Orientation

1. Orientation

1.1. Big Picture

FIN1030 Big Picture

Big Picture

 

This cartoon shows a person balancing a stack of paper in each hand while walking a tightrope.

© Christos Georghiou/681172/Fotolia

A business, just like you, needs to make decisions about what to spend its money on based on how much it has, what it needs, and what it would like to have. By completing its end-of-the-year financial statements, a business is able to determine if it made a profit or recorded a loss, what its expenditures were, and how to maximize its profits in the coming year. These financial statements are important tools used by a business to prepare its budget.

 

Course Outline

 

This course consists of five projects:

 

Project 1: The Worksheet

Project 2: Financial Statements

Project 3: Closing Entries

Project 4: Budgeting

Project 5: Final Project

 

The first four projects include training rooms, through which you learn skills and information to help you complete the project. The projects and training rooms will prepare you for your final project at the end of the course.

 

The suggested completion time for this course is 25 hours. You may be able to complete it in less time, or it may take you a little longer. Completing the course should not take more than 32 hours, however.

 

 

Suggested Time  (Minutes)

Course Orientation

20

Project 1: The Worksheet

 

Training Room 1: Trial Balance

60

Training Room 2: Extending the Worksheet

80

Training Room 3: Calculating Net Income or Net Loss

160

Project 2: Financial Statements

 

Training Room 1: The Income Statement

80

Training Room 2: The Balance Sheet

80

Training Room 3: Statement of Owner’s Equity

80

Project 3: Closing Entries

 

Training Room 1: Journalizing Closing Entries

160

 

Training Room 2: Posting Closing Entries

160

Project 4: Budgeting

 

Training Room 1: Budget Planning

80

Training Room 2: Preparing a Budget

80

Training Room 3: Budget Analysis

80

Project 5: Final Project (including Portfolio)

320

Total

1440 (about
25 hours)

 

 

Assessment

 

The assessment for this course will be based on the assignments from each project, the final project, and how well you achieved the basic competencies of the course. Assignments that will be marked by your teacher will be indicated by the heading “Time to Work.”

 

You will need to create a course portfolio to which you will add documents as you progress through this course. Suggestions of what to include in your course portfolio are provided as you work through the projects and training rooms. The purpose of this portfolio is to allow you to showcase what you know about accounting to prospective employers and/or post-secondary institutions, provide you with an excellent source for review when working on the final project, and act as a reference resource as you continue your accounting studies.

 

Suggested weightings are as follows, but you should check with your teacher.

 

Assessment for Projects

Final Project (including Portfolio)

Basic Competencies

40%

50%

10%


 

 

The Basic Competencies Rubric will be used by your teacher to assess your work throughout the course.

 

 

 

Icon Legend

 

 

Tips and Tricks

 

 

 

 

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

 

 

 

 

Check Your Answer

 

 

 

 

Accounting Forms

 

 

 

 

Assessment or Rubric

 

 

 

 

Link to a document

 

 

 

 

Multimedia

 

 

 

 

Exemplars and Examples

 

 

 

Saving Your Work

 

You will need to create a course folder on your desktop called “FIN1030.” This is where you will save all your assignments.

 

Your course portfolio can be saved as a folder inside your course folder or as a desktop folder specifically to collect your portfolio information. This information will be presented and assessed at the end of this course.

 

Check with your teacher for special instructions on saving work for assessment.

 

View Creating a Folder for instructions on creating a folder. This video is also available under Tips and Tricks in the Toolkit for you to access whenever you need it.

 

Toolkit

 

The Toolkit contains support documents and the Excel® spreadsheet accounting and workbook forms you will need for this course. You may access information and tools from the Toolkit whenever you need them.

 

In the Toolkit you will find the following:

  • Accounting Forms: forms already created in Excel® 2007 for you to use
  • Tips and Tricks: suggestions to help you work through your assignments
  • Rubrics: checklists for you to check your assignments
  • Exemplars: examples of completed accounting forms