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Beginner Free Plan

The 12-Week Beginner Bookkeeper Study Plan

Day-by-day tasks extracted and organized from a professional bookkeeping training framework. 45–90 minutes/day, 4–6 days/week. From zero to first client in 12 weeks.

📅 Get the Full Plan as a PDF

Complete 12-week daily task checklist PDF + study planner. Free download.

How to use this plan: Average 45–90 minutes per day, 4–6 days per week. If you miss a day — just continue from the next unchecked item. No catching up, no guilt. Slower is better than stopping.

🟦 Week 1 — Accounting Basics

⏱ 5–7 hours total · Use AccountingCoach Basics + Investopedia

Day 1
Learn: What bookkeeping is vs accounting · Why businesses need bookkeeping · Write (1 paragraph): "What does a bookkeeper actually do?"
Day 2
Learn: Assets, Liabilities, Equity · Income vs Expenses · Say out loud: "An asset is ___ because ___."
Day 3
Learn: Double-entry accounting · Debits vs credits (conceptually) · Practice: Describe one transaction with two sides
Day 4
Learn: Cash vs Accrual accounting · Identify which small businesses prefer cash basis · Write 3 bullet takeaways
Day 5 (Review)
Re-read notes · Explain basics to an imaginary client · ✅ Week 1 complete

🟦 Week 2 — Financial Statements

⏱ 5–7 hours · AccountingCoach financial statements section

Day 1
Learn: Profit & Loss statement · Identify: Revenue, expenses, net income · Explain P&L in plain English
Day 2
Learn: Balance Sheet · Understand: Assets = Liabilities + Equity · Draw a simple balance sheet by hand
Day 3
Learn: Cash Flow Statement · Operating vs financing vs investing · Answer: Why profit ≠ cash?
Day 4
Learn: How all 3 statements connect · Trace profit flowing to equity · Explain connection out loud
Day 5
Review all 3 statements · ✅ Week 2 complete

🟦 Week 3 — QuickBooks Setup & Navigation

⏱ 6–8 hours · Open your QBO test company

Day 1
Open QuickBooks Online test company · Explore dashboard · Click every menu (no fear)
Day 2
Learn: Company settings · Set business info · Review accounting settings
Day 3
Learn: Chart of Accounts · Create/edit accounts · Understand account types
Day 4
Learn: Products & Services setup · Add sample service items · Connect to Chart of Accounts
Day 5
Review navigation · Open every tab · ✅ Week 3 complete. You're comfortable in QBO.

🟦 Week 4 — Customers, Vendors & Transactions

⏱ 6–10 hours

Day 1
Learn: Customers vs vendors · Add 3 test customers, 3 vendors
Day 2
Learn: Sales receipts vs invoices · Create each type for a test client
Day 3
Learn: Bills vs expenses · Enter test bills and expenses
Day 4
Learn: Bank feeds · Connect a test bank feed or manually enter transactions
Day 5
Match bank feed transactions · Explain why you categorize something, not just where

🟦 Week 5 — Monthly Bookkeeping Workflow

⏱ 5–8 hours

Day 1
Learn: Monthly close concept · What gets done every month · Why it matters
Day 2
Learn: Categorization rules in QBO · Create 5 automation rules
Day 3–5
Simulate a full month: import transactions → categorize → review → run reports. Repeat until it feels natural.

🟦 Week 6 — Bank Reconciliations (Confidence Jump)

⏱ 4–6 hours · Most people feel "I can actually do this" here

Day 1
Learn: Why reconciliation matters · Common issues · Timing differences
Day 2
Reconcile 1 bank account in your test company
Day 3
Reconcile 1 credit card
Day 4
Break a reconciliation intentionally → fix it. This is where confidence builds.
Day 5
✅ You can reconcile without guessing. This is the confidence milestone.

Weeks 7–12 (Get the Full PDF)

📅Week 7: Financial reports — deep understanding + client explanations
📅Week 8: Messy real-world books — fix errors, handle complexity
📅Week 9: Client onboarding process — checklist + mock practice
📅Week 10: Full cycle practice — you're service-ready after this
📅Week 11: First outreach to potential clients
📅Week 12: First paying client + official working bookkeeper status
Get Weeks 7–12 as PDF →