| Course | AC114 Accounting I |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 9 |
| Paper type | Seminar reflection |
| Length | About 790 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Accounting |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for AC114 Unit 9
Following $3,600 Through the Cycle: A Unit 9 Seminar Reflection on One Customer's Six-Month Prepayment
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
AC114: Accounting I
Unit 9 Seminar Reflection
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Brightpane Window Care, Inc., Crestview Apartments and the amounts are composite; the revenue standard, textbook and framework cited are real.
What I Thought Before the Seminar
When I first journalized June, I hesitated over the Crestview payment. Cash had arrived, the customer had signed a contract, and the money was not refundable unless Brightpane failed to clean. My instinct was that the company had earned it. I recorded it as revenue on my draft and only changed it to Unearned Service Revenue after rereading the textbook, without being sure why the rule existed.
The Path, Stage by Stage
The seminar took the payment through the cycle one stage at a time, and seeing it at each stage made the rule make sense.
Journal. June 8: Cash debited $3,600, Unearned Service Revenue credited $3,600. The instructor asked what Brightpane owed Crestview on June 8. The answer was six cleanings, and the liability says exactly that.
Ledger and trial balance. The full $3,600 sat as a credit in a liability account through the unadjusted trial balance, unchanged, because nothing in the ledger knew a cleaning had happened on June 20.
Adjustment. At month end, one of six cleanings was done, so $600 moved from the liability to Service Revenue. The revenue standard describes this as recognizing revenue as each performance obligation is satisfied over time (Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2014).
Statements. June's income statement included $600 from Crestview inside $8,280 of revenue. The balance sheet showed $3,000 of unearned revenue as a current liability.
Closing. The $600 left Service Revenue with the rest of June's revenue and became part of retained earnings. The $3,000 liability stayed, because a permanent account is not closed.
July. The cycle starts again with $3,000 owed, and another $600 will move at the end of July.
What changed my mind was seeing that if I had recorded $3,600 as June revenue, July through November would each show a cleaning with no revenue at all, so the error would not stay in June; it would distort five later months as well.
Why My First Instinct Was Wrong
I had treated receiving cash as the event that earned revenue. The seminar showed that the event is doing the work. Cash timing and earning timing are separate questions, and the accrual basis answers the second one (Franklin et al., 2019). A classmate raised the strongest version of my original view: the money is non-refundable, so is it not effectively earned? The instructor's answer was that it is non-refundable only if Brightpane performs. If the company stopped cleaning in August, it would owe Crestview the unearned months, so the obligation is real.
What I Now Understand About the Cycle
Before the seminar I thought of the cycle as a series of separate assignments. Following one transaction showed me that each stage either preserves or corrects what the stage before it recorded. A classification made in the journal on June 8 decided what the trial balance showed, which adjustment was needed, how the statements read and what survived closing. The framework's point that information must faithfully represent what it claims to represent (Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2018) now feels practical: a wrong entry in June produces five wrong months.
A Question the Seminar Left Open
One question was not fully settled. Crestview's contract says cleanings happen once a month, but not on which day. If Brightpane had cleaned on July 1 instead of June 20, would June show no Crestview revenue at all? The instructor said yes, and that this is correct, because the obligation is satisfied when the service is performed, not when the month ends. That made me realize the adjustment depends on knowing what actually happened, which means the bookkeeper needs the crew's job records, not only the contract.
It also raised a practical point about the July entry. The adjustment at the end of July will again move $600, but only if the July cleaning is done. If Crestview cancels a month because of construction at the complex, the liability stays at $3,000 for longer, and the company should consider whether it now owes a refund. I had never thought of a liability as something that changes because of a customer's plans rather than the company's.
What I Will Do Differently
When cash arrives before work, I will write down what the company owes the customer before choosing an account. I will also check each month end for contracts with unearned balances, since the adjustment is easy to forget when no document arrives to prompt it.
