| Course | AC298 Associate's Capstone in Accounting |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Capstone proposal |
| Length | About 850 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | Associate of Applied Science in Accounting |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for AC298 Unit 2
One Store, One December, Five Deliverables: A Unit 2 Capstone Proposal for a Tile and Flooring Retailer's Year-End
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
AC298: Associate's Capstone in Accounting
Unit 2 Capstone Proposal
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Kiln Road Tile & Flooring, its owner and its figures are composite; the textbook, framework and ethics statement cited are real.
The Business
Kiln Road Tile & Flooring is a sole proprietorship owned by Teresa Vance. It sells ceramic and porcelain tile, vinyl plank and installation supplies to homeowners for cash and to flooring contractors on 30-day account terms. It uses a perpetual inventory system, owns a delivery truck and store fixtures, and has a $30,000 bank note. Its fiscal year ends December 31.
Scope
The capstone covers December only, starting from the trial balance at December 1, which carries the first eleven months' results. It ends with the year-end statements, closing entries, analysis and recommendations. It does not cover payroll tax filings, sales tax returns or the owner's personal return.
Questions the Capstone Will Answer
The owner has asked three questions, and each deliverable is chosen because it helps answer one of them. First, how much did the store really earn this year once every December adjustment is made? Teresa has been reading the bank balance as a profit measure, and she suspects the year was better than the account suggests. Second, where is the store's cash? Contractor accounts have grown, and she wants to know whether the money is waiting in receivables, sitting on the shelves as inventory, or gone. Third, should she agree when a large flooring contractor asks for 60-day terms instead of 30? The recording set and statement package answer the first question, the ratio analysis the second and the memo the third, and the presentation gathers all three answers for her.
Data and Assumptions
The December 1 trial balance, the month's source documents, the year-end inventory count and the contractor aging list come from the store. Four assumptions are fixed now so they cannot drift later. The truck loses an equal amount each year across a five-year life, ending at a $7,000 salvage value, and the store fixtures over ten years with no salvage. The bank note requires a $10,000 principal payment next December, so that portion is current. Inventory shrinkage is charged to cost of goods sold. Receivables on the balance sheet are reported net of an allowance set from an aging of the accounts.
Objectives
1. Record December completely, so the unadjusted trial balance agrees on the first attempt.
2. Produce year-end statements in which every figure can be traced through the reference sheet.
3. Base every recommendation on figures already produced and checked earlier in the capstone.
4. Explain the results to the owner in language she can act on without an accountant in the room.
Deliverables and What Each Inherits
1. Transaction recording set, Unit 3: about fifteen summarized December transactions journalized, posted and proved in an unadjusted trial balance. Inherits the December 1 balances.
2. Adjusted statement package, Unit 4: adjusting entries, an adjusted trial balance, a multi-step income statement, a statement of owner's equity, a classified balance sheet and closing entries. Inherits the unadjusted trial balance.
3. Ratio analysis, Unit 5: eight ratios with readings. Inherits only the adjusted statements, never the draft figures.
4. Recommendation memo, Unit 8: an answer to a contractor's request for longer credit terms. Inherits the statements and the ratios, cited by reference number.
5. Capstone presentation, Unit 10: twelve slides for the owner and store manager. Inherits the memo's recommendation and the statements.
Every deliverable after the first may use only figures that an earlier deliverable has already produced and checked, so an error found late can be traced back to the single place it entered.
Reference System
Each figure carried forward gets a reference number, such as A-7 for the adjusted trial balance line for inventory. A one-page reference sheet lists every carried figure, its source and every later place it appears.
Controls on the Work
Three checks run at each stage. Debits equal credits after every entry. The trial balance agrees before adjustments. The balance sheet balances and owner's equity ties to the statement of owner's equity. These mirror the reconciliation and review controls a small business should have in place (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, 2013).
Schedule
Unit 3, recording set. Unit 4, statement package. Unit 5, ratios. Unit 6, ethics scenario. Unit 7, seminar progress check. Unit 8, memo. Unit 9, career portfolio piece. Unit 10, presentation.
Risks
The main risk is a late discovery that changes an early figure. The reference sheet limits the damage by showing every place the figure must be corrected. A second risk is that adjustments are left for last; the Unit 1 checklist moves them to the front of Unit 4. Statements prepared under the accrual basis must reflect every December event, including those without documents (Franklin et al., 2019), and the ethics unit will test what happens when someone asks for an entry to be delayed (Institute of Management Accountants, 2017).
