Foundations of Financial Reporting

This unit develops core financial accounting skills for classifying and measuring assets, liabilities, and equity; preparing and analyzing income statement and cash flow elements; and applying the conceptual and regulatory frameworks that govern reporting. Students will study inventory, costs, profitability, leases, errors, industry-specific issues, and reporting for different business forms to build on introductory concepts and prepare for advanced topics in subsequent units.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze and classify assets as current or noncurrent and apply appropriate measurement and depreciation/amortization methods to reflect valuation on the balance sheet
• Apply accounting procedures to record and report current and long-term liabilities, leases, paid-in capital, and changes to retained earnings for different business structures
• Demonstrate the preparation and interpretation of income statement sections and the statement of cash flows, including inventory costing, cost of goods sold, and common profitability measures
• Evaluate the impact of accounting errors, regulatory and ethical issues, conceptual framework principles, and industry-specific items (e.g., net operating losses) on financial statement presentation and disclosure