Learn the books.
Then learn your sector.
CIBA teaches you bookkeeping for free. If you want to be the bookkeeper a farm, a builder, or a restaurant actually wants to hire — add the sector elective.
The base course.
R0 / free, always
25 hours. 13 chapters. Proper bookkeeping. CIBA certificate when you pass. You can stop here and you'd already be more qualified than most people doing the job.
One sector elective.
R1,500 / each
Pick the sector you work in (or want to). Learn the rules and tricks specific to that industry. Become the bookkeeper that sector wants to hire — and pays more for.
Most bookkeeping courses teach you to keep books for a shop.
But you probably don't work in a shop.
You'll learn debits, credits, bank recs, VAT, payroll, and the rest. That stuff is the same everywhere. But the day-to-day work is different in every industry.
A farm bookkeeper needs to know about the diesel rebate — money SARS gives back to farmers, but only if you have the right paperwork. Most bookkeepers don't.
A builder's bookkeeper needs to know about retentions — money the client holds back until the job is done. Get the journal wrong and the books don't match the bank for a year.
A restaurant bookkeeper needs to know how to split tips, drinks, food, and events properly — each one is taxed differently.
None of this is in a standard bookkeeping course. That's the problem we're fixing.
- 01
Start with the base course. Free.
13 chapters, 25 hours. The bookkeeping every bookkeeper needs. Generic SME examples throughout.
- 02
Pass the assessment. Get your CIBA certificate.
You can stop here. You're qualified. You can apply for jobs.
- 03
Optional: add a sector elective.
R1,500 per sector. Learn the specific stuff for farms, builders, shops, factories, restaurants, or accounting practices. Pick one. Or pick more later.
- 04
Get hired. Or grow your client list.
Specialist bookkeepers charge more. They get hired faster. That's the whole point.
13 chapters. 25 hours. Free.
Everyone takes these chapters. You can do them on your phone, between shifts, over weekends. No deadline. Pass the assessment when you're ready.
What bookkeeping is
What the job actually involves. Why every business needs it. Where it fits.
Debits and credits, explained properly
The rule you can apply, not just recite. So you stop guessing which side something goes on.
The paperwork SARS wants
Invoices, receipts, slips, contracts. What to keep, how long, and how to file it.
Journals and ledgers
Where each transaction goes. So you don't end up redoing the work a month later.
Bank reconciliation
Making the books match the bank. Spotting mistakes before they become problems.
Who owes you, who you owe
Debtors and creditors. Getting paid. Paying on time. Tracking both without losing track.
The full cycle, one example
A whole year of a small business, from first transaction to trial balance. So you see it all join up.
Payroll basics
PAYE, UIF, SDL. What gets deducted, when it's paid over, what SARS expects.
VAT, the short version
Standard, zero, exempt. Input vs output. How to fill in a VAT201 without panicking.
Reports the owner actually reads
Income statement, balance sheet, cash flow. Plain reports that help, not just tick a box.
The software you'll actually use
Xero, Sage, Pastel, QuickBooks. The basics of each. So you can pick one up in any job.
Budgets and tracking
Building a simple monthly budget. Checking actuals against it. Catching trouble early.
Doing the job properly
Confidentiality. Ethics. The lines you don't cross. Why a professional body matters.
Questions you're probably asking right now.
Is the base really free?
Yes. R0. No card on file. No subscription. No upsell hidden in the checkout. Sign up, do the course, get the certificate.
What's the catch?
There isn't one. The country needs more trained bookkeepers. CIBA absorbs the cost of the base course. If you later want a sector elective, that's where we earn back the cost — but only if you want it.
How long will the base take me?
25 hours total. Most people finish in 4 to 8 weeks doing 3 to 6 hours a week. There's no deadline. Take longer if you need to.
Can I do it on my phone?
Yes. It works in any browser on any device. You can download PDFs and study offline if your signal is poor.
What do I need to start?
You need to read English and do basic maths. That's it. No matric required (though if you have one, it helps). No prior accounting study needed.
Is there a test?
Yes. An online assessment at the end. Pass mark is 60%. You can try again once if you don't make it first time.
What if I get stuck?
Every chapter has a discussion area where you can ask questions. CIBA tutors reply within 48 hours on working days.
What's the certificate worth?
It's a CIBA certificate — recognised by SAQA, SARS, and CIPC. Employers know what it is. It goes on a register they can verify.
Do I have to buy an elective?
