Accounting Pathway Program Course Guide

This course will provide an overview of the accounting equation and the basic principles underlying the double entry system of accounting. It will include but not be limited to the function and purpose of accounting and its key concepts, a look at the principal qualitative characteristics and their effect on financial statements, and the basic and expanded accounting equation and its connection to the double-entry method of accounting.

This course will take a close look at the difference between the general journal and the general ledger, the chart of accounts, and fundamental rules in respect of when to debit or credit an account. It will include but not be limited to the definition and purpose of general journals, account categories, and how to prepare journal entries.

This course will provide an introduction to the General Ledger and the Trial Balance, and will include the process of posting source journals to the general ledger, how to calculate closing balances of general ledger accounts, as well as the purpose of a trial balance and how to prepare one.

This course will provide an introduction and overview of depreciation and will include but not be limited to the purpose of depreciation, how to calculate depreciation and the different calculation methods, as well as how to prepare journal entries using the straight-line method or the diminishing value method.

This course will provide an introduction to cash basis and accruals basis accounting concepts, and will include but not be limited to an overview of adjusting entries, a look at the key adjusting entries that need to be made at the end of the financial year, and how to prepare the balance day adjustments for a range of adjusting entries.

This course will take a close look at the purpose of financial statements, and will include but not be limited to the Profit & Loss Statement and the Balance Sheet and how to prepare these statements, the purpose of inventory and the two common inventory systems, how to prepare journal entries, and how to calculate the year-end stock adjustment.

This course will provide an introduction to Goods and Services tax (GST) and how this affects small businesses. It will include but not be limited to the key terms and basic principles of GST in Australia, the different methods to account for GST, how to calculate GST on sales and purchases as well as how to complete a simple GST return.

This course provides an introduction to the fundamentals of income tax with regard to small businesses. It will include but not be limited to the concept of assessable income and allowable deductions, how to calculate the income tax liability and income tax payable for an entity, and the accepted home office expense calculation.

This course will provide an overview of how to use Xero, including but not limited to the benefits of using Xero and cloud computing, Bank Reconciliation & Managing Accounts in Xero, Xero Sales, Invoicing, Quotes & Inventory, plus Purchase & Bills.

This course will provide an overview of the MYOB Essentials accounting software package, including but not limited to understanding the chart of accounts & banking, managing contacts and managing sales within MYOB.

This course will take a close look at the preparation of budgets, forecasts and cash flow management, including but not limited to the purpose of a budget and forecast, the importance and advantages of budgeting, how to prepare a budget and how to compare actual results with analyse variances as well as a look at the cash conversion cycle.

In this course, you will be introduced to financial statement analysis, including but not limited to how to analyse trends, how to calculate ratios, and how to analyse the results.

This course will provide an introduction on how to efficiently access, save, and manage Excel workbooks, apply SUM functions and formulas for data calculations, and organise data using filters and sorting tools. You’ll also explore formatting techniques, number formats, and learn how to prepare and print Excel documents accurately, including saving as PDF.

Before you get started you will need to pass the quiz below to test your current knowledge of accounting and business. There are 40 questions in this quiz and you must achieve a pass mark of 80% to proceed

This course will provide an introduction on how to efficiently access, save, and manage Excel workbooks, apply SUM functions and formulas for data calculations, and organise data using filters and sorting tools. You’ll also explore formatting techniques, number formats, and learn how to prepare and print Excel documents accurately, including saving as PDF.

This course provides an introduction to accounting and business in Australia, including but not limited to the relationship between accounting, the legal system and business, the importance of the Australian framework, as well as the components of the Financial Statements. 

This course will provide an overview of accounting for revenue and expenses and will include but not be limited to the accounting equation, a look at revenue expenditure and capital expenditure, and the components of a classified Income Statement for a small business. 

This course will take a look at accounting for balance sheet items that influence the Profit and Loss, and will include but not be limited to how to apply correct treatment to property, plant and equipment (PP&E), how to determine inventory valuation, and how to apply fair value to accounts receivable. 

Complete an assessment covering all content from the Accounting Principles program. 

This course will take a look at accounting for cash, including but not limited to the importance of tracking cash for the survival of a business, how to prepare and maintain a cash tracking spreadsheet to plan cash flow, and how to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows and reconciliation to the Profit and Loss. 

