Financial Accounting – Closing Process
What you'll learn
- Comprehend the accounting cycle's structure and pinpoint the role and timing of the closing process within it.
- Articulate the primary objectives of the closing process in financial accounting and why it is critical for accurate financial reporting.
- Analyze how the closing process impacts asset, liability, and equity components of the balance sheet, and interpret the implications for the company's financial
- Examine the effect of the closing process on the elements of the income statement, particularly revenues, expenses, and net income.
- Define temporary and permanent accounts, distinguish between them, and illustrate their roles in the accounting cycle.
- Categorize a variety of accounts as temporary or permanent, providing rationale based on accounting principles.
- Explain how the closing process transforms temporary accounts and leaves permanent accounts unaffected, and discuss the significance of these changes.
- Prepare a post-closing trial balance, identify its components, and articulate its purpose in validating the closing process.
- Compare a post-closing trial balance with an adjusted trial balance, highlighting the key differences and how they emerge.
- Perform the closing process in one comprehensive step, documenting each action, and evaluate the advantages and limitations of this method.
- Break down the two-step closing process into its constituent actions, apply these in practical examples, and justify the use of this method over others.
- Demonstrate mastery in the four-step closing process by outlining, performing, and explaining each step's role.
Requirements
- Basic understanding of financial terms and principles: As this course is intermediate-level, it's beneficial for students to have a foundational knowledge of finance and accounting. However, the course does review key concepts in detail.
- Willingness to participate: Engagement with the downloadable materials, practice questions, and discussions will significantly enhance your learning experience. Be ready to be an active learner.
- Access to a computer or laptop: To engage with the course materials fully, including Excel practice files, students will need access to a device where they can download and work on files.
- Time commitment: The course is designed to be comprehensive and immersive. Be prepared to commit enough time to thoroughly understand each module's content and complete the related activities.
NASBA CPE accredited course
National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA)
NASBA CPE credits: 11.0
Recommended NASBA field of study: Accounting
Program level: Basic
To earn NASBA CPE credits:
- Complete all videos
- Score 70% or higher on final exam
Glossary: Find PDF attached to the first lecture of this course.
Completion to obtain CPE should be accomplished a year after purchase date.
If you undertake this course for NASBA CPE credits, please complete the Self Study Course Evaluation.
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Description
Immerse yourself in the exciting world of accounting with our in-depth course focusing on the financial accounting closing process. Delve deep into the intricacies of this critical step in the accounting cycle, which serves as the grand finale before embarking on the next accounting period. Understand the concept of temporary and permanent accounts, which underpin the closing process and influence the structure and interpretation of financial statements.
Throughout this course, you will learn from an experienced Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA), Certified Post-Secondary Instructor (CPS), and a Master of Science in Taxation. With practical knowledge of accounting principles and software such as QuickBooks, combined with extensive teaching and curriculum development experience, our instructor will guide you through the complex landscape of the closing process in accounting.
To facilitate your learning and make this experience interactive and enriching, this course offers a wealth of downloadable resources, including PDF files for offline reference, pre-formatted Excel practice files, multiple choice and short calculation practice questions, and discussion questions.
Our unique teaching approach will see us approaching the closing process from three perspectives, each with its own advantages and challenges. This multidimensional view coupled with repetition will fortify your understanding and proficiency in this subject matter.
Whether you're an aspiring accountant, a business professional, an entrepreneur, a student studying business or finance, or a lifelong learner with an interest in accounting, this course will provide you with the tools to understand and navigate the closing process effectively.
By the end of this course, you will understand where the closing process fits into the accounting cycle, define temporary and permanent accounts, describe the impact of the closing process on these accounts and the financial statements, and list the steps of one-step, two-step, and four-step closing processes.
Join us on this transformative journey through the financial accounting closing process. Your adventure into the intricate realm of accounting awaits. Enroll today!
Who this course is for:
- Accounting and finance students: This course is perfect for undergraduate or graduate students studying accounting or finance, looking to reinforce their classroom learning or prepare for exams.
- Early-career accountants: Professionals at the beginning of their accounting career can use this course to strengthen their understanding of the accounting closing process.
- Non-finance professionals: Individuals working in non-finance roles, such as entrepreneurs or managers, could also benefit from understanding the fundamentals of the accounting cycle to better understand their businesses.
- CPA Exam Candidates: Those studying for the CPA exam or any other accounting certification will find this course extremely helpful for the section related to the closing process.
Instructor
- 4.4 Instructor Rating
- 51,470 Reviews
- 901,486 Students
- 149 Courses
Through working with students from many different schools, Mr. Steele has learned best practices for helping people understand accounting fast. Learning new skills and finding the best way to share knowledge with people who can benefit from it is a passion of his.
Mr. Steele has experience working as a practicing Certified Public Accountant (CPA), an accounting and business instructor, and curriculum developer. He has enjoyed putting together quality tools to improve learning and has been teaching, making instructional resources, and building curriculum since 2009. He has been a practicing CPA since 2005. Mr. Steele is a practicing CPA, has a Certified Post-Secondary Instructor (CPI) credential, a Master of Science in taxation from Golden Gate University, a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Economics with an emphasis in accounting from The University of California Santa Barbara, and a Global Management Accounting Designation (CGMA) from The American Institute of CPA (AICPA).
Mr. Steele has also authored five books that can be found on Amazon or in audiobook format on Audible. He has developed bestselling courses in accounting topics including financial accounting and QuickBooks accounting software.
In addition to working as an accountant, teaching, and developing courses Mr. Steele has helped create an accounting website at accountinginstruction, a YouTube channel called Accounting Instruction, Help, and How Too, and has developed supplemental resources including a Facebook Page, Twitter Page, and Podcasts that can be found on I-tunes, Stitcher, or Soundcloud. Mr. Steele's teaching philosophy is to make content applicable, understandable, and accessible.
Adult learners are looking for application when they learn new skills. In other words, learners want to be able to apply skills in the real world to help their lives. Mr. Steele’s formal accounting education, practical work experience, and substantial teaching experience allow him to create a curriculum that combines traditional accounting education with practical knowledge and application. He accomplishes the goals of making accounting useful and applicable by combining theory with real-world software like Excel and QuickBooks.
Many courses teach QuickBooks data entry or Excel functions but are not providing the real value learners want. Real value is a result of learning technical skills like applications, in conjunction with specific goals, like accounting goals, including being able to interpret the performance of a business.
Mr. Steele makes knowledge understandable by breaking down complex concepts into smaller units with specific objectives and using step by step learning processes to understand each unit. Many accounting textbooks cram way too much information into a course, making it impossible to understand any unit fully. By breaking the content down into digestible chunks, we can move forward much faster.
Mr. Steele also makes use of color association in both presentations and Excel worksheets, a learning tool often overlooked in the accounting field, but one that can vastly improve the speed and comprehension of learning accounting concepts.
The material is also made understandable through the application of concepts learned. Courses will typically demonstrate the accounting concepts and then provide an Excel worksheet or practice problems to work through the concepts covered. The practice problems will be accompanied by an instructional video to work through the problem in step by step format. Excel worksheets will be preformatted, usually including an answer tab that shows the completed problem, and a practice tab where learners can complete the problem along with a step by step presentation video.
Mr. Steele makes learning accounting accessible by making use of technology and partnering with teaching platforms that have a vision of spreading knowledge like Udemy.