Bookstore Finances

Bookstore Finances is designed to educate on the day to day and long term finance-related needs of an independent bookstore, considering both high level financial topics such as taxes and accounting and deep dives into financial reporting and strategy. A mix of live classes via Zoom, handouts, and assignments will be used to guide the student towards creating financial systems and strategies for real-time applications. This course is geared towards store owners and/or managers who handle finances on a day to day basis and is for educational purposes only, meaning no certification is earned for this course.

Space in this non-certification course is limited to 20 Active Level students and 20 Auditing students. Only one person at a time per store may enroll. 

Students must have owned or managed a retail bookstore (this includes mobile, pop-ups, and other novel model shops) for at least one year and must have access to the store’s finances and financial documents. Students who attempt to register and have not owned or managed a store for one full year will have their registrations canceled and refunded. 

2025 Bookstore Finances Syllabus

2025 Instructors

Core Faculty:

• Dean Candice Huber, Owner, Tubby & Coo’s, New Orleans, LA

• Instructor Melissa DeMotte, Owner, Well Read Moose, Coeur d'Alene, ID

• Instructor CoriAnn Theroux, The Green Dragon Bookshop, Fort Dodge, IA

• Instructor Chris Keil, Left Bank Books, St. Louise, MO

• Instructor Anmiryam Budner, Main Point Books, Wayne, PA

• Instructor Carol Price, Owner/Buyer, Book People of Moscow,

Guest Instructors: 

• Molly Olivo, Barefoot Books, Boston, MA

• Cyanne Stonesmith, Trident Booksellers and Cafe, Boulder, CO

Membership

Being an active member of the bookselling industry is a critical step in growing a bookstore and shows commitment to your chosen profession. All students in Professional Booksellers School courses are required to work in Independent Bookstores who are current members of their regional trade association and/or the American Booksellers Association.

To enroll, students must also create a PBS account, which is free.

People who do not work in Independent Bookstores are currently not eligible for PBS courses.

Course Components & Cost

Students can enroll either as:

Active Students: people who are committed to attending classes and office hours and doing all of the homework assignments. 20 Active Students tickets are available. (Note: Active Students who are not store owners will be asked for a letter from the store owner stating that the support the student taking the course and are willing to listen to feedback from homework assessments.)

Auditing Students: people who may attend live or watch the videos, and who will not be doing homework assignments. 20 Auditing Student tickets are available.

This course consists of 13 live online classes via Zoom and discussions, chat, and office hours via Discord. Homework is assigned for each class and will be reviewed by an instructor and feedback given, although there are no grades for this course. Active students are expected to attend the live classes and complete all homework assignments to get the most out of this course. 

The course is $400, with discounts available for members of NAIBA, CALIBA, MIBA, GLIBA, SIBA, PNBA, and MPIBA. Find out what support your Regional Trade Association offers on our website.

Registration Requirements

1. Before you register you must join PBS as a member. Membership is free, and joining ensures you receive our newsletter and can access course resources.

2. Only one person per store may enroll in the course

3. As a requirement of the course, students must have owned or managed a bookstore for at least one year (this includes mobile, pop-ups, and other novel model shops) and must have access to the store's financial information. Students who attempt to register and have not owned or managed a store for one full year will have their registrations canceled and refunded."

4. Students must have a working knowledge of using spreadsheets.

5. Students must use a POS system that tracks individual inventory and supports purchase orders/receiving. Students' stores must have an accounting/bookkeeping system, whether that is software or spreadsheets.

Course Objectives

This course will provide a thorough overview of financial systems, reports, and strategies for an independent bookstore. At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate confidence in finance and a general understanding of bookstore finance basics.

• Employ necessary language to confidently speak to accountants, bookkeepers, financial advisors, and other finance professionals.

• Customize their Chart of Accounts to make it work better for them.

• Efficiently and successfully complete the ABACUS survey.

• Implement practical tips and strategies immediately to improve their understanding of their store’s finances.

• Establish a financial rhythm that makes sense for them.

Major Project 

By the end of this course, students will have created a full ongoing financial dashboard. Assignments for each class will build on this overall course project so that by the end of the course, the financial dashboard will be fully functional. 

Classes

April 14    Class 1: Intro to Bookstore Finances

April 21    Class 2: Daily Store Finance

April 28   Class 3: Vendor, Debt, & Tax Management

May 5     Class 4: Working with ABACUS

May 12    Class 5 Event, Promo, & Co-Op Management

May 19    Class 6: Staff Financial Management

May 26  Memorial Day, no class

June 2     Class 7: Accounting Basics

June 9     Class 8: Bookkeeping for Booksellers

June 16    Class 9: Cash Flow Deep Dive

June 23   Class 10: Profit & Loss Deep Dive

June 30   Class 11: Balance Sheet Deep Dive

July 7      Class 12: Creating & Analyzing Your Budget

July 14    Class 13: Creating Your Ongoing Financial Dashboard

July 21    Last day to turn in class projects

Learning Outcomes

As a result of this course, you will have the knowledge to:

• Create an ongoing financial dashboard, fully understand how to analyze it, and take action on your analysis.

• Create financial goals for your store.

• Create a daily cash and credit card reconciliation system.

• Implement internal controls to reduce chances of theft or embezzlement.

• Track your debt and understand your financing options.

• Create a tax calendar.

• Create a system for managing your invoices.

• Understand the varying types of wages and benefits you can offer to employees. 

• Understand when to use 1099 vs W2 employees.

• Understand when and how to pay different types of payroll taxes.

• Determine how much payroll your store can afford to invest. 

• Build an event P&L statement.

• Build a tracking system for promos & co-op.

• Understand how to successfully complete the ABACUS survey.

• Speak to your accountant using their terminology.

• Develop an accounting task schedule.

• Customize your Chart of Accounts to meet your reporting needs.

• Run Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet reports, fully understand how to analyze those reports, and take action on your analysis.

• Understand the difference between cash, profit, and sales.

• Create strategies to manage your cash flow.

• Understand how to read an official cash flow statement.

• Create a budget, fully understand how to analyze it, and take action on your analysis.