Home > Academics > Accountancy Modules - FA Accountancy Module ACCT 111: Financial Accounting (FA) |
| Official Description on Oasis | Professors (For ACCT111 only) | |
This course provides the student with a basic understanding of accounting as "the language of business". It introduces students to the basic concepts, principles, procedures and approaches underlying the accounting process. This basic understanding facilitates the interpretation of financial information, which is necessary for making business decisions. |
Prof Bernadine Low and Prof Goh Beng Wee | |
| Pre-requisite | ||
| None | ||
| Importance | Project | |
FA lays the foundation for your other accountancy knowledge and it is also a pre-requisite to your other accountancy modues. FA will introduce you to all your debits and credits, and the journal entries for basic accounting transactions. You will learn to balance the accounts, never mind that most people never did manage to balance their trial balance for their quizzes and exams. You will also be introduced to the holy bible for all accountants - Financial Reporting Standards (FRS) - but you will not be expected to read through them yet. For the project, you will learn how to read a company's annual report and analyse its financial statements. It is advisable for students to take this course seriously as it helps to build up a firm foundation for other accountancy modules. Students who do poorly for FA tend to face repercussion in future accountancy courses, such as Corporate Reporting in Year 2, so it is also advisable that they spend their year 1 summer brushing up their FA knowledge.
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The project will require students to do a simple analysis of a company’s annual report. You will be assigned into groups for 4 to 5 for the project. Since this is probably the first time you’re looking at an annual report, be prepared to stare at the report and remain totally clueless for hours. Typical duration required: 1 to 5 weeks. | |
| Difficulty Level | Technical Difficulty | |
A survey was done in May 2011 on the level of difficulty for the various accountancy modules. Rating was done on a scale of 1 to 5 [1:very easy and 5: OMG!]. Generally, you can consider a rating of < 3 to be manageable and relatively easy. A rating of 3 to 3.5 can be considered challenging yet manageable. A rating of > 4 will probably give rise to horror stories. For comparison, go to modules difficulty. |
Average: 2.75/5 | |
| Project Difficulty | ||
| Average: 3.05/5 | ||
| Interesting Facts | Advice and Studying Tips from Seniors | |
FA, also known as accounting101 to some professors, is the introductory course to all accounting modules and it is pre-assigned to year 1s. It is one of the more challenging modules in your first year of SMU, and you will find everyone (including non-accountancy students taking business FA101) complaining about it. FA is one of the common topics among year 1s, such that if you are to spot someone discussing about FA, he/she is most likely a year 1. You have probably heard tales about how the Balance Sheet cannot be balanced. It's true that many students are unable to do it, but that doesn't mean it's not possible! You will be introduced to "negative marking" for MCQ, and there are instances that people actually scored negative marks for their MCQ! The bad news: It's possible to fail FA. |
Don't take this module for granted though it is the first acct module you would probably be taking. It's the foundation for everything else. Practice makes perfect. better to understand than memorise Ensure key topics are at the tip of your tongue and rigorously practise as many sums as possible. Listen in class and understand the basics carefully. Foundation of future accounting modules. Put in as much effort for this module as possible. It is the foundations for the rest of your accountancy career. Students are not advised to rely on the textbook too much. While the textbook is useful as a guide for basic accounting concepts, it is written for US GAAP which differ slightly from the FRS, so students might get confused instead. Rely more on your professor's notes instead. The first 5 weeks of the class teaches you the most important basics and you must know them by heart. Pay attention in class! Studying hard is not going to be of much use if you take this module under Professor Themin. Understand the concepts well as the exam is going to be insanely difficult if you are not clear of the concepts. Make sure you master this well because its the foundation of everything. |
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| Resources | Feedback | |
| Primary Text: Harrison and Hongren (2007), Accounting (chapter 1-17), 7th edition, Pearson Prentice-Hall Case Book: Suwardy (2005), Financial Reporting in Singapore: Cases and Readings, 2nd ed, Pearson. [Retail Price of Harrison & Hongren + Casebook: S$59] FRS: www.asc.gov.sg Every information that you might need: Google & Wikipedia |
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