Bookkeeping & Payroll: Get Hired or Earn on the Side
Learn to keep a small business’s books, reconcile the bank, work out VAT and run a simple payroll with PAYE and UIF, then apply for bookkeeping jobs or earn doing the books for local businesses.
R199 once-off. Study on your phone, at your own pace. Get a certificate when you finish.
Start for R199 →We will never ask you to pay for a job. R199 pays for the course, once.
Course title: Bookkeeping & Payroll: Get Hired or Earn on the Side
Level: Beginner. No accounting experience needed — basic maths is enough.
Duration: Self-paced — about 5 hours of reading, practice and quizzes across 7 chapters.
Format: Text lessons, short videos, practice activities you do at home, a quiz after every chapter, a final assessment and a certificate of completion.
What you need: A phone or computer with internet. All tools used in the course are free (Google Sheets and free software trials).
Price: R199 once-off (online)
Certificate: PurpleGrowth certificate of completion, issued automatically when you finish all chapters and the final assessment
The certificate you get when you finish
Your full name, the course name and the date you finish. Download it as a PDF as soon as you complete the course and add it to your CV.
- R199 once-off. No monthly fees and no registration fee.
- Secure payment through PayFast.
- Start straight away once your payment goes through.
- Study on your phone, at your own pace.
- 1,800+ people have signed up to Purple Growth eCampus.
What this course gets you
By the end of this course you will be able to:
Explain what bookkeepers and payroll clerks do, and where the jobs and side-hustle money are
Record income and expenses, keep source documents and understand debits and credits
Write invoices, chase late payments, pay suppliers safely and run petty cash
Do a bank reconciliation and a month-end, and read an income statement and balance sheet
Calculate VAT and understand SARS, turnover tax and record-keeping rules
Run a simple payroll: gross to net pay, PAYE, UIF, SDL and legal payslips
Apply for bookkeeping and payroll jobs, and start your own bookkeeping side hustle
Who this course is for
Job seekers applying for junior bookkeeper, accounts clerk, debtors, creditors or payroll clerk jobs
Admin and office workers who want to move into finance and earn more
Anyone who wants to earn extra money doing the books for small businesses
Small business owners who want to understand and control their own books
Where bookkeepers and payroll clerks work
Bookkeepers, accounts clerks, debtors and creditors clerks and payroll clerks work in accounting and bookkeeping firms and in the finance office of almost every business. Many small businesses also pay someone part-time to keep their books, which makes this a real side hustle. The Institute of Certified Bookkeepers puts entry-level bookkeepers at roughly R8,000 to R15,000 a month (see our bookkeeper salary guide).
Will this course get you hired?
No course can promise you a job, and anyone who does is not being honest with you. What this course does: you will be able to show an employer or client that you can record income and expenses, do a bank reconciliation, explain VAT, PAYE, UIF and SDL, and work out a payslip from gross to net pay. You finish with your own cash book, reconciliation and mini payroll as practice work.
After you finish
- Add it to your CV under “Courses”, for example: Bookkeeping & Payroll, Purple Growth eCampus (2026): cash book and double entry, invoicing, debtors and creditors, bank reconciliation and month-end, VAT basics, payroll (PAYE, UIF, SDL) and payslips.
- Apply for entry-level roles such as junior bookkeeper, accounts clerk, debtors or creditors clerk and payroll clerk, or offer to do the monthly books for small businesses near you. Never pay anyone for a job or an interview.
- Get job alerts. JobAlertsZA is a free tool that finds bookkeeping, accounts and payroll jobs near you.
Further free resources
Free tools and sites you can use to practise, find work and keep growing after the course. All free at the time of writing.
JobAlertsZA — upload your CV once and JobAlertsZA applies to matching bookkeeping, admin and entry-level jobs for you every day — https://jobalertsza.com/
SAYouth.mobi — free, zero-rated platform for young job seekers — https://sayouth.mobi/
Google Sheets — free spreadsheets for your cash book, invoices and payslip templates — https://sheets.google.com/
Sage Accounting — South African accounting software with a 30-day free trial to practise on — https://www.sage.com/en-za/sage-business-cloud/accounting/
SARS — official information on VAT, PAYE, UIF, SDL, turnover tax and eFiling — https://www.sars.gov.za/
Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) — bookkeeping and payroll qualifications you can study next — https://www.icb.org.za/
Want to work in bookkeeping or payroll? Read our free guide: how to become a bookkeeper or payroll administrator in South Africa, with 2026 salaries and the SARS payroll rules.
Questions people ask
Is this a scam? Will you ask me to pay for a job?
No. R199 pays for the course, once. We will never ask you to pay for a job, an interview or a placement. You pay through PayFast and the course opens as soon as your payment is confirmed.
Do employers accept this certificate?
It is a Purple Growth certificate of completion that shows you finished the Bookkeeping & Payroll: Get Hired or Earn on the Side course and passed its assessments. It gives you proof of the skills you trained in and something concrete to put on your CV.
Do I need accounting experience or to be good at maths?
No. The course is for beginners and basic maths is enough. It starts with what bookkeeping is and builds up step by step to bank reconciliations and payroll.
Do I need matric or experience?
No. You don’t need matric or experience to do this course. Some employers ask for matric for their jobs, so check each advert.
How long does it take?
About 5 hours of reading, practice and quizzes across 7 chapters, at your own pace, with no deadline. Your progress is saved.
What if I fail a quiz?
You need 60% to pass each chapter quiz and 70% for the final assessment, and you can retake them as many times as you need.
Can I get my money back?
Yes, within 7 days, as long as you haven’t opened any course content. See our refund policy.
Course Content
About Instructor
Course Includes
- 7 Lessons
- 35 Topics
- 8 Quizzes
- Course Certificate
Responses