Week 1 · Readings & resources

Week 1 — Readings & Resources

Financial Accounting Free sample edition

Your primary reading is Chapter 1 (in this module). Everything below is the optional, go-deeper layer — pick what helps, skip the rest.

How to use this page

This page has 11 items (5 readings and 6 videos). Allow 67–85 minutes for everything. Each group points back to the matching chapter section and class-session segment, so use the full menu when you want more, or take the quick path below.

Every video here has captions: turn them on with the CC button in the player. The chapter covers the same ideas in text.

Pick-one quick path (19–21 min total)

① Who uses accounting, inside and outside

Chapter 1, Section “Split the users: financial versus managerial accounting” · Session 1, Segment 2, “Internal and external users” · Remember: managerial accounting serves the people who run a business, and financial accounting serves the readers outside it.

Accountants and Auditors: What They Do — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — the federal career handbook's description of the work, deep-linked to its What They Do tab; read the types of accountants and notice that it says the information management accountants prepare is meant for internal use by managers, not for the public, which is the chapter's line between managerial and financial accounting. Use it while completing the Week-1 module overview. (reading, 4–6 min)

② The three forms of business organization

Chapter 1, Section “Name the three forms of business organization” · Session 1, Segment 3, “Forms of business organization” · Remember: the form depends on how many owners there are and whether the business is a legal entity separate from them.

Choose a business structure — U.S. Small Business Administration — the federal small-business guide's section on business structures; read the sole proprietorship, partnership, and corporation entries, and notice that it says a sole proprietorship does not produce a separate business entity while a corporation is a legal entity separate from its owners. It also covers the LLC and the cooperative, which this course does not teach. (reading, 6–10 min)
Partnerships: Taxes, Liability, and How They Work — IRSvideos — the IRS's own short explainer: a partnership is two or more people who run a business and share its profits and losses, and partners usually carry unlimited liability for its debts unless an agreement says otherwise; skip the tax-form details, which this course leaves to the IRS. (video, 1 min) (captions: creator)
Corporations: Raising Capital and Distributing Profits — IRSvideos — the IRS's own short explainer of the corporation as a legal entity with a life separate from its owners, the shareholders, who have limited liability; it adds how a corporation raises money by selling stock and a note on how its profits are taxed, which this course does not teach. (video, 2 min) (captions: creator)
Legal Basics and Business Entity Formation — CrashCourse — an entrepreneurship explainer that walks through the sole proprietorship (the owner is not separate from the business and is personally liable), the kinds of partnership, and the corporation as an entity completely separate from its owners; it goes on to LLCs, co-ops, and nonprofits, which are beyond this week. (video, 15 min) (captions: creator)

③ Who sets the rules: GAAP, the FASB, and the SEC

Chapter 1, Section “Find who sets the rules: GAAP, the FASB, and the SEC” · Session 2, Segment 5, “GAAP, the FASB, and the SEC” · Remember: the FASB writes GAAP, and the SEC, created by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, oversees public-company reporting.

Policy Statement: Reaffirming the Status of the FASB as a Designated Private-Sector Standard Setter — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission — the SEC's own policy statement recognizing the FASB's standards as generally accepted for purposes of the federal securities laws; read the opening summary to see the agency with legal authority recognize the private-sector standard setter, and skip the detailed legal discussion. (reading, 5–8 min)
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission — a one-minute clip from the SEC's own channel, filmed over the original document, saying that the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 created the Securities and Exchange Commission and gave it broad authority over the securities industry. (video, 1 min) (captions: automatic)
The Securities Act of 1933 — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission — the SEC's own short tribute to the Securities Act of 1933, the first of the securities laws, which notes that the SEC was set up a year later; watch it as the cure for the trap of thinking the 1933 Act created the SEC. (video, 2 min) (captions: automatic)

④ The four financial statements

Chapter 1, Section “Name the four financial statements” · Session 2, Segment 8, “The four financial statements” · Remember: three statements cover a period, and the balance sheet is a snapshot of one moment.

Beginners' Guide to Financial Statements — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission — the SEC's plain-language guide for investors; read The Basics and the short sections on balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements, and notice that it names a fourth statement, the statement of shareholders' equity, a fuller version of the chapter's statement of retained earnings. Stop here before the accounting equation; next week takes that up. (reading, 10–15 min)
Understanding Financial Statements and Accounting — CrashCourse — an entrepreneurship explainer that starts with keeping a separate business bank account so personal and business purchases do not mix, the economic entity idea in action, and then walks through an income statement, a balance sheet, and a cash flow statement; it names three reports and skips the statement of retained earnings, and one line calls a loan due after a year a long-term asset, so check that against the chapter. (video, 13 min) (captions: creator)

Optional one-stop reference (free online reference)

The Laws That Govern the Securities Industry — Investor.gov, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission — the SEC's investor-education page on the securities laws, including the 1934 Act that created the SEC; start at the 1933 Act, read on through the 1934 Act section right after it, and skip the later laws. (reading, 8–12 min)

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell your instructor and use the reference above in the meantime.

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