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Bellion7
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Joined: 04 Dec 2010
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| Posted: 04 Dec 2010 at 21:06 | IP Logged
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Hello all, I would first like to say I have been lurking here for about a year and have enjoyed reading the forums and to get a better understanding of the accounting field.
So here I go:
I transferred to my university and didn't get the pick of the litter classes with top rated professors for my first two accounting classes, the basic classes Accounting 1&2.
Accounting 1 I got an A- mainly because it was online and you can use the book and internet to help you when you were stuck. Accounting 2 I got a B in a class that was half online half in class and graded on a curve.
I feel like I didn't really learn much from these two courses and more just power worked my way through them. My real concern comes when I am going to be taking the upper division accounting courses and electives how much does Accounting 1&2 come into play with these course? Are you learning new material that only uses the basics from 1&2 or are these courses continuation of what you learned from 1&2?
I know these courses are prerequisite to the upper division classes but Im just trying to figure out how much emphasis or importance were on the first two courses, to see if I'm going to need to go back and really relearn the material before taking on the next class.
Any opinions and suggestions are welcome and I value any answers to my questions, thank you for taking time out of your day to post.
Brian
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salvi83
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Joined: 25 May 2010
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| Posted: 06 Dec 2010 at 21:12 | IP Logged
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Welcome to the forum Bellion7.
When it comes to Accounting 1 & 2 I wouldn't sweat it if you feel like you just "power worked" your way through the problems. The thing you have to realize is that accounting is self-enforcing because you apply things you learned from your previous classes to your new classes. It's like a big circle that eventually closes on itself around Senior year. Eventually things will start to come together and you'll be able to see the big picture.
In terms of usefulness, Accounting 1 is definitely the most important one IMHO. It's the basics of all accounting and you'll need to have that foundation to be able to succeed in your upper level courses. It will be particularly important in your Intermediate Accounting courses, but it will show up EVERYWHERE.
Accounting 2 (managerial accounting) on the other hand, only showed up twice in my school's curriculum. The only other class that used it was Cost Accounting. It's very similar to Accounting 2, but goes more in depth and covers things like budgets, work/labor efficiency, and other things that I find absolutely mind-numbing =P. If you take the CPA exam you'll probably see it again in the form of Cost Accounting.
Also, don't worry about the "power working" part because you'll do plenty of that in your Intermediate Courses. In fact, I forgot almost everything I learned form both Intermediate 1 & 2, but it came back pretty easily when I started tutoring those classes.
Hope that helps.
Edit: I would definitely recommend really reviewing Accounting 1 before Intermediate. Journal entries, debits and credits, and the rest of the stuff you learn is not intuitive and takes practice.
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BeanCollector
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Joined: 09 Jun 2010
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| Posted: 27 Dec 2010 at 12:54 | IP Logged
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Accounting I & II usually just skim the surface. Most all business majors have to take them, so they really don't get very deep.
Don't worry if you feel like you didn't retain the information. I just finished Intermediate I and realized that it just reinforces what they have already begun to teach you.
Like Salvi said, review the materials from before: particular emphasis on the Income statement, Balance Sheet (i.e. what is on each), remind yourself what f.o.b. is-and what to do with it.
Important: You cannot be a successful accountant if you "power work" your way through all the courses. Take your time to learn the material!! From here on out you will have less time to review before moving on.
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BeanCollector
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| Posted: 27 Dec 2010 at 12:57 | IP Logged
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OH BTW-
A woman in my Intermediate class took her Accounting I class 25 years ago.
She finished with a 107% in the class. Everything you need to know is in the book.
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kuernsey678
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| Posted: 05 Jan 2011 at 23:44 | IP Logged
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Well, if you got A's and B's in your principles courses, you have to have at least somewhat of an idea of what's going on. I didn't use managerial as much in my outline (only had managerial and cost). For financial, I think the main thing is that you retain the key concepts (revenue recognition, matching, etc) as later financial accounting classes will build off of them.
__________________
markiemak
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Topic: Some question from an Accounting major.
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