SmartBook
You’ll have 12 SmartBook reading assignments—one for each chapter. SmartBook is an interactive study tool that works like a personal accounting tutor. It adapts to you, tracking what you’ve mastered and what still needs work, then adjusts the questions and content to strengthen your understanding and build your confidence.
Each SmartBook assignment is short and designed to introduce the key principles and concepts of the chapter. You’ll get much more out of it if you complete it before our discussion of each chapter. Doing it ahead of time will make class easier to follow and help you feel more prepared for the homework and quizzes that follow. Think of it as your warm-up before we dive into the real game.
Pro tip: The more effort you put into SmartBook, the easier the homework and quizzes will feel—it’s your chance to learn without the pressure of a grade hanging over every question.
Homework
You’ll have 12 homework assignments—one for each chapter—to help you practice and apply the concepts we cover. All homework will be completed online through McGraw Hill Connect and is due on the date shown in Canvas.
Use these assignments as a learning tool, not just a checklist item. If you get stuck or aren’t sure why you’re doing something, that’s your cue to dig in, ask questions, and work toward understanding the why behind the answer.
To support you, I’ve recorded video walkthroughs for several homework problems. You can find them in the Modules section of Canvas under the corresponding homework.
Quizzes
You’ll have 12 quizzes—one for each chapter—covering the key concepts and material from that chapter. Quizzes will be available in Connect or Canvas and are due on the dates shown in Canvas.
Once the due date and time have passed, the quiz answers will open so you can review them and use them as study material for the exams. Treat each quiz as both a checkpoint for your understanding and a low-stakes way to get ready for the tests.
Success tip: Don’t wait until the last minute—completing the quiz soon after we cover the chapter will keep the material fresh and make exam prep much easier.
Memos/Writing Assignments
You’ll complete two short writing assignments during the semester:
Biographical Sketch – A one-page memo or short video introducing yourself. Share a bit about your life, interests, and experiences so I can get to know you better.
Accounting Career Options Memo – A short memo exploring possible career paths in accounting. You’ll research both familiar roles and ones you may not have considered before.
Purpose: These assignments are designed to help you connect personally with the course and think ahead about your future in accounting. They’re not just tasks to finish—they’re opportunities to reflect, discover, and make the material more meaningful to you.
Public Company Ratio Analysis Case
In this case study, you’ll work with real-world financial statements from publicly traded companies to calculate and interpret key financial ratios. The goal is to give you hands-on experience applying what you’ve learned in class to actual business data—seeing how the numbers tell the story of a company’s performance, financial position, and efficiency.
You can begin the case at any time and submit it by the due date listed in Canvas. Starting early will give you more time to analyze the numbers, spot trends, and draw meaningful conclusions.
Skills You’ll Gain:
- Locating and reading SEC-filed financial statements
- Calculating and interpreting common financial ratios
- Comparing companies within the same industry
- Drawing conclusions about financial health and performance using real data
Exams
You’ll have four exams in this course. They are closed-book and must be completed individually without using any notes or other resources. Exams are taken online in Connect and will include a mix of multiple-choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, calculation, and other question types just like what you'll see in your homework and quizzes. You are allowed to bring a calculator, a pen or pencil, and a blank scratch paper to work out calculations to each exam. The final exam is not comprehensive—it covers only Chapters 11 and 12.
All exams are proctored through Proctorio (free to SUU students) within the Connect platform, which requires a webcam, microphone, and reliable internet connection. The testing window spans multiple days, and you can take the exams anywhere, anytime, 24/7 during the open testing window noted in the Canvas Calendar. Exams are generally due by 11:59 PM Mountain Time on the date noted in Canvas, so be sure to make necessary time adjustments if you are in a different time zone when you take the exams. For live classes we will generally cancel one regular class session during that period to give you sufficient time and flexibility to take the exam.
If you are not satisfied with your exam score, you will have the opportunity to do exam corrections to earn up to half of your missed points back. If you're willing to learn the material I want to give you some worthwhile benefit for that. Exam corrections are generally due 1 week after the exam due date as noted in the Canvas Calendar.
A study guide will be available in Connect before each test that draws questions from the exam pool. While it’s optional, it’s an excellent way to get familiar with the format and types of questions you’ll encounter. Students who use the study guide tend to feel more confident and perform better. For live classes we'll use the study guide to play a jeopardy game in class before each exam in order to help you review the exam content in a gamified setting and potentially earn a few points to go toward your exam.
Exam Tips: The hardest exam problems worth the most points are generally very similar or identical to your homework problems, just with different numbers so that you learn the proper process and develop proper skillsets. These problems are common items you'll typically see in real life accounting, so we want you to have lots of exposure to them to gain practical experience that will help you in the future whether you become an accountant, own your own business, or need to help other family or business owners. Based on that background, for best success on the exams start with the study guide and make sure you know that well, then go through your homework problems from the respective chapters to be best prepared. Remember there are several tutors in the tutoring center for this course, so between the tutors, my online videos in the Canvas Modules walking you through homework problem, my office hours (live or zoom), the study guides, your homework problems, and your other classmates to study with you should have plenty of resources to help you prepare well for exams if you're willing to put in the effort.