The final project — close a full quarter

Duration: 6–10 hours · To be done after you finish the modules on your track · Weight in the final assessment: 40%

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1. The scenario

You are the finance lead at Nuwa Trading LLC. The first quarter of 2026 has ended, and the founder wants three things from you before Sunday's investor meeting:

1. Books closed and reconciled for the three months.
2. A financial pack a non-accountant can understand.
3. One recommendation backed by numbers: do we order the fourth shipment in cash at a discount, or on credit?

2. The data

The full January data is in case-study.html. February and March follow.

February 2026

March 2026

Binding accounting policies

• Inventory method: FIFO · Inventory system: perpetual.
• VAT tax period: monthly · paid in the following month.
• All returns are sound and go back into inventory at their original cost, in the layer they were issued from.
• Advertising and imports fall under the reverse charge mechanism.

3. What is required

Part One — The books (30%)

• [ ] A journal for the three months, every entry with a date, a reference and a memo, and all of them balanced.
• [ ] An automated ledger (formulas, not copy-paste).
• [ ] A trial balance as at 31 March 2026.
• [ ] A layered FIFO inventory card showing the cost of every sale and the balance.

Part Two — The financial pack (25%)

• [ ] An income statement for the quarter in the stepped format + the three monthly columns.
• [ ] A balance sheet as at 31 March.
• [ ] A cash flow statement (indirect) for the quarter.
• [ ] All three check cells ✓.

Part Three — Compliance (20%)

• [ ] The monthly VAT register and three returns (January, February, March), reconciled to the books.
• [ ] A corporate tax estimate for 2026 based on the first quarter annualised, with a tax bridge and a justified decision on Small Business Relief.

Part Four — The decision (25%)

• [ ] A dashboard: unit economics · break-even point · LTV/CAC · the trend of the indicators across the three months.
• [ ] A 13-week cash flow forecast for the second quarter.
• [ ] The fourth-shipment decision: the cost is 150,000 dirhams. The two options: (a) cash payment within 10 days at an 8% discount, (b) 60-day credit with no discount. Analyse both options on cash and on profit, and give a recommendation.
• [ ] A one-page memo for the founder: three governing numbers · the biggest risk · the recommended decision · the number that, if it changed, would flip the recommendation. No unexplained accounting jargon.

4. Check figures

Compare your results against these figures. A difference is not necessarily a mistake — but you have to know where every difference comes from and be able to explain it.

Reveal the check figures after you have finished your work

**Trial balance as at 31 March 2026:** 675,841.60 on each side **Income statement — Q1:** | Item | Amount (dirhams) | % of net revenue | |-------|---------------|-------------------| | Gross sales | 398,000.00 | 104.3% | | Sales returns | (16,318.00) | (4.3%) | | **Net revenue** | **381,682.00** | **100.0%** | | Cost of goods sold | (137,050.00) | (35.9%) | | **Gross profit** | **244,632.00** | **64.1%** | | Fulfilment costs (gateway 8,596.80 + shipping 17,850.00) | (26,446.80) | (6.9%) | | **Contribution margin** | **218,185.20** | **57.2%** | | Marketing | (55,000.00) | (14.4%) | | Fixed costs (salaries 36,000 · rent 9,000 · software 3,600 · professional fees 7,500 · depreciation 1,500) | (57,600.00) | (15.1%) | | **Net profit** | **105,585.20** | **27.7%** | **Balance sheet as at 31 March 2026:** | Assets | Amount | Liabilities and equity | Amount | |--------|--------|---------------------------|--------| | Bank | 279,407.14 | Suppliers | 62,000.00 | | Inventory (882 units @ 75) | 66,150.00 | Accrued expenses | 2,500.00 | | Prepaid expenses | 9,000.00 | VAT payable | 6,971.94 | | Equipment (net) | 22,500.00 | Related-party loan | 50,000.00 | | | | Paid-in capital | 150,000.00 | | | | Retained earnings | 105,585.20 | | **Total** | **377,057.14** | **Total** | **377,057.14** | **Cash flow — Q1:** operating 103,407.14 · investing (24,000.00) · financing 200,000.00 · **net change 279,407.14** **VAT:** January 2,421.60 · February 6,088.22 · March 6,971.94 · **quarter total 15,481.76** **Operating indicators for the quarter:** 1,440 orders · 1,918 net units sold · average order value 265.06 · return rate 4.1%

5. Submission

6. Assessment matrix

Pass: a weighted average ≥ 2.0 and no criterion scored 1.
Distinction: a weighted average ≥ 2.6 and Part Four scored 3.

7. Track versions

8. Common mistakes that cost marks

1. Recording the amount transferred by the gateway as sales — it ruins revenue, expenses and tax all at once.
2. Forgetting the second entry on a return (inventory and cost) — it inflates cost of goods sold and hides inventory.
3. Mixing up the FIFO layers — take the cost from the oldest layer first, and put a return back into its correct layer.
4. Skipping the reverse charge entries because they have no cash effect — that is a disclosure breach.
5. Charging shipping and customs to expense instead of capitalising them into inventory.
6. Forgetting that the previous month's tax payment leaves the bank in the following month — it wrecks the cash forecast.
7. A memo stuffed with jargon — the founder is meant to understand it, not to be impressed by it.