Principles of Financial Accounting in the Hospitality Industry

Apply financial and accounting concepts in the hospitality industry. Use information systems to describe and measure financial performance.

Description

You don't have to be an accountant to grasp the fundamentals of hospitality accounting. In non-technical terms, this program teaches you how to read, compose, and communicate financial information. You will see how income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements describe a business and its performance. After completing the program, you will be better able to gather, understand, and share financial data within your organization. You will make more effective presentations and better decisions, setting the stage for your own career advancement.

This program will teach you relevant accounting terms and concepts as they apply in the hospitality industry, including the Uniform System of Accounts. You will learn the relevance of various transaction types and accounting principles, how to assign the proper category when processing a transaction, and how to track the financial performance of a business using our unique Integrated Accounting Spreadsheet (IAS) system.

Who Should Take This Course?

Hospitality professionals who seek a basic understanding of financial accounting principles and concepts enabling them to communicate financial information within their organization. This program will also help professionals to enhance their current job performance or to prepare them for advancement.

Course Format

All eCornell courses are delivered online and are self-paced. An eCornell instructor leads the online discussions, grades any course projects, and is available to answer specific questions about the course content.

This course contains the following modules:

• Principles of Identity
  • An introduction to the accounting principles that define the identity of a business
  • Introduction to the fundamental accounting formula and the basics of reporting transactions
  • Introduction to the issues of productivity, risk, and how to classify contributors
• Principles of Operation
  • The accounting principles that regulate the operation of a business
  • Prepaid and accrued expenses, depreciation, amortization, and inventory
  • Recognizing revenue and expenses and matching them to accounting periods
  • How to prepare an income statement and how it relates to the balance sheet
• Principles of Reporting
  • How to report financial events and handle additional types of transactions
  • Introduction to the concepts of cash flow and bad debt
  • How to prepare a cash flow statement and how it relates to the balance sheet

Benefits to the Learner

After completing this course, participants will be able to:

• Gather, understand, and share financial data within their organizations
• Understand the basic principles, transactions and concepts that form the foundation of an accounting system
• Relate financial transactions in terms of the appropriate Uniform System of Accounts categories
• Understand what income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements reveal, and how they relate to each other
• Utilize accounting reports to communicate the financial performance of a business

Authoring Faculty

Robert M. Chase, Professor Emeritus

Sponsoring School

Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration

Total Learning Time

Approximately twelve to fifteen hours over a period of four weeks.

Certificate Information

This course can be applied toward the following certificates:

• Master Certificate in the Essentials of Hospitality Management
• Master Certificate in Foodservice Management