School of Administrative Studies, Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies, York University

School of Administrative Studies, Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies, York University

Winter 2016 Course Outline – all sections
AP/ADMS2510 3.0 Introduction to Management Accounting

Course website:

Please note: If this link is broken you can access the course website by going through the Faculty of LAPS to the School of Administrative Studies website and drilling down to the Winter 2016 Courses link in ADMS. Also please note that Section M is used as the course website for all sections. All course content resides on the Section M website. You need to be registered and have a York Passport ID for site access.

Term / Section / Course Type / Day / Time / Location
Winter / M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T / On-Campus
On-Campus
On-Campus
On- Campus
Internet
On-Campus
On-Campus
On-Campus / Monday
Wednesday
Thursday
Monday
HOME
Thursday
Tuesday
Thursday / 4:00 to 7:00 pm
7:00 to 10:00pm
7:00 to 10:00 pm
7:00 to 10:00 pm
11:30 to 2:30 pm
11:30 to 2:30 pm
4:00 to 7:00 pm / CLH H
CLH H
CLH H
ACW 004
ACW 004
ACW 004
HNE 038

IMPORTANT INFORMATION BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO ENROL

NOTE 1

ADMS 2510 is one of the largest enrolment classes on campus (approximately 1,500 students per year). This regrettably necessitates a very legalistic and inflexible approach to course administration. This course outline has been designed to provide you in advance with detailed guidance on every conceivable rule and regulation in the course. It represents a contract between you as astudent and the Course Director, and there can be no deviations from these rules by either party. There will be no exceptions to assignmentrequirements, exam dates and grade weighting. If you cannot abide by the requirements of this contract, take the course somewhere else under letter of permission. You should print out this document and keep it handy for reference throughout the course.

NOTE 2

This course offers students a seamless interface between attending lectures on campus and basing all the learning experience via internet. Students have access to identical learning resources on a common Moodle website, and in addition, the on-campus lectures are streamed for viewing on the Moodle website. The only important consideration is that home study takes a much higher level of self-discipline (maturity) to stay up-to-date. Since exams are identical across all sections, you can migrate back and forth freely between the two learning styles. A real benefit of having streamed lectures is that if you cannot make a particular class, there is always the comfort of having it viewable “on demand” from the course website.

NOTE 3

While there are mechanisms for transferring the weight of missed exams, there is no possibility passing the course without completing the connect assignments. Since the beginning of the term, you know when the connect assignments are due. No connect assignments written ... no course grade.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Enrolment Deadline

All sections for this course normally fill months in advance, so early registration is important. Because this is a required BAS course and it fills upso early, very few students drop in the open enrolment period inthe first two weeks of classes. If you did not get into the course before classes started, your chances of successfully enrolling are very slim. However, you can request the Receptionist at room 282 Atkinson to add your name to a list that is maintained with the only purpose of estimating the unsatisfied demand of the course, but students are not contacted when vacancies occur. The Course Director is not involved in the registration process in any way and cannot assist you with this process. Because of the high volume of material covered (4 chapters in the first two weeks) and because of early dates of exams, no registration under any circumstances is permitted after the “last date to enroll without permission”, that is,Sunday January 17thfor Winter 2016.

Be aware of the important dates that apply to this course by checking the following site:

Exam Dates

Midterms: As a multi-section course, the midterm exams in ADMS 2510 are scheduled outside of class on Sunday mornings. You should not take this course if you are unable to attend these exams.

Midterm 1: Sunday February 7th; 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

Midterm 2: Sunday March 13th; 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

Final exams: Scheduled by the York Registrar in the formal exam period between April 6thand 20th. You should not book travel plans in this period. Exact date is published around March 1st. Consult the York University website for official timetable information.

Course Directors & TA contact information

Section / Course Director / Email contact
M&R / Alison Beavis /
N&S / Lawrence Shum /
O / Roberto Umana /
P / Bob Murison /
Q / Nelson Waweru /
T / Stefan Pop /
All sections / Teaching Assistant: Mitra Kaveh /

Course Description

This first course in management accounting introduces students to the use of management accounting information for decision-making, planning and control in a wide range of organizations. Specifically, students learn the basic techniques of management accounting and, to a lesser extent, learn to apply those techniques through quantitative questions and cases.

