ACC-320 at Southern New Hampshire University is Microsoft Excel for Accountants.
Course listings describe it as a hands-on course developed for accounting students to teach the Excel features, functions and techniques needed in the field, with topics such as presenting financial statements, amortisation schedules for loans, bonds and leases with related journal entries, worksheet management, formulas for financial ratios, charts and pivot tables, Excel tools for capital budgeting, and a range of functions and formulas.
Students arrive at very different levels. Some use Excel daily at work; others have only typed numbers into cells. Either way, the course rewards building workbooks properly: inputs separated from calculations, formulas that reference cells rather than typed values, and outputs that are easy to check.
Course at a Glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| University | Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) |
| Course code | ACC-320 |
| Level | Undergraduate |
| Subject area | Spreadsheet skills for accounting |
| Typical work | Hands-on workbook exercises, schedules, statement layouts, short projects |
Confirm the current description, credits and prerequisites in SNHU's catalog, and check which Excel version your course expects.
What ACC-320 Covers
| Topic | What you build |
|---|---|
| Financial statement presentation | Formatted income statements and balance sheets |
| Amortisation schedules | Loans, bonds and leases with the related journal entries |
| Worksheet management | Linked sheets, named ranges, consistent structure |
| Ratio formulas | Liquidity, profitability and solvency ratios |
| Charts and pivot tables | Summaries and visuals from transaction data |
| Capital budgeting tools | NPV, IRR and payback calculations |
Key Concepts Explained
Relative and Absolute References
A dollar sign fixes a reference when a formula is copied. Getting this right is what lets one formula fill a whole schedule.
Example: An interest rate sits in cell B1. In a loan schedule, interest for each row is =D5*$B$1 (opening balance times the fixed rate). Copying down keeps $B$1 fixed while D5 moves to D6, D7 and so on.
Loan Amortisation
PMT calculates a level payment; each row then splits it into interest and principal.
Example: A $50,000 loan at 6% a year, repaid monthly over five years: =PMT(6%/12, 60, -50000) gives about $966.64. In month one, interest is $50,000 x 0.5% = $250, so principal repaid is about $716.64 and the balance falls to about $49,283.36.
NPV in Excel
Excel's NPV function assumes the first cash flow comes one period from now. An initial investment made today must be added separately.
Example: =NPV(10%, C2:C6) + B2, where B2 holds the negative initial outlay and C2:C6 the yearly inflows. Putting B2 inside the NPV range would discount it by a year and overstate the result.
Typical Assignments and How to Approach Them
| Assignment type | What it tests | How to approach it |
|---|---|---|
| Schedules | Formulas and references | Build row one carefully, then copy down and spot-check |
| Statement layouts | Presentation and linking | Link every figure to source data; format last |
| Pivot table tasks | Summarizing data | Clean the data into a proper table first |
| Capital budgeting | Financial functions | State the rate and timing assumptions in labeled cells |
Designing a Workbook Your Instructor Can Follow
Clear structure earns marks because it shows understanding. Put assumptions (rates, terms, prices) in a clearly labeled input area, keep calculations on their own sheet or block, and present outputs separately.
Use consistent colors, for example blue for inputs and black for formulas, and avoid merging cells in data ranges because it breaks sorting and pivot tables.
Add simple checks: a cell that confirms the balance sheet balances, or that a loan's closing balance reaches zero. A check that shows zero, or TRUE, tells you and your marker that the model works.
Finally, document the workbook briefly: a short notes tab listing the purpose of each sheet, the key assumptions and any checks makes the file easier to mark and far easier for you to revise later. In practice, accountants hand workbooks to colleagues and auditors, so a model that explains itself is a professional habit worth building now.
Where Students Get Stuck
- Hard-coded numbers. Typed values break when inputs change.
- Sign conventions. Financial functions treat money paid out as negative.
- Payment timing. Beginning-of-period payments need the type argument set to 1.
- Messy data. Blank rows and merged cells stop pivot tables working.
Study Tips for ACC-320
- Recreate textbook schedules from a blank sheet without copying.
- Learn keyboard shortcuts for navigation and fill to save time.
- Use Formula Auditing to trace precedents when a result looks wrong.
- Keep a personal library of templates for loans, bonds, leases and NPV.
How We Help with ACC-320
Send the instructions and your workbook. An Excel and accounting tutor prepares a model workbook with explained formulas, or reviews your file and explains every change needed so you can correct it yourself. For wider support, see our accounting assignment help guide.
GradeEssays is independent of Southern New Hampshire University and Microsoft. Our models are study aids; submit only your own work under SNHU's academic integrity policy. Orders include free revisions within the scope of your original request.
Build Accounting Workbooks That Work
Share the assignment and your file. We prepare a model workbook with clear, explained formulas you can learn from.
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Frequently Asked Questions
No. The course teaches Excel for accounting tasks, though basic familiarity with entering data and simple formulas helps.
Common ones include SUM, IF, lookup functions, PMT, NPV, IRR and functions used with pivot tables. Your course sets the exact list.
Excel treats payments as cash outflows. Enter the loan amount as negative, or wrap the function to show a positive figure.
We prepare model schedules for you to study and explain each formula, so you can build your own.
Excel for Mac covers most features, but some menus differ. Check your course guidance on supported versions.
Change an input and confirm results update, check totals against expectations and use built-in checks such as a balance sheet test.