Accounting Capstone
A team advisory engagement that brings the whole accounting program together, followed through one invented Nasdaq-listed company: scoping and planning the engagement, reading industry, strategy, governance and EDGAR filings, financial statement analysis with common-size, ratio and DuPont work, cash flow and earnings quality, a review of US GAAP reporting judgments, a controls review with a risk and control matrix, journal-entry analytics with Benford and duplicate-payment tests, the effective tax rate, capital structure and a DCF valuation, KPIs and investment decisions, prioritized recommendations with a climate disclosure readiness plan, and the final report and client presentation.
ACCT-499 Year 4 3 credits 12 lessons · 5 h 38 min
Offered by HSM University · Accounting
This is the American version of this course. See the Canadian version.
What you'll learn
- Plan an advisory engagement for an organization: agree scope and limitations in an engagement letter, organize a team, budget hours and manage client relationships within professional ethics.
- Analyze an organization's industry, strategy, governance and risks, and find and read its public filings on EDGAR with specific questions.
- Perform hypothesis-driven financial statement analysis using common-size statements, trend indexes, ratios, DuPont and peer comparison, and express the results as findings.
- Assess earnings quality using cash flow, the cash conversion cycle, accruals, adjusted measures, segment data and the Beneish model, and explain the causes of working capital changes.
- Identify and analyze significant reporting judgments, including bill-and-hold revenue, warranty accruals, goodwill impairment, credit losses and inventory, under US GAAP, and assess their significance.
- Review key controls through walkthroughs, a risk and control matrix, segregation of duties analysis and IT general controls, and rank deficiencies by magnitude, likelihood and compensating controls.
- Apply journal entry testing, Benford analysis and duplicate payment detection to complete data populations, and turn exceptions into findings and reusable tools.
- Interpret an effective tax rate reconciliation, identify tax documentation risks and opportunities at a high level, and connect accounting adjustments to covenant headroom and valuation.
- Evaluate performance measures and incentives for goal congruence, design a linked balanced scorecard, and analyze a capital investment with NPV, IRR, payback, sensitivity and funding constraints.
- Develop specific, prioritized and sequenced recommendations with owners, costs and measures, manage stakeholders and change, and assess sustainability reporting readiness.
- Write a professional advisory report using the pyramid principle, traceable evidence, fair tone, professional skepticism and appropriate handling of ethical pressures.
- Present findings and recommendations to a client, handle questions within the advisory role, evaluate peers fairly, and plan continuing professional development toward the CPA.
Course content
12 lessons · 5 h 38 min total · final exam
- 1 The capstone engagement: scope, team and plan 33 min · quiz
- 2 Understanding the organization: industry, strategy, governance and filings 28 min · quiz
- 3 Financial statement analysis I: common-size, trends, ratios and DuPont 29 min · quiz
- 4 Financial statement analysis II: cash flow, earnings quality and red flags 29 min · quiz
- 5 Reporting issues review: revenue, provisions, impairment and estimates 28 min · quiz
- 6 Controls review: walkthroughs, the risk and control matrix and segregation of duties 30 min · quiz
- 7 Data analytics for the engagement: journals, Benford and duplicate payments 29 min · quiz
- 8 Tax and finance: the effective tax rate, capital structure and valuation 27 min · quiz
- 9 Performance and strategy: KPIs, the balanced scorecard and investment decisions 28 min · quiz
- 10 Developing recommendations: prioritization, roadmap, change and sustainability readiness 26 min · quiz
- 11 Writing the final report: structure, evidence, skepticism and ethics 25 min · quiz
- 12 Presenting to the client and reflecting on the program 25 min · quiz
- E Final exam 20 questions
Requirements
Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.
Description
A team advisory engagement that brings the whole accounting program together, followed through one invented Nasdaq-listed company: scoping and planning the engagement, reading industry, strategy, governance and EDGAR filings, financial statement analysis with common-size, ratio and DuPont work, cash flow and earnings quality, a review of US GAAP reporting judgments, a controls review with a risk and control matrix, journal-entry analytics with Benford and duplicate-payment tests, the effective tax rate, capital structure and a DCF valuation, KPIs and investment decisions, prioritized recommendations with a climate disclosure readiness plan, and the final report and client presentation.
Part of the Business stream, typically taken in year 4.