Queen's University COMM 311: Financial Accounting Practices, Principles, & Concepts
- Seb Hunter
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 16 hours ago
Professor: Erica Pimentel, PhD, CPA, CA
Course Weight: Half-Year · 3.0 Units
Course Overview
COMM 311 is the core intermediate accounting course that teaches you how financial statements really work under IFRS and ASPE. It’s the first of the two-part intermediate sequence and is foundational for anyone heading into accounting, finance, or analytics.
Taught by Prof. Erica Pimentel, the course blends conceptual understanding with technical application. Expect to move beyond “basic accounting” into topics like cash flow statements, receivables, investments, inventory, capital assets, revenue recognition, and goodwill.
If you’re pursuing CPA, this course hits a large portion of the CPA Competency Map, and the structure is built to develop long-term mastery, not short-term memorization.
What You’ll Learn
The Conceptual Framework: How financial reporting rules are created and why they matter.
IFRS vs ASPE: How major standards differ, and when each set of rules applies.
Revenue Recognition: Including long-term contracts—one of the most tested CPA topics.
Current Assets & Financial Instruments: Cash, receivables, inventory, and equity/debt investments.
Long-Term Assets: PP&E, intangibles, impairment, amortization, and goodwill.
Full Financial Statement Prep: Income statements, cash flows, discontinued ops, and more.
It’s a heavy but extremely useful toolkit for anyone working with numbers.
Course Vibe
COMM 311 is structured, demanding, and very methodical. The learning model is flipped:
You do guided pre-class work (textbook readings + WileyPLUS problems)
Class time is used for harder concepts, problem-solving, and real-world cases
If you fall behind, the course becomes much harder—each week builds directly on the last. But Prof. Pimentel is clear, supportive, and genuinely invested in students’ success. Her explanations are organized, approachable, and grounded in real accounting practice.
The vibe: tough but fair, with a strong “CPA-prep” energy.
Grading Breakdown
Research pool credit can bump your final letter grade by one increment.
Workload & Commitment
This is one of the higher-commitment courses in the program:
Expect 7–9 hours per week
Pre-class work is mandatory to keep up
The exams are detailed and require strong conceptual + technical understanding
Success depends on repetition: problems, problems, problems
There’s no “cram the night before” option—you must practice consistently.
Professor Insight
Prof. Pimentel is known for being:
Clear, structured, and well-organized
Supportive and approachable (office hours are very helpful)
Serious about student success
Honest about the difficulty of accounting
She communicates frequently, provides guidance for staying on track, and encourages students to ask questions early rather than wait until exam week.
Who Should Take This Course?
Great for students interested in:
CPA designation
Audit, tax, corporate finance, or financial analysis
Understanding how real businesses record transactions and report results
Building a strong technical foundation for COMM 312 and upper-year finance
Even if you don’t want to be an accountant, COMM 311 teaches you how to read, question, and interpret financial statements—skills that matter in any business role.
If you’re willing to put in steady effort and want a course that gives you real, hard skills, this is one of the most valuable classes in Commerce.
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