The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Bryan School of Business and Economics

MBA 602

Analysis and Interpretation of Financial Statements

Course Syllabus, Fall 2009-10, Day Class

Professor Ed Arrington , Bryan 337, , 336-256-0116

Office Hours: 1:00-2:00 and 5:30-6:15, Mondays and Wednesdays.

Objective of the course:

It should be obvious that accounting has tremendous power in 21st century culture. The financial crises, financial scandals, and the shape and direction of globalization are all inextricably bound up with accounting practices and accounting discourse. This course is designed for MBA students with no accounting background, and it serves to provide those students with a basic understanding of accounting documents and processes. The objective of this course is to provide students the opportunity to enrich their critical understanding of the character of accounting and how it both enables and impedes our pursuit of civil and ethical commercial, social, and governmental activities in a global, postmodern culture.

Learning objectives:

1.  To establish basic literacy in reading and interpreting financial statements.

2.  To establish a basic understanding of the major ways in which accounting information can be used to enhance business and investment decisions.

3.  To fully appreciate the textual rather than objective character of accounting reports, and, with that, to understand how easy it is for self-interested people to use accounting for their own benefit in a manner detrimental to the welfare of others.

4.  To understand the regulatory importance of accounting as the most important medium of corporate and organizational governance, law, and control.

Required text:

Easton, Wild, Halsey & McAnally. Financial Accounting for MBAs (Fourth Edition). Cambridge Business Publishers, 2010. [ISBN 978-1-934319-34-5]

Electronic Resources:

Blackboard© (https://blackboard.uncg.edu) as well as various websites of relevance to the course. The most important of these is www.sec.gov.

Grading:

Midterm exam 30%

Final exam 40%

Participation 10%

Quizzes and homework 20%

Course grades will be assigned based on the following distribution:

A 92% and above

A- 90%-91%

B+ 87-89%

B 80-86%

C 70-79%

F Below 70%

Weather and incident policy:

We will follow the university decisions relative to cancelled classes. The university posts cancellations on its website (www.uncg.edu). However, you are to make your own decisions about what risks you are in a position to take. If, for example, you have a dangerous commute even when class has not been cancelled, I will respect your judgment if you decide not to attend and will work with you to compensate for what you might have missed.

Academic Integrity Policy:

We are all bound to make sure that our actions are consistent with UNCG’s Academic Integrity Policy, available at http://academicintegrity.uncg.edu/complete. I take violations of this policy quite seriously.

Other comments:

You made the decision to take this course; and, with that, you accepted your responsibilities as a student. I understand that you are busy and often have conflicts. However, I do not view demands of work as more important than class attendance and completing course assignments on time. You are responsible for being in class, for participating, and for turning in all assignments when due. No late assignments will be accepted except in the most deserving of settings.

Course Assignments:

All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the date assigned; that is, you will perform your readings and your homework prior to our discussion of that material in class. In the syllabus below, the notation for written assignments follows the textbook at the end of each module. For example, P1-47 represents Problem 47 out of Module 1; MA1-50 represents Management Application 50 out of Module 1.

Date / Topic / Reading assignment / Written assignment
August 24 / Introduction to Financial Accounting / Textbook, Module 1
August 26 / SEC report “What We Do” at http://www.sec.gov/about/whatwedo.shtml / P1-47, P1-48, P1-44, MA1-50.
August 31 / Introduction to Financial Statements / Textbook, Module 2
Sept. 2 / Pages 53-64 of Apple Computers 2008 annual report at http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000119312508224958/d10k.htm / E2-27, E2-29, E2-34, E2-35, P2-39, P2-40, P2-43, MA2-50.
Sept. 7 / LABOR DAY HOLIDAY. NO CLASS
Sept. 9 / Operating Income / Textbook, Module 5 / M5-13, M5-14, E5-25, E5-28, P5-35.
Sept. 14 / Operating Assets / Textbook, Module 6 / M6-12, E6-27
Sept. 16 / E6-29, E6-30,E6-34, P6-38
Sept. 21 / MIDTERM EXAM
Sept. 23 / Reporting Debt / Textbook, Module 8 / M8-14, E8-23
Sept. 28 / E8-33, E8-36
Sept. 30 / Reporting Equity / Textbook, Module 9 / M9-22, M9-28
Oct. 5 / P9-48, P9-57
Oct. 7 / Corporate Governance / The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, available at http://www.sec.gov/about/laws/soa2002.pdf
Oct. 12 / FALL BREAK / NO CLASS
Oct. 14 / FINAL EXAM