Overview
Accounting 351: Intermediate Financial Accounting I is the first course in the two-course intermediate accounting sequence. It provides in-depth coverage of
- the environment of and conceptual framework for financial reporting;
- accounting information processing systems;
- the application of present value concepts in accounting;
- preparing the basic financial statements—the statement of income, the cash flow statement, the retained earnings statement, the statement of changes in shareholders’ equity, and the statement of financial position—including presentation and disclosure issues; and
- accounting issues (both procedural and conceptual) related to the asset side of the statement of financial position.
Many of these topics were covered in introductory financial accounting and are repeated here in a much more comprehensive fashion. The prerequisite for ACCT 351 is ACCT 253: Introductory Financial Accounting (or its equivalent from another post-secondary institution).
If you have gaps in your prerequisite knowledge, it is your responsibility to review the relevant introductory financial accounting material. Academic Experts for this course will not review and/or teach prerequisite material but may direct you to review the relevant introductory financial accounting topic(s) available in Chapter 1 of this course.
Learning outcomes
After completing ACCT 351 you should be able to
- describe the main components of the conceptual framework for financial reporting used in Canada, and discuss how it is used to guide the decisions of standard-setting bodies and professional practice.
- describe, prepare, and interpret the statements of income, comprehensive income, and changes in equity under IFRS and ASPE.
- describe, prepare, and interpret the statements of financial position and cash flows under IFRS and ASPE.
- apply revenue recognition concepts to account for and report revenue in business transactions, including long-term construction projects under IFRS and ASPE.
- recognize, measure, and report cash and receivables under IFRS and ASPE.
- recognize, measure, and report inventory under different cost flow assumptions.
- account for investments in debt and equity investments using various accounting models under IFRS and ASPE.
- account for recognition and subsequent measurement of long-lived tangible assets under IFRS and ASPE.
- account for the depreciation, impairment, and derecognition of tangible long-lived assets under IFRS and ASPE.
- account for the recognition, measurement, amortization, impairment, and derecognition of intangible assets and goodwill.
Evaluation
To receive credit for ACCT 351, you must achieve
- a mark of at least 50 percent on each of the Midterm and Final Examinations and
- an overall composite grade of D (50 percent).
The following chart summarizes the evaluation activities for this course.
| Activity | Weight | Complete by |
| Lyryx Assignments | 20% | ongoing in Lyryx |
| Midterm Examination | 35% | after Chapter 5 |
| Final Examination | 45% | after Chapter 11 |
| Total | 100% | |
The midterm and final examinations for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Note: Students planning to transfer this course to a Chartered Professional Accountant designation are advised that they will be required to achieve a grade higher than the minimum passing grade. See CPA Requirements for details.
Materials
Digital course materials
Links to the following course materials will be made available in the course:
Arnold, G., & Kyle, S. (2021). Intermediate financial accounting (Vol. 1, revision A edition).
The eTextbook is available in multiple formats through Lyryx.
Other Resources
All other learning resources will be available online.
Students re-registering in this course should be aware that any work previously completed in Lyryx will not carry forward.
The Sharp EL-738 series calculators are recommended. The TI-BAII Plus, HP-10BII+, Casio FC-200V, or Casio FX-300MS non-programmable calculators may be used when writing examinations in this course.