Academic Year of Degree:
2025/26
20584 - INTRODUCTION TO ACCOUNTING
This is a non-sworn machine translation intended to provide students with general information about the course. As the translation from Spanish to English has not been post-edited, it may be inaccurate and potentially contain errors. We do not accept any liability for errors of this kind.
The course guides for the subjects taught in English have been translated by their teaching teams
Teaching Plan Information
Code - Course title:
20584 - INTRODUCTION TO ACCOUNTING
Degree:
799 - Microtítulo en Organización Básica de la Empresa
839 - Graduado/a en Administración y Dirección de Empresas (2025)
859 - Graduado/a en Derecho y en Administración y Dirección de Empresas (2024)
Faculty:
102 - Facultad de Derecho
103 - Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales
Academic year:
2025/26
1.1. Content area
Accounting
1.2. Course nature
839 - Compulsory
859 - Compulsory
799 - Optional
1.3. Course level
839 - Grado (EQF/MECU 6)
859 - Grado (EQF/MECU 6)
799 - Estudios Propios (EQF/MECU 6)
1.5. Semester
839-First semester
859-Second semester
799-First semester
1.6. ECTS Credit allotment
3.0
1.7. Language of instruction
Spanish
1.9. Recommendations
To take this course, it is essential to have general knowledge of Economics, which the student will acquire simultaneously in other subjects. Additionally, a specific understanding of Business Economics is required, including its fundamentals, structure, operation and activities. Furthermore, basic knowledge of the time value of money is necessary, covering fundamental financial operations such as capitalization and capital actualization and annuities.
1.10. Minimum attendance requirement
Attending classes is recommended to follow the development of the course content.
1.11. Subject coordinator
Yorela Yenifer Esperilla Niño de Guzman
1.12. Competences and learning outcomes
1.12.1. Competences / Results of the training and learning outcomes
This subject contributes to the acquisition of the results of the training and learning process of the subject "Accounting"(Compulsory Module), which are the following:
- CON06 - To describe the aspects of the financial and accounting management of companies, as well as identify and analyse investment and financing strategies
- HAB01 - Critically and systematically seeking out and use relevant information and data
- HAB04 - To design action plans in different functional areas of the company and use the resulting business projects
- HAB05 - To prepare and use external and internal accounting-financial information for management control in the company, as well as evaluate its situation in the face of alternative scenarios
- HAB08 - To develop and defend arguments and communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions based on the acquired knowledge to both specialised and non-specialised audiences
- RC02 - Autonomy of learning and capacity for organisation and planning in the professional context
- RC03 - Ability to make business decisions with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights, diversity and equality of citizens, democratic values and peace
- RC04 - Ability to work in interdisciplinary teams in a collaborative way to achieve the objectives of the company, accepting that both the diversity of perspectives and multiculturalism are a source of learning and richness
- RC05 - Be able to make management decisions based on the financial and accounting information of the company, the situation of the sector and the economy in general.
- RC09 - Ability to prepare, present and defend a work or project in the field of business administration, management and management in which the learning and skills acquired in the degree are integrated
1.12.2. Learning outcomes
-
1.12.3. Course objectives
-
1.13. Course contents
Summary Program:
- The Accounting Information Environment
- Accounting Information: Concept of Income and Wealth
- Accounting Transactions and the Duality Principle
- Income and Expenses: Calculation of the Result
Detailed Program:
Unit 1:
This Unit explains what accounting is and its purpose, the branches or divisions of accounting (financial/management, internal/external, etc.), the main aspects of financial accounting, and the regulation of accounting information at both national and international levels. It covers national and international regulatory bodies and identifies which companies must comply with national versus international standards. Additionally, the legal sources of accounting in Spain will be outlined, including which types of companies must apply the Spanish General Accounting Plan (PGC) and which must follow IFRS/IAS. It will also cover annual financial statements, the requirements for submitting full or abridged financial statements, the preparation and filing deadlines, and the different users of accounting information.
Unit 2:
(1) Explaining the interrelationship between the financial statements (Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Statement of Cash Flows, Statement of Changes in Equity, and Notes to the Financial Statements), with a particular focus on the first two. It will detail the two possible models (full and abridged) and the requirements for each. Additionally, the topic will briefly explain the management report and the audit report, as well as the definitions and concepts of Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Expenses, and Income. It will also address Non-Current/Current Assets and Liabilities, as well as Operating/Financial Income and Expenses.