This course will provide an overview of how to support business for future internal decision making, including but not limited to preparing budgets and forecasts, how to report on variances between budgeted performance and actual performance, and a look at breakeven analysis. 

This course provides an introduction to analysing financial reports and will include but not be limited to the users of financial analysis, the importance of the solvency test, analysing business performance and report on trends, problems and possible remedies. 

Complete an assessment covering all content from the Advanced Accounting Principles program. 

This course will provide an introduction to cost classifications in Management Accounting, including but not limited to the differences between Product costs and Period costs, management accounting vs financial accounting, and the concept of different costs for different purposes. 

This course will provide an introduction to variable and absorption costing methods, including but not limited to the definitions of variable and absorption costing and a look at the components that make up product and period costs for both types of costing. 

This course will provide an introduction to the two product costing systems: job order costing and job process costing. It will include but not be limited to the weighted average unit cost method and the formula to calculate it, support department cost allocation, and a look at unit cost and processing departments.  

This course will provide an introduction to standard costing and the importance of measuring (and reporting on) the variance between actual costs and standard costs. It will include but not be limited to the meaning of standard costing, the difference between quantity standards and cost/price standards, and a look at the variance analysis cycle.  

Complete an assessment covering all content from the Management Accounting program. 

This course will provide an introduction to activity based costing and how this tool is used to assign costs to cost pools. It will include but not be limited to the definition of Activity Based Costing (ABC), the advantages of using an ABC system, cost hierarchies and a look at activities and activity pools. 

This course provides an overview of budgeting & CVP analysis, including but not limited to the key purposes of budgeting, types of Financial & Operating budgets, a look at Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis as well as the Equation Method and Contribution Margin Method. 

This course provides an introduction to performance management and measurement, including but not limited to the purpose of a Balanced Scorecard, a look at SMART KPIs, the benchmarking process and Performance Evaluation systems and their uses. 

This course will provide an introduction to inventory management and planning, including but not limited to a close look at Just In Time Inventory Management, Economic Order Quantity Inventory Management, the Reorder Point formula, and how to make pricing decisions.  

Complete an assessment covering all content from the Advanced Management Accounting program. 

This course will provide an introduction to the fundamentals of income tax with regards to small businesses. It will include but not be limited to the concept of assessable income and allowable deductions, and a look at how to calculate the income tax liability and income tax payable for an entity.

This course will provide an introduction to Goods and Services tax (GST) and how this affects small businesses. It will include but not be limited to an overview of GST in Australia, the key terms and basic principles of GST, the obligations a business has once they are registered for GST, how to calculate GST on a product or service as well as how to complete a basic BAS return.

This course will provide an introduction and overview of depreciation and will include but not be limited to the purpose of depreciation, how to calculate depreciation and the different calculation methods, as well as how to prepare journal entries using the straight-line method or the diminishing balance method.

This course will take a Specific Accounting standards and Principal versus Agent. It will include but not be limited to the reporting requirements for revenue, inventories, property, plant & equipment, as well as the reporting requirements for intangible assets and the impairment of assets. 

This course will take a look  reporting requirements for financial instrucments. It will include but not be limited, provisions and contingencies, leases, as well as the reporting requirements for employee benefits and equity. 

This course will take a look at reporting requirements for entities.  It will include but not be limited to the reporting requirements for income taxes, GST, related party transactions and recognising events after balance date and their reporting requirements.  

This course will provide an overview of the processes and tools that ensure the values in the Financial Statements are justified, including but not limited to the purpose of workpapers, balance sheet validation documents and referencing protocols. 

This course will take a close look at a case study and the process of importing a trial balance into Xero. It will include but not be limited to how to prepare a full accounting analysis for the case study given and how to enter a trial balance and chart of accounts into Xero to prepare draft financial statements. 

This course will take a look at how to prepare horizontal and ratio analysis, budget analysis, and forecasts, including how to create a two-year forecast using an Excel template and how to construct a Brief Management Report. 

Complete an assessment covering all content from the Accounting Practices program. 

This course will provide an introduction and basic overview of Xero, including but not limited to the benefits of using Xero and cloud computing, the system requirements for Xero, and how to navigate the Xero Dashboard.

This course will provide an introduction to the Chart of Accounts in Xero and will include but not be limited to the process of accessing the Chart of Accounts, adding new accounts, account classifications and their code ranges, as well as the process that the Xero program applies for tax settings.

