Business · Diploma · 44 weeks (10 months) · Classroom or Online

Accounting & Payroll Administration

Manual and computerized accounting plus payroll administration — prepares you for accounting and payroll business applications specialist roles.

📚 3 modules📝 12 lessons🧪 12 labs📍 5 campuses

Home › Programs › Accounting & Payroll Administration

What you'll learn

Core topics

Financial accountingManagerial accountingPayroll complianceQuickBooks/SageExcelTax basicsBusiness mathBank reconciliation

Study guide

Modules & lessons

Work top to bottom — every lesson has an objective, curated resources, a hands-on lab, and a self-check.

Module 1 · Accounting Foundations Beginner 4 lessons ›

The Accounting Equation & Double-Entry

🎯 Apply Assets = Liabilities + Equity and record basic journal entries.

Every transaction touches at least two accounts: debits on the left, credits on the right. Debits increase assets and expenses; credits increase liabilities, equity, and revenue. The accounting equation (A = L + E) must always balance — it is the DNA of every ledger you will ever post.

Resources: Khan Academy: Accounting & financial statementsAccountingCoach.com (free lessons)

🧪 Lab: Write journal entries for 8 everyday transactions (owner investment, cash sale, purchase on account, rent payment).

✍️ Self-check question

If a company buys equipment on credit, which two accounts change and in which direction?

The Accounting Cycle: Journal to Trial Balance

🎯 Walk a transaction from source document to trial balance.

The accounting cycle: analyze source documents → journalize → post to the ledger → prepare an unadjusted trial balance → adjust → adjusted trial balance → financial statements → close. Each stage has a built-in check; the trial balance proving debits equal credits is your first error-catcher.

Resources: AccountingCoach: The Accounting Cycle

🧪 Lab: Build a mini general ledger in Excel for a 6-transaction business and produce a trial balance.

✍️ Self-check question

Why does a balanced trial balance not guarantee error-free books?

Financial Statements: Income Statement & Balance Sheet

🎯 Prepare simple financial statements from account balances.

The income statement shows performance over a period (revenue − expenses = net income). The balance sheet shows position at a point in time (assets, liabilities, equity). The cash flow statement explains the change in cash. Canadian small businesses report under ASPE; public companies use IFRS.

Resources: CPA Canada free resourcesKhan Academy: Financial statements

🧪 Lab: Prepare a one-page income statement and balance sheet from a 10-account trial balance.

✍️ Self-check question

Which statement answers 'can this business pay its bills next month'?

Bank Reconciliation & Cash Control

🎯 Reconcile a bank statement to the cash ledger.

Bank reconciliation matches your cash ledger to the bank statement: outstanding deposits, unpresented cheques, bank charges, and errors explain the difference. Strong cash controls (separation of duties, petty-cash vouchers, approvals) prevent fraud — employers test this skill in interviews.

Resources: AccountingCoach: Bank Reconciliation

🧪 Lab: Reconcile a sample statement with 3 outstanding cheques, 1 deposit in transit, and a $42 service charge.

✍️ Self-check question

Name two timing differences and two permanent differences in a bank rec.

Module 2 · Payroll Administration Intermediate 4 lessons ›

Payroll Basics: Gross to Net

🎯 Calculate gross pay, statutory deductions, and net pay.

Gross pay starts from salary or hourly × hours (overtime in Ontario is 1.5× after 44 hours/week). Statutory deductions: CPP contributions, EI premiums, and income tax. Net pay = gross − deductions − other withholdings (benefits, pension, union dues). Employers remit these to CRA on a set schedule.

Resources: CRA: Payroll deductions basicsOntario ESA: hours of work & overtime

🧪 Lab: Compute gross-to-net for an employee earning $22/hour for 46 hours with standard deductions (use CRA's PDOC).

✍️ Self-check question

What are the three statutory deductions every Canadian employer must withhold?

CPP, EI & Income Tax Withholding

🎯 Explain how each statutory deduction is calculated and remitted.

CPP: 5.95% of pensionable earnings (both employee and employer, above the $3,500 exemption, up to the YMPE). EI: employee 1.66% / employer 1.4× that, up to maximum insurable earnings. Income tax uses CRA claim codes from the TD1 form. Rates change January 1 — payroll staff always verify current-year tables.

Resources: CRA T4032 Payroll Deductions TablesCRA PDOC online calculator

🧪 Lab: Using CRA tables, find the CPP and EI for $1,200 of biweekly pensionable/insurable earnings.

