Focus: Role of the bookkeeper, ethics, confidentiality, internal controls
Key Responsibility: Maintain accurate and ethical financial records
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This week introduces the foundational purpose and importance of bookkeeping within an organization. Students explore how bookkeepers support daily operations by accurately recording financial transactions, applying ethical standards, safeguarding confidential data, and following internal control procedures. Accuracy, integrity, and professionalism are emphasized as essential components of the bookkeeping role.
Purpose, role in the accounting cycle, importance of accuracy and timeliness.
Responsibilities including transaction recording, documentation, reconciliations, AP/AR support, and communication.
Principles of integrity, transparency, and avoiding conflicts of interest.
Protecting financial data, handling sensitive information, legal considerations.
Segregation of duties, approval workflows, audit trails, fraud prevention.
Students evaluate sample business documents and identify risks, missing controls, and responsibility assignments.
Teams analyze common ethical dilemmas (e.g., backdating transactions, confidentiality breaches) and propose solutions.
Students create a visual chart showing the flow of responsibilities: Bookkeeper → Accountant → Controller → CFO.
Students explain why accuracy and confidentiality are essential and describe two internal controls that protect financial data.
Define: bookkeeping, ethics, confidentiality, internal controls, audit trail, accuracy, integrity.
“Describe a real-world example of how a bookkeeping error or ethical lapse caused harm to a business. Could it have been prevented?”