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Accounting & bookkeeping courses
Beginner friendlyLearn to run a small business's books with this Xero course online, working hands-on in the software. You'll take on Brightwater Studio, a design firm with books to sort out: set up the file, raise quotes and invoices, capture and pay bills, reconcile the bank until the statement and Xero agree, prepare a VAT return under Making Tax Digital and close the month with a report pack the directors can act on.
Course overview
The course follows Brightwater's books in the order a bookkeeper meets them. You start by finding your way around Xero and setting up contacts and the chart of accounts, then handle sales, purchases and the bank reconciliation, which is the heart of the job. VAT and Making Tax Digital come next, then reports and month end, and finally stock, fixed assets, projects, multi-currency and the controls that keep a file safe.
By the end you can run a full month in Xero and know every figure in it is right, from a reconciled bank to a VAT return and a month-end pack. It suits new bookkeepers, accounts staff who've just been handed the Xero login, and business owners moving their books out of spreadsheets.
Free course guide
Every module and what it covers, the price, how you're assessed and where the course can take you.
10-page PDF, free
Curriculum
10 modules and 48 lessons, around 20 hours of study. Work through them in order, at your own pace.
Key benefits
Everything you need to learn the skill, prove it and put it to work.
All 3 for £179 instead of £307
Getting started
There is no application, no waiting for a start date and no sales call in the way.
Pay once. Instant access, yours for life.
Career outcomes
Reconciling the bank, preparing VAT returns and closing the month are the core of a Xero bookkeeper's work. You'll have done all three on Brightwater's books, so you can walk an interviewer through each one.
Source: National Careers Service (gov.uk), September 2026.
An example of the certificate for the Certificate in Xero.
If you're new to bookkeeping altogether, start with Bookkeeping & Payroll: Xero makes far more sense once you know what a reconciliation is for. If you need to run pay runs rather than understand them, Xero Payroll is built for that. And if your workplace uses QuickBooks, take our QuickBooks course instead.
A course advisor will talk it through with you free, and will say so if a different course fits your goal better.
Good to know
Everything a bookkeeper does in Xero in a normal month. You'll set up a file and its chart of accounts, then work through sales, purchases and bank reconciliation, prepare a VAT return under Making Tax Digital and close the month with reports. It finishes with stock, fixed assets, expense claims, projects, multi-currency, user access and lock dates, and a look at payroll and Xero's apps.
A little helps. If you know what an invoice, a bill and a reconciliation are, you're ready, with no Xero experience needed. If those are new, Bookkeeping & Payroll is the better starting point.
Not to start. Xero's free trial is enough to begin the course, and its demo company is free with a Xero login for trying things out. After the trial, Xero is a paid subscription.
Learn whichever your clients or employer use. Both do the same job, and the bookkeeping you learn transfers between them. If nothing decides it for you, look at local job ads: they'll tell you which one employers near you want, and our QuickBooks course is there if it's that one.
No. Brightwater Studio, a small design firm, is your practice client all course, so you can make mistakes where they cost nothing. Never practise in a live client or employer file: some actions, such as filing a VAT return, can't be undone.
VAT, yes: you'll compare the VAT schemes, connect Xero to HMRC and prepare a return box by box under Making Tax Digital. Payroll gets a quick introduction, and the Certificate in Xero Payroll teaches you to run it in full. Advanced Xero goes further on VAT, CIS and month end, and all three sit together in the Advanced Xero Bundle.
Yes. It's taught with UK settings throughout: VAT and Making Tax Digital, connecting to HMRC, and an introduction to the Construction Industry Scheme. Everyday skills such as invoicing and bank reconciliation work the same wherever Xero is used.
Yes. Complete the course and pass its final assessment and you get an OBA certificate of completion that an employer can verify online. It isn't Xero's own advisor certification, which Xero runs separately, and the course closes by showing where that fits and what to put on your CV.
Download the free info pack first. It walks you through every module, what you'll build and what you need before you start, so you can enrol knowing exactly what you're getting. If you'd like to talk it through, get in touch and we'll help you choose.
Free guides
Both are capable cloud accounting tools. The real question is who does your books, which tool the accountants around you use, and which jobs you want.
4 min read
What bookkeepers do, whether you need AAT or ICB, the software employers want, what the job pays, and what the law asks of you before you take on your first client.
9 min read
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Free info pack
Every module, the price, how you're assessed and where it can take you. Yours free, and it opens straight away.
Takes 30 seconds
