Welcome
to LawShelf’s video-course in the basics of financial accounting. This course
introduces the viewer to the most important principles in accounting. This
course is also designed for corporate or legal professionals to be able to better
work with corporate accounting departments. While this course is complicated
and requires some understanding of mathematical principles, it is an
introductory level course in that no prior background or experience in
accounting is required.
This
course starts with explanations of the basic financial accounting documents:
the balance sheet, the income statement and other financial statements. We’ll
go over basic bookkeeping rules and where various information is entered and
kept.
Modules
two through four cover the accounting process. We’ll discuss the concepts of
recognition and matching, accrual and deferral of revenue and what constitutes
current assets. We’ll also discuss inventory and the “LIFO,” “FIFO” and
just-in-time methods to track inventory. We’ll also look at the concept of
depreciation, mainly relevant for income and capital gains taxation, and the
various depreciation methods and rules. We’ll also look at how to account for
intangible assets, securities, debt instruments, leases and capital accounts.
In
module five, we’ll turn to the principles of accounting. We’ll discuss the
“Generally Accepted Accounting Principles” and how they are formed and work. We’ll
also discuss auditing and the principles that govern that pursuit. We’ll also
look at responsibility for financial statements, gray areas and some sample
cases where questions of liability for false or misleading financial statements
went to the courts.
In
our last module, we’ll focus on the quantitative tools that are used in
valuations. We’ll look at many different types of ratio analyses and their
rules and uses. We’ll look at myriads of ways to measure profitability and
performance. Then, we’ll discuss the time value of money and its impact on
accounting. Finally, we’ll wind up the course by discussing different ways to
value a company.
At
the end of this course, you will know the basics of accounting methods, where
they come from, how they are put into effect and why they are important.
Best
of luck and we welcome your feedback.
Basics of Accounting