Construction Accounting for Bookkeepers (IFRS for SMEs)

CIBA · CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Construction is where good bookkeepers get caught out.

IFRS for SMEs (Third Edition)NQF 5Self-paced · ±21 hours10 CPD unitsInteractive

A practical, self-paced course that turns a contractor’s messy month-end into work you can charge for.

Retention held back. Payment certificates. Revenue you have earned but cannot yet bill. Two VAT clocks running at once. A contractor’s books behave like no other client’s, and the rules changed when the third edition of IFRS for SMEs rewrote how construction revenue is recognised.

Get it right and you become the bookkeeper a contractor cannot afford to lose. Get it wrong and the accounts overstate profit, the VAT lands in the wrong period, and your client carries the risk. This course makes sure you get it right, every time.

Who it is for

Bookkeepers, employed or in practice, who keep the books of mid-sized South African contractors reporting under IFRS for SMEs. It assumes you are comfortable with double-entry, the basics of VAT, and a trial balance. It assumes nothing about construction.

What you will be able to do

✔ Identify, classify, measure and treat every transaction that recurs in a contractor’s books.
✔ Recognise construction revenue over time under the new Section 23 five-step model.
✔ Handle the VAT timing that trips up most bookkeepers, including the deferred VAT on retention.
✔ Account for retentions, progress billings, variations, contract assets and liabilities, plant and payroll.
✔ Produce contract-level numbers the owner relies on, and spot a loss-making contract in time to act.

Stop being the person who captures a contractor’s invoices. Become the specialist who keeps the contract profitable and compliant.

What is inside

✔ Twenty chapters and a cumulative final assessment, covering the full bookkeeping cycle adapted to construction.
✔ An interactive knowledge check in every chapter: click an answer and see at once whether it is right, and why.
✔ Built on IFRS for SMEs (Third Edition), with South African VAT woven throughout.
✔ One running client, Khumalo Build (Pty) Ltd, so the course builds as one continuous story.
✔ Self-paced and online, around 21 hours, worth 10 CPD units, with a completion certificate.

Course contents

Part A · Foundations

#	Chapter	Time
1	Introduction to Construction Bookkeeping	60 min
2	Source Documents on Site	60 min
3	Chart of Accounts for a Contractor	55 min
4	Double-Entry Refresher for Construction	45 min
5	The IFRS for SMEs Map: Section 23 for Construction	60 min

Part B · The construction transaction core

#	Chapter	Time
6	Contract Costs and Work-in-Progress	60 min
7	Recognising Revenue Over Time	75 min
8	Progress Billings and the Contract Asset or Liability	75 min
9	Retentions	55 min
10	Variations and Claims	50 min
11	Loss-Making Contracts and the Month-End	70 min

Part C · The wider cycle, adapted to construction

#	Chapter	Time
12	Construction Debtors, Creditors and Credit Management	65 min
13	Construction Cash Flow, Guarantees and Working Capital	70 min
14	Construction Budgeting and Cost Control	70 min
15	Plant, Equipment and Fixed Assets	60 min
16	Construction Payroll and Labour	65 min
17	Construction Financial Statements	75 min
18	Construction Tax Compliance	65 min
19	Technology and Job-Costing Tools	45 min
20	Internal Controls and Ethics on Site	55 min

Final

#	Chapter	Time
21	Cumulative Final Assessment	45 min

Total: approximately 21 hours 20 minutes · 10 CPD units.

How it works

✔ Self-paced and online, on the CIBA learning platform.
✔ One chapter every day or two works well; spacing it over about two weeks helps it stick.
✔ An interactive check after each chapter, plus a cumulative final across a full month-end.
✔ Pitched at NQF 5 (apply and calculate), for a working bookkeeper.
✔ Earns 10 CPD units and a completion certificate.

Average Review Score:

★★★★★

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