NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE
COURSE SYLLABUS
COURSE AND INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION
Course title: Principles of Financial Accounting
Course prefix, number, and section number: ACCT 2301 313
Semester/Year of course: Fall 2025
Semester start and end dates: 08/25/2025 - 12/13/2025
Modality (Face to face/Synchronous or Asynchronous online/Hybrid): Online
Class meeting location, days, and times: Canvas- Daily
Lab meeting location, days, and times: Not Applicable
Semester credit hours: 3
Course description: This course is an introduction to the fundamental concepts of financial accounting as prescribed by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) as applied to transactions and events that affect business organizations. Students will examine the procedures and systems to accumulate, analyze, measure, and record financial transactions. Students will use recorded financial information to prepare a balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows, and statement of shareholders’ equity to communicate the business entity’s results of operations and financial position to users of financial information who are external to the company. Students will study the nature of assets, liabilities, and owners’ equity while learning to use reported financial information for purposes of making decisions about the company. Students will be exposed to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
Course prerequisites: None.
Required course materials: Purchase is required to acquire course materials and textbook. The product needed is MyLab Accounting with Pearson eText for Horngren's Financial & Managerial Accounting, The Financial Chapters| ISBN: 9780137858590. This can be purchased from the Person link: Horngren's Financial & Managerial Accounting, The Financial Chapters.
Name of instructor: Saphron Torres
E-mail address: storres@nctc.edu
Office hours for students: I will hold online office hours via Webex every Tuesday beginning 9/2/25 from 5-7pm. You can join anytime at this link: https://nctclions.webex.com/meet/storres.
*All other meeting needs are to be set by appointment by request of the student via Canvas mail.
SYLLABUS CHANGE DISCLAIMER
The faculty member reserves the right to make changes to this published syllabus if it is in the best interest of the educational development of this class. Any such changes will be announced as soon as possible in person and/or writing.
SUMMARY OF COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
List of graded assignments:
Homework – 30%
Discussions/ Activities/Practice Questions – 20%
Learning Outcomes and QEP – 10%
Exams – 40%
Final grade scale:
A – 90% - 100%
B – 80% - 89%
C – 70% - 79%
D – 60% - 69%
F – 0% - 59%
Late work policy: Some late work is accepted. Please see instructor’s policies for each assignment. Discussions, exams, and any extra credit cannot be turned in late.
SEE CANVAS FOR THE COMPLETE COURSE CALENDAR, OUTLINE, DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF GRADED WORK, AND OTHER RELATED MATERIAL.
COURSE POLICIES
Academic Integrity Policy: Scholastic dishonesty shall include, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, academic falsification, intellectual property dishonesty, academic dishonesty facilitation and collusion. Faculty members may document and bring charges against a student who is engaged in or is suspected to be engaged in academic dishonesty. See Student Handbook, “Student Rights & Responsibilities: Student Conduct”.
THIS INCLUDES BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO THE USE OF AI ENGINES, SUCH AS GPT CHAT, IN ORDER TO CHEAT OR PLAGERIZE.
Please refer to the student handbook on consequences for academic dishonesty.
Attendance Policy: Regular and punctual attendance is expected of all. All absences are considered to be unauthorized unless the student is absent due to illness or emergencies as determined by the instructor. It is the student's responsibility to provide documentation as to the emergency for approval and judgement by the faculty member. Approved college sponsored activities are the only absences for which a student should not be held liable and only when provided by a college official ahead of the absence. Valid reasons for absence, however, do not relieve the student of the responsibility for making up the required work.
Non-attendance may impact your Financial Aid.
Withdrawal Policy:
A student may withdraw from a course on or after the official date of record. It is the student’s responsibility to initiate and complete a Withdrawal Request Form.
Last day to withdraw from the course with a “W” is: November 3rd, 2025.
Student Learning Outcomes:
- Use basic accounting terminology and the assumptions, principles, and constraints of the accounting environment.
- Identify the difference between accrual and cash basis accounting.
- Analyze and record business events in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
- Prepare adjusting entries and close the general ledger.
- Prepare financial statements in an appropriate U.S. GAAP format, including the following: income statement, balance sheet, statement of cash flows, and statement of shareholders’ equity.
- Analyze and interpret financial statements using financial analysis techniques.
- Describe the conceptual differences between International Financial Reporting Standards and U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
Core Objectives: Not Applicable.
COLLEGE POLICIES
ADA STATEMENT
NCTC will adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations to afford equal educational opportunity. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the Office for Students with Disabilities to arrange appropriate accommodations. See the OSD Syllabus Addendum.
AI STATEMENT
Absent a clear statement from a course instructor, use of or consultation with generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or other similar technologies shall be treated analogously to assistance from another person, agency, or entity. In particular, using generative AI tools to substantially complete an assignment or exam is not permitted. Students should acknowledge the use of generative AI (other than incidental use) and default to disclosing such assistance when in doubt.
When students use generative AI to replace the rigorous demands of personal engagement with their coursework, it runs counter to the educational mission of the college and undermines the heart of education itself. Artificial Intelligence, large language models, and other such technologies hold promise for deploying knowledge in service to others and accelerating the discovery of new knowledge. However, such technology poses new challenges to pedagogy and to integrity. Within the context of the teaching mission of the college and consistent with the Student Code of Conduct, the authority to define the appropriate use, study, and deployment of these technologies rests with the faculty.
Individual course instructors, in coordination with their divisions, set policies regulating the use of generative AI tools in their courses, including allowing or disallowing some or all uses of such tools. Course instructors will set such policies in their course syllabi and clearly communicate such policies to students. Students who are unsure of policies regarding generative AI tools are encouraged to ask their instructors for clarification.
STUDENT HANDBOOK
Students are expected to follow all rules and regulations found in the Student Handbook.
STUDENT SERVICES
NCTC provides a multitude of services and resources to support students. See the Student Services Syllabus Addendum for a listing of those departments and links to their sites.
QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, or COMPLAINTS
The student should contact the instructor to deal with any questions, concerns, or complaints specific to the class. If the student and faculty are not able to resolve the issue, the student may contact the chair or coordinator of the division. If the student remains unsatisfied, the student may proceed to contact the instructional dean.
Name of Chair/Coordinator: Teresa Laman
Office location: Corinth Campus, Suite 170 RM 172
Telephone number: 940-498-6263
E-mail address: tlaman@nctc.edu
Name of Instructional Dean: Debbie Huffman
Office location: Gainesville
Telephone number: 940-668-3357
E-mail address: dhuffman@nctc.edu