ACC 690 is SNHU’s Advanced Topics in Financial Reporting course. It centers on advanced financial reporting: derivatives and hedge accounting, variable interest entities, segment reporting, interim reporting, government assistance and tax credits, non-GAAP measures and SEC rules, debt modifications and troubled restructurings, MD&A and critical accounting estimates, and technical memos for audit committees. Every module below opens a full sample paper or takes a free request for one; searches like "acc 690 module 3", "ACC690 sample paper" and "ACC 690 milestone example" land on this page.
What ACC 690 is really about
ACC 690 is SNHU's capstone-level graduate financial reporting course, and its topics are those where the standards leave room for judgment or where SEC rules add a layer of disclosure. Strong work states the accounting question precisely, applies the specific Codification guidance or SEC rule, considers the alternatives and explains the effect on the statements and on what investors see. Graders expect students to read standards closely, since several topics, such as hedge documentation and VIE analysis, turn on exact criteria.
The samples on this shelf share one composite company, a Nasdaq-listed producer of ethanol, distillers grains and corn oil with three plants in Iowa and Nebraska, about $1.1 billion of revenue, corn and natural gas costs it hedges with futures, a term loan with a bank group and a rail loading terminal owned by its founding families. The company and its figures are illustrative.
What ACC 690’s modules ask for
Across ten modules, ACC 690 typically asks for discussions on hedge accounting, segment reporting and non-GAAP measures, assignments on derivatives, interim reporting and debt modifications, three final project milestones on a variable interest entity, a tax credit and MD&A disclosures, and a final project presenting technical memos for an audit committee.
Where students lose points in ACC 690
The most common ACC 690 deduction is applying a standard's general principle without its specific criteria, such as calling a hedge effective without the documentation and testing ASC 815 requires. The second is ignoring disclosure: many of these topics exist mainly to change what investors are told. Graders also mark down analyses that never quantify the effect. Citing the exact Codification paragraph or SEC rule, then showing the numbers, fixes most of these.
The ACC 690 drawers
ACC 690 Module 1 Discussion example
An opening post on why hedge accounting exists, built around a composite Iowa ethanol producer that buys corn futures to lock in the cost of next quarter's grain: the accounting mismatch when derivatives hit earnings at fair value while the forecasted purchase is invisible, how cash flow hedge accounting realigns the timing, the price of documentation and testing, why some producers skip it, and what research says about hedging and reported results, with the FASB's 2017 hedging update, Zhang and Campbell. Full sample paper, read it free.
ACC 690 Module 2 Derivatives Assignment example
A derivatives assignment applying cash flow hedge accounting to a composite Iowa ethanol producer's corn futures: whether the futures are derivatives, why physical forward contracts with grain elevators qualify for the normal purchases exception, hedging the futures component of corn prices, inception documentation, effectiveness assessment, a $5.0 million year-end gain in other comprehensive income, a $6.4 million gain at settlement held in inventory cost until the ethanol is sold, presentation, cash flows and disclosures, with the FASB's 2017 hedging update, Campbell and Kieso, Weygandt and Warfield. Full sample paper, read it free.
ACC 690 Module 3 Milestone One example
A first final project milestone deciding whether a composite Iowa ethanol producer must consolidate a $38 million unit-train loading terminal owned entirely by its founding families: the legal entity and scope, the producer's variable interests through a take-or-pay throughput agreement and a guarantee of the terminal's $30 million loan, insufficient equity at risk, power over the activities that matter, the primary beneficiary conclusion, consolidation with a 100 percent noncontrolling interest, the related party angle and the disclosures, with the FASB's 2009 and 2015 consolidation standards and Feng, Gramlich and Gupta. Full sample paper, read it free.
ACC 690 Module 4 Discussion example
A discussion post on segment reporting at a composite ethanol producer that reports one segment although its CEO reviews monthly results for each of three plants: the management approach, the aggregation criteria, what the 2023 update now requires for significant segment expenses and single-segment companies, whether aggregation hides useful information, and what research says about managers' discretion in segment disclosures, with the FASB's 2023 segment update, Berger and Hann and Bens, Berger and Monahan. Full sample paper, read it free.
