ACC 345 is SNHU’s Financial Statement Analysis/Business Valuation course. It centers on analyzing financial statements and valuing businesses: users and their questions, ratio analysis of liquidity, solvency, efficiency and profitability, cash flow and earnings quality, DuPont analysis, forecasting pro forma statements, cost of capital, discounted cash flow and market multiple valuation, normalization adjustments and valuation discounts. Every module below opens a full sample paper or takes a free request for one; searches like "acc 345 module 3", "ACC345 sample paper" and "ACC 345 milestone example" land on this page.
What ACC 345 is really about
ACC 345 is SNHU's course in financial statement analysis and business valuation, and it sits where accounting meets finance. Strong work does not stop at computing a ratio; it explains what changed, why, and what it means for the decision in front of the reader, whether that is a loan, a purchase price or a gift of shares. Valuation work in the course is graded on its assumptions as much as its arithmetic: every growth rate, margin, discount rate and multiple needs a stated basis.
The samples on this shelf share one composite company, a family-owned fire sprinkler contractor in metro Atlanta with about $38 million in revenue, split between design and installation projects and recurring inspection and service contracts. A private equity firm assembling a regional platform has approached the owners, which gives every module a reader with a real question. The company, its figures and the buyer are illustrative.
What ACC 345’s modules ask for
Across eight modules, ACC 345 typically asks for a discussion on users of financial statements, a ratio analysis assignment, a cash flow and earnings quality assignment, a first project analyzing a company's performance, a forecasting assignment, a cost of capital assignment, a second project valuing the business and a closing discussion on valuation discounts or standards of value. Most assignments mix tables of computed figures with written interpretation.
Where students lose points in ACC 345
The most common ACC 345 deduction is a ratio table with no interpretation, or interpretation that restates the number instead of explaining its cause. The second is a valuation whose inputs are unsupported: a growth rate chosen to reach a price, a discount rate copied from a public company or a multiple with no source. Graders also mark down forecasts that do not balance and valuations that mix enterprise and equity value. Stating the basis for every assumption and reconciling every total fixes most of these.
The ACC 345 drawers
ACC 345 Module 1 Discussion example
An opening post on the same set of statements read three ways at a composite Georgia fire sprinkler contractor: the bank renewing a credit line looks at liquidity and covenants, a private equity buyer looks at recurring service revenue and normalized earnings, and the owner looks at what the business is worth to her, with a note on why earnings quality matters to all three, drawing on Penman, Dechow, Ge and Schrand and Sloan. Full sample paper, read it free.
ACC 345 Module 2 Ratio Analysis Assignment example
A ratio analysis assignment on three years of statements for a composite Georgia fire sprinkler contractor: liquidity, solvency, activity and profitability ratios in one table, days sales outstanding rising from 64 to 73, margins improving as service revenue grows, debt falling relative to equity, and an interpretation of which trends matter and what to ask management, with Penman, Lev and Thiagarajan and Fairfield and Yohn. Full sample paper, read it free.
ACC 345 Module 3 Cash Flow and Earnings Quality Assignment example
A cash flow and earnings quality assignment that rebuilds a composite Georgia fire sprinkler contractor's statement of cash flows from two balance sheets, finds $1,060,000 of operating cash against $2,040,000 of net income, measures a balance sheet accrual ratio of 6.5 percent, traces the gap to receivables, retainage and contract assets on over-time projects, and judges how much of the year's earnings an analyst should trust, with Sloan, Dechow and Dichev and Dechow, Ge and Schrand. Full sample paper, read it free.
ACC 345 Module 4 Project One example
Project One reports on a composite Georgia fire sprinkler contractor's performance for a prospective buyer: a three-part DuPont breakdown of a 43.2 percent return on equity into margin, asset turnover and the equity multiplier, a comparison with two peer contractors, segment margins for installation and service, normalization of owner compensation and one-time costs, and a summary of strengths, concerns and diligence priorities, with Soliman, Nissim and Penman and Penman. Full sample paper, read it free.
ACC 345 Module 5 Forecasting Assignment example
A forecasting assignment that projects next year's income statement and balance sheet for a composite Georgia fire sprinkler contractor: 8 percent revenue growth split by segment, margins held at the latest year's levels, working capital driven by days and percent-of-revenue assumptions, capital spending and depreciation, debt repayment and distributions, cash as the balancing figure, and a downside case in which collections slow further, with Koller, Goedhart and Wessels, Penman and Nissim and Penman. Full sample paper, read it free.
ACC 345 Module 6 Cost of Capital Assignment example
A cost of capital assignment that builds a discount rate for a composite Georgia fire sprinkler contractor with no traded stock: a risk-free rate, equity risk premium, size premium and company-specific premium summing to a 17.3 percent cost of equity, an after-tax cost of debt of 5.6 percent, a 25 percent debt weight from the buyer's planned structure and a weighted average cost of capital of 14.4 percent, with a comparison to the capital asset pricing model and the sensitivity of value to the rate, with Koller, Goedhart and Wessels, Banz and Graham and Harvey. Full sample paper, read it free.
ACC 345 Module 7 Project Two example
Project Two values a composite Georgia fire sprinkler contractor for its owner as a private equity buyer approaches: the standard and premise of value, normalized earnings, a five-year discounted cash flow at a 14.4 percent cost of capital with a terminal value, a market approach at 5.0 times adjusted EBITDA from the buyer's recent platform deals, a reconciliation to an enterprise value of about $20.6 million, the bridge to equity value after net debt and the assumptions that move the answer most, with Koller, Goedhart and Wessels, Kaplan and Ruback and Liu, Nissim and Thomas. Full sample paper, read it free.
ACC 345 Module 8 Discussion example
A closing post asking why a 10 percent block of the same Georgia fire sprinkler contractor, which the owner plans to give her son before any sale, is worth far less than 10 percent of the $17.7 million equity value: discounts for lack of control and marketability, the evidence from restricted stock, how the purpose and standard of value change the answer, and why the IRS scrutinizes these discounts, with Silber, Koller, Goedhart and Wessels and Damodaran. Full sample paper, read it free.
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Southern New Hampshire University revises courses; module counts and deliverables shift between terms. Send what your classroom shows and the desk matches it exactly.
Using a ACC 345 sample the right way
Read an ACC 345 sample by tracing one figure from the statements through the analysis to the conclusion. If a reader can see how receivables growth becomes a lower cash flow, a higher working capital need and finally a lower value, the sample is doing what the course grades. Use the methods, not the figures. For ACC 345, send the statements or case, the instructions and the rubric, and the first custom sample comes back free within 24-48h.
ACC 345 questions, answered
Is ACC 345 an accounting or a finance course?
Both. It uses accounting statements as inputs and finance tools such as discounted cash flow and cost of capital to reach values and recommendations.
Do ACC 345 assignments use real companies?
Some sections use public companies' filings; others supply a case company. The methods are the same, but private company valuation adds normalization and discounts.
What software helps in ACC 345?
Excel is the main tool for ratios, forecasts and discounted cash flow models. Show formulas or a summary of inputs so a grader can follow the work.