Bookkeeping Resources: 45+ Courses, Tools, Sites, and More!

Bookkeeping is challenging because every business has its own unique needs. Whether you're working from home or in an office, one of the biggest hurdles of bookkeeping is finding the support or resources you need to help you overcome the obstacle you just encountered while doing your books.

Here, we have put together the “best of everything bookkeeping” to help save you some time. From bookkeeping resources for beginners to more advanced topics for seasoned pros. Bookmark this article so you no longer have to spend hours searching the web for bookkeeping resources while you're in the middle of writing your books.

Best books on bookkeeping

There is a large assortment of accounting books on the market. Some are purely text-based, and some feature more of a workbook format. Ideally, it's good to have a mix of the two so that you can actively practice the concepts.

1. Accounting QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner's Guide to Financial & Managerial Accounting For Students, Business Owners, and Finance Professionals by Josh Bauerle, CPA

This book caters to a diverse audience, from accounting students to small business owners or finance professionals. Through practical bookkeeping examples and relevant, real-world scenarios, you'll grasp the fundamental principles of financial and managerial accounting, control cash flow, and boost your profits.

2. Accounting Made Simple: Accounting Explained in 100 Pages or Less by Mike Piper, CPA

This very intuitive and comprehensive accounting book covers the accounting equation, generating financial statements, calculating financial ratios, depreciation & amortization expenses, cost of goods sold, inventory, and cash versus accrual.

3. The Accounting Game: Learn the Basics of Financial Accounting by Darrell Mullis and Judith Orloff

This book will take you back to your childhood. The bookkeeping examples included in this book make accounting seem less intimidating by simplifying the principles and equating them to running a lemonade stand.

4. Accounting for Non-Accountants: Financial Accounting Made Simple for Beginners by Wayne Label

Looking for a resource that lends itself to bookkeeping for beginners? This is an excellent book for those who need to gain accounting experience. It covers financial statements, cash flow, budgets, ratios, and audits.

5. Accounting for Small Business Owners by Tycho Press

This is an excellent book for teaching basic accounting to those looking to start their own small business. It covers setting up and running a business, managing and selling products and services, and generating month-end financial statements.

Best bookkeeping blogs

Several valuable online blogs will answer your bookkeeping questions, teach you basic and complex accounting principles, and keep you up-to-date on bookkeeping and accounting topics.

6. Accounting Coach

Accounting Coach is a unique blog by Harold Averkamp. He has created his blog around a comprehensive curriculum based on accounting concepts and tutorials, making it a valuable resource for those seeking in-depth knowledge and understanding of bookkeeping.

7. 5minutebookkeeping.com

Veronica Wasek simplifies complex accounting concepts and offers bookkeeping tips in her short and succinct blogs. Each blog also includes a video tutorial. Here, you can learn just about anything in 5 minutes or less.

8. Dancing Accountant

Nancy McClelland is known as “The Dancing Accountant.” Her blogs cover taxes, accounting, and bookkeeping tips and resources.

9. Bookkeepers.com

Ben Robinson's blogs cover sales, marketing, pricing, and basic bookkeeping skills. Bookkeepers.com is an excellent blog for anyone who is starting a small business.

10. Accounting Department.com

Various bloggers contribute to Accounting Department.com. Topics include bookkeeping workflow procedures, billing, job costing, identifying discrepancies, and treating certain transactions.

Best bookkeeping paid courses

Many companies offer online bookkeeping courses to prepare you for a career in finance. They will teach you everything you need to know to become a professional bookkeeper; some even offer certification upon course completion.

11. NACPB Online Bookkeeping Classes

NACPB is a very structured bookkeeping course that lasts 13 weeks and has one weekly session. The course comprises video lectures, bookkeeping, worksheets, quizzes, and textbook lessons.

12. U.S. Career Institute

The Distance Education Accrediting Commission accredits the U.S. Career Institute and offers personalized coaching. This course covers tax accounting, economics, business law, small business management, and accounting principles.

13. Udemy

Udemy offers Online Bookkeeping Classes is a structured 13-week course with one weekly session. It comprises video lectures, bookkeeping, worksheets, quizzes, and textbook lessons, providing a comprehensive learning experience for those aspiring to become professional bookkeepers with a wide range of detailed bookkeeping classes taught by experienced instructors. The courses are designed in a user-friendly format, typically consisting of videos divided into different sections. With a mobile app available, learning bookkeeping has never been more accessible.

14. Skillshare

Skillshare offers a highly-rated selection of bookkeeping courses. They provide an introductory course on bookkeeping, a class on starting a bookkeeping business, bookkeeping for small businesses, and courses using specific accounting tools.

15. Penn Foster Bookkeeping Course Review

Penn Foster's bookkeeping course is an online self-study course. The course comprises text-based material, video lectures, and different support options from instructors and other students.

Best free bookkeeping courses

Just because a course is free doesn't mean it lacks value or quality. Plenty of free bookkeeping courses are offered online that will help you kickstart a career in bookkeeping.

