This is a free online exercise offered by a business in New Zealand that traces a business transaction. One can download the free software to practice the entries. If you would like to know how to better manage your personal finances our aim here is to provide you with an easy example of a bank statement reconciliation and a budget and at the same time illustrate some of the basic principles of double-entry bookkeeping using our LedgerLite program. Because the same concepts apply to both personal and business finances you may be surprised to discover you are actually taking the first steps towards becoming the financial controller of a large organisation. Even if your career aspirations are not so ambitious or your interests lie in areas other than accounting (which is understandable!) a good grasp of double-entry bookkeeping can be of significant value in managing your own financial resources. The ability to understand financial reports such as a balance sheet or an income statement is useful when making an investment decision and what better way to become familiar with them than by using them on your own personal finances.
Type of Material:
Computer Program & assignment. The program can be used to follow the assignment which seems to be well developed but also to do much more in regards to accounting. The program is a free unregistered version and they want to sell it for $50.
Recommended Uses:
Educational resource to be incorporated into classroom use in the form of in-class presentation/open discussion and homework assignments in the area of Financial Accounting and Financial Management.
Technical Requirements:
Must download their software (free)
Identify Major Learning Goals:
To provide accounting educators/students with a hands-on experiential way to use a financial management software package to create journal entries, financial statements, bank statement reconciliations and budgets in order to stimulate discussion and to develop related cognitive and analytical skills.
Target Student Population:
College Lower Division, College Upper Division
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
Basic technology knowledge. How to download a file and how to execute it.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
The author’s website and related tutorial presentation are professionally done. Visualizations are relatively easy to follow.
It is a free system that allows the learner to work through accounting transactions and see how they affect account balances and financial statements. It is very hands-on.
Concerns:
I am not able to determine how robust the software is and while I saw no bugs or errors, I cannot vouch that none will appear. I would not keep the only record of my personal finances in a software like this but I would certainly encourage my students to use it to learn.
The theory presented is very simple.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
A very good tool for a student to learn the effect of different transactions on the financial statements. Highly computer literate teachers and students could learn a lot in a short time due to the experiential/practical nature of the financial management software.
Concerns:
Used without any supervision might lead the learner to some mistakes. Given that the learner can enter any transaction in any way as long as it complies with the double-entry method, it might lead the learner to believe that some transactions were done correctly when they were not. For example, how do you correct mistaken transactions? Should you do a debit to an asset account or a credit to a liability account? how do you record depreciation?
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
Author provides audience with an experiential method of demonstrating the use of financial management software to prepare and review related concepts involving journal entries, financial statements, bank statement reconciliations and budgets. Author presented meaningful step-by-step visualizations to illustrate concepts nicely during the tutorial adventure.
Concerns:
It is not visually appealing nor does it take into account users with disabilities. Some students/teachers that are not highly computer literate may not be able to follow the instructions without a knowledgeable group leader or faculty facilitator.
Creative Commons:
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