Financial Accounting

Project Management · Level 5  ·  9 Chapters

Compiled by: Violet Waithira

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What Financial Accounting covers

In this unit, you will be able to confidently apply essential accounting principles and standards to record and classify financial transactions accurately, ensuring every detail is captured from source documents to ledgers. You will develop the skills to prepare and analyze financial information that meets the needs of different users, helping businesses make informed decisions. By mastering these foundational accounting practices, you’ll be ready to contribute effectively in any financial setting, building a strong base for your career in the trade.

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Careers after Financial Accounting

Financial accounting is the backbone of every business, from a bustling market stall to a large manufacturing plant. Mastering the skills in this unit opens doors to roles where you turn numbers into decisions, keep organisations compliant, and help them grow - whether you join an employer or launch your own service.

  • SME retail shops in Nairobi’s Central Business District - you apply accounting concepts and double-entry bookkeeping to record daily sales, purchases and expenses, producing reliable financial statements that owners use for stocking and expansion decisions, earning a salary as a shop accountant or charging a monthly bookkeeping fee.
  • Agricultural cooperatives in western Kenya (Kisii, Kakamega) - you classify member contributions, fertilizer purchases and produce sales, identify members, lenders and government agencies as users of the information, and earn wages as a cooperative accountant or run a consultancy serving several co-ops.
  • Construction firms in Kiambu and Nakuru - you maintain project-cost ledgers, record source documents such as purchase orders and subcontractor invoices, and help project managers track profit margins, qualifying for a cost-accountant role or offering freelance project-accounting services.
  • Tourism hotels and resorts along the coast (Mombasa, Diani) - you handle cash books, separate incoming guest payments from outgoing supplier payments, apply cash-discount rules for early settlement of vendor bills, and generate statements that managers use for budgeting, earning a position as a hotel finance officer.
  • County referral hospitals and private clinics in Eldoret - you identify and record medical service invoices, classify cash receipts from patients and insurers, reconcile bank statements with cash books, and correct posting errors, supporting health administrators and receiving a salary as a hospital accounts officer.
  • NGOs and community-development projects in the Rift Valley - you identify donors, grantors and beneficiaries as users of accounting information, classify grant income and expense categories, and prepare trial balances that satisfy donor reporting requirements, earning a grant-accounting role or consulting for multiple NGOs.
  • Micro-enterprise kiosks and market stalls in Nairobi’s informal sector - you set up simple cash books, record daily cash receipts and discounts given to regular customers, and reconcile cash with bank deposits, offering a low-cost bookkeeping service that can be billed per month.
  • Manufacturing units in industrial parks (Thika, Machakos) - you maintain books of original entry such as purchase and sales journals, classify ledgers for raw materials, work-in-process and finished goods, and adjust gross and net profit after correcting errors, qualifying for a senior accountant position.
  • Micro-finance branches in rural towns - you identify discrepancies between cash books and bank statements, eliminate suspense balances, and update statements of financial position, ensuring loan officers have accurate client financial profiles, earning a role as a branch accountant.
  • Self-run freelance bookkeeping practice serving multiple small businesses across Kenya - you apply every skill - from source-document identification to error correction and profit adjustment - to deliver complete month-end packages, charging clients per transaction or per report, and building a reputation that can grow into a full-service accounting firm.

With these abilities you become the trusted number-cruncher that every Kenyan enterprise needs - ready to earn, lead and shape the financial future of your community.

Chapters

What Financial Accounting covers: 46 main topics in 9 chapters

1. Apply accounting concepts, conventions and policies

  1. 1.1 Accounting concepts, conventions and policies
  2. 1.2 Accounting equation
  3. 1.3 Users of accounting information

2. Prepare books of original entries

  1. 2.1 Classification of transactions
  2. 2.2 Source documents
  3. 2.3 Books of original entry
  4. 2.4 Source documents recording

3. Post transaction to the ledger

  1. 3.1 Classification of ledgers
  2. 3.2 Ledger accounts identification
  3. 3.3 Posting of transactions to ledgers
  4. 3.4 Balancing off ledger accounts
  5. 3.5 Trial Balance
  6. 3.6 Preparation of Trial Balance

4. Prepare cash books

  1. 4.1 Cash books
  2. 4.2 Classification of cash receipts
  3. 4.3 Recording of cash receipts
  4. 4.4 Discounts

5. Correct accounting errors

  1. 5.1 Errors affecting the trial balance
  2. 5.2 Errors that do not affect the trial balance
  3. 5.3 Correction of errors
  4. 5.4 Suspense account
  5. 5.5 Reported gross/net profit
  6. 5.6 The final statement of financial position

6. Prepare bank reconciliation statements

  1. 6.1 Cash book and bank statement balance discrepancies
  2. 6.2 Update the cash book
  3. 6.3 Bank reconciliation statement

7. Maintain non-current assets' register

  1. 7.1 Determining costs of assets as per Accounting standards
  2. 7.2 Depreciation computation
  3. 7.3 Depreciation recording as per accounting guidelines
  4. 7.4 Accounting treatment on depreciation
  5. 7.5 Acquisition of Non-current assets
  6. 7.6 Disposal of non-current assets
  7. 7.7 Determining asset balances

8. Maintain receivables and payables ledge

  1. 8.1 Bad debts written off
  2. 8.2 Provision for bad debts
  3. 8.3 Adjusting receivable balances
  4. 8.4 Adjusting payable balances
  5. 8.5 Control accounts

9. Prepare sole trader statements

  1. 9.1 Income and expenditure
  2. 9.2 Year-end adjustments
  3. 9.3 Accruals
  4. 9.4 Prepayments
  5. 9.5 Provisions
  6. 9.6 Statement of profit or loss
  7. 9.7 Statement of financial position items
  8. 9.8 Statement of financial position

Revise this unit

3 more for this unit

Beyond the syllabus

Other units in Module I