Accounting Short Course

Lesson 1 • The Purpose and Scope of Accounting

Defines accounting's role in business decision-making and financial communication. Grounds students in why accurate recordkeeping matters before any technical skill is introduced.

Lesson 2 • Types of Business Entities and Structures

Surveys sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations and their accounting implications. Students identify how entity type shapes financial reporting obligations.

Lesson 3 • Core Accounting Concepts and Assumptions

Covers the going-concern, accrual, consistency, and materiality assumptions. These principles govern every entry and report students will produce throughout the course.

Lesson 1 • Posting to the General Ledger

Demonstrates how journal entries transfer to individual ledger accounts (T-accounts). Students post a full transaction set and compute running balances.

Lesson 2 • The Chart of Accounts

Covers how accounts are numbered, categorized, and organized within a business. Students design a simple chart of accounts for a small enterprise.

Lesson 3 • Debits, Credits, and Normal Balances

Explains the debit-credit convention and the normal balance of each account type. Students apply rules to determine which side of an account increases or decreases.

Lesson 4 • Preparing the Trial Balance

Shows how to extract ledger balances and verify arithmetic equality of debits and credits. Students identify and correct common trial balance discrepancies.

Lesson 1 • Why Adjusting Entries Are Necessary

Explains timing differences between cash flows and revenue or expense recognition. Students connect the accrual assumption to the need for period-end adjustments.

Lesson 2 • Accruals: Accrued Revenues and Expenses

Teaches entries for revenues earned but not yet billed and expenses incurred but not yet paid. Students distinguish accruals from deferrals and record both correctly.

Lesson 3 • Completing the Adjusted Trial Balance

Integrates all adjusting entries into an updated trial balance ready for financial statement preparation. Students verify balance equality and trace adjustments to source entries.

Lesson 4 • Deferrals: Prepaid Expenses and Unearned Revenue

Covers adjusting entries for costs paid in advance and revenue received before delivery. Students record and reverse deferral entries across reporting periods.

Lesson 1 • Statement of Owner's Equity

Explains how net income, drawings, and capital contributions flow into the equity statement. Students prepare the statement and reconcile opening and closing equity balances.

Lesson 2 • Notes and Disclosures to Financial Statements

Introduces the role of footnotes in explaining accounting policies and significant estimates. Students draft basic disclosures for depreciation method and inventory valuation.

Lesson 3 • The Income Statement Structure

Covers single-step and multi-step income statement formats and their components. Students classify revenues, cost of goods sold, and operating expenses correctly.

Lesson 4 • The Balance Sheet

Teaches classified balance sheet layout with current and non-current sections for assets and liabilities. Students verify that total assets equal total liabilities plus equity.

Lesson 1 • Recording Purchases of Inventory

Covers purchase orders, invoices, trade discounts, and purchase returns under both inventory systems. Students record net and gross method purchases with freight-in costs.

Lesson 2 • Merchandising vs. Service Business Accounting

Contrasts the income statement structure of a merchandiser with that of a service firm. Students identify the gross profit section and its significance for business analysis.

Lesson 3 • Inventory Valuation and Lower-of-Cost-or-Net-Realizable-Value

Applies the lower-of-cost-or-net-realizable-value rule to write down obsolete or damaged inventory. Students record write-down entries and assess their income statement impact.

Lesson 4 • Recording Sales and Sales Returns

Teaches entries for credit sales, sales discounts, and customer returns under the perpetual system. Students record the dual entry required for each sale: revenue and cost.

Lesson 1 • Internal Control Principles for Cash

Covers segregation of duties, authorization, and physical safeguards applied to cash handling. Students evaluate a simple cash control system and identify weaknesses.

Lesson 2 • Accounts Receivable and Credit Sales

Explains how credit sales create receivables and the risks of non-collection. Students record credit sales, collections, and write-offs using the allowance method.

Lesson 3 • Bank Reconciliation

Teaches the step-by-step process of reconciling the book balance to the bank statement balance. Students prepare a complete reconciliation and record required adjusting entries.

Lesson 4 • Notes Receivable and Interest

Covers the recording of promissory notes, interest accrual, and collection or dishonor at maturity. Students calculate simple interest and prepare all related journal entries.

Lesson 1 • Long-Term Liabilities and Bonds

Explains bond issuance at par, premium, and discount and the effective-interest amortization method. Students record bond transactions and present long-term debt on the balance sheet.

Lesson 2 • Depreciation Methods in Depth

Extends straight-line coverage to include declining-balance and sum-of-years-digits methods. Students select and apply the method that best matches an asset's usage pattern.

Lesson 3 • Acquiring and Capitalizing Long-Term Assets

Defines which costs are capitalized versus expensed when purchasing property, plant, and equipment. Students record lump-sum purchases and self-constructed asset costs.

Lesson 4 • Intangible Assets and Amortization

Introduces patents, trademarks, copyrights, and goodwill and their amortization or impairment treatment. Students distinguish finite-life from indefinite-life intangibles and record accordingly.

Lesson 1 • Horizontal and Vertical Analysis

Applies percentage change and common-size techniques to income statements and balance sheets. Students identify trends and structural shifts across multiple reporting periods.

Lesson 2 • Liquidity and Efficiency Ratios

Calculates current ratio, quick ratio, inventory turnover, and receivables turnover. Students use these ratios to evaluate a company's short-term financial health.

Lesson 3 • Communicating Financial Analysis Results

Teaches how to structure a written financial analysis report with clear findings and recommendations. Students draft an executive summary supported by ratio evidence and trend data.

Lesson 4 • The Cash Flow Statement Overview

Introduces operating, investing, and financing activities and the indirect method of preparation. Students classify cash flows and interpret the statement alongside other financial reports.

Lesson 5 • Solvency and Leverage Ratios

Examines debt-to-equity, interest coverage, and debt ratio to assess long-term financial stability. Students evaluate whether a business can sustain its debt obligations over time.