Pre-requisites, which must have been successfully completed prior to taking this course, are:

MATH: 12U or equivalent

ADMS 2500 3.0

ECON 1000 3.0

Course Objectives

The overall objectives of the course are to:

1. Meet the academic requirements of an honours level course as part of a business degree program at university.

2. Meet all requirements to be counted by the CPA Ontario towards professional certification.

In particular, this course aims to:

a) Help students learn to gather and develop information and ideas.

b) Help students learn to draw conclusions and form opinions from a set of data.

c) Introduce students to an entity's strategic plan and the planning process.

d) Assist students in understanding how to evaluate the entity's performance management and the internal reporting system.

e) Introduce students to the concept of the entity's risk management process.

f) Help students understand and be able to identify management information sources and needs.

g) Assist students in understanding how to prepare an entity's budget and how to relate this to the entity's planning process.

Required Course Materials:

1/ Textbook + Connect Package

ISBN: 9781259103278

ISBN: 9781259066818

ISBN: XXXXX

Students can purchase Connect Access Codes through the York Bookstore or online when they register in their Connect Course (see Connect Registration Instructions below). Students have access to Connect for 1 year from when they register.

More information regarding your Text Book Options will be covered during your first class. If you are unsure of the best option for you, it is advisable to wait until your first class.

Connect is required to complete theonline course assignments.

Connect Registration Instructions

To register for Connect (or purchase online); go to your section Connect web address listed below.

Students: Please make sure you register in your correct section! Your completed work and grades are not transferable and cannot be moved to another section.

Note: You will not be able to register to your Connect course until January 3rd 2015, when registration opens.

Section / Professor / Connect Course URL for Student Registration
M / Alison Beavis /
N / Lawrence Shum /
O / Roberto Umana /
P / Bob Murison /
Q / Nelson Waweru /
R / Alison Beavis /
S / Lawrence Shum /
T / Stefan Pop /

Go to the Connect Web Address for your section or provided by your instructor.
Click on “Register Now.”
Enter your York email address (this will become your Connect username). If you already have a McGraw-Hill account, you will be asked for your password and will not be required to create a new account.
Enter your Connect registration code
Follow the on-screen directions.
When registration is complete, click on “Go to Connect Now.”
You are now ready to use Connect.

Connect Support

For any questions or issues related to Connect, submit a support ticket with the McGraw-Hill Care Centre at You will be issued a case or reference number. Please keep for your records.

If you still need assistance after submitting a ticket with the McGraw-Hill Care Centre, you can email your ticket number and request to your McGraw-Hill Representative:

Michele Peach, or to

Phil Drennan,

Please include in your email, what course you are taking, your section and professor name, and the email address you used to register for Connect.

Visit and to learn more about Connect, LearnSmart and SmartBook.

Computing Requirements. This course has an extensive computer interface and you will need access to a multi-media computer with a high-speed Internet connection. The most recent versions of Adobe Reader and Apple QuickTime are required to view course materials, available by free download from and respectively. A computer and speakers (or headphones) will be required to read and listen to the recorded material that complements the text. ‘Adobe Reader’ and ‘QuickTime’ are needed to view the multimedia clips that illustrate and explain the concepts. There are free computer labs on campus for registered students who do not possess these computing resources. Campus computers do not have speakers, so you will have to supply your own headphones.

ORGANIZATION OF THE COURSE

Lectures

There is a 3-hour lecture each week. On-campus sections will have their lecture in the designated lecture hall at York. Also, all sections will have access to the recorded version of the voice of an in-class lecture synched to a slideshow. It is usually available on the course website by Sunday each week. These lecture recordings are random access, so you can jump to any point in the lecture and repeat any component of the broadcast you wish to view again.

Since these streamed lectures can be viewed multiple times and are ideal for course review, they are available to all 2510 students on the course website. Each week, the lecture slides will be available several days before class. It is suggested you download and print these slides as they constitute an excellent set of lecture notes. You can then add annotations as you listen to the lecture. In the rare event of technical recording difficulties, the lecture will not be available, but an announcement will be posted including an update of any additional comments/changes during the current semester.

Making the lectures available on the website to all students begs the question ….. ”Why come to class since all lectures can be viewed from home?” Viewing from home is quite appropriate for some students. However, pedagogical research has shown that only about one student in three has the intellectual maturity to stay up-to-date in web-based courses. Internet failure rates tend to be higher than campus failure rates specifically because of this. Internet study requires far more self-discipline than being an on-campus student.

Internet study is not for everyone. Attending class has the very huge benefit of forcing you to stay up-to-date each week. If you fall more than a week behind in an accounting course, failure is almost a certainty. Cramming is just not an option in 2510. The other benefit of coming to class is that you can ask questions in realtime and get quick solutions; efficiently communicate with the instructor and other students; and improve learning effects.
Attendance is not taken in class, so pick the study mode that works best for you, but be realistic in your self-assessment. To summarize: if good grades are important to you, you maximize your chances of good learning and good grades by both attending class and watching the streamed lecture. This constitutes a wonderful review opportunity. Not many courses at York offer such an opportunity…..take advantage of it.

