22208 Accounting, Business and Society
The Complete Exam Bible · Spring 202622208 Overview
- University of Technology Sydney
- Spring 2026
- Accounting
- Bachelor of Business core subject
- Online lectures, workshops and tutorials
22208 Accounting, Business and Society is an introductory accounting subject at the University of Technology Sydney. It is a core subject of the Bachelor of Business, builds on 22108 Accounting and Accountability, and is designed to be taken in your second session.
- Assessed by Weekly pre-quizzes and tutorial collaboration (30%), an educational video (20%) and a 2-hour online final exam (50%).
- Hardest step Choosing the right accounts and direction for each entry before doing any arithmetic, especially for adjustments and cash flows.
- Do first Master Weeks 2 and 3, debits, credits and adjusting entries; every later calculation topic builds on them.
- Watch the clock The exam gives 16 questions in 120 minutes, restricted open book with notes saved on your own computer.
How 22208 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Task 1A: Weekly online pre-quizzes (Learning Portfolio, individual) | 10% | Ten weekly quizzes due 11.59 pm Thursday, 10 to 15 minutes each; best 8 count; no late quizzes |
| Task 1B: Tutorial collaboration (Learning Portfolio, group) | 20% | Eleven in-class case problems in groups of 3 to 6, submitted within 15 minutes of class end; best 8 count; GenAI not permitted |
| Task 2: Communicating accounting using modern modes of media | 20% | Original vertical video of up to 90 seconds with you speaking and live captions, on a business news item from after 1 May 2026; GenAI permitted within limits |
| Task 3: Final exam | 50% | 2-hour online invigilated exam in the formal exam period; multiple choice, numerical and short answer; restricted open book; GenAI not permitted |
All four weights come from the subject’s own assessment pages and the weekly program, and they total 100%. Confirm on Canvas whether any task also carries a minimum mark. The video’s due date is listed as 12 October in the weekly program and as 15 October at 11.59 pm on the assignment page.
Assessment structure
Current 22208 dates
| Date | Item | Control |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday of each teaching week, 11.59 pm | Weekly pre-quiz closes | Ten quizzes in Weeks 2 to 11; late quizzes are not accepted. |
| 12 or 15 October 2026 | Task 2 video due | The weekly program lists 12 October; the assignment page lists 15 October at 11.59 pm. |
| 23 to 30 October 2026 | Study vacation | No classes before the formal exam period. |
| 3 November 2026, 9.30 am | Final exam | Online and AI-invigilated, within the formal exam period of 2 to 20 November. |
Dates are as published in the Spring 2026 weekly program, assessment pages and a Canvas announcement. Confirm exact deadlines and submission settings in the live LMS.
What 22208 covers
22208 runs eleven topic weeks in three modules in Spring 2026. Module 1 (Weeks 1 to 4) covers the accounting equation, debits and credits, adjusting and closing entries and the equity of partnerships and companies. Module 2 (Weeks 5 to 8) covers receivables, inventory, property, plant and equipment and the statement of cash flows. Module 3 (Weeks 9 to 11) covers law and ethics, performance measurement and sustainability.
Each chapter follows one week of the program.
Accounting's Role and the Accounting Equation
role of accounting, accounting information systems, the accounting equation (Week 1)Week 1 sets out why accounting matters to businesses and households alike: resources are limited, and accounting information helps decide where they go.
- Accounting as a tool for allocating scarce resources
- The four processes of an accounting information system
- The accounting equation: assets equal liabilities plus equity
- Dual nature: every transaction moves at least two accounts
- The entity boundary between a business and its owner
- Events that are not yet transactions
Debits, Credits, Journals and the Trial Balance
T-accounts, debit and credit rules, journal, ledger, trial balance, statements (Week 2)Week 2 replaces the spreadsheet of pluses and minuses with a dual entry system.
- T-accounts and the dual entry system
- Debit and credit rules from normal balances
- The general journal: date, accounts, amounts and narration
- Posting to the general ledger
- Preparing and checking a trial balance
- Preparing the three statements in order
Adjusting Entries and the Closing Process
cash and accrual bases, four adjusting scenarios, adjusted trial balance, closing entries (Week 3)Week 3 explains why accrual accounting needs adjusting entries at period end. The cash basis records revenue and expenses when cash moves; the accrual basis records them when earned or incurred.
