From Passion to Payday

Track 1 of 14

Accounting and finance

Build the numbers by hand, then read them and use them to decide. Three of eight modules are open: 14 lessons, each with a worked case, a template, exercises with answers and a short check.

The lessons follow two fictional companies. Northside Coffee is a cafe incorporated in 2025 with counter and catering sales. Hartley Plumbing is a three-plumber service company. Every figure in their cases comes from one set of books, and a script checks that each statement ties to the others before the pages are built.

Standards and tax rules are cited to their source: the IFRS Foundation, the FASB, FRAS Canada for private enterprises, the Canada Revenue Agency and the Internal Revenue Service. Tax thresholds and rules change; the cited pages are the place to confirm them.

Every lesson is free to read. Two of the templates are free to download; all fourteen are in the Accounting and Finance Toolkit, Part 1.

Module 1The three statements

Double entry, then the income statement, the balance sheet and the statement of cash flows, built from one company's first year.

  1. 1.1Double entry from zero35 min
  2. 1.2The income statement40 min
  3. 1.3The balance sheet40 min
  4. 1.4The statement of cash flows45 min
  5. 1.5How the three statements link40 min

Module 2Books that hold up

The chart of accounts, cash and accrual bases, the month-end close and reconciliations: the routines that make statements trustworthy.

  1. 2.1Designing a chart of accounts30 min
  2. 2.2Cash basis and accrual basis35 min
  3. 2.3The month-end close40 min
  4. 2.4Reconciliations35 min

Module 3Costs and margins

How costs behave, contribution margin, break-even, job costing and overhead allocation, worked through a three-plumber company and a cafe menu.

  1. 3.1Fixed and variable costs35 min
  2. 3.2Contribution margin35 min
  3. 3.3Break-even and margin of safety35 min
  4. 3.4Job costing35 min
  5. 3.5Allocating overhead40 min

Planned modules

  • Module 4 Time value and investment decisionsCompounding and discounting, NPV, IRR, payback and its traps.
  • Module 5 Cash and working capitalThe cash conversion cycle, payment terms, a 13-week cash forecast and credit control.
  • Module 6 ValuationDCF, multiples, seller's discretionary earnings for small firms, and what moves value.
  • Module 7 Funding and capital structureDebt and equity, cost of capital, loan terms and covenants, leases.
  • Module 8 Reading other people's numbersRatio analysis, quality of earnings, red flags and reading an annual report.