Financial Record Keeping

- Hi, I'm Jim Stice, I'm a Professor of Accounting at Brigham Young University. This is my brother, Kay. - I am also a Professor of Accounting at Brigham Young University. - We have been studying bookkeeping and financial recordkeeping since way back in our high school days. - Trust me, that represents many, many, many years of experience with financial recordkeeping. - Now, in our younger days, we even worked as bookkeepers in both old fashioned paper-based systems and modern computerized systems. - And we've been teaching accounting to undergraduate students for a combined total of almost 70 years now.

- Now, in this course, we will teach you about the importance of financial recordkeeping. - We will show you how to construct a set of forecast and financial statements as part of a quantitative business plan. - [Jim] We will also show you how even the most rudimentary financial records, handwritten notes on a piece of paper, can improve your business operations and make your decision making process better. - [Kay] We will talk about the central role of income tax reporting in setting the foundation for financial recordkeeping in small businesses. - [Jim] We will explain the pivotal role that financial records play in attracting financing from banks and from potential investors and partners.

- [Kay] And we will also emphasize the importance of healthy skepticism in interpreting financial reports, especially when those reports have not been audited. - [Jim] Finally, we will illustrate the importance of financial records in support of the purchase or sale of a small business, particularly in the setting of the purchase price. - Now we've designed this financial recordkeeping course to be self-contained and we carefully explain any terminology that we use. - In short, this is an introductory course with no prior accounting knowledge required. - So let's learn about financial recordkeeping, the processes, and the reports.