Accounting Essentials Certificate Curriculum

Succeed by learning how to use your Penn Foster program.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Understand how to use your Student Portal.
• Access the Penn Foster Community and use it to find answers.
• Connect with Penn Foster on various social media sites.

This course will provide a foundation in basic mathematical operations. You'll learn about percentages, discounts, interest, present worth, sinking funds, installment buying, pricing, depreciation, investments, insurance, the use of symbols and their applications, equations and formulas, and the importance of statistics.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Analyze functions of whole numbers, fractions, decimals, and percents
• Show calculations involved in simple interest, compound interest, and time value of money
• Prepare various business math applications involving financial reports, installment buying, and depreciation
• Analyze various financial concepts related to taxes, insurance, financial investments, and basic business statistics

Additional Course Material:
Textbook: Practical Business Math Procedures

This course will provide students with a basic understanding of the principles of financial accounting. Topics covered include analyzing transactions; completing the accounting cycle; merchandising businesses; inventories, assets, and liabilities; and corporations, stocks, bonds, and cash flow.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Solve important accounting principles and concepts by creating four common types of financial statements: balance sheet, income statement, statement of retained earnings, and statement of cash flows
• Explain inventory systems, the inventory process, and the role of ethics in accounting
• Explain cash and receivables, assets, current liabilities, and debt
• Analyze stocks and the statement of cash flows and financial statements that are used to assess the value of a business

This course provides an introduction to managerial accounting; analysis: C-V-P and management; budgeting and performance evaluation; decentralized operations; differential analysis and product pricing; capital investment analysis, and cost activities.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Analyze the various concepts related to managerial accounting and the cost accounting
• Show the different tools of management used for the decision-making process
• Identify the various budget analysis processes and the performance measurements for decision making
• Analyze the various components of capital budgeting, cash flow statements, and ratio analysis
• Solve examples of real-world accounting problems using knowledge of accounting forms and equations

Textbook: Managerial Accounting

This course builds on concepts learned in Financial and Managerial Accounting and covers Sage 50^® Accounting. Combines real-world accounting systems and examples with computer-based solutions. The course is a blend of problem solving, reading, case projects, and computer applications to problems encountered in today’s accounting environment.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Explain how to install, register, and update the Sage 50^® accounting software
• Print reports and back up data files using Sage 50^®
• Record, post, and complete the accounting cycle for a service and merchandising enterprise using an automated accounting system
• Analyze the business flow of transactions in automated accounting systems, including customer lists, vendor files, inventory records, and employee files
• Demonstrate knowledge of the voucher system, accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll systems, and departmentalized accounting
• Analyze and solve management accounting problems relating to operations and business profitability and financial reporting