No. The base course on its own is a full qualification. The electives are for if you want to specialise in a sector and earn more.
Pick the sector you work in. Learn what makes it different.
Each elective is R1,500. You take it after you've passed the base course. You can take more than one over time. Each adds another sector you can work in.
The farm elective.
For people doing the books on a farm — or who want to. Diesel rebate. Livestock. Seasonal cash. The stuff a generic course doesn't teach.
Elective price R1,500What you'll learn in this elective
Add this on top of the base course. 5 to 8 hours extra. Same kind of assessment at the end.
- 01 / 05
The diesel rebate — and why most farms miss it.
From 1 April 2026, farmers can claim back 100% of qualifying diesel (it used to be 80%). But only if the paperwork is right. We show you the VAT101D form, the invoice rules, the equipment logbook, and the monthly claim. (Source: SARS notice, 13 February 2026.)
- 02 / 05
Livestock — the tax rules are different.
Farms aren't taxed like other businesses. The First Schedule of the Income Tax Act has its own rules. Your cattle and sheep are stock — and the value you put on them changes your tax bill directly. We cover the standard values, what to do when an animal dies, and how the farmer can take a sheep home for the family.
- 03 / 05
Cash flow when the harvest only pays once a year.
A shop takes money every day. A grain farmer takes one payment from the co-op, months after he spent the money planting. We show you how to plan cash flow around the season, when to draw on the Land Bank, and how to read the books before the harvest comes in.
- 04 / 05
Farm and house money — how to keep them separate.
Most farmers use one bank account for the farm and the house. SARS wants those split. We show you how to handle drawings, fuel that's part-farm-part-personal, and produce taken home — so the books still work when SARS audits.
- 05 / 05
Permanent workers vs seasonal workers.
Permanent farm workers go on the payroll like normal — PAYE, UIF, SDL. Seasonal workers have different rules, with sector minimum wages. We cover both, and the wage register the Department of Labour will ask for if they visit.
The builder elective.
For bookkeepers in construction. Retentions. Subcontractors. The compliance stuff that catches builders out.
Elective price R1,500What you'll learn in this elective
Add this on top of the base course. 5 to 8 hours extra. Same kind of assessment at the end.
- 01 / 05
Retentions — the money the client holds back.
On a building job, the client doesn't pay you everything up front. They hold back 5 or 10% until the job is finished and inspected. That money is yours, but it's not in the bank yet. We show you how to record it, when to release it, and how to stop it disappearing in the books.
- 02 / 05
Paying subcontractors — the tax pitfalls.
If you bring in a subbie to do tiling or wiring, you need to know whether to treat them as a supplier or an employee. Get it wrong and SARS treats you as the employer. We cover the rules, the paperwork you need from each subbie, and the journal entries that keep you safe.
- 03 / 05
The compliance paperwork — COIDA, CIDB, Department of Labour.
Builders carry more compliance than most businesses. COIDA covers your workers if they get hurt. CIDB grades you to bid for work. The Department of Labour inspects sites. We show you how to set the books up so all three can be checked without rebuilding them.
- 04 / 05
Knowing if a job is making money — while it's still running.
On a six-month building project, costs are going out from day one, but the income doesn't all land until the end. We show you how to track project costs as you go, what work-in-progress means, and how to spot a job that's heading for a loss before it's too late.
- 05 / 05
Plant, machinery, and what SARS lets you write off.
Builders own bakkies, generators, scaffolding, sometimes a TLB. Each of these depreciates differently for tax purposes. We cover the wear-and-tear rates, what records SARS wants, and how to claim what you're entitled to.
The shop elective.
For bookkeepers in retail. Daily takings, multi-location stock, suppliers. The stuff that goes wrong in a shop's books.
Elective price R1,500What you'll learn in this elective
Add this on top of the base course. 5 to 8 hours extra. Same kind of assessment at the end.
- 01 / 05
Closing up the till — every day, not every month.
Cash, card, EFT, online sales. A shop has to reconcile all of these every single day. Wait until month-end and the missing money is gone. We show you the daily routine and the controls that catch shrinkage early.
- 02 / 05
Stock that moves between shops.
Most retail businesses have more than one shop. Stock moves between them. We show you how to track it, how to do a stock count properly, and how to spot stock that's gone missing.
- 03 / 05
Settlement discounts — small money that adds up.
Suppliers give you a discount if you pay early. In a retail business with thin margins, those discounts decide whether you make a profit. We show you the journal entries and how to plan cash flow to actually get them.
