Business

Accounting & Payroll Administration

Manual and computerized accounting and payroll systems; prepares for accounting/payroll administration careers.

⏱ Diploma · ~44 weeks📍 6 campuses

TorontoScarboroughHamiltonLondonEdmontonCalgary

📚 Key Topics

Accounting cycleDebits & creditsFinancial statementsCanadian payroll legislationSage 50 / QuickBooksBudgeting & variance

💼 Career Outcomes

Accounting Clerk
Payroll Administrator
Bookkeeper
AP/AR Clerk
Finance Assistant

🤖 This is a self-paced study guide. Stuck on any lesson? Tap the tutor in the corner — it knows this program inside out.

Term 1 · Accounting Fundamentals

Beginner

Bookkeeping Basics & The Accounting Equation

🎯 Objective: Apply Assets = Liabilities + Equity.

Every transaction affects at least two accounts. Learn the accounting equation (Assets = Liabilities + Owner's Equity), debits vs credits, the accounting cycle (journal to ledger to trial balance to statements), and how software (Sage 50 / QuickBooks) automates each step. Hands-on: record owner investment, sales, purchases, and payments.

🧪 Lab: Record 10 transactions and produce a trial balance.

✅ Self-check: Why must total debits always equal total credits?

Financial Statements

🎯 Objective: Build income statement & balance sheet.

Convert the adjusted trial balance into the three core statements. The income statement shows revenue minus expenses = net income. The balance sheet shows financial position at a point in time. The statement of owner's equity links them. Understand COGS, gross profit, and retained earnings.

🧪 Lab: Draft statements for a mock retail business.

✅ Self-check: If revenue rises but expenses rise faster, what happens to net income?

📎 CFI Financial Statements Guide

Term 2 · Payroll Compliance

Intermediate

Canadian Payroll Legislation

🎯 Objective: Calculate statutory deductions (CPP/EI/tax).

Apply the Payroll Compliance Legislation body of knowledge: TD1 forms, insurable/pensionable earnings, CPP (5.95% up to the annual max), EI (1.58%), federal/provincial income tax via tables, ROE, T4, and CRA remittance schedules (regular, threshold, accelerated).

🧪 Lab: Run a full payroll cycle for 5 employees.

✅ Self-check: What is the employer's share of CPP and EI?

📎 Canada.ca Payroll

Payroll Software in Practice

🎯 Objective: Process payroll end-to-end in software.

Set up employee records, earnings/deduction codes, direct deposit, statutory holiday pay, and year-end T4 generation in Sage/QuickBooks. Reconcile the payroll ledger to the general ledger.

🧪 Lab: Generate T4s for a sample workforce.

✅ Self-check: Why must payroll liabilities be remitted separately from regular bills?

📎 Sage Payroll

Term 3 · Analysis & Reporting

Advanced

Budgeting & Variance Analysis

🎯 Objective: Compare actuals vs budget.

Build operating budgets (sales, production, cash), then analyze variances (favourable/unfavourable) to explain performance to management. Use ratio analysis (current ratio, debt-to-equity) for health checks.

🧪 Lab: Variance report for a department.

✅ Self-check: A favourable cost variance sounds good — when might it actually be bad?

📎 Corporate Finance Institute