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Description

Accounting for Beginners: Recording Transactions, Matching and Justifying Balances

Master the core accounting mechanics and record the company's day-to-day transactions independently

  • 3 days — 21 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Foundation
  • Up to 6 participants

Taking on an accounting role without formal grounding exposes the business to costly errors: an invoice posted to the wrong account, VAT allocated incorrectly, customer accounts never matched, unexplained bank differences. Hesitation slows down every single entry.

Three days to acquire the underlying mechanics and the daily routines: double entry and the chart of accounts, recording purchases, sales and cash movements, VAT treatment, account matching and bank reconciliation. The programme covers day-to-day transactions only and does not address year-end closing.

Learning objectives

  • Explain the double-entry mechanism and the logic of the chart of accounts
  • Record purchase and sales invoices as well as payments
  • Treat output and input VAT correctly within the entries
  • Match supplier and customer accounts and justify balances
  • Perform a bank reconciliation and explain the differences

What makes this programme different

Entries are posted from genuine source documents handed out to participants
A progressive set of exercises leads from the first entry through to the trial balance
Each participant leaves with a reference sheet on the most frequently used accounts

Programme

1Core mechanics

Understand before you record

  • Double entry: debit and credit
  • Structure of the chart of accounts
  • Journals, general ledger and trial balance
  • Source documents and the data trail

2Purchases, sales and VAT

Recording day-to-day flows

  • Recording purchase and sales invoices
  • Allocation of output and input VAT
  • Credit notes, settlement discounts and incidental costs
  • Consistency checks between third-party accounts and tax accounts

3Cash and third-party accounts

Tracking money and balances

  • Recording customer and supplier payments
  • Petty cash, commercial paper and payment methods
  • Matching third-party accounts
  • Bank reconciliation and treatment of differences

4Payroll, expense claims and fixed assets

Handling less frequent entries

  • Recording payroll entries and related employer costs
  • Expense claims and the supporting documents required
  • Acquiring a fixed asset and distinguishing it from an expense
  • Filing and archiving source documents

5Controls and period end

Producing usable accounts

  • Periodic checks on sensitive accounts
  • Justifying balances and building the supporting file
  • Spotting anomalies before handover
  • The accountant's role in preparing the closing

Who is it for

Newcomers to accounting, administrative assistants, accounts clerks and employees moving into an accounting role.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites

Dates & locations

24 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.