References
Financial Accounting Standards Board. (2014). Revenue from contracts with customers (Topic 606) (Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09). https://www.fasb.org
Financial Accounting Standards Board. (2018). Conceptual framework for financial reporting: Chapter 1, The objective of general purpose financial reporting, and Chapter 3, Qualitative characteristics of useful financial information (Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 8, as amended). https://www.fasb.org
Franklin, M., Graybeal, P., & Cooper, D. (2019). Principles of accounting, volume 1: Financial accounting. OpenStax. https://openstax.org/details/books/principles-financial-accounting
What the AC114 Unit 9 assignment asks for
The ninth AC114 unit asks students to reflect on the seminar's single-transaction exercise, or on the written alternative. State what you thought before the session, especially if you had the transaction wrong. Then retrace the transaction stage by stage: journal, ledger, trial balance, adjustment, statements, closing and the following period. Give one figure for each stage. Explain what changed your understanding and why your first instinct was wrong, using a course concept. Note any question the seminar left open. End with habits you will apply in future work. Use I throughout, and hold the numbers to one per stage, because the grader wants your reasoning more than a solution set. Expect two to three pages. Cite the textbook or a standard where it supports your explanation, in APA 7.
How this AC114 Unit 9 example is built
The sample opens with the writer's draft entry, which treated the $3,600 as revenue. The path follows: the June 8 entry to Unearned Service Revenue, the unchanged ledger and trial balance, the $600 month-end adjustment under the revenue standard, the $600 inside June revenue and $3,000 among current liabilities, the revenue closed while the liability stayed, and the next $600 in July. The highlighted sentence records the insight that a June error would spread across five later months. A section explains the error and answers a classmate's non-refundable objection. Sections on the cycle as a chain, an open question about cleaning dates and two habits close the reflection.
Reading the AC114 Unit 9 grading rubric
Seminar reflections in AC114 are graded on clear tracing of the transaction and honest reflection on the writer's understanding. Each stage of the cycle should appear with its figure. Admitting an earlier error and explaining it is usually the strongest move available, and rubrics reward it. A course concept, such as the revenue standard or the accrual basis, should anchor the explanation. Raising an open question shows engagement beyond the session. Specific habits for the future earn more than general lessons. Organization and correct terms matter in first person. Accurate citations in APA 7 complete the marks.
AC114 Unit 9 help: mistakes that cost points
Reflections often summarize the seminar without retracing the transaction stage by stage. Others skip the stages that seem dull, such as the trial balance or closing. Some writers avoid admitting an error, which weakens the reflection. The explanation of why the first instinct was wrong is missing. Arithmetic is either absent or expanded into full journal format. Lessons stay general, such as being more careful, when the rubric wants a habit specific enough to use on the next prepayment the writer meets. If you attended the seminar or used the written alternative and need the reflection written from your notes, a writer can prepare it around your transaction.
Get an AC114 Unit 9 example written to your instructions
Send the transaction your Unit 9 seminar traced, or the written alternative's case, along with the AC114 prompt and rubric. The reflection is written along that same trail and returns within 24-48h. Your first custom sample carries no fee, and it can open with a mistake you actually made. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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AC114 Unit 9 questions, answered
Can I choose a different transaction than the one the seminar used?
Some AC114 sections allow it, particularly for the written alternative, as long as the transaction passes through adjustment. A prepaid expense, an accrued wage or equipment with depreciation all work, because each changes between entry and statement. A cash sale is a poor choice; it never needs adjusting, so the trail has nothing to reveal.
Is it acceptable to admit an error in the reflection?
It is usually the strongest move available. Instructors design this seminar around transactions that are easy to misrecord, and a reflection that names the mistake shows exactly the growth the prompt is looking for. What matters is that the error is followed by the corrected path and a clear account of why the first version was wrong.
How much arithmetic belongs in a reflection?
Enough to show each stage's figure, usually one number per stage plus the calculation at adjustment. A reflection is not a solution set, so full journal formatting is unnecessary unless the prompt asks for it. The figures are there to make the trail concrete, letting a reader see the amount divide and settle into its two accounts.
Where can I find a free AC114 Unit 9 sample paper?
Read the complete AC114 Unit 9 seminar reflection here; it traces a six-month cleaning prepayment through every stage of the cycle and explaining the writer's first mistake.
Why would recording the prepayment as revenue distort later months in the AC114 Unit 9 sample?
June would show $3,600 of revenue for one cleaning, and July through November would each show a cleaning with no revenue. One wrong entry would misstate six months.