References
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. (2013). Internal control: Integrated framework. https://www.coso.org
Franklin, M., Graybeal, P., & Cooper, D. (2019). Principles of accounting, volume 1: Financial accounting. OpenStax. https://openstax.org/details/books/principles-financial-accounting
Institute of Management Accountants. (2017). IMA statement of ethical professional practice. https://www.imanet.org/career-resources/management-accounting-competencies/ethics-center
What the AC298 Unit 2 assignment asks for
The second AC298 unit asks for a proposal that defines the capstone. Describe the business briefly, including its form, what it sells, how it sells and its fiscal year. State the period the capstone covers and what is outside its scope. List each deliverable and, for each, the figure or document it depends on from an earlier stage. Fix the assumptions that would otherwise drift, such as depreciation methods and how shrinkage or bad debts are handled. Describe the controls you will use to keep the work consistent, such as a reference sheet. Add a unit-by-unit schedule and the main risks with how you will manage them. Proposals usually run three to four pages. Cite the textbook and any framework in APA 7.
How the AC 298 Unit 2 example is put together
The sample describes the store, its owner and its 30-day contractor accounts, then sets the scope as December only. A section lists the owner's three questions: what the store earned, where its cash is, and whether to extend 60-day terms to a contractor. Data and assumptions follow, including the truck's five-year life, the fixtures' ten-year life and the $10,000 current portion of the note. Four objectives are numbered. The deliverables section names five items, each with what it inherits, and the highlighted sentence states the rule that only checked figures may be carried forward. A reference system, three controls, a schedule and two risks close the plan.
Reading the AC298 Unit 2 grading rubric
Capstone proposals are graded on clarity of scope and on whether the plan could guide the rest of the course. A business described specifically enough to be worked earns more than a general one. Deliverables should be named and linked to their inputs. Fixed assumptions show foresight, because they prevent later inconsistencies. A control such as a reference sheet often earns credit in AC298. A schedule tied to the units demonstrates planning. Risks with responses show judgment. Professional writing and APA 7 citations complete the assessment of the proposal. Because later units are checked against it, a proposal that names its figures and assumptions precisely protects points in every unit that follows, not only this one.
AC298 Unit 2 help: mistakes that cost points
Many capstone proposals describe the business at length and the deliverables in a sentence. Others leave assumptions open, then change them silently in later units. Scope is not stated, so the final work wanders. Deliverables are listed without showing how each depends on the last. No control is proposed for keeping figures consistent. Risks are generic, such as running out of time, when the real risk in a year-end capstone is an adjustment discovered late that changes figures already submitted. A proposal that plans for that, with a reference sheet or a change log, shows the instructor the student understands how the units connect. If your section has assigned a business and you need a proposal that fixes scope and assumptions, a member of our team can draft it from your problem.
Get an AC298 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Share the company profile your section assigned, the list of deliverables it expects and the Unit 2 rubric. The free first proposal, returned in 24-48h, builds the deliverables table and dependency chain around that company and flags every assumption the problem leaves for you to decide. Where the section stages its data, say which parts are still to come. 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.
More AC298 papers and Associate of Applied Science in Accounting samples
- AC298 Unit 1: Capstone Weak Spot Post
- AC298 Unit 3: Transaction Recording Set
- AC298 Unit 4: Adjusted Statement Package
- AC298 Unit 5: Ratio Analysis
- AC298 Unit 6: Ethics Scenario Response
- AC298 Unit 7: Seminar Progress Check
- AC298 Unit 8: Recommendation Memo
- AC298 Unit 9: Career Portfolio Piece
- AC298 Unit 10: Capstone Presentation
AC298 Unit 2 questions, answered
How detailed should a capstone proposal be?
Detailed enough that a stranger could predict the final submission from it. That usually means naming the business, the period, each deliverable and its inputs, and the assumptions the problem leaves open. It does not mean drafting entries or statements early. Three or four pages is common, though your section's instructions set the real limit.
Can I change an assumption after the proposal is graded?
Usually, provided the change is disclosed and applied everywhere. If the depreciation method changes in a later unit, note the change, the reason and every figure it touches, then update the reference sheet. What costs points is a silent change, where the statements use one method and the memo quotes a number computed under the other.
What if my section has not released the full problem yet?
Many sections stage the data, so the proposal often works from a profile and a list of expected outputs. Scope what is known, list what is still to come, and write the dependency chain in general terms that will hold once the figures arrive. The sample follows the same approach, marking each placeholder so it can be filled later.
Where can I find a free AC298 Unit 2 sample paper?
You can read a complete AC298 Unit 2 capstone proposal on this page, fixing the scope, assumptions and five linked deliverables for a tile and flooring store's year-end.
What is the reference sheet in the AC298 Unit 2 sample?
A one-page list that gives each carried figure a number, its source and every later place it appears, so an error found late can be traced back to where it entered.