confident, and knowledge to step into your dream career!
7. Bookkeeping Courses and Support (National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers)
- Level: All levels
- Completion time: Varied
- Cost: Free and paid
- Certification: No
- Number of people who have completed the course: N/A
- Course rating: N/A
Americas leading association for bookkeepers, the National Association of Certified Public Bookkeepers, has plenty of opportunities for keen bookkeepers to learn about what bookkeeping entails, what certifications you can take to become better, the different exams you need to sit and how to get a license.
There are plenty of free resources, such as webinars, news and weekly tips. You can also get certified training through this website to really up your skills.
Conclusion
So, there you have it… the 7 best bookkeeping courses that are available online. These classes are suited to anyone who is wanting to develop their finance skills and be able to efficiently keep track of the money they spend, or the money the business that they work for spends.
Having excellent bookkeeping skills will aid you in landing hundreds of exciting careers. From a career in finance, to a career as an entrepreneur, specific careers where bookkeeping skills are particularly helpful include:
- Accountant
- Bookkeeper
- Detective
- Forensic Accountant
- Lawyer
- Marketing Manager
- Marketing Assistant
- Operations Manager
- Sales Manager
To gather the bookkeeping skills that will help you manage your finances better, or kickstart a career in the finance industry, there are lots of online courses available for you. There are free courses that take only a 25 minutes to complete. And, there are more expensive courses that take over 10 hours to complete! Some courses are suitable for those with no previous experience in bookkeeping and finance. Whereas other courses are better suited for those with some experience with number, but are looking to increase their knowledge a little more.
The online classes in this list are the best of the best. Each is taught by an experienced and dedicated teacher, and they all have lots of satisfied and happy customers.
So, which course you decide take depends on your experience, funds and spare time. Are you someone who has lots of accounting and bookkeeping experience? Or, are you completely new to finance? Do you have a huge amount of money to spend on your skill development? Do you have a lot of spare time, or are you just looking for a quick, but effective, skill top up?