ACC 690 Module 5 Interim Reporting Assignment example
An interim reporting assignment preparing the second-quarter 10-Q of a composite ethanol producer under ASC 270: the integral view, a $3.2 million plant shutdown expensed rather than spread, bonuses and property taxes allocated across quarters, a first-quarter inventory write-down of $2.1 million recovered when ethanol prices rebounded, income tax at an estimated annual effective rate with a discrete item, seasonality disclosures and the review the auditor performs, with APB Opinion No. 28, Brown and Pinello and Kieso, Weygandt and Warfield. Full sample paper, read it free.
ACC 690 Module 6 Milestone Two example
A second final project milestone deciding how a composite ethanol producer should account for a federal clean fuel production credit worth about $43 million a year, far more than its own tax bill, most of which it will sell to other taxpayers at about 93 cents on the dollar: the income tax model versus a government grant model by analogy, recognition when the emissions rate is uncertain, presentation of the credit and the transfer discount, deferred tax effects and the government assistance disclosures, with the FASB's 2021 government assistance update, Graham, Raedy and Shackelford and Kieso, Weygandt and Warfield. Full sample paper, read it free.
ACC 690 Module 7 Discussion example
A discussion post on a composite ethanol producer's proposed adjusted EBITDA for its earnings release, which would add back stock compensation, a plant maintenance shutdown and the clean fuel credits the company records in income tax expense: what Regulation G and Item 10(e) require, why the SEC staff objects to removing normal recurring cash operating costs, whether adding back a tax credit creates a tailored accounting principle, prominence and reconciliation, and what research says about who benefits from non-GAAP figures, with the SEC's 2003 release, Bentley, Christensen, Gee and Whipple and Black, Christensen, Ciesielski and Whipple. Full sample paper, read it free.
ACC 690 Module 8 Debt Modification Assignment example
A debt modification assignment for a composite ethanol producer whose bank group amended its $150 million term loan after a drought squeezed margins: covenant relief, a 0.75 point rate increase, a one-year extension and a $1.5 million fee paid to lenders, whether the amendment is a troubled debt restructuring under ASC 470-60, the 10 percent cash flow test under ASC 470-50 showing a 4.5 percent change, modification accounting with the fee as a discount and a new effective rate of 8.27 percent, third-party costs, the lender-by-lender analysis and disclosures, with Dichev and Skinner, Kieso, Weygandt and Warfield and the FASB's 2022 update. Full sample paper, read it free.
ACC 690 Module 9 Milestone Three example
A third final project milestone drafting the critical accounting estimates section of a composite ethanol producer's 10-K under the SEC's 2020 MD&A amendments: the clean fuel credit's emissions inputs, net realizable value of ethanol inventory and the recoverability of an older Nebraska plant with only 20 percent headroom, each with why it is uncertain, how it changed and how sensitive it is, followed by a draft response to an SEC comment letter on adjusted EBITDA and estimate disclosures, with the SEC's 2020 release, Brown and Tucker, Li and Cassell, Dreher and Myers. Full sample paper, read it free.
ACC 690 Module 10 Final Project example
A final project memo set for the audit committee of a composite ethanol producer summarizing the year's advanced reporting conclusions: cash flow hedge accounting for corn, consolidation of the founding families' rail terminal as a VIE, one reportable segment with the new expense disclosures, the income tax model for the clean fuel credit, the term loan amendment as a modification, the non-GAAP changes and the three critical estimates, setting out for every item the rule applied, the deciding judgment and the effect on the statements, then the matters to watch in 2027, with the FASB's hedging, consolidation and government assistance updates and Feng, Gramlich and Gupta. Full sample paper, read it free.
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Using a ACC 690 sample the right way
Read an ACC 690 sample by finding the precise criterion each conclusion depends on, a hedge documentation requirement, a VIE characteristic, a 10 percent cash flow test, and checking that the paper applies it to the facts. When that link is explicit, the sample shows the close reading this course grades. For ACC 690, send the case, the guidelines and the rubric, and the first custom sample comes back free within 24-48h.
ACC 690 questions, answered
What topics does ACC 690 cover?
Advanced reporting topics such as derivatives and hedging, variable interest entities, segments, interim reporting, government assistance, non-GAAP measures and SEC rules, debt modifications and MD&A.
How is ACC 690 different from ACC 610 and ACC 620?
It builds on those courses' core topics and focuses on areas where specific criteria, judgment and SEC disclosure rules drive the answer.
Does ACC 690 use SEC rules as well as GAAP?
Yes. Several topics, including non-GAAP measures, MD&A and segment disclosures, depend on SEC regulations and staff guidance in addition to the Codification.