16. AccountingCoach

AccountingCoach offers self-paced courses on bookkeeping fundamentals. The free version provides text-based material and quizzes at the end of each section. Although they offer free classes, they also have two paid options. This is an excellent free option for learning bookkeeping.

17. OpenLearn University

OpenLearn University focuses on double-entry bookkeeping and generating financial statements. It's a self-paced course, but students do not have access to an instructor. In addition to the fundamental bookkeeping course, they offer instruction in business accounting, risk management, and liquidity management.

18. edX

edX offers self-paced courses through the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Their courses include introductory bookkeeping, intermediate bookkeeping, and management accounting.

19. Alison

Alison offers a large selection of free bookkeeping courses. These include business accounting, payroll, and double-entry bookkeeping. The classes. Focus on recording business transactions, classifying transactions, and analyzing business performance. 

20. Oxford Home Study Centre

The Oxford Home Study Centre offers self-paced courses covering payroll, inventory, journals, assets, liabilities, equity, and different accounting methods.

Best bookkeeping YouTube channels

If you're a visual learner, YouTube is a great resource for accounting lessons and lectures. The following channels offer the best educational videos and instructors.

21. Farhat's Accounting Lectures

This channel simplifies complex accounting concepts so that they're easily understood. Topics covered include profitability ratios, consolidation accounting, accounts payable, payroll taxes, and business law.

22. CPA Strength

This channel is from the perspective of a CPA who had a tough time with accounting when he started. In his channel, he tries to make it easier for those pursuing a financial career by simplifying the more complex principles of accounting.

23. Accounting Stuff

Accounting Stuff also lays a solid foundation of basic accounting principles for more advanced study. This is a great channel for those new to accounting since they break down the most basic accounting concepts.

24. Else Grech Accounting

This channel is a little more technical and offers a more in-depth approach to accounting. Else Grech covers topics such as ethics in managerial accounting, activity-based costing, preferred share dividends, and materiality.

25. Bench Accounting

The Bench Accounting channel hosts a weekly Q&A series where individuals get to ask a tax advisor their tax questions. Other popular videos include guides on bookkeeping and accounting topics and other helpful knowledge for small business owners.

Best bookkeeping podcasts

Podcasts have risen in popularity over the last several years. Bookkeeping podcasts are no exception. Here are some “best of the best” to listen to.

26. Cloud Accounting Podcast

The Cloud Accounting Podcast is among the most popular among bookkeeping and accounting professionals. Hosted by Blake Oliver and David Leary, it focuses mainly on progressive bookkeeping, including the latest trends and the future of the bookkeeping profession.

27. The Successful Bookkeeper

This podcast focuses on building your business and career as a business owner and successful bookkeeper. Michael Palmer's podcast offers listeners plenty of encouragement and secrets to success.

28. Earmark Podcast

Earmark Podcast is a relatively new channel hosted by Blake Oliver. It is a good continuing education channel for accounting professionals, and you can even earn CPE credit.

29. I Love Bookkeeping

This podcast consists of a community of bookkeeping professionals offering advice on accounting and bookkeeping in small businesses. It is a great podcast for those already in the business or those just looking to start out.

30. Lydia G. Miller, MBA

While outsourcing your bookkeeping is acceptable in the accounting industry, it's also essential to understand it from a small business owner's perspective. Lydia G. Miller covers DIY bookkeeping and outsourcing.

Best bookkeeping forums

If it takes a village to raise a child, then it's fair to say it takes a community to support an accountant or bookkeeper. Online forums are a valuable resource for bookkeepers looking to bounce ideas off each other and gain expertise.

31. Reddit Accounting

Reddit Accounting is a great resource for discussing obstacles that you run up against as a bookkeeper. This forum covers anything from informal bookkeeping chats to professional learning topics.

32. Accountant Forums

Accountant Forums is a great place to find the answers to technical bookkeeping questions. The site is divided between conversations about accounting and conversations about taxes.

33. AccountingWeb

AccountingWeb is set up with a somewhat different format than most forums. Bookkeepers and accountants can submit their posts and watch them play out in real time with other CPAs discussing the post in the comment section.

34. Proformative

Proformative is a popular forum for accountants, bookkeepers, and financial professionals to discuss financial topics such as cash management, technology, etc. They also offer live CPE-accredited webinars.

35. Intuit ProConnect

Intuit ProConnect started as a support group for Intuit products but has expanded into a great resource for general small business accounting and bookkeeping questions.

Best free websites on bookkeeping topics

While there are a lot of articles online dealing with accounting and bookkeeping topics, not all of them are free. Some free articles provide insight into bookkeeping, accounting, and how to run a successful small business.

36. Accounting Today

Accounting Today is a trade magazine that has been around for many years. A paid subscription is necessary for full access to the magazine, but the free account allows you to read most of the financial articles.

