FOLIO 01 · OPENING BALANCE

Books that balance, learned one entry at a time.

Recorded courses in UK bookkeeping, VAT, payroll and year-end accounts — for owners keeping their own books, people moving into bookkeeping, and whoever has just been handed the payroll. Watch online, at your own pace, for 24 months.

A/C 0001 · THE SHELVES
DrCr
Courses and routes15
Recorded lessons729
Hours of video156
Access to each course24 months
A woman in glasses works at an office desk by a tall window, a spreadsheet open on her laptop beside blue binders and a calculator

FOLIO 02 · CHART OF ACCOUNTS

Where do you stand?

The 15 courses and routes sit on four shelves, sorted by your situation rather than by topic. Find your line and open it.

CodeShelfCoursesFrom–toLink
1000 Starting from a blank ledgerYou have never posted a journal and the words debit and credit still sound like opposites of each other. 4 £531–£2,346 Open the shelf : Starting from a blank ledger
2000 Keeping your own booksYou run a business, the receipts live in a shoebox and the VAT return arrives faster than you would like. 3 £644–£779 Open the shelf : Keeping your own books
3000 Running a payrollPeople are paid by you, or soon will be: PAYE, National Insurance, pensions and the monthly submission. 4 £617–£1,837 Open the shelf : Running a payroll
4000 Closing the yearThe books are kept. Now they need to become accounts, a tax return and numbers someone can decide with. 4 £1,154–£3,174 Open the shelf : Closing the year

FOLIO 03 · 6 APRIL TO 5 APRIL

A UK tax year, month by month

What falls due for a small business, month by month, and the course that teaches it. Scroll the strip sideways.

  1. M01 · APR

    April

    • 5 April — the tax year ends. 6 April — the next one begins.
    • New tax codes and thresholds apply from the first payday of the new year.
    Payroll from Scratch: PAYE, National Insurance and RTI £884
  2. M02 · MAY

    May

    • 31 May — every employee on the payroll at 5 April must have their P60 for the year just ended.
    Payroll Year-End, Benefits and Expenses £673
  3. M03 · JUN

    June

    • Every pay run — assess new and changed workers for auto-enrolment, deduct their pension contributions and pay them over to the scheme on time.
    Workplace Pensions and Auto-Enrolment for Payroll £617
  4. M04 · JUL

    July

    • 6 July — P11D and P11D(b) forms are due for benefits not put through the payroll.
    • 22 July — Class 1A National Insurance on those benefits is due if paid electronically.
    Payroll Year-End, Benefits and Expenses £673
  5. M05 · AUG

    August

    • VAT quarters depend on your stagger. The return and payment are due one month and seven days after a quarter ends: for a quarter to 30 June, by 7 August.
    VAT Returns under Making Tax Digital £718
  6. M06 · SEP

    September

    • Month-end, as every month: reconcile the bank to the statement, clear anything left in suspense, run payroll and post the month.
    Bank Reconciliation and the Month-End Close £586
  7. M07 · OCT

    October

    • 5 October — if you started working for yourself in the tax year that ended on 5 April, this is the date to tell HMRC.
    • 31 October — paper Self Assessment returns are due.
    Double Entry from a Blank Page £531
  8. M08 · NOV

    November

    • For a VAT quarter to 30 September, the return and payment are due by 7 November.
    • Businesses on the annual accounting scheme work to a different timetable.
    VAT Schemes Compared: Flat Rate, Cash, Annual and Margin £644
  9. M09 · DEC

    December

    • A small company with a 31 March year end, after its first year: accounts due at Companies House by 31 December, corporation tax payable by 1 January.
    Limited Company Year-End: From Trial Balance to Filed Accounts £1,492
  10. M10 · JAN

    January

    • 31 January — online Self Assessment returns are due for the tax year that ended last April, with the balancing payment and the first payment on account.
    • The second payment on account follows on 31 July.
    Self Assessment for the Self-Employed £779
  11. M11 · FEB

    February

    • Month-end: reconcile the bank, run payroll, post the month.
    • With 5 April close, a cash forecast shows how the tax year will finish before it does.
    Management Accounts and Cash-Flow Forecasting £1,268
  12. M12 · MAR

    March

    • 31 March is a common year end, and sole traders often draw up to 31 March or 5 April.
    • Before the accounts: accruals, prepayments, depreciation and stock.
    Year-End Accounts for Sole Traders and Partnerships £1,154

FOLIO 04 · A WORKED PAGE

Six entries, one trial balance

A fictional joiner’s first month in business. Every transaction goes in twice — once on the debit side, once on the credit — so the two columns must agree.

