Educational management templates · Hypothetical USD example · Updated 10 November 2026. Not audited accounts, a tax computation or a complete IFRS reporting package.
01
Receivables · Who owes you?
Keep customer name, invoice reference, invoice date, due date, original amount, credit notes, receipts and outstanding balance. Group overdue balances consistently, for example not due, 1–30, 31–60, 61–90 and over 90 days. Do not confuse invoice age with days overdue. Investigate disputes, expected losses and unapplied receipts. Agree net receivables to the financial position statement.
02
Payables · Who must you pay?
Keep supplier name, reference, dates, invoice amount, credits, payments and closing balance. Reconcile supplier statements and investigate goods received without an invoice. Separate deposits paid from unpaid purchase invoices. Prioritise by contractual due date and operational importance, while maintaining a realistic cash plan. Reconcile the total to the payable control account.
03
Inventory · What remains on hand?
Record item code, location, units, unit cost and counted quantity. Reconcile opening quantity + receipts − issues to the physical count. Investigate shortages instead of quietly changing the balance. Identify damaged, expired or slow-moving stock and apply the required valuation treatment. Separate goods held for others. The teaching workbook uses aggregate purchase and stock values; it does not replace an item-level stock system.
04
Assets · What supports future trading?
For each asset record description, reference, cost, available-for-use date, residual value, useful life, depreciation method, accumulated depreciation, disposals and impairment. Simple straight-line annual depreciation is (cost − residual value) ÷ useful life, adjusted appropriately for timing. An assumed full-year charge in a teaching model should not override the actual in-service date.
05
Loans · Separate principal and interest
Record lender, contract currency, opening principal, new borrowing, principal paid, closing principal, interest, fees, repayment dates, security and covenant conditions. Closing principal = opening principal + new borrowing − principal repayments, adjusted for any other relevant changes. Reconcile to the lender’s statement. The example’s 1,000 interest is an input, not an implied quoted market interest rate.
06
Bank reconciliation · Explain differences
Start with the bank statement and cashbook at the same date. Identify bank fees, direct receipts, unpresented payments, deposits in transit and errors. Update the cashbook for genuine unrecorded transactions. Show remaining timing items separately and follow them up. Reconcile each currency and wallet individually. Transfers between business accounts should appear on both sides without becoming sales.
07
Tax, payroll and owner balances
Maintain tax computations and payment evidence separately from the teaching statements. Reconcile payroll gross amounts, deductions, employer obligations and net payments. Reconcile owner or director accounts to documented transactions. Do not assume an expense is tax-deductible simply because it appears in accounting profit. Confirm current obligations with ZIMRA and a qualified adviser.
08
Keep an audit trail
Use stable references and preserve the original evidence. Record who prepared and reviewed adjustments. Save a locked monthly copy before reopening figures, restrict access and back up records securely. A lender or accountant should be able to trace a material total from the statement to its schedule and then to the source document.
Put this lesson into practice
Open the workbook, trace each related total and explain the result in your own words. Then identify the evidence you would need for your own business.
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