- 04 / 05
Last season's stock, this season's problem.
Seasonal stock that doesn't sell becomes a write-down. We cover how to value old stock honestly, when to mark it down, and how to keep your tax position straight when you do.
- 05 / 05
The lease on the shop — and the surprises in it.
Most shops rent the premises. Leases come with escalation clauses, turnover-based rent, and surprise costs that hit the books unexpectedly. We show you how to read a lease and account for it properly.
The factory elective.
For bookkeepers in factories and workshops. Raw materials, half-finished goods, costs that hide inside products.
Elective price R1,500What you'll learn in this elective
Add this on top of the base course. 5 to 8 hours extra. Same kind of assessment at the end.
- 01 / 05
Three kinds of stock in one factory.
In a factory you have raw materials in the store, half-finished goods on the production line, and finished products in the warehouse. Each is counted differently and shows up differently in the books. We show you how.
- 02 / 05
What it really costs to make each product.
Knowing the true cost of each thing you make is what lets the business price it properly. We cover job costing, batch costing, and the basics of working out what each product actually costs.
- 03 / 05
The hidden costs — rent, electricity, the foreman's salary.
A factory has costs that aren't tied to one product — rent, lights, the salary of the floor manager. Spreading these across the products properly is where most small factories lose track of which products actually make money.
- 04 / 05
Selling abroad — VAT, customs, the paperwork.
If you export, the VAT is zero — but only if your paperwork proves the goods left the country. We show you what SARS wants and how to keep the records.
- 05 / 05
B-BBEE — what your customers need from you.
Bigger companies score B-BBEE points for buying from you. We cover the reports they'll ask for and how to keep your books so producing those reports is quick.
The restaurant elective.
For bookkeepers in restaurants, guesthouses, B&Bs, and hotels. Tips, takings, seasonal staff, liquor — the things you can't fudge.
Elective price R1,500What you'll learn in this elective
Add this on top of the base course. 5 to 8 hours extra. Same kind of assessment at the end.
- 01 / 05
Rooms, food, drinks, events — keeping them separate.
A guesthouse takes money for the room, the meals, the bar, and the wedding. Each is taxed differently and reported differently. We show you how to set up the books so they stay clean.
- 02 / 05
Tips — where the money goes, who pays the tax.
Tips are tricky. Who they belong to, how they get paid out, and how SARS treats them changes based on how they were given. We cover the rules and the records.
- 03 / 05
How full is the place — and what is each guest worth?
Occupancy rate. Average daily rate. Revenue per room. The numbers hospitality businesses actually manage to. We show you how to produce them from the books.
- 04 / 05
Casual and seasonal staff — the right way.
Hospitality runs on temporary staff during busy seasons. The PAYE, UIF, and labour rules are different from permanent staff. We cover both and the wage records you need.
- 05 / 05
The liquor licence and what comes with it.
A liquor licence means rules — on records, on reporting, on who you can serve. We cover what the licence authorities will ask for.
The practice elective.
For juniors working in an accounting firm — not in one business, but doing the books for 20 clients. The discipline that makes you useful to a senior accountant.
Elective price R1,500What you'll learn in this elective
Add this on top of the base course. 5 to 8 hours extra. Same kind of assessment at the end.
- 01 / 05
Handling 20 client files without dropping one.
A junior in a practice doesn't work for one business — they work for 20. Each one has a folder, a routine, a deadline. We show you how to set up your files and your week so nothing slips.
- 02 / 05
One chart of accounts — used across all your clients.
Practices use a standard chart of accounts across every client. It makes reviewing the books faster for the senior. We show you why, and how to apply it on each client.
- 03 / 05
When client money sits in your hands.
Trust accounts. Money you're holding on behalf of a client. The rules SARS and the practice's regulator expect. We cover them.
- 04 / 05
Working papers — so the senior can sign off.
Good working papers mean the senior accountant can review your work without redoing it. That's the difference between being valued and being replaced. We show you the standard.
- 05 / 05
The software the practice runs on.
Caseware. Draftworx. Greatsoft. The platforms a practice junior needs to know. We cover the basics of each.
Step 1 is free.
Always.
Sign up for the base course
Go to cpd.myciba.org. Enter your details. No card, no payment. You're in.
Do the 13 chapters
Self-paced. On your phone or computer. 25 hours total. Pass the assessment. Get your CIBA certificate.
(Optional) Add a sector elective
R1,500. Pick the sector you work in. Become the specialist who gets hired and paid more.
