Module 1: Foundations of Bookkeeping & the Accounting Cycle

• What bookkeeping is (and isn’t) vs. accounting vs. auditing
• Why accurate books matter for SME survival, financing, and tax compliance
• Double-entry logic: debits, credits, and the accounting equation
• Building a Chart of Accounts for a small business

Module 2: Recording Transactions

• Source documents: invoices, receipts, delivery orders, credit notes
• Cash vs. credit transactions; petty cash handling
• Sales journal, purchase journal, cash book, general journal
• Common recording mistakes and how to catch them early

Module 3: Ledgers, Trial Balance & Adjustments

• Posting from journals to the general ledger
• Preparing a trial balance and resolving imbalances
• Adjusting entries: accruals, prepayments, depreciation, bad debt provisions
• Month-end adjustment checklist

Module 4: Bank & Account Reconciliations

• Preparing a bank reconciliation statement
• Reconciling debtors (AR) and creditors (AP) ledgers
• Investigating and clearing discrepancies
• Building a reconciliation habit (weekly vs. monthly)

Module 5: Closing the Books & Financial Statements

• Statement of Profit or Loss (Income Statement)
• Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet)
• Statement of Cash Flows (direct overview)
• Closing entries and the year-end close checklist

Module 6: Malaysian Business Tax Essentials for Bookkeepers

• SST 2.0: scope, registration thresholds, what bookkeepers must track for filing
• Withholding tax basics and when it applies
• What to flag for the company’s tax agent vs. what bookkeepers handle directly

Module 7: Payroll Foundations & Employment Law

• Employment Act 1955 essentials every payroll handler needs
• Employment contracts, probation, confirmation — and statutory rights during probation
• Minimum wage, standard working hours, and overtime eligibility rules

Module 8: Salary Calculation Mechanics

• Basic pay vs. gross pay vs. net pay
• Pro-rated salary (mid-month joiners/leavers)
• Overtime (OT), allowances, commission, and bonus calculations
• Common payslip components explained

Module 9: Statutory Contributions — EPF, SOCSO, EIS, HRDF

• EPF (KWSP): rates, ceilings, employer vs. employee share
• SOCSO (PERKESO): Employment Injury Scheme, Invalidity Scheme, and the Non-Employment Injury Scheme (SKBBK) deduction
• EIS (SIP): coverage and contribution mechanics
• HRDF levy: who must contribute and how it’s calculated

Module 10: Monthly Tax Deduction (PCB/MTD) & Personal Tax Basics

• How PCB/MTD is calculated
• TP1 and TP3 forms and why employees submit them
• Common tax reliefs employees claim (and documentation pitfalls, e.g. duplicate child reliefs between spouses)
• Year-end EA Form preparation

Module 11: Leave, Claims & Payroll Administration

• Annual, medical, maternity, paternity, and other statutory leave types
• Impact of unpaid leave on salary and statutory contributions
• Claims processing and expense reimbursement workflows

Module 12: Payroll Compliance, Reporting & Year-End

• CP22 (new hire notification) and CP22A (cessation of employment)
• EA Form issuance and PCB2(II) submission
• Payroll audit readiness and record-keeping requirements
• Common payroll penalties and how they arise (with real-world case patterns)

Module 13: Reading & Interpreting Financial Statements

• Key ratios for non-accountants (liquidity, profitability, efficiency)
• Spotting cash flow problems before they become a crisis
• Translating the P&L into decisions a business owner can act on

Module 14: Budgeting & Cost Basics

• Fixed vs. variable costs
• Building a simple operating budget
• Break-even analysis for a small business

Module 15: Internal Controls & Fraud Awareness

• Segregation of duties in a small team
• Approval workflows for payments and claims
• Red flags for common SME bookkeeping and payroll fraud

Module 16: Choosing the Right Cloud System for Your Business

• Landscape overview: where AutoCount Cloud Accounting and Bukku sit versus SQL Account, UBS, Xero, and QuickBooks Online
• AutoCount Cloud Accounting: part of a wider AutoCount ecosystem (POS, inventory, HRMS) — best fit for businesses that want accounting, stock, and payroll under one vendor
• Bukku: cloud-first, SME-friendly UX — WhatsApp-based invoicing and receipt capture (Digital Shoebox) — best fit for service businesses wanting the simplest possible daily workflow
• Both are LHDN MyInvois-ready and SST-compliant out of the box — cost, learning curve, and support trade-offs between the two

