As a founder you have many different roles, and one of the most important is being the accountant and managing business finances. 

While you may have a fantastic idea for your start-up, your business will never reach its full potential without strong financial accounting, budgeting and forecasting at its foundation.

You might be able to outsource this eventually, but it’s important to understand the basic principles in order to assess the health of your business and plan for the future.

Thankfully, you don’t need a master’s degree in accounting in order to achieve this. 

The basics of accounting are simple and can easily be applied to your business. In fact, you can get started right now with the video below.

In this video, business expert John Stewart breaks down the basics of accounting for you. 

John’s years of experience have left him to notice patterns of businesses succumbing to issues exacerbated by a lack of financial information or understanding of financial issues. 

He firmly believes that the key to becoming a successful entrepreneur is an understanding of the basics of accounting and cash flow. 

The topics covered in this session include:

1. The balance sheet

2. The profit and loss account

3. Accrual accounting (taking care of cash vs profit)

After this session you’ll be able to understand a balance sheet and identify where the cash is, how much you need to pay and when and even predict your company’s next return and start making better, more informed decisions about your business.