Accounting Fundamentals

MPA Financial Management Core II. This course provides students with a foundational understanding of financial accounting, with an emphasis on interpreting financial statements. Students will study the three core financial statements—the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows—and learn the accounting principles and rules that shape how financial data is recorded and presented. Through hands-on exercises and case examples from service, manufacturing, and retail operations, students will learn to apply double-entry bookkeeping, distinguish between key accounting treatments such as capitalizing and expensing, and evaluate how management’s assumptions and estimates influence reported outcomes. The course aims to build financial fluency for policy professionals and prepare students to critically assess financial information to support evidence-based decision-making.