A Basic Understanding of Accounting Principles: a Case-by-Case Study

To complete my thesis, the Patterson School of Accountancy and the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors college created a special class just for accounting majors to complete their theses on time. This thesis is a collection of case studies illustrating many topics in the study of accounting. Each case study covers a different topic including the revenue cycle, leases, fraud, inventory classification, and much more. Data is presented in financial statements, tables, and in reports. Instead of covering one topic, the topics examined are all topics/issues an accountant could face throughout their career. An accountant has many different faces: financial advisor, tax consultant, fraud investigator, financial statement preparer. Each case encompasses one of these different faces and illustrates the many different jobs an accountant completes in their career. Every week, we were given a new case to complete. Some of the cases involved solving a problem for a company, researching the fraud effects of a company, or simply prepare a set of financial statements for a company. Most of the cases were completed with groups assigned to our class each week. We were given a week to complete the case, and then our professor and thesis advisor, Dr. Dickinson, would review our cases and provide valuable feedback. Even though many of the cases were completed in groups, each student’s thesis is an individual piece with different insights into the cases based on each student’s personal findings. Some cases required the use of outside research and others did not. This thesis is a comprehensive study of many topics in accounting.