Take My Liberty ACCT 370 Class

ACCT 370 teaches the core methods for reading the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement, and for using that reading in planning and decisions.

Revsine and colleagues are read two or three chapters a week, from the economic and institutional setting of financial reporting in week one to the later chapters on intercorporate investments and the statement of cash flows in week eight.

The early chapters cover accrual accounting, the income statement and revenue recognition; the middle ones cover receivables, inventories, long-lived assets and financial instruments.

Later chapters turn to income taxes, pensions, leases and the quality of earnings, which is where analysis moves from computing ratios to judging whether reported numbers can be trusted.

The Excel project runs in four parts across weeks one, three, five and seven, and the financial analysis report closes week eight.

There is just one group discussion, opened in week two and answered in week three.

Connect homework falls every week, and exams close weeks two, four, six and eight, the last the heaviest.

ACCT 370 is carried around the company, because every project part and the final report analyze the same business, so the choice in week one decides how much there is to work with.

Pick a company with obvious rivals and rich filings, such as a home improvement chain, a soft drink maker or an airline, and get your instructor's email approval before Part 1.

From there the workbook grows in stages: the company's background and three years of statements, then ratios against the competitors, then horizontal and vertical analysis, then projected statements built from stated assumptions.

The report draws on the whole workbook and on market research, leading with a conclusion about the company's financial health and then proving it with the numbers.

The forum thread takes up the chapter's theme, such as how reported earnings can mislead an analyst and what the cash flow statement reveals, and the replies engage two classmates.

Connect homework and the exams are yours, untouched by the plan.

You upload every part yourself.

Ratios are compared with two or three competitors, so each one is read in context.

Rivals are compared.

An ACCT 370 writer reads financial statements for a living, as an equity research associate, a credit analyst, a corporate financial analyst or a CPA, often with CFA study behind them.

That experience shows in the workbook, where ratios are built with formulas that reference the statements, and in the report, which reads like an analyst's note rather than a list of ratios.

They know where the useful detail hides in a 10-K, in segment notes, in the MD&A and in non-GAAP reconciliations, which keeps the analysis grounded.

Another analyst rechecks formulas and claims.

The analyst never learns who you are.

If an exam chapter is unclear, such as how deferred tax assets affect analysis, a short explanation can be sent.

Prompts that invite a biblical perspective, such as honest reporting, are answered with care.

Several have written initiation reports on companies, which is close to what the final report asks for.

Every workbook tab is labeled and every input sourced, so you can follow the analysis on your own.

Week one is the first difficulty, since the company must be chosen, approved and analyzed in Part 1 before most students have read the opening chapters.

Comparability is the second. Competitors label their statements differently, and ratios mean little unless the line items are standardized first.

Interpretation is the third. A workbook full of ratios earns limited credit without notes saying which company leads and why.

Fourth come the forecasts, where every growth or margin figure needs a reason.

The report is the fifth, at 200 points and at least 2,000 words, due in the same week as the heaviest exam.

The forum replies are longer than usual in this course, which surprises students in week three.

The final week piles the report onto the largest exam.

Fifth comes the report itself, the largest item in the course.

Sixth is the forum, whose replies must be long and sourced, which catches students used to short responses.

Part 1 is due in week one, so handing the course over before it opens gives time to pick and clear a company.

Each workbook part arrives several days before its deadline in weeks one, three, five and seven.

Your discussion post is ready in week two; the two replies follow classmates' threads.

The report comes with days to spare before the end.

The list shows four workbook parts, the forum and the report; Connect and the exams never appear.

A student joining after Part 1 sends the approved workbook, and the later parts build on it.

The report is the largest line, then the workbook parts together.

Students who keep the forum, which is a single exchange, still usually hand over the workbook and report.