JOURNAL · APRIL
DateNarrativeDrCr£
01 Apr Owner pays savings into the business account 1200 Bank 3000 Capital 5,000.00
03 Apr Workbench and power tools bought 0030 Equipment 1200 Bank 1,860.00
09 Apr Fitted kitchen sold to a customer on 30 days’ credit 1100 Trade debtors 4000 Sales 2,415.00
14 Apr Timber and fixings paid for 5000 Purchases 1200 Bank 948.00
20 Apr Workshop rent for the month 7100 Rent 1200 Bank 650.00
28 Apr Owner takes cash for personal use 3050 Drawings 1200 Bank 400.00
TRIAL BALANCE · 30 APRIL
AccountDr £Cr £
0030 Equipment 1,860.00
1100 Trade debtors 2,415.00
1200 Bank 1,142.00
3000 Capital 5,000.00
3050 Drawings 400.00
4000 Sales 2,415.00
5000 Purchases 948.00
7100 Rent 650.00
Totals7,415.007,415.00

Balanced

The kind of page worked on screen in unit 2 of ‘Double Entry from a Blank Page’ — Debits, credits and T-accounts. The figures are an illustration. See how a lesson runs

FOLIO 05 · ROUTE PLANNER

How long will it take?

Pick what you need and how much time you have each week. The plan below is every course on that shelf, in the order to watch it.

What do you need?
A calculator and highlighter pens lying on a printed monthly budget

A/C 2000 · KEEPING YOUR OWN BOOKS

  1. 01VAT Returns under Making Tax Digital£718
  2. 02VAT Schemes Compared: Flat Rate, Cash, Annual and Margin£644
  3. 03Self Assessment for the Self-Employed£779
Lessons
114
Running time
22 h 14 min
At 3 h a week
8 weeks
Total
£2,141

The catalogue in figures

  • 1512 courses + 3 routes
  • 729recorded lessons
  • 156hours of video
  • 24months of access per course

FOLIO 07 · NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

The fine print, up front

What a course here is not, said before you pay rather than after.

A desk calculator and a notebook beside a laptop on a wooden desk
  1. Recorded and streamed only. Every lesson is a video you watch online, in a browser, whenever suits you.
  2. No tutor and no marking. Exercises are worked through on screen, so you check your own answers against ours.
  3. Not downloadable. Lessons stream; there are no files to keep.
  4. No certificate or accreditation. The courses teach the work itself; they do not lead to a qualification.
  5. Education, not advice. Tax lessons explain how the rules work, not what you should do in your situation. Rates and thresholds are taught for a stated tax year.
  6. Access lasts 24 months. Watch each course as often as you like for 24 months.

FOLIO 08 · AT THE DESK

Books get kept everywhere

FOLIO 09 · QUERIES

Questions before you buy

If yours is not here, ask. The chat in the corner of every page is answered by a person, or you can write to us.

How do I get access after paying?

When payment goes through you land on your order page. The access details for each course arrive by email within one working day. Keep the order page: its address does not change, and it shows your reference if you need to get in touch.

How long can I watch?

Each course stays open to you for 24 months. Watch the lessons as often as you like in that time, on any device with a browser and a steady connection.

Is there a tutor or marking?

No. The lessons are recorded, and every exercise is worked through on screen so you can check your own answer. Questions about choosing a course or about your order go to the chat or to our contact page.

Do I get a certificate?

No. The courses do not lead to a certificate, a qualification or membership of a professional body. They teach the work: posting, reconciling, running payroll, preparing returns and accounts.

Which course should I start with?

If debit and credit still feel like a coin toss, start with ‘Double Entry from a Blank Page’. Otherwise find the shelf that describes where you are, or use the route planner to see a whole shelf in order.

Will the tax content be out of date?

Tax rates and thresholds change every April. Lessons that use them say which tax year they are teaching, so you know which figures to check against the current year. Each course page lists exactly what that course covers.

Can I get a refund?

You can cancel within 14 days of buying while access has not yet begun. At checkout you ask for access to begin straight away and confirm that, once it does, the 14-day right to cancel is lost. If a course is faulty or not as described, your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 still apply. The detail is in the Terms of Sale.

City of London rooftops and the Gherkin seen through an office window

FOLIO 10 · CARRIED FORWARD

Open the ledger.

Pick the shelf that matches where you are and start with the first entry.

Browse the courses