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One-Week Cashbook & Profit Statement for a Real Business

The capstone project for Small Business Accounting — a free Business course. Pass it and you earn a certificate anyone can verify.

Start the course free Download the project workbook

The project unlocks once you complete the lessons. The workbook is free to download now so you can see exactly what is expected.

What you will submit

A link to a Google Sheet or document (or clear photos of a written cashbook compiled into one PDF/doc) showing your 7-day cashbook, your profit & loss statement, your gross-margin calculation, and your written summary with recommendations.

What to do, step by step

  1. Choose a real small business you can observe for one week — your own, a family member's, or a willing neighbour's (e.g. a provisions store, POS stand, tailor, food vendor or phone-accessories seller). If you truly cannot access one, build a realistic week of dummy data for such a business.
  2. Keep a daily cashbook for 7 days using five columns: Date, Description, Money In, Money Out, and Balance. Record EVERY entry on the day it happens, including small expenses (nylon, transport, airtime, data) and any owner's draw. Use a notebook, your phone, or a Google Sheet / Excel — your choice.
  3. At the end of the week, total your Money In and Money Out, and build a simple profit & loss: total sales, minus cost of goods sold, equals gross profit; minus running expenses, equals net profit. Show your owner's draw separately from business expenses.
  4. Calculate the gross margin (as a percentage) on at least one product the business sells, and check whether its current price covers true cost plus a fair markup.
  5. Write a short summary (200-300 words) stating the business's net profit for the week, its gross margin on that product, and 2-3 honest, data-based recommendations to the owner (e.g. a price to adjust, an expense to cut, a cash-flow squeeze to watch).

Files to work with

Project workbook (fill in, then submit)The whole brief, an evidence checklist, the grading rubric as a self-check and the link-sharing steps in one file. Opens in Word, Google Docs or WPS.Word · 6 KB

How it is graded

CriterionWeight
Cashbook completeness & accuracy (every day recorded, money in/out and balance correct, small expenses and owner draw captured)30%
Profit & loss correctness (sales − cost of goods = gross profit − expenses = net profit, with owner draw kept separate)25%
Pricing & margin analysis (gross margin calculated correctly and price checked against true cost plus markup)20%
Insight & recommendations (summary states real net profit and gives clear, honest, data-based advice)25%

You need 65% overall to pass. A failed submission comes back with feedback and can be revised and resubmitted.

Before you submit: make your link public

If your work lives in Google Drive or Google Docs, open Share → General access and change “Restricted” to “Anyone with the link” (Viewer). Then paste the link into a private browser window: if it opens without sign-in, you are ready. A private link cannot be graded — it is the single most common reason a good project fails.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to finish Small Business Accounting before submitting the project?

Yes. The submission screen opens once every lesson in Small Business Accounting is marked complete. The lessons are where the methods, the Nigerian context and the worked examples the project depends on are taught.

How is the project graded?

An examiner scores each rubric criterion from 0 to 100 and weights them as shown on this page; you need 65% overall to pass. Most submissions are graded within minutes and you get written feedback on what was strong and what to improve.

Can I resubmit if I fail?

Yes. A failed project comes back with feedback; revise the weak parts and resubmit. A passed project is final — the certificate is issued and cannot be re-rolled.

What do I actually submit?

A write-up of what you did (under 5,000 characters) plus a public link to your work — a Google Drive folder, Google Doc, spreadsheet, GitHub repository or video. The link must open without sign-in; a private link cannot be graded. The free project workbook on this page walks you through all 5 steps.

Is the certificate real?

Yes. Passing this project issues a certificate with a unique verification code. Anyone — an employer, a client, a school — can open the verification page and see that the certificate is genuine and which project earned it.

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Ready to earn this certificate?

Small Business Accounting is free and self-paced. Finish the lessons, complete this project, and the certificate is yours to share.

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