Financial Management

Bookkeeping Basics for Beginning Farmers Video Series

This series of short videos offers practical advice on recordkeeping and using that information to build a more successful and resilient farm business. Topics include:

  • Bookkeeping Basics Overview: Why bother with bookkeeping, different kinds of record keping, and presenter Julia Shanks’ “Four Rules of Bookkeeping.”
  • Organizing Your SystemKey concepts and creating a structure for organizing your data.
  • Quickbooks Basics: Differences between the desktop and online versions, and considerations for selecting one or the other; the language of Quickbooks, and the asics of setting Quickbooks up for your business needs.
  • Reading your Numbers: How to evaluate the health of your business by using the data in your records. 
  • Scenario PlanningUsing your records in decision-making about the scale and direction of your farm business.

Funding for these materials was provided in part by the USDA Risk Management Agency under award number RM18RMEPP522C030.


Part 1: Bookkeeping Basics Overview


Part 2: Organizing Your System


Part 3: Quickbooks Basics


Part 4: Reading Your Numbers to Assess Your Business


Scenario Planning: Using Your Numbers In Decision Making