ColorAccounting.com - Accounting Literacy & Business Acumen
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Sales Partners
    • In the media
    • Newsletter
    • Blog
    • Links
    • Vision
  • Solutions
    • Workshops
    • Remote Workshop
    • Books
    • Other Formats
    • FAQ
  • Clients
    • Clients
    • Testimonials
  • Schools
  • Contact us
  • In the media

"I wasn't bored for a second!" Exclaims American University Student

4/15/2014

0 Comments

 
First posted February 2014, by Jennifer Geier
Picture
Last Friday, 15 students and I started a 3-day journey into accounting. This program was for the School of International Service, so a majority of these students are seeking a career in the non-profit sector and will likely use financial statements for budgeting purposes. Because the class is 3 full days, the students earn 1 credit towards graduation.

The first hour of the first day is always pretty slow as we go through introductions but by the end of the day every student is quiet. After having posted 14 basic business transactions and diving into financials statements, they are always pretty tired. This silence used to make me nervous but I've realized that this lack of sound is because the students are thoroughly digesting the material. I dismissed class with the assignment to bring in some financials to analyze the following day. Students came to me after class asking why this isn't used as the accounting 101 curriculum? "Is accounting really this easy?"

The next morning, I asked my students, "How many of you taught someone accounting last night?" Three quarters of the students raise their hands. This wasn't a homework assignment, yet they were eager to share their learnings with their spouses, significant others, and even friends while they were at a bar. We jumped into Not For Profit Accounting and distinguished the differences between for profit and not for profit. We then went into case study questions about the Not For Profit entity, calculating Gross Profit Margin and substituting figures based on issues such as inventory loss, spoilage, theft, etc. After class, students came to me asking how to get this training at their places of employment, they had told their bosses about the program and they were eager to bring this skills training in house.

On the last day of class, we went through an exercise of government accounting, veracity analysis, and then we did personal finance. I had people record their assets and liabilities to calculate their net worth. The most interesting part is when we do their income statement and they see how little revenue is coming in and how expenses (even the small ones) can add up very quickly. Some people were shocked. They assumed their net worth was better but now that they could visually see the figures. I always have personal finance in these 3-day programs because good habits start at home, so if these students keep on top of their personal finances then this skill will translate into their professional realm.

The students completed an exam to test their skills and everyone passed with flying colors. The best part of this program is the ability to get people excited about numbers. Not only do they understand them but they are eager to learn more and this is sometimes the more powerful learning, the ability to instill this curiosity in the students.

I met with a program director at AU and he shared with me the feedback from the course Peter taught last October. It was the same course but with more emphasis on Social Enterprise. I want to share some of the feedback:

"AMAZING! The best course I have taken so far! I would recommend this class to everyone EVER."

"Even for someone with an accounting background this course was fantastic and a great refresher that also illuminated concepts I didn't understand before."

"This course was awesome! I have an MBA, and it wasn't until I took this course that I really understood Accounting. This class should be taught for longer than just a few days."

"Best course I've had at AU! I no longer hate/am afraid of accounting. I want more!"

"Amazing! Changed my perspective completely on Accounting. This is the best course I've ever taken. I felt like I got my money's worth. So thankful!"
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Blog
    ​

    RSS Feed

    Or simply subscribe here to get it by email.

    Author

    Co-founder Peter Frampton is the lead author of this blog.

    Picture
    View my profile on LinkedIn
    If you are interested in a #financiallyconsciousworld, join the conversation at Color Accounting Friends on LinkedIn.

    Archives

    March 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014


    RSS Feed

    Get notified:
    Use the RSS feed above or 
    Get the e-newsletter here...

    Categories

    All
    Accounting Literacy
    Account Management
    Assets
    Business Acumen
    Color Accounting
    Colour Accounting
    Costs
    Financial Literacy
    Investment
    Joint Value
    KAM
    Key Account Management
    Learning Style
    Luca Pacioli
    Organisations
    Resources
    Revenue
    SAM
    Silos
    Strategic Account Management
    Strategic Relationships
    Transactional


Finance and business acumen workshops for non-financial people using a breakthrough graphical system
© All rights reserved. Color Accounting International (1992-2019)
'Accounting Comes Alive', 'AccountingSchool.org', 'Color Accounting', 'Colour Accounting', the zebra icon AccountingSchool.com and 'BaSIS Framework' are trademarks of Color Accounting International.
Contact Us |  Corporate  |  Legals  |  Partner Orders  |  Register Event Held  |  Educators' Resource Center
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Sales Partners
    • In the media
    • Newsletter
    • Blog
    • Links
    • Vision
  • Solutions
    • Workshops
    • Remote Workshop
    • Books
    • Other Formats
    • FAQ
  • Clients
    • Clients
    • Testimonials
  • Schools
  • Contact us
  • In the media