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Salvador Soto Jr, MSA
Overview
Week Overview
Week 16 is the capstone of the course. Students complete a full-cycle bookkeeping project using realistic source
documents and accounting software or spreadsheets. They process transactions, prepare reconciliations and
schedules, post adjusting entries, and generate basic financial statements to demonstrate mastery of the entire
bookkeeping process.
Objectives
Weekly Learning Objectives
By the end of this week, students will be able to:
- Complete a full bookkeeping cycle from source documents to trial balance.
- Prepare adjusting entries for accruals, prepaids, depreciation, and other key areas.
- Perform bank and credit card reconciliations.
- Create and organize a clean chart of accounts and general ledger.
- Generate preliminary income statements and balance sheets.
- Build supporting schedules (AR, AP, prepaids, fixed assets).
- Identify and correct common bookkeeping errors.
- Present and explain their final project results clearly and professionally.
Final Project
Final Project: Full-Cycle Bookkeeping Case Study
Students receive a packet of 30–50 transactions and supporting documents, which may include:
- Customer invoices and cash receipts.
- Vendor bills and payments.
- Bank and credit card statements.
- Payroll summaries.
- Loan and interest documents.
- Inventory lists and counts.
- Fixed asset purchase documents.
- Prepaid expenses and accrual details.
Using these, students must process the entire period in software or Excel.
Deliverables
Required Final Project Deliverables
- Completed and organized chart of accounts.
- Entered transactions in the general ledger.
- Bank and credit card reconciliations.
- Accounts Receivable aging report.
- Accounts Payable aging report.
- Prepaid and accrual schedules.
- Fixed asset and depreciation schedule.
- Adjusted trial balance.
- Income statement (Profit & Loss).
- Balance sheet.
- Short written reflection summarizing findings and lessons learned.
Grading emphasizes accuracy, organization, documentation quality, and professional presentation of results.
Concept 1
Full Accounting Cycle Review
Students revisit the full cycle covered in the course:
- Collecting and reviewing source documents.
- Recording transactions in journals and ledgers.
- Using bank feeds and software tools appropriately.
- Preparing and reviewing reconciliations.
- Posting adjusting entries at month-end or year-end.
- Reviewing the trial balance and correcting errors.
- Generating financial reports (P&L and balance sheet).
- Closing the period and documenting work.
Concept 2
Common Full-Cycle Bookkeeping Errors
Instructor highlights frequent issues students should watch for:
- Duplicate or missing transactions.
- Incorrect account selection (e.g., capital vs. expense).
- Misuse of suspense or “ask my accountant” accounts.
- Bank feed duplicates or unmatched transactions.
- Reversing debits and credits in adjusting entries.
- Missing depreciation or prepaid amortization.
- Unreconciled bank or credit card accounts.
Students are encouraged to use checklists and peer review to catch and correct these errors.
Concept 3
Supporting Schedules & Documentation
Students prepare clear schedules that tie to the general ledger, including:
- AR aging schedule that matches the AR control account.
- AP aging schedule that matches the AP control account.
- Prepaid expenses schedule with beginning balance, additions, and amortization.
- Fixed asset listing with cost, date, life, and accumulated depreciation.
- Accrual summaries for wages, utilities, interest, and taxes.
Emphasis is placed on traceability: each line item on the financial statements should be supported by a schedule or document.
Concept 4
Drafting Basic Financial Statements
Using the adjusted trial balance, students generate:
- An Income Statement (Profit & Loss) for the period.
- A Balance Sheet as of the end of the period.
Students then perform a high-level review:
- Do revenues and expenses align with transaction volume?
- Do asset and liability balances look reasonable?
- Are there any uncategorized or suspense balances?
Activities
In-Class Activities
1. Final Project Work Session
Students work on their case study with instructor support and ask targeted questions about tricky transactions.
2. Peer Review & Feedback
Students exchange selected reports (e.g., trial balance, reconciliations) and provide constructive feedback.
3. Trial Balance Cleanup Lab
Students review a sample “messy” trial balance, identify problems, and propose corrections.
4. Q&A Course Review
Open session to review any topic from Weeks 1–15 and clarify final exam or project expectations.
Homework
Homework Assignments
- Assignment 1: Submit completed final project (all reports, schedules, and statements).
- Assignment 2: Course reflection (1–2 pages) discussing strengths, challenges, and next steps in bookkeeping learning.
Discussion
Discussion Board Prompt
Which part of the bookkeeping cycle is easiest for you now, and which remains the most challenging? How will you
continue building your skills after this course?
Assessment
Final Quiz or Exam Topics
- End-to-end accounting cycle steps.
- Adjusting entries and their impact on financial statements.
- Bank and credit card reconciliation principles.
- Trial balance structure and error identification.
- Link between trial balance and financial statements.
- Purpose of supporting schedules.
- Ethics, confidentiality, and professional responsibilities.
Summary
Week 16 Summary
Week 16 brings together every concept from the course in a single, real-world style project. By completing the
full-cycle bookkeeping case study, students demonstrate that they can manage transactions, reconciliations, adjusting
entries, and basic financial reporting from start to finish.
This final project can be included in a professional portfolio to showcase practical bookkeeping skills to employers
or as a foundation for further accounting studies.