Financial Accounting Primer

Accounting can be an intimidating course. Accounting students look forward with anticipation but also hesitance. Non accounting majors that are forced to take accounting look at accounting with dread. This course is designed to make accounting a more friendly course by getting you ready. A big fear of the unknown will now be known.

Who will benefit from this course?

Are you about to take financial accounting? Would you like to better understand financial accounting? Are you a student, businessperson or manager that does not have a background in accounting but may need to deal with the accounting department? Then this course would benefit you!

What you will learn

We will learn what accounting really is and what it is not. We will see the truth behind the ‘math’ misunderstanding of accounting. You will get a primer in accounting by understanding what accounting reports. You will get an introduction into basic accounting equation. You will be introduced to debits and credits. You will even learn to use journal entries. I will show you some examples using Excel.

Lesson Descriptions

· Introduction to the course: You will get an overview of this course and what to expect. You will see how this course will help pre-accounting students gain an understanding of accounting. Knowing what accounting is about will take away that fear. Managers that deal with accounting may be at a disadvantage if they do not know what the accounting department does.

· Common student fears introduced: The biggest fears students have in accounting are discussed in this lesson. One fear is that of math. Math can be intimidating or even scary. Math students often fear math because of the use of formulas. Students in math see the questions as right or wrong with no interpretation. Students also fear accounting for its use of rules. Accounting is seen as a profession of rules.  Students believe not knowing the rules can lead to failure. Students often fear the use of debits and credits in problems.  After this course you will understand that none of the common misconceptions about accounting, math, debits and credits, or rules is true. 

· Perception vs reality: What is an accountant’s life like? We perceive accounting and accountants a certain way. In this lesson we’ll discuss that perception. We’ll then discuss the reality of the profession. What do accountants really do? What is their career like?

· Basic accounting terms: Key terms include transaction and account. These terms are used throughout business. The reason for confusion is that there are multiple definitions for these terms in business depending on your role.

· Accounting Reports: What are the reports provided by accountants? You’ll learn the major two accounting reports that are taught in school. You’ll see what kind of information is provided in these reports.

· Who?: In this lesson you will get to see who uses the accounting reports. You’ll find out why accounting reports are so useful and why there is such a need for accountants.

· Math: You will get the truth about math as it is used in financial accounting. There are numbers in accounting but what accountants really do is communicate. The numbers are part of that transfer of information to the user. The ‘math’ accountants use is really just adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. The accounting problems take no special math skills, but those accounting problems may be a challenge. So how should you approach accounting problems when you take the course?

· Accounting Equation: All of financial accounting can be boiled down to one formula: Assets = Liabilities + stockholders’ equity. You will understand this formula as a fundamental or foundation of information you will need for the course.

· Debits and Credits Oh My!: You will know, by the end of the lesson, what a debit and credit is and what they are not. You will understand how these are merely tools for increasing or decreasing accounts.

· Journal Entry: Learn how to do a journal entry. Get some examples from real world transactions. You will follow the journal entries as they are completed using Excel.

Course Prerequisites:

No prerequisite: You will learn the very basics of financial accounting!