Unit 3:
This section will cover the concept of accounts, the accounting method, and the duality principle (fundamental equation). It will introduce key accounting terminology, such as opening an account, debit, credit, charge/debit, credit/accredit, debit balance, credit balance, debtor account, creditor account, balancing an account, and closing an account. Students will learn to analyze transactions based on the fundamental equation and then move on to recording economic transactions and completing a full accounting cycle.
Unit 4:
Students will be introduced to the concept of financial results and the definitions of revenues and expenses (gains and losses). Different categories of revenues and expenses will be explained, along with the accounting principles involved in result calculation (going concern, accrual, conservatism and matching principle). The topic will also explore accounting adjustments and the basic operations of a business: purchases and sales, payroll, general operating expenses, as well as VAT treatment for purchases, sales, external services, other revenue, and the accounting records for VAT settlement.
1.14. Course bibliography
PGC 2021: Real Decreto 1/2021. Disponible en la página web del Instituto de Contabilidad y Auditoría de Cuentas (ICAC), www.icac.meh.es
[Cerve] Cervera Oliver y otros: (2022): Contabilidad Financiera, 5ª edición, Ediciones CEF (Centro de Estudios Financieros), Madrid.
[Wan] Wanden-Berghe Lozano, J.L. y otros (2018), Introducción a la Contabilidad, 3ª edición, ed. Pirámide, Madrid.
2. Teaching-and-learning methodologies and student workload
2.1. Contact hours
Since this course has 6 ECTS, students’ total number of working hours is 150, which are distributed as follows:
|
|
#hours
|
|
Contact hours (minimum 33%)
|
30h (40%)
|
|
Independent study time
|
45h (60%)
|
2.2. List of training activities
|
Activities
|
Hours
|
|
1. Attendance at theory and practical classes
|
25
|
|
2. Follow-up tutorials
|
1
|
|
3. Seminars and other activities
|
1,5
|
|
4. Student autonomous work
|
25
|
|
5. Preparation of assessment tests
|
20
|
|
6. Carrying out evaluation activities
|
2,5
|
3. Evaluation procedures and weight of components in the final grade
3.1. Regular assessment
The course assessment will consist of the following elements: Final exam organized by the Department (70%), Continuous assessment (30%).
The continuous assessment may include:
- Individual midterm tests.
- Group projects.
- Individual assignments.
Students enrolling for the second time must pass both the continuous assessment and the final exam again, following the same criteria as first-time students.
3.1.1. List of evaluation activities
|
Evaluatory activity
|
%
|
|
Final exam that will assess the theoretical and practical knowledge acquired throughout the course, as well as the ability to analyze and synthesize
|
70%
|
|
Attendance and/or active participation of the student in the different activities and/or tutorials scheduled to monitor the subject.
|
10%
|
|
Problem solving and case studies
|
--
|
|
Individual and/or teamwork
|
--
|
|
Oral presentation, as well as debate and discussion.
|
--
|
|
Controls carried out throughout the course
|
20%
|
3.2. Resit
Students who, having been graded as "failed" or "not assessed" in the regular exam session, take the exam in the extraordinary session will have their final grade determined by the higher of the following two options:
- The weighted average of continuous assessment (30%) and the extraordinary session exam (70%). In this case, the continuous assessment grade obtained during the course is retained.
- The extraordinary session exam grade (100%).
3.2.1. List of evaluation activities
-
4. Proposed workplan
|
Semana/Week
|
Contenido/Contents
|
|
1
|
Tema 1/Unit 1
|
|
2
|
Tema 1/ Unit 1
|
|
3
|
Tema 2/ Unit 2
|
|
4
|
Tema 2/ Unit 2
|
|
5
|
Tema 2/ Unit 2
|
|
6
|
Tema 2/ Unit 2
|
|
78
|
Tema 3/ Unit 3
|
|
8
|
Tema 3/ Unit 3
|
|
9
|
Tema 3/ Unit 3
|
|
10
|
Tema 3/ Unit 3
|
|
11
|
Tema 4/ Unit 4
|
|
12
|
Tema 4/ Unit 4
|
|
13
|
Tema 4/ Unit 4
|
|
14
|
Repaso del contenido /Review of contents
|
|
15
|
Repaso del contenido /Review of contents
|