Accounting

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• apply the concepts, principles, and practices of financial accounting as issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
• compile and prepare financial statements and identify related disclosures.
• identify accounting topics where the time value of money is relevant, including calculating and comparing future and present value of cash flows.
• assess and apply the objectives and principles for managing cash, receivables, and inventories.
• apply the objectives and principles to account for the depreciation, depletion, amortization, and disposal of assets.
• analyze and account for complex business transactions.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• apply the concepts, principles, and practices of financial accounting as issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
• demonstrate an understanding of the accounting and disclosure requirements for long-term investments, current and long-term liabilities, paid-in capital, retained earnings, warrants, rights and options, convertible securities, pension plans, leases, income taxes and accounting changes.
• compile and analyze financial statements, including the income statement, statement of retained earnings, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows.
• contrast the direct and indirect methods of calculating cash flow from operating activities, and preparation of statement of cash flows under each method.
• recommend the accounting treatment for complex business transactions.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) and the professional and ethical responsibilities of the independent public accountant.
• demonstrate the ability to plan for and document the planning of an audit including the initial risk assessment, evaluation of internal control, calculation of materiality and preparation of audit programs.
• demonstrate knowledge of the substantiation of balances and collection of audit evidence and preparation of audit work papers.
• identify the auditor's responsibilities for detecting fraud.
• evaluate the different types of reports that auditors may issue to indicate the character of their work and the degree of responsibility they are taking.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of how cost accounting information is used by managers in planning, controlling, and evaluating operations.
• compare and record accounting transactions under job-order and process costing systems.
• differentiate between, record, and report product and period costs under full absorption, variable, standard, and activity based costing systems.
• estimate appropriate reorder points and economic order quantities for purchases of raw materials.
• analyze service department costs and allocate them to operating departments.
• identify and record costs of scrap materials, spoiled goods, and defective products in manufacturing operations.
• compute and allocate joint product costs to primary products.
• evaluate cost behavior and use the characteristics of cost behavior in planning and evaluating business operations.
• compile reports detailing costs and profits for jobs and products.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• identify the various Federal and California laws that affect employers in their payroll operations and the payroll and personnel records that they use to meet the requirements of the laws.
• identify the major provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), how to determine hours worked by employees, commonly used methods to record time worked, and the major methods of computing salaries and wages.
• create and maintain payroll records and reports required by federal and California taxing authorities.
• prepare quarterly and annual federal and state payroll tax returns and forms.
• analyze and journalize payroll transactions.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• explain the nature and purpose of United States generally accepted accounting principles (US GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
• explain and apply the components of the conceptual framework for financial accounting and reporting, including the qualitative characteristics of accounting information, the assumptions underlying accounting, the basic principles of financial accounting, and the constraints and limitations on accounting information.
• define and use accounting and business terminology.
• explain what a system is and how an accounting system is designed to satisfy the needs of specific businesses and users.
• summarize the purpose of journals and ledgers.
• apply transaction analysis, input transactions into the accounting system, process this input, and prepare and interpret the four basic financial statements.
• distinguish between cash basis and accrual basis accounting and explain their impact on the financial statements, including the revenue recognition and matching principles.
• identify and illustrate how the principles of internal control are used to manage and control a firm’s resources and minimize risk.
• explain the content, form, and purpose of basic financial statements (including footnotes) and annual reports, and how they satisfy the information needs of investors, creditors, and other users.
• explain the nature of current assets and related issues, including the measurement and reporting of cash and cash equivalents, receivables and bad debts, and inventory and cost of goods sold.
• explain the valuation and reporting of current liabilities, estimated liabilities, and other contingencies.
• identify and illustrate issues relating to long-term asset acquisition, use, cost allocation, and disposal.
• distinguish between capital and revenue expenditures.
• identify and illustrate issues relating to long-term liabilities, including issuance, valuation, and retirement of debt (including the time value of money).
• identify and illustrate issues relating to stockholders’ equity, including issuance, repurchase of capital stock, and dividends.
• explain the importance of operating, investing, and financing activities reported in the Statement of Cash Flows.
• interpret company activity, profitability, liquidity and solvency through selection and application of appropriate financial analysis tools.
• identify the ethical implications inherent in financial reporting and be able to apply strategies for addressing them.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• identify and illustrate the primary activities and information needs of managers and explain the role of the managerial accountant as a member of the management team.
• compare and contrast financial and managerial accounting.
• define and illustrate various cost terms, concepts, and behaviors, and evaluate their relevancy for different decision-making purposes.
• distinguish between product and period costs and prepare and evaluate a Schedule of Cost of Goods Manufactured, Schedule of Cost of Goods Sold, and Income Statement.
• prepare traditional and contribution-margin income statements and define related terms.
• explain cost-volume-profit analysis, degree of operating leverage, and safety margin and employ each as an analytical tool.
• describe the traditional types of product costing systems (including job-order and process), illustrate the flow of costs in each, and prepare related accounting records and reports.
• discuss the impact of technology on the business environment, its implications for product and service costs, and the development of activity-based costing and management.
• explain the purposes of budgeting, prepare a master budget and its component schedules, and relate the budget to planning and control.
• explain the development and use of standard costs and flexible budgets, prepare and interpret variance analysis reports, and relate them to responsibility accounting and control.
• explain the nature of and need for segment reporting and its relationship to cost, revenue, profit, and investment centers; prepare and analyze related segment reports.
• compare and contrast absorption costing and variable costing, prepare income statements using both methods, and reconcile the resulting net incomes.
• define relevant costs and benefits and prepare analyses related to special decisions.
• explain the nature of capital expenditure decisions and apply and evaluate various methods used in making these decisions, including the time value of money.
• identify the ethical implications inherent in managerial accounting and reporting and apply strategies for addressing them.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• explain the methods for utilizing a computerized accounting software program to record transactions for a business.
• analyze and format financial reports which can be used to make sound business decisions.
• list the steps to set up accounting records for a business utilizing the computerized accounting software.
• compare and contrast the benefits of utilizing a computerized accounting software program to maintain accounting records in a variety of business industries and situations.
• explain and demonstrate the steps to process payroll information in the computerized accounting software program.
• summarize and demonstrate the process to track inventory and maintain inventory records using a computerized accounting software program.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• explain the methods for utilizing the SAP accounting software to record transactions for businesses.
• analyze and format financial reports using the SAP system.
• list the steps to set up accounting records for a business utilizing the SAP accounting software.
• compare and contrast the benefits of utilizing the SAP software to maintain accounting records in a variety of business industries and situations.
• summarize and demonstrate the process to track inventory and maintain inventory records using the SAP software.
• have the ability to navigate through the user interface to work on business processes and case studies on their own.
• have the ability to understand the business processes and apply to the SAP system.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• evaluate the ethical guidelines of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and other professional accounting organizations.
• evaluate the California Accountancy Act and the implementing rules and regulations of the California Board of Accountancy.
• evaluate the ethical standards of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA).
• explore selected other professional accounting codes of conduct.
• assess potential legal liability for professional conduct.
• identify the common characteristics and causes of ethical lapses, fraud, and inadequate audits.
• evaluate and apply the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform 2009.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• apply industry knowledge and theoretical concepts in a field of study or career as written in the minimum 3 learning objectives created by the student and his/her employer or work site supervisor at the start of the course.
• manage personal career plans and decision making using industry & workforce information and online resources.
• behave professionally and ethically, exhibit adaptability, initiative, self-awareness and self-management as needed.
• exhibit effective communication, collaboration, and leadership skills at work with consideration to workplace dynamics and social and diversity awareness.
• demonstrate critical and creative thinking skills as they apply to the workplace.