How Business Keeps Score
Demystify financial records and see where money really goes. Learn the fundamental balance equation, how to make sense of debits and credits, and how to read the three core financial statements with ease.
Like Duolingo, but for How Business Keeps Score. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
24 levels across 3 sections, about 48 minutes end to end, roughly 10 days at five minutes a day. It moves through The Core Engine; The Big Three Financial Statements; and Timing, Valuation, and the Full Cycle. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in How Business Keeps Score
- A business's total belongings are divided entirely between outside lenders and inside owners
- There is no third group claiming company assets; every asset is financed by either debt or equity
- Creditors get paid first, and owners claim whatever is left
- Assets must be controlled or owned directly by the business, not borrowed from employees
- An asset must provide measurable future economic benefit or cash flow
- Vague hopes or future intentions cannot be recorded as assets until concrete value exists
- Liabilities are not just bank debt; they include any future obligation owed to an outside party
- Receiving cash in advance creates a liability to deliver future goods or services
- Getting supplies on credit creates an obligation to pay later
- Owner's equity is whatever is left over after settling all obligations to outsiders
- The accounting formula can be rewritten as Assets minus Liabilities equals Equity
- Equity shrinks whenever debts grow without an equal increase in assets
- Every incoming asset must come from somewhere: paid with another asset, borrowed, or funded by the owner
- The equation must balance after every single transaction because resources cannot appear out of nowhere
- Gaining an asset always causes an equal decrease in another asset, an increase in liabilities, or an increase in equity
- Every single transaction must touch at least two accounts
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives How Business Keeps Score the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
Where does the money come from to pay for all of a company's assets?
Get it right to open this lesson and 23 more in the app.
How to learn How Business Keeps Score, step by step
Go in order. 24 short levels across 3 sections, about 48 minutes in all, five minutes a day.
- 1
The Core Engine
- The Accounting Equation in Plain English
- Double-Entry Bookkeeping and Journal Entries
- 2
The Big Three Financial Statements
- Reading the Balance Sheet
- Decoding the Income Statement
- Tracking Reality with the Cash Flow Statement
- 3
Timing, Valuation, and the Full Cycle
- Cash Versus Accrual Accounting
- Depreciation and Long-Term Assets
- Closing the Books and Avoiding Traps
3 sections · 8 units · 24 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Questions about How Business Keeps Score
How do I learn How Business Keeps Score?
Go in order: start with The Core Engine, then The Big Three Financial Statements, then Timing, Valuation, and the Full Cycle. On Tomo that's 24 short levels, about 48 minutes in all, played five minutes a day. Start free and play the first level in under a minute.
Is there a Duolingo-style app for How Business Keeps Score?
Yes. Tomo works like Duolingo: short daily lessons, streaks and quick quizzes. How Business Keeps Score is one of its free courses, and you can type any other topic to get a course of your own.
Is the How Business Keeps Score course free?
Yes. How Business Keeps Score is playable on Tomo's free plan, which doesn't expire. No credit card, no waitlist. Download the app and start your first lesson.
How long does it take to learn How Business Keeps Score?
24 levels across 3 sections, about 48 minutes of play in total. It's built for five minutes a day, so you finish it a little at a time instead of all at once.
Do I need any background to start How Business Keeps Score?
No. It's pitched at a beginner level, so it starts where you are and builds up. If you can tap a phone, you can start.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
How Business Keeps Score is taught in the Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start How Business Keeps Score today.
Download Tomo, search How Business Keeps Score, and play your first lesson in under a minute.