UMGC ACCT 220: Principles of Accounting I
ACCT 220 is UMGC's financial accounting course: the accounting cycle, journal entries, financial statements, and accounting for assets and liabilities. It's required for accounting, business, and finance majors and is the first course in the program with genuinely cumulative, skill-based content.
Fennie is independent and not affiliated with University of Maryland Global Campus. This is an unofficial study guide.
Build my ACCT 220 study planWhat makes it hard
Accounting is a skill, not a reading subject — students who do the readings but skip the practice problems get blindsided when journal entries and adjusting entries require fluency. Debits and credits around week 2-3 are the make-or-break point; confusion there compounds through every later topic.
What you'll cover
- • The accounting equation and double-entry bookkeeping
- • Journal entries and the general ledger
- • Adjusting entries and the accounting cycle
- • Financial statements
- • Inventory and receivables
- • Internal controls
The ACCT 220 study guide
How to study for UMGC ACCT 220, step by step.
- 1
Work problems every day from week 1
ACCT 220 is a skill course — reading the chapter without doing transactions is like reading about push-ups. Even 20 minutes of journal entries daily builds the fluency the later weeks assume.
- 2
Make debits and credits automatic by week 3
This is the make-or-break point of the course. Drill the rules until you don't have to think about which side increases an asset, because every later topic stacks on that reflex.
- 3
Debug every entry that won't balance
When a transaction is off, trace it until you find your exact error instead of starting over. That debugging is where accounting understanding actually forms.
- 4
Loop back to earlier chapters weekly
The content is cumulative — adjusting entries assume journal entries, statements assume both. A short weekly review of prior material keeps the foundation from quietly eroding.
- 5
Make Fennie your practice scheduler
Upload the ACCT 220 schedule and Fennie's Daily Plans build daily problem-practice into each week around your work hours, quizzing you on debit/credit rules and terminology generated from your actual course materials. It's free to start.
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How Fennie helps with ACCT 220
Upload the ACCT 220 schedule and Fennie's Daily Plans build daily problem-practice into each week, because accounting fluency comes from reps, not reading. Chat through transactions that won't balance to find where your logic breaks, and quiz yourself on debit/credit rules until they're automatic before the cumulative later chapters.
FAQ
Is ACCT 220 hard?
It's the first genuinely cumulative course in UMGC's business sequence. Students fluent in debits and credits by week 3 find the rest systematic; students who fake it through the early weeks hit a wall at adjusting entries.
How do I study for ACCT 220?
Work problems daily — accounting is learned by doing transactions repeatedly, not by rereading the chapter. When an entry doesn't balance, trace it until you find your error; that debugging is where the learning happens.
Do I need ACCT 220 before ACCT 221?
Yes — ACCT 221 (managerial accounting) builds directly on the financial accounting foundation from 220. The pair is required for business and accounting majors, in order.
Pass ACCT 220 with a plan, not a cram
Upload your ACCT 220 materials and Fennie generates a Daily Plan paced to your deadline — plus chat, flashcards, and quizzes built from the actual course content.
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