Booksmrt research library
Follow the money. Understand the books.
Reconcile a bank account, investigate a falling margin, or find the week cash runs short. Work through the records, change the assumptions, and see why the answer moves.
8
worked bookkeeping guides
Real source captures. Clearly labeled practice records. Calculations you can repeat and decisions you can explain.
Primary sources
Every factual guide is built on current government or standards-setting material, linked at claim and page level.
Reperformable data
Worked records disclose their assumptions and arithmetic. Illustrative data is labeled; private client data is never repurposed.
Visible evidence
Source-page captures, original figures, tables, methods, review dates, and limits stay on the page instead of hiding in metadata.
The library
What are you trying to understand?
Choose a question below. Each guide follows a different set of records, with source notes and clear limits on what the example proves.
worked analysis
02
Cash vs. accrual accounting, shown in one messy month
See how the same invoices, collections, bills, and payments produce different monthly results under cash and accrual accounting without changing total economics.
control manual
03
The small-business recordkeeping system: evidence before software
Design a recordkeeping system that connects receipts, invoices, payroll, assets, bank activity, journals, ledgers, and returns without relying on a single app.
field guide
04
From receipt to financial statement: build the audit trail
Follow one vendor purchase through intake, approval, the journal, ledger, trial balance, income statement, and payment reconciliation without losing context.
worked analysis
05
How to investigate a profit-and-loss statement
Interrogate a six-month P&L with trend, margin, cutoff, classification, and cash tests instead of merely comparing this month with last month.
worked analysis
06
Build a 13-week cash-flow forecast that survives contact with the bank
Create a rolling direct-method cash forecast from opening cash, dated receipts, committed payments, payroll, taxes, debt, and explicit uncertainty.
control manual
07
Payroll liability reconciliation: from gross pay to tax deposit
Tie a payroll register to cash, employee withholding, employer taxes, tax deposits, filed returns, and the general ledger with a reproducible rollforward.
control manual
08
The contractor year-end file: W-9 to 1099 without a December scramble
Build a contractor evidence file that starts before first payment, tracks reportable-payment review, protects taxpayer data, and reconciles to the ledger.