Module 17: Hands-On Bookkeeping — AutoCount Cloud Accounting & Bukku

• Lab A (AutoCount Cloud Accounting): company setup, Chart of Accounts, cash book/journal/knock-off entries, debtors & creditors tracking, bank reconciliation via Maybank/UOB feeds, AI SmartScan for document capture, over 100 built-in reports
• Lab B (Bukku): invoicing with QuickShare (email/WhatsApp), recurring invoices, SmartRecon automated PDF bank-statement reconciliation, Digital Shoebox expense capture, real-time dashboard
• Learners process the same month of fictional SME transactions in both systems, so they can compare the two workflows directly and decide which they’d recommend

Module 18: e-Invoice (MyInvois) in Practice — via AutoCount Cloud Accounting & Bukku

• LHDN e-Invoice requirements, rollout phases, and thresholds
• Generating, validating, and submitting standard, consolidated, and self-billed e-Invoices directly from AutoCount Cloud Accounting (native LHDN MyInvois integration with TIN handling)
• Generating and submitting e-Invoices from Bukku via its MyInvois + Peppol network connection
• Common e-Invoice rejection errors on each platform and how to fix them

Module 19: Payroll Software Hands-On — AutoCount HRMS

• Running a full payroll cycle in AutoCount HRMS’s 3-step payroll process, with instant EA Form generation
• Auto-calculating EPF, SOCSO, EIS, PCB — plus Zakat, Tabung Haji, and ASN deductions where applicable
• Setting up eLeave and eClaim with multi-level approval workflows, and eAttendance for OT/wage calculation
• Employee Self-Service (ESS) portal: payslips, EA Forms, and leave balances on web and mobile
• Using the built-in Siora AI assistant to generate custom payroll formulas and draft HR letters
• Encrypted payslip delivery and electronic bank payment runs

Module 20: Integrating Bookkeeping & Payroll Systems

• Native integration: posting AutoCount HRMS payroll journal entries straight into AutoCount Cloud Accounting’s general ledger (same-vendor ecosystem)
• Cross-platform workflow: importing AutoCount HRMS payroll files into Bukku using its payroll-file-import feature
• Building a combined month-end close checklist that covers both bookkeeping and payroll, whichever system pairing a business uses

Module 21: Types of Business Entities in Malaysia — Pros, Cons & When to Use Which

• Sole Proprietorship: cheapest, fastest, unlimited personal liability, income taxed at individual rates, no audit — best for solo freelancers/micro-businesses testing an idea. Malaysian citizen/PR only.
• Partnership: 2–20 partners, general partners carry unlimited liability, governed by the Partnership Act 1961, a written partnership agreement is essential — best for professional practices sharing risk and workload.
• Limited Liability Partnership (LLP/PLT): separate legal entity under the LLP Act 2012, limited liability for all partners, tax-transparent (taxed at partner level), lighter compliance than a Sdn Bhd — a middle-ground option gaining popularity with professional service firms.
• Private Limited Company (Sdn Bhd): separate legal entity under the Companies Act 2016, limited liability, up to 50 shareholders, corporate tax (with a preferential SME rate on the first tranche of chargeable income), mandatory company secretary and annual filings — best for businesses seeking credibility, external financing, or planning to hire and scale.
• Public Limited Company (Berhad): can raise capital publicly/list on Bursa Malaysia, minimum two directors, no shareholder cap, heavier disclosure and governance obligations — for large-scale fundraising only.
• Branch Office / Representative Office (foreign companies): extensions of a foreign parent registered with SSM; a branch can trade and is taxed on Malaysian-sourced income, a representative office cannot generate revenue at all — used for market entry before committing to a local subsidiary.
• Decision framework: liability exposure tolerance, expected revenue/hiring plans, need for external funding or bank financing, audit/compliance appetite, and industry foreign-ownership restrictions.
• Implications table: personal liability, tax treatment, statutory audit requirement, company secretary requirement, annual compliance cost, and ease of conversion later (e.g., sole prop → Sdn Bhd) for each entity type.