- Cash basis versus accrual basis of accounting
- Unearned revenue and accrued revenue
- Prepaid expenses and accrued expenses
- Working adjustments on a monthly basis
- The adjusted trial balance and the statements
- Closing entries straight to retained earnings
Business Structures: Partnerships and Companies
sole trader, partnership and company equity, profit sharing, share issues, dividends, buybacks (Week 4)Week 4 compares the three main business structures: sole traders, partnerships and companies. Most transactions are recorded identically; the difference lies in equity.
- Sole trader, partnership and company compared
- Equity sections under each structure
- Partner capital at fair value of net assets
- Tiered profit and loss sharing
- Share issues in full and by instalment
- Cash dividends, share dividends and buybacks
Receivables and Bad Debts
credit sales, returns and discounts, direct write-off, allowance method, ageing (Week 5)Week 5 begins Module 2 with receivables. Credit sales create accounts receivable, reduced by sales returns and early-payment discounts, both contra-revenue accounts.
- Recording credit sales, returns and discounts
- Net realisable value of receivables
- Direct write-off method and its weaknesses
- Allowance method: percentage of credit sales
- Percentage of receivables and ageing schedules
- Writing off and recovering a specific account
Inventory: Cost Flows, Errors and Estimates
inventory cost, perpetual and periodic systems, FIFO and weighted average, errors, NRV (Week 6)Week 6 covers inventory, a tangible resource held for resale and recorded at every cost needed to make it ready for sale, less returns and discounts.
- Costs included in inventory: freight in, returns, discounts
- Perpetual and periodic inventory systems
- Two entries for every perpetual sale
- FIFO and moving weighted average costing
- Periodic costing from a stock count
- Counterbalancing inventory errors
Non-Current Assets: Depreciation and Disposal
acquisition cost, depreciation by straight line, units of activity or reducing balance, disposals (Week 7)Week 7 follows property, plant and equipment through acquisition, depreciation and disposal. Acquisition cost includes everything needed to make the asset ready for use.
- Acquisition cost: what is capitalised and what is not
- Depreciation as allocation, not valuation
- Straight-line, units-of-activity and reducing-balance methods
- Prospective changes in useful life and residual value
- Capital versus revenue expenditure and impairment
- Recording a disposal and its gain or loss
Preparing the Statement of Cash Flows
operating, investing and financing activities, direct and indirect methods (Week 8)Week 8 explains how cash moved during a period. The statement of cash flows groups inflows and outflows into operating, investing and financing activities and is built from a comparative balance sheet, the income statement and extra information.
- What the statement of cash flows is for and how it is laid out
- Operating, investing and financing categories
- Direct method: converting revenue and expenses to cash
- Indirect method: reconciling profit to cash
- Investing flows from non-current assets
- Financing flows from debt, shares and dividends
Law, Ethics and Independence in Accounting
sources of law, consumer protection, APES 110 principles, threats and safeguards (Week 9)Week 9 opens Module 3 with the legal and ethical setting of accounting. It covers the sources of law, contracts and consumer protection under the Competition and Consumer Act, then argues that legal conduct is not always ethical.
- Statute law, case law and contracts
- Consumer protection: the ACCC and ASIC
- Legal versus ethical conduct
- The five fundamental principles of APES 110
- The five threats to ethical conduct
- Safeguards and the conceptual framework
Performance Measurement in Decentralised Firms
responsibility centres, segment margin, ROI, residual income, balanced scorecard (Week 10)Week 10 looks at how accounting information is used to drive performance and evaluate managers.
- Decentralisation and its benefits and drawbacks
- Responsibility accounting and the four centres
- Contribution margin and segment margin
- Return on investment
- Residual income and goal congruence
- Balanced scorecard and management incentives
Sustainability Accounting and Decision-Making
externalised costs, triple bottom line, sustainability KPIs, environmental costs (Week 11)Week 11 considers how management accounting documents sustainability practices.
- Sustainability and the role of management accounting
- Externalised costs and sustainability value chains
- Triple bottom line: people, planet and profit
- Sustainability KPIs and SMART goals
- Prevention, appraisal and failure costs
The aim is a critical understanding of the business issues that create demand for financial and management accounting information. The subject runs in a blended mode across three modules of four weeks: lecture content is online, a short pre-quiz checks it each week, workshops work through exam-style questions, and tutorials have groups solve a case problem, often in Excel.
