ACCTG102 · Accounting Concepts
The Complete Exam Bible · S2 2026Accounting Concepts
ACCTG 102 Accounting Concepts is the University of Auckland's preparer-perspective Stage I accounting course — 15 points in the Business School, taught flipped-classroom style with pre-recorded chapter lectures and compulsory weekly live workshops on the City Campus (an offshore stream also runs). Where ACCTG 101 reads financial statements as a user, ACCTG 102 Accounting Concepts has you prepare them: journalise transactions, post to the ledger, adjust and close the books, then work down the statement of financial position through receivables, non-current assets, liabilities and equity — all anchored to the NZ Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting and NZ IFRS, using Carlon et al., Financial Accounting: Reporting, Analysis and Decision Making (7th ed., Wiley). The course follows the textbook chapter a week (textbook Chapter 6 is skipped by design): Chapters 1–5 build the full accounting cycle and are the entire territory of the 20% open-book mid-semester test on Inspera; Chapters 7–10 plus a cloud-accounting module in Xero feed the comprehensive final (50% per the University course catalogue). The prerequisite is ACCTG 101 or BUSINESS 114, and ACCTG 102 is the technical platform for Stage II financial and management accounting, finance and accounting information systems at the University of Auckland — the grade that follows you into an Accounting or Finance major.
What ACCTG 102 covers
The whole course → one exam-ready map. Chapters 1–5 build the accounting cycle and are the entire territory of the 20% open-book mid-semester test; the comprehensive final brings Chapters 1–5 back and adds Chapters 7–10 plus Xero. Each chapter links to its free guide.
How ACCTG 102 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Final examination | 50% (University course catalogue; weight not restated on Canvas — confirm) | Comprehensive: Chapters 1–5 & 7–10 + Xero. Practice paper: 15 compulsory questions / 75 marks, 2 hours, cover marked open book + calculator on Inspera — the real exam's mode is advised on Canvas during the semester |
| Mid-semester test (Inspera) | 20% | Online open-book, non-invigilated, 90 min + 5 min reading, MCQ + analytical + written questions, Chapters 1–5, no formula sheet provided |
| Pre-workshop quizzes | 5% (10 × 0.5%) | Weekly Canvas quizzes due before that week’s session — confirm each due time on Canvas |
| Assignments 1 & 2 (WileyPlus) | Confirm on Canvas | WileyPlus problem sets — A1: the Chapters 1-4 accounting cycle; A2: Chapters 7-10 (factoring, depreciation methods, leases). The University catalogue coursework total of 30% includes the quizzes and the Xero assignment |
| Assignment 3 (Xero) | 5% | A 13-section Xero NZ company build: conversion balances → invoices & bills → bank reconciliation → seven reports (graded 0/50/100 on correctness thresholds) |
Mid-year disposal with catch-up depreciation — the exam's signature journal question
- +1Annual depreciation charge = (cost − residual) ÷ useful life = (24,000 − 3,000) ÷ 7 = $3,000 per year.
- +1Catch-up depreciation to the date of sale: three full years are already recorded (1 Apr 2022 → 31 Mar 2025 = $9,000), so the final 4 months need 3,000 × 4/12 = $1,000. Entry ①: Dr Depreciation expense 1,000 / Cr Accumulated depreciation — machinery 1,000.
- +1Total accumulated depreciation = 9,000 + 1,000 = $10,000 — the disposal entry must clear all of it, including the catch-up.
- +1Carrying amount = cost − accumulated depreciation = 24,000 − 10,000 = $14,000.
- +1Gain/(loss) = proceeds − carrying amount = 13,900 − 14,000 = loss $100 (proceeds below carrying amount → a loss, debited).
- +1Entry ②: Dr Cash at bank 13,900 · Dr Accumulated depreciation — machinery 10,000 · Dr Loss on disposal 100 / Cr Machinery 24,000. Total debits 24,000 = total credits 24,000 — the entry balances, and both the cost and its accumulated depreciation leave the books.
Key terms
- Accrual accounting
- Recognising revenue when the goods or services are provided and expenses when assets are consumed or liabilities incurred — regardless of when cash moves. The basis ACCTG 102 uses throughout; cash-basis accounting appears only as the contrast case.
- Adjusting entry
- A balance-date journal entry that brings the ledger up to date before the statements are prepared. Four taught families: prepaid expenses, revenue received in advance, accrued revenues and accrued expenses (plus depreciation, the special prepaid).
- Allowance for doubtful debts
- A contra-asset account holding the estimated uncollectable portion of accounts receivable. The balance-date estimate debits Bad debts expense and credits the allowance; an actual write-off debits the allowance — never the expense again.
- Carrying amount
- Cost minus accumulated depreciation (or amortisation/impairment) — the amount an asset stands at in the books. Gain or loss on disposal = proceeds minus carrying amount.
- Catch-up (partial-year) depreciation
- The depreciation charge from the last balance date to the date of a disposal or revaluation, computed as the annual charge × months/12 (for diminishing balance: rate × carrying amount × months/12). It must be recorded before the disposal entry.
- Cost of sales (COS)
- The cost of the inventory actually sold. Under the perpetual system it is recorded at every sale as the second entry (Dr Cost of sales / Cr Inventory); under the periodic system it is computed at period end: beginning inventory + cost of goods purchased − ending inventory.
- GST paid / GST collected
- The two GST accounts the course teaches: GST paid on purchases is an asset (an input credit); GST collected on sales is a liability until remitted. The course's worked examples assume a 10% rate for arithmetic simplicity — the practice final says to ignore GST entirely.