This course will provide an introduction to managing contacts in Xero, and will include but not be limited to the process for creating new customers, suppliers and employees in Xero, how to import and export contacts, as well as the process for archiving contacts.

This course will take a look at Xero invoicing, sales, quotes and inventory, including but not limited to the different invoice types available in Xero, customer statements, inventory, and how to create invoices, repeating invoices, quotes and credit notes.

This course will provide an introduction to working with purchases and bills in Xero, including but not limited to the process for managing bills, repeating bills and credit notes in Xero, how to perform batch payments and send remittance advice.

This course will take a look at bank reconciliation in Xero, and will include but not be limited to the process of bank feeds in Xero, how overpayments and prepayments work, and the various bank reconciliation options.

This course will provide an introduction to the Xero Report Centre, and will look at how to generate and view interactive reports in Xero, how to customise, publish and export reports, and the process of creating GST reports and filing a GST return.

This course will provide an introduction to Xero’s add-ons and apps, and will include but not be limited to an overview of four Xero add-ons built and owned by Xero and a look at the Xero App Marketplace.

This course will provide an introduction and basic overview of Xero, including but not limited to the benefits of using Xero and cloud computing, the system requirements for Xero, and how to navigate the Xero Dashboard.

This course will provide an in-depth overview of aged receivables and payables, a fundamental area for business owners and accounting staff. This includes but is not limited to the aged receivables and payables process and reports, as well as the cash conversion cycle and ratio reports.

This course will provide an overview of fixed assets in Xero, including but not limited to the process for setting up fixed assets, how to view the fixed asset register and disposal schedule, depreciation options and processes, and the fixed asset reconciliation report.

This course will look at how to access the budgeting module in Xero and will include information on the purpose of creating and working to a budget, how to create an overall budget in Xero, and instructions on how to import or export budgets and generate budget reports.

This course will provide guidance on how to set up tracking categories to monitor and analyse different areas of a business, and will include but is not limited to the process for creating tracking categories in Xero, the tracking of budgets and payroll expenses, and how to produce reports with tracking categories.

This course will provide an in-depth look at the reporting options in Xero, including but not limited to an overview of the wide range of reports that can be generated in Xero, GST Return and Reconciliation, and a look at ratio analysis and ratio categories.

This course will provide a close look at the useful tool of creating fully customised templates in Xero, and will include but not be limited to the process of creating and assigning branded themes to invoices, purchase orders and credit notes, making a custom branded theme the new default theme, as well as the process of modifying or deleting existing templates.

This course will provide an introduction to the many features and tools of Xero Projects and Xero Expenses, both Xero products offered as optional integrations to add to a Xero subscription. It will include but not be limited to information on how to add tasks, project quotes and staff cost rates in Xero Projects, as well as how to create, approve, decline and analyse expenses and mileage claims in Xero Expenses.

In this module, you will look at the Evolution of the Accounting Technician, Public Practices and Market Trends Affecting Practice Owners and gain an understanding of Growth Opportunities and Business Planning Fundamentals.

In this module, you will look at the Code of Ethics and Accounting Standard board and gain an understanding of Professional Conduct for BAS agents, Statutory Regulations and Compliance.

In this module, you will look at the Research and Knowledge Management, discover the advantages of Professional Development and Association Education, and gain an understanding into Leveraging Industry Connections.

In this module, you will look at the Fee Structure and Terms of Engagement, understand Professional Quality and Standards of Work. Look at Insurances and how to Manage your Clients Expectations.

In this module, you will look at Risk Management, understand how to Protect your Practice with Internal Accounting Controls and Cyber Security. Gain insight into Privacy Policy and Confidentiality.

In this module, you will look at the People and Culture, define an Employee and a Contractor. Discover Offshoring and look at Training and Development and learn how to Identify Bottlenecks and Practice Workflow.

In this module, you will look at the Business Planning Strategies for Growth. How to Finance for Growth and some Insightful Client Accounting and Advisory Services. Learn how to Market Yourself as an Expert.

In this module, you will look at the Online Strategy and creating a Digital Transformation framework. Create a Digital Leadership mindset and adapt with Agility and Change.

In this module, you will look at the Prioritising Wellbeing and Sustainable Business

The final assessment consists of 26 questions from across the nine modules, it includes multiple-choice, multiple responses, and correct order/selection questions. You have 2 hours to complete the assessment once started. If you do not reach the passing mark of 50% you have another chance to re-sit the assessment once within three months.