Module 1, Accounting in Business and Society, moves from the role of accounting and the accounting equation to debits and credits, the journal, ledger and trial balance, adjusting and closing entries, and the equity of sole traders, partnerships and companies, including share issues, dividends and buybacks.
Module 2, Measuring Business Performance, covers receivables and bad debts, inventory costing under the perpetual system, property, plant and equipment with depreciation and disposals, and the statement of cash flows by the direct and indirect methods.
Module 3, Governing and Driving Business Performance, turns to law and ethics under APES 110, performance measurement in decentralised organisations, and sustainability accounting. Assessment combines a learning portfolio of weekly quizzes and tutorial work, a 90-second educational video linking a current business news story to an accounting topic, and a 2-hour online invigilated final exam worth half the subject.
Success depends on steady practice rather than cramming: the calculation topics reward set-up and direction, and the Module 3 topics reward clear classification and short reasoned advice.
Worked example · free
Accruing loan interest and using up prepaid insurance at year end
- 1Interest has accrued for March to June, four months: 90,000 × 8% × 4/12 = $2,400.
- 1Record it as an expense and a liability: Dr Interest expense 2,400, Cr Interest payable 2,400.
- 1Insurance used in June is one month of twelve: 4,320 × 1/12 = $360.
- 1Move it from the asset to expense: Dr Insurance expense 360, Cr Prepaid insurance 360, leaving $3,960 prepaid; the balance falls by 360 a month, to $2,160 by 1 December and to zero on 31 May.
Key terms
- Accounting equation
- The identity that assets equal liabilities plus equity, which every transaction must preserve.
- Trial balance
- A list of every ledger account and its balance at one date, used to check that debits equal credits.
- Adjusting entry
- A period-end entry that records revenue earned or expenses incurred that the accounts do not yet show.
- Unearned revenue
- A liability for cash received before the related goods or services have been provided.
- Retained earnings
- The accumulated profit kept in a company after dividends, carried in equity.
- Allowance for bad debts
- A contra-asset estimate of receivables that will not be collected.
- Cost of goods sold
- The cost of inventory sold during a period, reported as an expense.
- Accumulated depreciation
- A contra-asset account holding the total depreciation recorded on an asset.
- Carrying amount
- Cost less accumulated depreciation, the figure an asset is reported at.
- Operating activities
- Cash flows from day-to-day trading, including interest and tax paid.
- APES 110
- The code of ethics for professional accountants, setting five principles and five threats.
- Segment margin
- A segment’s contribution margin less its traceable fixed costs.
- Residual income
- Net operating income less the minimum required return on average operating assets.
- Triple bottom line
- Reporting on social, environmental and economic performance: people, planet and profit.
22208 FAQ
Is this subject hard?
It is technical rather than theoretical. Most marks in Modules 1 and 2 come from recording entries in the right direction and doing arithmetic step by step, and Module 3 rewards clear classification and short advice. The subject warns that it cannot be passed by cramming, so steady weekly practice with the pre-quizzes and tutorial problems is what makes it manageable.
How is the subject assessed?
Four components: weekly online pre-quizzes worth 10% with the best eight of ten counting, tutorial collaboration worth 20% with the best eight of eleven counting, an educational video worth 20%, and a 2-hour online final exam worth 50%. The weights come from the subject’s own assessment pages and add to 100%.
What is the final exam like?
It is a 2-hour online invigilated exam in the formal exam period, with 16 questions shown one at a time, mixing multiple choice, numerical and short answer questions. It is restricted open book: notes saved on your own computer and the computer’s calculator are allowed, but other web pages and generative AI are not.
Which topics need the most practice?
Adjusting entries, inventory costing, depreciation and the statement of cash flows carry the heaviest calculations, and each depends on confident debits and credits from Week 2. The module practice sets and their solutions are the best rehearsal material, provided you attempt each question before reading the answer.
Can I use generative AI in this subject?
It depends on the task. It is not permitted for the tutorial collaboration or the final exam, the subject suggests attempting the weekly quizzes unaided, and it is permitted within stated limits for the video, though not to write the whole script. Where it is allowed you must declare and document your use.
Can AI help me study for this subject?
Yes, as a study aid outside assessed work. Sia can walk you through an adjusting entry, a FIFO costing table, a depreciation schedule or an indirect-method cash flow one step at a time and check your reasoning. It does not complete graded work for you, and the final exam itself prohibits generative AI.