✍️ Self-check question

What form tells the employer how much tax to withhold, and what is a claim code?

Records of Employment & T4s

🎯 Issue ROEs and prepare year-end T4 slips.

A Record of Employment is issued within 5 days of an interruption of earnings — Service Canada uses it for EI claims. At year-end, employers file T4 slips (employment income, CPP, EI, tax deducted) and a T4 Summary by the last day of February. Errors here trigger CRA pensionable-earnings reviews.

Resources: Service Canada: ROE WebCRA: T4 – Information for employers

🧪 Lab: Fill a mock T4 for an employee with $41,600 salary, given CPP/EI/tax totals.

✍️ Self-check question

When must an ROE be issued, and what is the T4 filing deadline?

Payroll Compliance & Provincial Rules

🎯 Apply Ontario ESA minimums and employer obligations.

Payroll sits on top of employment standards: minimum wage, vacation pay (4%+ in Ontario), public holiday pay, and leaves. Employers must keep records for years, remit source deductions on time (penalties escalate fast), and register for WSIB coverage. Compliance mistakes are the #1 audit trigger for small businesses.

Resources: Ontario ESA guideCRA payroll penalties page

🧪 Lab: Calculate vacation pay at 4% and 6% for a $38,000 salary employee.

✍️ Self-check question

List four employer obligations beyond paying net wages.

Module 3 · Computerized Accounting & Career Skills Professional 4 lessons ›

QuickBooks Online: Setup to Reports

🎯 Set up a company file and produce core reports.

Computerized accounting starts with the chart of accounts, opening balances, customers/vendors, and items. Daily work: invoices, bills, bank feeds, reconciliations. Month-end: adjusting entries, then reports — P&L, balance sheet, A/R and A/P aging. QuickBooks Online and Sage 50 dominate Canadian small-business hiring ads.

Resources: QuickBooks free tutorials (Intuit Academy)Sage University free courses

🧪 Lab: In QBO (or the free trial), create a company, enter 5 invoices, and run an A/R aging report.

✍️ Self-check question

What does the A/R aging report tell a credit manager?

Excel for Accounting

🎯 Use formulas, tables, and pivot tables for accounting work.

Excel is the accountant's second language: SUMIF/SUMIFS for category totals, XLOOKUP for matching, pivot tables for instant subledgers, and absolute references for clean models. Professional habits: one source table, no hardcoded numbers inside formulas, and a checks row that proves the sheet balances.

Resources: Microsoft Learn: ExcelExcelJet formula examples

🧪 Lab: Build a pivot table summarizing 60 rows of expenses by month and category.

✍️ Self-check question

Why should totals in a reconciliation sheet use formulas, not typed numbers?

Job-Ready: Resume, Interview & Workplace Communication

🎯 Present your skills and pass a practical accounting test.

Employers shortlist on keywords (QuickBooks, payroll, bank rec, Excel) and verify with practical tests — expect a timed journal-entry or reconciliation exercise. Interview stories should follow STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result). At work, accuracy and confidentiality beat speed; a payroll error is someone's rent.

Resources: Job Bank Canada resume guideIndeed: payroll clerk interview questions

🧪 Lab: Draft three STAR stories: an error you caught, a deadline you met, a process you improved.

✍️ Self-check question

What two skills do most entry-level accounting job posts list first?

Program Review & Capstone

🎯 Integrate accounting and payroll in one full-cycle case.

The capstone runs a full month for a fictional services company: transactions → ledger → trial balance → adjustments → statements, plus a two-person payroll with remittances and a bank rec. This mirrors the practical tests used by staffing agencies. Finish it and you can honestly say you have done the job once already.

Resources: Your completed Module 1–2 labs

🧪 Lab: Complete the full-cycle case study and self-mark with the checklist.

✍️ Self-check question

Which step in the full cycle catches the most errors, and why?

Test yourself

Program quiz

🧠 Accounting & Payroll Administration — knowledge check

Instant scoring · progress saved on your device · retake anytime

💼

Career outcomes

Accounting ClerkPayroll AdministratorBookkeeperAccounts Payable/Receivable ClerkPayroll & Benefits Coordinator

📍

Where it's offered

Toronto · Hamilton · London · Scarborough · Calgary

View campuses →

Stuck on Accounting & Payroll Administration?

Ask the AI tutor — it knows this program's lessons, labs, and career paths.

💬 Ask the tutor about this program Next: Business Administration →