South-Western College Publishing:
Learn Accounting Through Practice

by Dan Silverburg

South-Western College Publishing has encouraged hands-on learning since 1905. From our first manual practice set to interactive multimedia platforms such as TaxPoint and Computerized Principles of Financial Accounting, we have been on the forefront of drawing students into the material. We realize that the material must be relevant to be useful; that’s why our material draws on real-world cases.

That is also why we have developed the best general ledger software available for academia, and why we include problems for and guides to Peachtree, QuickBooks, TurboTax, Access, Excel, and other real-world programs in our texts and supplements. As we get closer to the 21st Century, South-Western College Publishing continues to lead the market in the development of products to encourage hands-on learning, whether in the brick and mortar classroom or the distance learning environment.

Real business situations inform our practice sets so students are forced to make hard choices where theory and reality collide. Our practice sets are also designed for students to enter transactions into a computer, reinforcing the need to learn computerized accounting systems.

Sets such as Pacific Poolworks, Hazzard Travel, Electronic Play Inc., and First Designs are intended for use in a first accounting course to give hands-on experience with merchandising businesses operated as a proprietorship or corporation, wholesaling businesses operated as corporations, and departmentalized merchandising businesses. In the second accounting course (intermediate accounting), South-Western College Publishing offers sets such as Foxcor Manufacturing and Sharkey, Inc. Foxcor pulls together theories of intermediate accounting with emphasis on the asset side of the balance sheet while Sharkey, Inc. puts the student in the position of a CFO to perform a “what-if” analysis.

South-Western College Publishing has developed several semester-long projects that encourage student awareness of the theory behind the procedures learned in their accounting courses. The Financial Reporting Project 2nd Ed. by Bruce Baldwin is a group-based project that requires students to obtain and analyze live financial statements from publicly traded firms. The Accounting System: A Self-Study Primer for Introductory Accounting by William Ruland reinforces the accounting cycle and accounting mechanics.

But our commitment to hands-on learning is more than end-of-chapter material and practice sets. We believe interactive learning is more effective when used throughout the entire course, which is why we offer interactive CD-ROMs, Internet-based tutorials, and interactive transaction input software. These products further understanding of both the accounting and technology every professional will use.

Computerized Principles of Financial Accounting (klooster.swcollege.com) is an Internet-delivered product intended for use by anyone desiring a basic understanding of the principles of a double-entry accounting system. It is an interactive tutorial that gives students immediate feedback via transaction input software, critical thinking exercises and audit tests, and computer exercises. The student is given a basic understanding of a concept through a text plus graphic interface and then is tested on the concept with tutorial help given along the way. Intacct: Financial and Managerial Accounting Tutor is also an Internet-delivered product that reviews each major step in the accounting cycle and in managerial accounting with a quick, user-friendly manner that is easy to integrate into classroom use.

As more and more students begin to take accounting courses in a distance learning environment, hands-on learning requires an additional approach. Students need to communicate and collaborate with not only instructors but also other students. They need to have hands-on interaction with accounting concepts while also being able to evaluate their understanding of the concepts. Distance Learning students can experience this with StudyLive (studylive.swcollege.com), CyberClass and Thomson Learning Net—products developed specifically to ease the learning process in an interactive medium. StudyLive encourages an understanding of basic accounting through a combination of audio clips, PowerPoint slides, and hands-on interaction with question-and-answer problems, whiteboard communication, and interactive terminology quizzes. CyberClass and Thomson Learning Net offer interactive chat, bulletin boards, electronic flashcards, online testing and more.

South-Western College Publishing firmly believes that the only way to effectively learn accounting is by practicing accounting. Based on that belief, we develop numerous products to help students gain an understanding of the “why” behind accounting. To get further information on our hands-on learning products, please visit our web site at www.swcollege.com.