Take My Liberty ACCT 209 Class

ACCT 209 gives non-business majors the essentials of financial reports, their assumptions, performance and ratio analysis, cash flow, present value and budgeting.

Hicks's eight chapters are read one a week, so the course moves steadily from how financial statements are built to how managers use them to plan and decide.

The first chapters introduce the statements and the assumptions behind them, such as the going concern and accrual accounting.

Mid-course chapters cover ratios and performance, then cash flow, including how a profitable firm can still run out of cash.

Late chapters treat present value and budgets, a manager's tools for comparing choices and planning.

Connect Plus homework worth 30 points and a 30-point reading quiz fall in every week.

The two 110-point forums sit in weeks two and five; the spreadsheet and the essay, each worth 150, close weeks six and seven.

ACCT 209 is carried through its four written items, while the weekly Connect sets and quizzes run on your side.

Forum posts apply the chapter to a real company, such as reading a retailer's income statement to explain its gross margin, or comparing two firms' current ratios to judge which is better placed to pay its bills.

The Excel Project is built to your instructions, usually a spreadsheet that calculates ratios, a cash flow, a loan or investment comparison or a budget, with formulas visible and a short written explanation.

A time value of money task, for example, might compare leasing and buying a vehicle, discount each option's payments and show which costs less in today's dollars.

For week seven, the essay ties a passage on stewardship or honest dealing to a concrete money decision.

Pieces arrive early for you to read.

The homework and quizzes are yours, and nothing in the plan reaches into Connect.

The forums are written so a classmate from any major can follow them, which is also what instructors in a non-majors course look for: correct terms, explained simply.

The spreadsheet arrives with formulas in every calculated cell, so you can see the method, change an input and watch the result move, which helps with the Connect questions on the same chapter.

The spreadsheet assignment uses formulas that remain visible, so each ratio can be traced.

Ratios are explained simply.

Budgets are built from stated assumptions.

An ACCT 209 writer has worked in accounting or financial analysis, as a staff accountant, a financial analyst or a controller, usually with a degree in accounting or finance.

That experience shows in plain explanations of ideas that confuse non-majors, such as why depreciation lowers profit but not cash, or why a ratio means little without a comparison.

They build spreadsheets daily, so the Excel Project uses clean formulas and clear labels rather than typed-in answers.

A second reviewer checks every calculation and the essay before delivery.

The writer never learns your name.

If a quiz chapter is confusing, such as how to read a cash flow statement, a short explanation can be sent.

The Faith Essay is written by someone comfortable connecting scripture to financial practice thoughtfully.

Many have also taught or tutored introductory accounting, so they know which ideas non-majors find hardest and explain those first.

The weekly rhythm is the first difficulty, with Connect homework and a reading quiz every week.

Vocabulary is the second. Accrual, depreciation, working capital and present value are new terms for students from other majors.

Ratio analysis is the third, since a ratio is only useful when compared with another year, another company or an industry average.

The Excel Project is the fourth, because it needs both correct formulas and an explanation of what the numbers mean.

The time value of money is the fifth, with discounting and compounding that many students find counterintuitive.

Week six brings the Excel Project beside homework and a quiz.

The week-seven essay carries as much weight as the spreadsheet, which surprises many students.

Connect itself is a hurdle for some students, with its strict answer formats and rounding rules, which is one more reason to keep the written items from piling on in the same weeks.

Since the first forum does not come until week two, a handover during week one leaves plenty of time.

Each item lands with a few days in hand before its deadline.

Four lines make up the list, two forums, the spreadsheet and the essay, with the last two the larger; Connect work is never on it.

Many students order only the spreadsheet, since it is the item that depends most on a skill the course does not teach directly.

If you would rather keep the forums, which are the shortest items, the spreadsheet and the essay can be ordered on their own.

Orders placed after week two simply begin with the second forum, and the earlier one is left as you submitted it.