This course provides a thorough study of basic accounting principles. The accounting cycle is introduced using an appropriate mix of conceptual and procedural problems. A real-world problem using computer applications is also covered. This is a basic course, which aids in building a foundation for financial analysis and decision-making. (Fall, Spring, Summer) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Registration Restriction(s): Intensive English Program majors may not enroll

• Textbook Online Platform: The publishers online platform called McGraw Hill Connect for the textbook Financial Accounting by Spiceland, Thomas, Herrman, 6th Edition/Evergreen published by McGraw Hill. Required Material for this course has already been included in your tuition & fees as part of an Inclusive Access Program with the publisher at a 30% discounted price.  Accordingly you should have online access on day 1 of the course.  This online Connect platform is linked to Canvas, and will be where you do all your reading, homework, quizzes, and exams. 

The publisher also offers a loose-leaf paper version of the text that you can purchase if you desire (optional).

• Access to a computer or laptop with a Webcam, microphone, and a stable internet connection: The exams in this course require that an online proctor called Proctorio integrated with McGraw Hill Connect be used (free for SUU students).  Proctorio requires a webcam, microphone, and a stable internet connection in order for you to take your exams, so all students are required to have access to these items in order to complete coursework.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe the purpose of financial accounting and the purpose and structure of financial statements.                                                                         (School of Business #3,4; Accounting Program #1)
2. Research the various career options with accounting. (Accounting Program #2)
3. Describe the accounting cycle and demonstrate how to record transactions using the double-entry accounting system.                                  (School of Business #3,4; Accounting Program #1)
4. Explain accrual accounting concepts and demonstrate how to record adjustments to various asset, liability and equity accounts to ensure accurate financial reporting. (School of Business #3,4; Accounting Program #1)
5. Apply your understanding of the accounting cycle to prepare and interpret financial statements and the associated financials ratios to evaluate an entity’s financial condition. (School of Business #3,4; Accounting Program #1)
6. Analyze ethical issues and standards as they relate to business within society. (School of Business #1)

Course Assessment Table

Assignment Outline 

SmartBook/LearnSmart

You will have 12 SmartBook/LearnSmart reading assignments (one for each chapter). “ LearnSmart or SmartBook is an interactive study tool that adaptively assesses students’ skill and knowledge levels to track which topics students have mastered and which require further instruction and practice. Based upon student progress, it then adjusts the learning content based on their knowledge strengths and weaknesses, as well as their confidence level around that knowledge” (McGraw Hill connect website).  Essentially it is an electronic personal accounting tutor.  Each chapter has a short LearnSmart homework assignment to introduce the student to the key principles and concepts from the chapter.  LearnSmart activities are designed to be completed before chapter discussion begins in class for improved class discussions and advanced preparation for homework and quizzes that will be assigned or given in class. 

Homework

You will have 12 Homework Assignments ( one for each chapter) to help you practice the concepts taught in the chapter material.  They include homework problems from the textbook and other items provided by the professor as discussed in class.  All homework will be completed online through use of the “Connect” Accounting software and is due as noted 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 will have 12 quizzes (one for each chapter) covering the chapter material for each chapter.  They  will be available in Connect or Canvas and will be due as noted in Canvas.    The quiz answers will open up right after the due date/time so that you can use them as study materials for the exams.

Memos/Writing Assignments/Presentations

You will have two memos/writing assignments/Presentations in this course:

• The Biographical sketch is a google doc designed to help the professor get to know you better by answering a few basic questions about your life, interests, etc.
• The Accounting Career options memo is designed to get you thinking about potential career options in accounting, many of which you are aware of and many you may not have previously considered. More information given in class.

Public Company Analysis Research Project/Case

You will have one research project/case in this course.  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.

• 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 to determine which companies perform best

Exams

You will have 5 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 blank scratch paper, a pen or pencil, and calculator that is not connected to the internet or use the calculator provided in Proctorio to each exam. The final exam is comprehensive. 

 Exams are required to be proctored online through the approved proctor called Proctorio (free to SUU students).  Exams taken using the online proctor require you to have a webcam, microphone, and internet connection, and may be taken anywhere, anytime 24/7 during the open testing window and will generally be due by 11:59pm (Mountain Standard Time) on the date noted in Canvas unless otherwise indicated. For live classes, the professor may cancel one regular class session during the week of the exam in order to allow students sufficient time to take the exam.

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 may 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.  

If you are not satisfied with your exam score, a second attempt on the exam will be available for all exams except the final exam. It is important to give yourself time to study more between exam attempts. I will review exams for time between attempts, duration of exams, and other patterns. Cheating on exams is not tolerated. Exams will be curved therefore cheating on exams by others will negatively impact you. If you become aware of how it is possible to cheat on exams by yourself or others please report the method to me and I will award extra credit as a bounty.

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 problems, 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.  