• Late-filing consequences worth flagging to clients: SSM annual return penalties run up to RM50,000 per default (with strike-off risk after 3+ consecutive years of non-filing), and late tax filing carries fines from RM200–RM20,000 plus a 10% penalty on unpaid tax.
• Regardless of entity type, any employer remitting EPF, SOCSO, EIS, and PCB should budget for the 15th of the following month as the standard remittance deadline (detailed in Part B) — missing this is one of the most common and costly slips for new SMEs.
• Building a simple compliance calendar/checklist per entity type is a deliverable learners take away from this module.

Module 22: Practical Steps to Incorporate a Sdn Bhd via SSM/MyCoID

• Name search & reservation through SSM’s MyCoID portal, and handling restricted/regulated names.
• Documents needed: director/shareholder identification (MyKad for residents; certified passport copies, proof of address, and possibly notarization/apostille for foreign directors/shareholders), shareholding structure, business activity (MSIC) codes, and the company Constitution.
• Minimum requirements: one director ordinarily resident in Malaysia, one shareholder, RM1 minimum legal paid-up capital (though banks commonly expect RM10,000–RM50,000 in practice for account approval).
• Filing the application via MyCoID and receiving the Certificate of Incorporation and company number.
• Mandatory step: appointing an SSM-licensed company secretary within 30 days of incorporation.
• Post-incorporation checklist: LHDN tax file registration and MyInvois e-Invoice setup, SST registration if turnover exceeds the threshold, EPF/SOCSO/EIS employer registration before hiring, registered office address, and statutory registers.
• Typical costs (SSM statutory fee, professional/secretarial fees) and realistic timeline (name reservation to fully operational entity).

Module 23: Opening a Corporate Bank Account

• Core documents every bank will ask for: Certificate of Incorporation, company Constitution, board resolution authorising the account and naming signatories, ID/proof of address for all directors and beneficial owners, company profile/business plan, and (for existing businesses) recent financials.
• FATCA declaration, CRS self-certification, and beneficial-ownership declarations as standard KYC/CDD steps.
• Why most banks still require signatories to appear in person, and how to prepare a client for that appointment.
• Comparing SME business banking packages (fees, minimum balance, online banking, accounting-software integrations) across major Malaysian banks.
• Realistic timeline (days to several weeks) and the most common reasons account opening gets delayed.

Module 24: Building a Referral Income Stream — Bank Partnerships for Bookkeepers & Company Secretaries

• Why “incorporate + open bank account + set up books” is a natural bundled service for a bookkeeping or company secretarial practice, and how it shortens a new SME client’s onboarding.
• How bank business/SME relationship managers work with corporate service providers, and how to approach a bank to explore becoming a referral partner or introducer for new business-banking clients.
• What to ask a bank about any referral/introducer arrangement: whether it’s formalised or relationship-based, how referral incentives are structured, and how they’re paid.
• Compliance caveat (covered in class before this idea is discussed further): referral fee arrangements must be disclosed to the client, must not compromise independent advice on entity choice or bank selection, and must be checked against the code of conduct of whichever professional body governs the practitioner (e.g. SSM’s rules for licensed company secretaries, or MIA’s by-laws for accountants) — steering a client toward a worse-fit bank purely for a referral fee is both an ethical and, potentially, a regulatory problem. This module presents a business-development idea to explore and verify with each bank and professional body directly, not a guarantee that a program exists or a specific fee amount.

Module 25: Capstone Project

• Recommend and justify a business entity for a fictional Malaysian founder, then walk through the SSM incorporation checklist and corporate bank account opening checklist for that entity.
• Simulate one full month of transactions and one full payroll cycle for the same fictional SME, using AutoCount Cloud Accounting or Bukku (learner’s choice) paired with AutoCount HRMS.
• Deliver: entity recommendation memo, incorporation checklist, trial balance, financial statements, submitted e-Invoices, payslips, EA Form draft, and statutory reports — all generated from the live systems, not manually.

Module 26: Career Pathways & Certification

• Building a bookkeeping/payroll/company-secretarial portfolio from the capstone.
• Freelance bookkeeper, payroll-practitioner, and company secretary career paths — including bundled “company setup” service offerings.
• Certificate of Completion and interview preparation.