- Perpetual inventory system
- Continuous per-item inventory records: purchases go straight to Inventory, and every sale takes two entries — the revenue entry and the cost entry. The course default; the periodic system is the stocktake-based alternative.
- Profit or loss summary
- The temporary account closing entries route through: revenues are closed into it, expenses are closed against it, and its balance (the profit) transfers to Retained earnings. Dividends close to Retained earnings directly, never through the summary.
- Revaluation surplus
- The equity account credited when property, plant and equipment is revalued upward — an upward revaluation is never profit. A downward revaluation is an expense unless it reverses a prior surplus on that same asset.
- Revenue received in advance
- A liability recorded when a customer pays before the goods or services are provided (the NZ-terminology equivalent of "unearned revenue"). At balance date the earned portion is transferred to revenue.
- Debenture
- In this course's textbook usage, a debenture is public debt secured by a charge over assets (unsecured notes carry no security — the opposite of common US usage). Early redemption above face value produces a loss; below face, a gain.
- Statement of financial position
- The balance sheet: assets = liabilities + equity at a point in time, presented in classified current/non-current form. One of the four key financial statements, with the statement of profit or loss, the statement of changes in equity and the statement of cash flows.
ACCTG 102 FAQ
Can AI help me study ACCTG 102?
Yes — for learning, not for sitting assessments. Sia can explain any journal entry step by step, walk an adjusting-entry family until it clicks, re-derive a ratio from the taught formula and quiz you on fresh numbers. One hard rule: the course bans AI tools and communicating with anyone during the mid-semester test and its other assessments — use AI to prepare before test night, never during an assessment, and treat the WileyPlus and Xero assignments as entirely your own work.
Where can I find practice questions for ACCTG 102?
The course itself releases unmarked practice papers on Inspera — a practice mid-semester test and a practice final (15 questions / 75 marks) — plus weekly pre-workshop quizzes with two attempts and WileyPlus problem sets. This guide adds a full 75-mark practice set that mirrors the practice final's anatomy with fresh businesses and numbers, solved line by line, and you can ask Sia to generate more questions in the same pattern for any chapter.
What can Sia do that the textbook can't?
Interact. The textbook shows you a finished entry; Sia works one with you — paste a transaction, a trial-balance extract or your own attempted journal and it explains the reasoning line by line, checks that total debits equal total credits, and points at the exact step where a catch-up, a GST decomposition or an allowance increment went wrong. It explains and drills; it will not do graded work for you.
Is ACCTG 102 hard?
It is cumulative rather than conceptually deep: every week's journal entries build on the last, so falling behind is what makes it hard. The two pressure points are the mid-semester test's pace (50 marks in 90 minutes ≈ 1.8 min per mark, with no formula sheet) and the exam families students under-drill — adjusting entries, the allowance method and catch-up depreciation before disposals. Students who keep the weekly quiz-workshop rhythm and drill entries by hand generally find it very manageable.
Is the mid-semester test open book?
Yes — confirmed. The mid-semester test (20%, Inspera, online and non-invigilated) is open book: your own notes, paper or electronic, plus a calculator. But AI tools and communicating with anyone are strictly banned, an academic-integrity declaration is signed inside Inspera, and no formula sheet is provided — every ratio formula must be in your head or your notes.
Is the final exam open book?
Not confirmed either way. The practice final's cover was marked open book + calculator on Inspera, but that is the practice paper — the real exam's mode and materials rules are advised on Canvas during the semester. Prepare as if closed book and confirm the announcement on Canvas; the mid-semester test's open-book policy does not automatically extend to the final.
What does the final exam cover?
It is comprehensive: textbook Chapters 1–5 and 7–10 plus a written cloud-accounting (Xero) question — weighted 50% per the University course catalogue. The practice paper ran 15 compulsory questions over 75 marks, set for 2 hours, and leaned visibly toward Chapters 7–10: bank reconciliation and receivables, three non-current-asset questions, two liabilities, two equity. Confirm the exact date, duration and mode on Canvas.
How to study for the exam
Run the weekly loop the flipped classroom assumes: watch the chapter's pre-workshop recordings, sit the 0.5% quiz before it closes, then treat the live workshop as supervised problem-solving — the ten quizzes and the assignments are steady percentage you simply collect. Drill journal entries by hand from Week 2: the course marks a line at a time, so the skill is writing balanced entries quickly, not recognising them. For the mid-semester test (20%, Chapters 1–5, open book), prepare as if closed book — at 1.8 minutes per mark there is no time to learn from notes, and no formula sheet is provided, so memorise the taught ratio forms. After the break, give Chapters 7–10 the most reps: the practice final leans hard on the allowance method, disposals with catch-up depreciation, revaluations, debentures and dividends. Sit both released practice papers on Inspera in timed conditions, always labelling workings — workings carry marks even when a figure slips. Start the Xero assignment early (it is graded 0/50/100 on correctness and instruction-sensitive) and watch any announced Xero video: the final asks a written question on it. Exam week, reduce everything to the entries tables and the ratio sheet, and re-add every journal — total debits must equal total credits, per entry.
Your AI Accounting tutor for ACCTG 102
Stuck on a hard ACCTG 102 question? Sia is AskSia’s AI Accounting tutor — ask any ACCTG 102 Accounting Concepts question and get a clear, step-by-step explanation grounded in how the course is actually taught and assessed. Read this whole study guide free, then take your hardest questions to Sia.