Assignment Weighting

Grade Scheme

The following grading standards will be used in this class:

Course Plan/Schedule

Week 1: Chapter 1 - Accounting for Decision Making

Week 2: Chapter 2 - The Accounting Cycle, Journal Entries, & Accounting Career Options

Week 3: Chapter 3 - Financial Reporting

Week 4: Exam 1 - Ch 1-3

Week 5: Chapter 4 - Accounting for Cash & Internal Controls

Week 6: Chapters 5 & 6 - Accounting for Accounts Receivable, Revenue, Inventory, & Cost of Goods Sold

Week 7: Chapter 7 - Accounting for Long Term Assets

Week 8: Exam 2 - Ch 4-7

Week 9: Chapter 8 - Accounting for Current Liabilities

Week 10: Chapter 9 - Accounting for Long Term Liabilities

Week 11: Chapter 10 - Accounting for Equity

Week 12: Exam 3: Ch 8-10

Week 13: Chapter 11 - Statement of Cash Flows

Week 14: Chapter 12 - Financial Statement Analysis

Week 15: Exam 4: Chapters 11 & 12

Week 15: Final Exam: All Chapters 

Instructor's Response Time & Feedback

Feedback is an important part of learning.  Please look for feedback on your assignments in the Canvas gradebook, and look for any feedback/responses to emails via Canvas messages or direct email.  To find feedback look at this tutorial How do I view assignment comments from my Instructor. 

It is my goal to:

• Respond to student messages within 1-2 business days
• Provide grades and feedback within 7-10 days from the due date

Late Policy

Smartbook/Learnsmart Reading, Homework, Quizzes, and memos can be turned in late for up to half credit.  No late exams will be accepted.

Use of Generative AI and Other Tools (ChatGPT, etc.)

Generative AI and other tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grammarly, etc.) can enhance your learning when used properly, and when you understand the effective uses and the limits of each tool. Using these tools to brainstorm to give you ideas to get you started on an assignment or project, using them to provide help in understanding difficult topics in a simpler way, using them to provide interactive simulations of course content to make them more understandable and engaging, or using them to provide additional perspective and potential additional resources for further research can be very useful to your learning.  Using these tools in these ways is appropriate and approved in this course. 

We are all new to AI, so if you find a successful way to use AI to study for and learn more of accounting principles please share them with me so that I can help other students and myself better use AI. I also enjoy AI fails, so when you come across an example of AI providing false information for accounting please share that with me as well.

However, using these tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Chegg, Coursehero, etc.) to just copy and paste or to submit others work as your own in any way is inappropriate and will result in 0 points, potential course ejection, and potential expulsion from the University as noted in the academic integrity policy of the University. If you don’t learn to use the tools correctly now they will also likely result in firing from your future jobs as well as other potentially more serious consequences, so learn to use these tools correctly now.  Additionally, remember that these tools often “hallucinate” and provide false information, so be careful in their use and verify their output as your grade will be significantly affected by any incorrect submissions.  Please make sure to verify all sources directly to ensure correctness, revise them into your own words, and cite the tool and/or the direct source as your information source. Claiming AI generated content as your own work is plagiarism and will be penalized as noted in the plagiarism and academic integrity policy noted in this syllabus. 

In the event you used AI on an assignment please identify that AI was used. Assignments where AI was used will be marked down 10%, but it may be worth it to you to receive the 10% mark down to save time. If the assignment is an unreviewed AI output it will receive a 50%. If you use AI and do not label it as AI and I am made aware of it, the assignment will receive a ZERO. NO AI is allowed in the smallest degree on EXAMS Cheating on exams in anyway, will be handled as cheating to the fullest extent.

The use of AI glasses or smart glasses, commonly known as "pervert" glasses will not be allowed in the classroom, interactions with myself or other students, or on exams. The use of AI note taking in lecture halls or using recordings of student/teacher interactions to create content will not be allowed due to FERPA concerns and the lack of consent from everyone in the room/broadcast. Please help protect the privacy of everyone as much as possible.

Please do not send communications to me using AI. It is important for you to learn proper email language and business communication and I want to be sure I am interacting with you and not AI. You can be sure I am not using AI to automate my interactions with you and I hope for the same. 

This course requires you to be an active participant within the content. This means you should log into the course multiple days within a week, check announcements, and participate in graded and ungraded discussions.  Your attendance will be measured by your participation in and completion of course activities. 

Additional Course Resources and Support

SUU Campus Resources and Services

SUU has several resources and services available to support you during your time here at SUU, please review this list of SUU Campus Resources and Services and the Student Handbook. For more information on Canvas and other technologies, and their statements on Accessibility and Privacy statements please review our Vendor Resources page.

Financial Security Statement

Finances are an integral part of maintaining your wellbeing. If you are struggling financially or wish to know more about budgeting, please visit the Financial Wellness Center in room 201C in the Sharwan Smith Center, contact Ashleigh Zimmerman at (435) 865-8436, or text the Financial Wellness line at 435-708-1952.  

Canvas Information

Canvas is where course content, grades, and communication will reside for this course.

• For Passwords or any other computer-related technical support:
• 435-865-8200
• support@suu.edu
• IT Service Desk
• For Canvas help:
• 435-865-8555
• canvas@suu.edu
• Canvas Help Center
• How to Use Canvas

See link: Program and Course Fees