business.wfu.edu Masters in ManagementPrivate: Summer Session 2020 Financial Accounting

Financial Accounting

What you’ll learn:
Do you speak the language of business? That language is accounting, which is studied both as a means of communication and of critical decision-making. This course focuses on the needs of both external and internal users of accounting information, and explores a variety of topics through cases, interactive exercises, and current events. Topics include business terminology, accounting principles and concepts, financial statement analysis, and decision-making. You will be introduced to common judgment traps and short-cuts that can lead to bad financial and personal decisions.

While we like to think that we are methodical, well-planned, and rational thinkers, 80-90% of the time we are making decisions, we rely on the automatic, subconscious systems in our brains. (source: Neilsen & Kepinski, 2016)

Who you’ll learn from:

Dr. Norma Montague
Associate Dean, MS in Management Program
336-758-4302 | email

“I am an accounting professor who loves to teach students a new language: the “language of business”. Just as you use languages to communicate your thoughts and feelings with friends and family, accounting is the language that business people use to communicate their company’s financial information to others such as shareholders and creditors (in other words, people with money!). Besides teaching the language and the rules of accounting, I have a passion for teaching students how to think in ways that will yield higher quality business and personal decisions.

As Associate Dean of the MSM program, I engage with all of the MSM students on a regular basis throughout the entire program experience.

Fun Fact: I have taught business courses in English and in Spanish!”

The Best Things About Financial Accounting

  • I do the heavy lifting in summarizing the course content so that students can spend more time thinking, synthesizing, and applying the material.
  • We use synchronous time to discuss real-world. practical applications of the material and to how the material relates to current events.
  • We integrate financial accounting coursework across the other summer courses and a summer project. It’s so valuable for the students to see how the topics of the courses they are taking meld together in the practice of business.

How you’ll learn:

Synchronous classes twice weekly

We will solve problems together in class, review current events in accounting, and complete quizzes on the material.

Asynchronous Materials

Class materials will be available online for asynchronous work and study.