• Explain the basic accounting equation
• Describe how assets, liabilities and equity reveal the financial condition of your organization
• Comprehend debits and credits
• Record and analyze business transactions from source documentation
• Understand the budgeting process
• Read and comprehend financial statements
• Improve financial literacy through understanding of cash and accrual methods, calculation of accounts receivable and accounts payable
• Comprehend payback and break-even analysis, the time value of money, and how to calculate net present value
• Determine adequate testing for liquidity, leverage, and solvency through ratio analysis
• Recognize how and when accountants can manipulate and fabricate accounting data to “cook the books”

I. Memorizing the basic concepts

• Accounting is the language of business
• Tracking business results
  • Identifying the profit and loss
  • Identifying the assets
  • Identifying the liabilities
  • Identifying the owners’ equity
•  Understanding key concepts, principles and conventions
  • Basic accounting equation
  • Accrual concept
  • Cost concept
  • Convention of materiality
  • Convention of consistency
  • Convention of conservativeness

II. Creating balance sheets and income statements

• Accounting as financial photography
• Understanding the balance sheet
• Understanding the income statement
• Defining the five major types of accounts

• Assets
• Liabilities
• Owners’ equity
• Revenue
• Expenses

• Examining and charting sample accounts

III. Accounting and bookkeeping mechanics

• T accounts
  • Knowing when to debit and when to credit
  • Following decision rules: Balance sheet accounts
  • Following decision rules: Income statement accounts
• What are “the books”?
• Using the general journal
• Using the general ledger
• Following the six steps in the accounting process
  • Analyzing the transaction
  • Journalizing
  • Posting
  • Adjusting entries
  • Closing
  • Preparing financial statements
•  Preparing the trial balance
  • Adjusting entries
  • Applying depreciation
  • Closing
• Examining the statement of cash flows

IV. Understanding the budgeting process

• Budgeting to achieve goals
• Creating a successful budget
• Making budgets “modular”
• Examining the IBM budgeting cycle

V. Understanding financial analysis and investments

• Payback analysis
• Break-even analysis
• Understanding the time value of money
• Net present value
• “Discounting” the cash flows

VI. Understanding topical issues in finance and accounting

• Comparing market capitalization and owners’ equity
• Knowing how they can “cook the books”
• Period cost and product cost
• Accrued expenses
• Inventory valuation
• Non-recurring extraordinary events
• Sales

VII. Analyzing financial statements

• Ratio analysis
• Profitability ratios
  • Return on investment (R.O.I.)
  • Return on equity (R.O.E.)
• Asset utilization ratios
  • Inventory turnover
  • Average collection period
• Liquidity ratios
  • Current ratio
  • Quick ratio
• Debt utilization ratios
  • Debt to equity ratio
  • Times interest earned ratio
• Gross margin