37. 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants publishes 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy. This free bookkeeping resource is geared toward the general public, but its general articles on money management are useful for bookkeepers and accountants.

38. Insightful Accountant

Insightful Accountant is geared toward bookkeepers and accountants. It provides the latest software updates, a “Niche Market” section for industry-specific bookkeeping, and an education hub on its website. The digital magazine is free.

39. Journal of Accountancy

The Journal of Accountancy, an affiliate of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, has many free and valuable articles on accounting and bookkeeping on its website.

40. The CPA Journal

The CPA Journal is a technical publication for accountants or anyone in the financial profession. It is highly respected and recognized internationally and covers various financial topics relevant to small businesses.

Best bookkeeping tools

Our bookkeeping resources list would not be complete without listing tools to simplify your life as a bookkeeper. Because the right bookkeeping tools can lend themselves to a more efficient process.

41. Shoeboxed - ideal for small business owners looking for the best expense management tool

Shoeboxed is a receipt and expense tracking app that saves you time, money, and frustration. It will help you maximize your tax deductions and get reimbursed quickly.

Shoeboxed has been voted as the best receipt scanner app for tax season by Hubspot and given the Trusted Vendor and Quality Choice awards by Crozdesk.

Mobile app

Users can scan receipts with their mobile device, and Shoeboxed's app uploads them to your designated Shoeboxed account.

The Magic Envelope

If you don’t have time to scan your receipts, you can outsource the scanning to Shoeboxed by filling a prepaid Magic Envelope with a batch of receipts and mailing them to Shoeboxed’s processing facility to be scanned, human-verified, and uploaded into your account.

Shoeboxed is the only receipt scanner app that will handle both your paper receipts and your digital receipts—saving customers up to 9.2 hours per week from manual data entry!

Organizes and categorizes

Once receipts are uploaded, Shoeboxed extracts expense data using OCR technology and categorizes it. This makes it easy to track project-specific expenses, which is critical for engineering firms that manage multiple projects simultaneously.

This also allows users to create custom tags to categorize expenses by project or client for better financial tracking and reporting.

Expense tracking and reporting

Shoeboxed generates customizable expense reports to show spending patterns to help with budgeting and financial planning.

Receipts are stored in an IRS-accepted format so tax preparation is simplified and tax compliance is ensured.

Integrates with accounting software

Shoeboxed integrates with popular accounting software like QuickBooks, Xero and Wave so all expense data is synced automatically. This reduces manual data entry and increases accuracy.

Free sub-users

With a Shoeboxed account, users can add unlimited free sub-users so colleagues and accountants can access Shoeboxed and work on bookkeeping and accounting tasks.

Different levels of access and permissions can be set for each user so financial data is protected.

The app scans your receipts, organizes the receipts, and creates expense reports which significantly reduces the time spent on expense tracking and management.

42. QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks offers many accounting tools in one package. The software includes dashboards with financial data, customizable financial reports, an online payment processor, and an invoice generator.

43. Gusto

Gusto is a payroll accounting tool with many extra features. In addition to the standard payroll features, you can enroll in health benefit plans, manage human resources, and manage retirement plans.

44. TSheets

If you're looking for one of the best time-tracking tools, TSheets is everything you need and more. Timesheets can be tracked from anywhere at any time and integrated with QuickBooks Online or Xero.

45. Expensify

Expensify automates the process of recording expenses. Expensify will take a snapshot of your receipt, categorize it as a business expense, code it, and automatically report it. It also features a rapid automatic reimbursement system.

Frequently asked questions 

Are there any free bookkeeping courses I can do at my own pace?

There are many free bookkeeping courses available, such as AccountingCoach, OpenLearn University, and edX, that you can take at your own pace.

Are there any apps that serve as bookkeeping tools?

Shoeboxed is an app that scans and organizes receipts and turns them into expense reports for reimbursements and tax deductions.

In conclusion

There are many valuable bookkeeping resources if you know where to look. Hopefully, this list will save you the trouble of spending a lot of time looking for the right one.

Caryl Ramsey has years of experience assisting in different aspects of bookkeeping, taxes, and customer service. She uses a variety of accounting software for setting up client information, reconciling accounts, coding expenses, running financial reports, and preparing tax returns. She is also experienced in setting up corporations with the State Corporation Commission and the IRS.

About Shoeboxed!

Shoeboxed is a receipt scanning service with receipt management software that supports multiple methods for receipt capture: send, scan, upload, forward, and more!

You can stuff your receipts into one of our Magic Envelopes (prepaid postage within the US). Use our receipt tracker + receipt scanner app (iPhone, iPad and Android) to snap a picture while on the go. Auto-import receipts from Gmail. Or forward a receipt to your designated Shoeboxed email address.

Turn your receipts into data and deductibles with our expense reports that include IRS-accepted receipt images.

Join over 1 million businesses scanning & organizing receipts, creating expense reports and more—with Shoeboxed.

Try Shoeboxed today!