7 practice workbooks that teach bookkeeping the way you actually learn it: a one-page map, a real small-business case solved step by step, then exercises with full solutions. 300+ exercises, 60 cases and 100 maps, so you can do the books for a salon, a food van or a cleaning business for a little extra income from home.
“I was never a maths fan at school or ever.”
“I wish there were more examples and practice questions (with more detailed explanation on the case)”
A small business typically pays its bookkeeper around £200 a month, and catching up a year of neglected books can run into the thousands. The work itself is the same every month: categorise, reconcile the bank, run payroll, send a one-page report. No degree or qualification is needed for bookkeeping (just a simple online anti-money-laundering registration with HMRC), and all of it fits on a laptop at your kitchen table.
“It was a lot of relevant theory, just wished there was more hands on practice.”
A bookkeeping student · Coursera review of a popular bookkeeping course
The rates shown are indicative examples only, not quotes or guarantees. Rates are examples and vary by area and client.
None of this is a maths problem. It’s a practice problem, and this kit is built to fix it.
Every local business has a year-end to close and records to get ready for the 31 January Self Assessment deadline and hand numbers to whoever does its tax return. The ones who put it off all year start asking around right now.
Enough evenings to work through the first workbooks, and be the person who says “I can help with that” when someone asks.
That’s how theory turns into something you can do for a client, chapter after chapter.
Every chapter opens with a visual map and the rule on a single page. No walls of text, just what you need to know before you start.
A real kind of small business, a salon, a food van, a cleaning service, worked step by step with real numbers and the “why” behind every entry.
Do the exercises on your own, then compare with the full solution. Every entry balances to the penny, so you always know if you got it right.
Each one is worked out inside, with a real case and its full solution. These are the jobs owners ask for.
Monthly books for a hair salonMonthly packages from about £175
Bank reconciliation for a food vanUsually part of the monthly package
Payroll for a cleaning teamPayroll add-on: about £35 + £5 per employee
VAT on marketplace sales for an online shopUsually part of the monthly package
A shoebox of receipts for a handymanCatch-up: about £100–£350 per month behind
Month-end entries for a home childminderMonthly packages: about £175–£850Indicative example rates only. Not a promise of what you will charge or earn. Rates depend on your area, your clients and the work.
For youYour own household numbers, your partner’s business, the village hall treasurer job nobody wants. You finally understand what the numbers are telling you.
For extra incomeMonthly books, catch-up clean-ups and payroll for the businesses on your own street, from your kitchen table. Start with one client who already knows you, and see where it goes.
These are real pages from the kit: a one-page map, a worked case, a bank reconciliation and a double-entry journal page. Every number on them ties out to the penny.
Open the kit, work through the first chapter and check your answers. If it isn’t for you, send one email within 7 days and we’ll refund you in full. No forms, no hard feelings.
They were exactly where you are, sure they weren’t “numbers people”.
Jenny ›
Claire ›
Gemma ›
Open Workbook 1. Read the map, follow the hair salon case, then do the first exercises and check every answer. By the end, you know which side every entry goes on.
Workbook 2 hands you a real-looking bank statement and a cashbook that don’t match. You find the difference, line by line, until it ties to the penny.
Categorise a month for the burger van, close it with the checklist and build its P&L. Most chapters take an evening, and your first one is allowed to take longer.
Open the First Client Kit: what to offer, how to price it and the message for the people who already know you. Then pick the next workbook.
That’s it. One week, your first month closed, and the words “I can help with your books” don’t scare you anymore.
From your first debit to the first monthly report a client reads, and a little extra income from home.
The journal and the ledger, bank reconciliations, debtors and creditors, VAT charged and paid, and Making Tax Digital records. The work every small client needs every month.

Payslips from gross to net with 2026/27 figures, Class 4 National Insurance and payments on account, and what changes when the business is a limited company or an LLP. Every case solved with real numbers.

How to read the statements you build, the ratios that tell an owner how she’s really doing, and the one-page monthly report clients actually read.

The whole kit in 100 one-page maps to print and pin above your desk. Then three timed tests with answer keys, so you know you’re ready before your first client.

Type in the numbers and the spreadsheet does the maths: gross to net, the payment on account, the bank reconciliation and VAT due. Check your work in seconds.

What to offer, how to price it, the engagement letter, the onboarding checklist and 25 templates in Word. Plus every date that matters to a small business, month by month, for 2027.

What people say when they start doing books from home.

“I used to feel so intimidated by finances.”
A bookkeeping student · Coursera review
“There is great satisfaction in turning a huge mountain of paperwork into some organised files.”
A home bookkeeper · Mumsnet
“My initial goal was to make enough money to pay for the weekly shop.”
A stay-at-home mum turned bookkeeper · Bookkeepers.com
“At first, I was scared of networking groups. But they're fantastic.”
A new bookkeeper · Bookkeepers.com
“I find it an ideal job to work around school hours.”
A home bookkeeper · Mumsnet
“If one of my kids is poorly, I can spend the whole day with them.”
A mum who keeps books from home · Bookkeepers.com
“The pride my children have in what I do is an unexpected highlight.”
A bookkeeper and mum · Bookkeepers.comNo. Workbook 1 starts from zero: what a debit is, what a credit is and why every entry has both. Each chapter opens with a one-page map, then a solved case, then exercises with full solutions.
Bookkeeping is adding, subtracting and putting things in the right place. If you can check a bank statement, you can do this. The hard part is knowing where things go, and that’s what the cases and solutions show you.
No. In the UK, bookkeeping doesn’t require a degree or qualification. You do register with HMRC for anti-money-laundering supervision, a simple online step, and Workbook 5 walks you through it.
Yes. Payroll, Self Assessment and the tax calendar use 2026/27 tax-year figures, and each workbook lists the HMRC guidance every number comes from.
No. You learn the bookkeeping itself, on paper and in the spreadsheets, so it works with QuickBooks, Xero, Sage or a simple spreadsheet. Software changes; debits and credits don’t.
There are, and that’s where the evenings go. Ten minutes on one topic, no real case and no answers to check. Here every topic goes map, case, practice, solution, in order.
The First Client Kit walks you through it: who to talk to first (people who already know you), what to offer, how to price it and the exact message to send. Most people start with one small business they already know.
We can’t promise any amount. It depends on your hours, your prices and your clients. The First Client Kit shows how to price your work, and the rates on this page are indicative examples that vary by area and client, not promises. Results are not guaranteed.
PDF workbooks you can read on your phone, tablet or computer or print at home, Excel calculators and Word templates. Nothing is posted.
Right after you pay, you get an email to open your library. Everything is there, ready to read, download and print.
For life. Read it at your own pace and come back to any workbook whenever a client brings you something new.
No. It’s a set of practice workbooks, so you learn by doing: you read the map, follow the case and do the exercises with the solution right there.
No. It’s educational material that teaches bookkeeping. For a specific tax or legal question, a client should talk to a qualified professional.
Yes. Checkout is secure, access arrives by email the moment you pay, and you’re covered for 7 days.
Your purchase is covered for 7 days. Open the kit, work through a chapter, and if it isn’t for you, send us one email and we’ll refund you in full.