Principles of Accounting I (Financial Accounting I)

Course Description

ACG 1001 is the first half of a two-course introduction to financial accounting: the accounting cycle, financial statements, receivables, inventories, plant assets, liabilities, payroll and owner's equity. The statewide title is Principles of Accounting I. Florida SouthWestern State College teaches it as Financial Accounting I, and Seminole State College of Florida lists it as Introduction to Accounting.

Florida SouthWestern's catalog says what the course is for: "Introduction to basic financial accounting principles and their application to current business practices for sole proprietorships. Major emphasis is placed on the accounting cycle, current assets and liabilities, merchandising and inventory, non-current assets, and payroll."

⚠⚠⚠ Read this before you register: most students need ACG 2021 instead

Almost every Florida college and university teaches introductory financial accounting as a single three-credit course, ACG 2021. The state's course numbering record explains how the two numbers relate: "ACG-001 + ACG-011 = ACG-021." ACG 1001 is the first half of a two-course version of ACG 2021, and on its own it does not equal ACG 2021.

	What the record says	What it means for you
Florida SouthWestern	"This course is not designed to meet the program requirements for students enrolling in Fall 2014 or later" in its A.S. Accounting Technology, A.S. Business Administration and Management, and related certificates. "Credit is not given for both ACG 1001 and ACG 2021."	⚠⚠ FSW's own business and accounting programs moved to ACG 2021 in 2014. If you are in one of them, ACG 1001 will not count, and taking both does not give you six credits.
Seminole State	⚠ The state's copy of Seminole State's catalog text for the course reads "NOT FOUND IN SEMINOLE CATALOG 3/16/15." Seminole State teaches `ACG 2021C` Principles of Financial Accounting (and an honors `ACG 2021`).	⚠⚠ The number is still on the state's list for Seminole State, but its own catalog stopped describing it in 2015. Do not expect a section to be scheduled. Ask the business department.
The second half	The state's second course is `ACG x011` Principles of Accounting II. ⚠ Neither public carrier currently lists an active `ACG 2011` in the state file.	⚠⚠ The two-course route is incomplete at both public carriers. A student who takes ACG 1001 alone has half of ACG 2021, and the second half may not be offered.

⚠⚠ If you are working toward a business, accounting, finance or economics bachelor's degree, take ACG 2021. It is one of the state's common prerequisites for those degrees at every Florida public university, together with ACG 2071 Managerial Accounting. The state also marks ACG 1001 as a common prerequisite, but only because ACG 1001 and ACG 2011 together equal ACG 2021. A university will expect the whole pair, or ACG 2021.

When ACG 1001 is the right course: you need a practical first course in keeping the books of a small, owner-run business. You may be a bookkeeper, run your own business, or want accounting before you commit to a degree. Or a counsellor has confirmed that it meets a requirement in your own program. FSW still accepts it as a prerequisite for ACG 2450 Accounting Software Applications (ACG 1001 or ACG 2021).

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

Explain the characteristics of financial accounting from a sole proprietorship's perspective (FSW's first stated outcome).
Describe the basic principles that underlie accounting systems: the accounting equation, double-entry recording, accrual versus cash basis, and the matching and revenue-recognition principles.
Complete the accounting cycle: journalise, post to the ledger, prepare a trial balance, adjust, prepare statements, close.
Prepare an income statement, statement of owner's equity and balance sheet for a service business and a merchandising business.
Record and balance merchandising operations under a perpetual inventory system, including purchases, sales, returns, discounts and freight.
Use control accounts and subsidiary ledgers for accounts receivable and accounts payable.
Apply the concept of internal control, including the control of cash, and prepare a bank reconciliation.
Account for receivables, including uncollectible accounts.
Value inventory under FIFO, LIFO and average cost, and explain the effect of each on income.
Record plant assets and depreciation, and account for current liabilities and payroll.

Optional Outcomes

Keep a small business's books in a computerised accounting package (QuickBooks or similar).
Prepare the payroll records an employer keeps, and identify the federal payroll tax deposits and returns they feed.
Use special journals (sales, purchases, cash receipts, cash payments) in a manual system.

Major Topics

Required Topics

The accounting equation and the double-entry system
Analysing and recording transactions; the journal and the ledger
Adjusting entries, the worksheet, and closing entries
Financial statements of a sole proprietorship
Merchandising operations and inventory systems
Subsidiary ledgers and control accounts
Internal control, cash and the bank reconciliation
Receivables and uncollectible accounts
Inventory costing methods
Plant assets and depreciation
Current liabilities and payroll accounting

Optional Topics

Special journals and a manual practice set
Computerised bookkeeping
Partnerships (often left to the second course)

Resources & Tools

A principles-of-accounting text written for the two-semester sequence and the sole proprietorship, such as College Accounting or Fundamental Accounting Principles. These cover chapters 1 to 12 or so. Texts written for ACG 2021 open with the corporation, and that difference is a sign of which course you are in.
OpenStax Principles of Accounting, Volume 1: Financial Accounting, free and openly licensed.
QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Desktop for the computerised component; Intuit offers a free educational licence.
Excel, for worksheets and depreciation and inventory schedules.
IRS Publication 15 (Employer's Tax Guide, Circular E) for the payroll unit.

Career Pathways

Bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks (SOC 43-3031). This is the occupation the course most directly prepares for. A bookkeeping certification and the QuickBooks Certified User exam are the usual next steps.
Payroll and timekeeping clerks (SOC 43-3051).
Small-business owners. The course's sole-proprietorship focus fits a person who will keep their own books.
⚠ Accountants and auditors (SOC 13-2011) and the CPA route need a bachelor's degree and 150 semester hours for Florida CPA licensure. That route starts with ACG 2021, not ACG 1001.

Special Information

Offering Notes

Institution	Its title	Credits	Note
Florida SouthWestern State College (FSWSC)	Financial Accounting I	3	Not a program requirement for students entering FSW's accounting or business A.S. programs from Fall 2014. No credit for both ACG 1001 and ACG 2021.
Seminole State College of Florida (SSCF)	Introduction to Accounting	3	⚠ Not found in Seminole State's own catalog since 2015 (state record). Seminole State teaches ACG 2021C.

Both public carriers list the course at 3 credits. Neither publishes a contact-hour figure; 45 hours is the Florida convention for a three-credit lecture course. Several private institutions also carry the number; they are not listed here.

Transfer

Florida's common course numbering guarantees that the same course number transfers between public institutions that teach it. ⚠⚠ Very few teach ACG 1001, and the course a receiving business program will look for is ACG 2021. Treat ACG 1001 as elective credit unless a receiving institution tells you in writing that it accepts it.

Position in the curriculum

A first-term course with no prerequisite. At FSW it can lead to ACG 2450 Accounting Software Applications. It is not a step before ACG 2021: FSW gives no credit for both.

AI Integration (Optional)

Bookkeeping is one of the fields where automation has moved fastest. Accounting packages now categorise bank-feed transactions, match receipts and suggest journal entries on their own. ⚠ That makes the course's content more important, not less. Somebody has to know when an automated categorisation is wrong, why a reconciliation does not balance, and what an adjusting entry is for. A model that writes a plausible journal entry cannot tell you whether the transaction should have been recorded at all. Use AI tools to check your understanding of a concept. Do the practice sets yourself, because the exams test whether you can.