——— ABOUT THIS TRAINER · ACCOUNTING CYCLE
The Paper Trail 1.0: the original accounting cycle tutor
WHO IT IS FOR
Students starting out in financial accounting at university or at ACCA, ACA, CPA and CFA foundation level, and anyone learning bookkeeping.
ACCESS
Free, with no account needed. Your progress and score are saved in your own browser and restored when you come back.
What you practise
Describe a transaction in plain English, or pick one of twelve quick examples, and follow it through ten stages: transaction analysis, the accounting equation, the debit and credit rules, the journal, posting to T-accounts, balancing the accounts, the trial balance, the statement of profit or loss, the statement of changes in equity and the balance sheet. Three worked examples (Fresh Start Cleaning, Corner Bookshop and Bright Ideas Ltd) show complete periods for a sole trader and a company.
How to use it
Type what happened in everyday words. The tool reads it, asks about anything it is unsure of, and shows which accounts change and why. Choose sole trader or company, perpetual or periodic inventory, and IFRS or US terms. Click any figure to see where it came from and where it goes next, and open Learn for definitions and quick quizzes. This is the original version of the tutor; The Paper Trail 3.0 is the newer guided month with exam and audit modes.
——— SCOPE AND LIMITS
What it does
Reads transactions written in plain English and identifies the accounts affected
Shows the effect on the accounting equation and the debit and credit rules
Builds the journal, T-accounts, trial balance and financial statements
Traces any figure back to its transaction, with a learning centre and quizzes
What it does not do
It does not keep the books of a real business
It covers one period from nil balances, with no VAT or sales tax
It does not give accounting or tax advice
Answers follow the tutor’s model solution; textbooks may lay statements out differently
DISCLAIMER
Wide GAAP trainers are built for study. The companies, figures and questions are fictitious, and answers are marked against the trainer’s model solution, which may be laid out differently from your textbook or exam body. Nothing here is accounting, tax or legal advice, and Wide GAAP accepts no liability for any loss arising from its use. Read the full disclaimer.