Questions students ask in each 22208 chapter
- What does the accounting equation actually describe?
- It describes who has a claim on the business’s resources. Assets are the resources; liabilities are what outsiders such as lenders and suppliers are owed; equity is the owners’ residual claim. Because every resource is claimed by someone, the two sides must always be equal after each transaction. Chapter 01 · Accounting's Role and the Accounting Equation
- Why do expenses increase with a debit?
- Expenses reduce equity, and equity normally carries a credit balance, so anything that lowers equity is recorded on the debit side. Dividends follow the same logic, while revenue, which raises equity, is credited. Chapter 02 · Debits, Credits, Journals and the Trial Balance
- Does an adjusting entry ever involve cash?
- No. Every adjusting entry pairs one balance sheet account, such as a prepaid asset, a payable or unearned revenue, with one income statement account. If your entry debits or credits cash, you are recording a new transaction rather than adjusting for timing. Chapter 03 · Adjusting Entries and the Closing Process
- How are profits shared if the partnership agreement says nothing?
- Equally. The module practice set treats a silent agreement as an equal split, and the same applies to losses. That is why the lecture urges partners to state exactly how both profits and losses are to be divided. Chapter 04 · Business Structures: Partnerships and Companies
- Why do accountants prefer the allowance method?
- It records the expected loss in the same period as the sale that caused it, which the direct write-off method fails to do. The lecture adds that direct write-off lets managers time write-offs to shape profit and gives a poorer picture of the cash receivables will actually produce. Chapter 05 · Receivables and Bad Debts
- Why does FIFO give a higher profit when prices are rising?
- FIFO sends the oldest, cheapest units to cost of goods sold, so the expense is lower and profit higher. The newer, dearer units stay in ending inventory, which is why FIFO also reports the highest closing stock. Chapter 06 · Inventory: Cost Flows, Errors and Estimates
- Is depreciation meant to show what an asset is worth?
- No. The lecture is explicit that depreciation allocates cost over the periods that benefit from the asset, applying the matching principle. The carrying amount it produces is not a market value. Chapter 07 · Non-Current Assets: Depreciation and Disposal
- Why is a gain on sale subtracted under the indirect method?
- The full sale proceeds are reported under investing activities. The gain is already inside profit, so leaving it there would count part of the same cash twice; subtracting it removes the duplicate, and a loss is added back for the same reason. Chapter 08 · Preparing the Statement of Cash Flows
- How can something be legal but unethical?
- The rules often allow choices, such as estimates of useful life or bad debts. Using that freedom to make results look better than the evidence supports can stay within the law while misleading the people who rely on the accounts, which breaches the profession’s ethical standards. Chapter 09 · Law, Ethics and Independence in Accounting
- Why are common fixed costs left out of segment margin?
- Common fixed costs support the whole company and would remain if any one segment closed. Charging them to segments would make a division that covers its own costs look unprofitable and could lead to a closure that lowers total profit. Chapter 10 · Performance Measurement in Decentralised Firms
- Which costs should a business prioritise to manage environmental impact?
- The topic’s quiz points to prevention and appraisal costs ahead of failure costs, because stopping and detecting problems early is usually cheaper than cleaning up afterwards. It also warns that a business can over-invest in prevention and appraisal. Chapter 11 · Sustainability Accounting and Decision-Making
How to study for the exam
Treat 22208 as a practice subject. Each week, work through the pre-class lecture content before the pre-quiz, attempt the workshop questions yourself before the answers are released, and use the tutorial to test whether you can explain your entries to your group.
For every calculation topic, write the accounts and their direction before any numbers, and keep a running page of patterns: the four adjusting scenarios, the allowance method, the FIFO and average tables, the three depreciation methods and the indirect-method adjustments. Do the Module 1 and Module 2 practice question sets under time pressure and only then compare with the solutions.
For Module 3, memorise the five APES 110 principles and threats, the four responsibility centres with ROI and residual income, and the three legs of the triple bottom line, then practise short answers in the form rule, application, conclusion. Because the exam is restricted open book, organise your notes by chapter with worked methods first so you can find them in seconds, and save them locally the day before.
When a step will not click, ask Sia to explain that step another way and to set a fresh question in the same style.
Your AI Accounting tutor for 22208
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