Tutorial Groups and Sessions

Attendance attutorial sessions is not mandatory. Tutorial sessions are designed to cover a set of problems and exercises, but beyond them, they are largely unstructured. In general, after the mandated exercises have been covered, you come with your questions and T/A’s are simply there to help you. When the T/A is getting multiple questions on a single theme, this will usually turn into a group teaching moment. With 2 hours a week of free tutoring, there is no need to spend money on expensive outside tutors (such as the company that hands out flyers inside and outside our classroom). The detail of tutorials and themes for each session can be found later in this course outline.

For Winter 2016, the scheduled on campus tutorials are:

Saturday 10am to 12pm (every week from January 16thand ends on April 2nd).

Email Protocol

If you want help with a problem, it is important that your email be properly labeled and show the calculations you have made. Make sure to include your name, student number, and section number in all your emails. Messages without this information will remain unopened. Students in 2510 are required to obtain and use a Yorku.ca email account for course email. For security reasons, we will not respond to Gmail/Hotmail etc.

Who do I email for what?

….(all computing issues)

Course Director……….(all questions related to course content, course administration and grades)

Course coordinator for Winter 2016 (all questions/concerns not properly addressed by the Course

Director and/or the Teaching Assistants):

Practice Problems

There are lots of practice problems and solutions in your textbook. The course website will contain practice exams before each actual exam. For students who absolutely insist on an ‘A’ in the course, there are numerous introductorymanagement accounting textbooks in the business library containing a wealth of worked examples. The formula for success in a “problems” course such as accounting is always to work as many problems as time permits.Whenever a student asks their accounting professor how to improve their grade, the automatic answer is to work more problems.

Course Website

All course material is contained on the website for Section M, which is the website for all sections. This ensures all eight sections get consistent information at the same time. It also facilitates our objective of making the learning experience identical for both on-campus and off-campus students.

The website contains

This course outline
Announcements on all important matters in the course. You should check these several times a week and especially before class in case there is a class cancellation
Recorded lectures
Lecture slides to print as course notes
Exam information
Practice exams and practice problems
Exam results

The website is of restricted access and you will have to log in with your York Passport account.

WEEKLY TIMETABLE AND DUE DATES

Note: Dates and coverage are subject to change as circumstances dictate. You should check the announcements section of your course website several times a week for updated information.

Week / Textbook Chapters / CLASS WORK
1
Jan 4th to Jan 10th / Chapter 1: Managerial Accounting & the Business Environment;
Chapter 2: Cost Terms, Concepts & Classifications Case Analysis: An Introduction Problem Solving Techniques / Exercise 2-9
Problem 2-17
Case 2-28
2
Jan 11th to Jan 17th / Chapter 3: Cost Behaviour
Chapter 4: Cost-Volume-Profit Relationships
Jan 17th : last date to enroll in the course without permission / Exercises 3-6 & 3-8
Problem 4-19
3
Jan 18th to Jan 24th / Chapter 5: Job-Order Costing / Problems 5-17 & 5-19
4
Jan 25th to Jan 31st / Chapter 6: Process Costing / Exercise 6-4
Problem 6-11
5
Feb 1st to Feb 7th / Chapter 7: Activity-Based Costing / Exercise 7-14
Problems 7-197-20
Sunday Feb 7th Common first mid-term exam - Chapters 1 to 6 (25%) - All sections
6
Feb 8th to Feb 12th / Chapter 8: Variable Costing / Exercises 8-5, 8-6 & 8-9
Problem 8-15 (case)
Reading Week
Feb 13th to Feb 19th / No Classes / No Tutorials
7
Feb 20th to Feb 28th / Chapter 9: Budgeting / Exercise 9-1
Problem 9-18
8
Feb 29th to March 6th / Chapter 10: Standard Costs & Overhead Analysis / Exercises 10-710-8
Cases: Minim Inc*
9
Mar 7th to Mar13th / Chapter 11 and Appendix 11A: Reporting for Control
There is no on-campus class
Friday March 4th – last date to drop Fall term courses without receiving a grade. / Exercise 11-6
Problem 11-14
Sunday March 13th Common second mid-term exam - Chapters 7 to 10 (30%) - All sections
10
Mar 14th to Mar 20th / Chapter 12: Relevant Costing For decision Making / Exercises 12-8, 12-11 & 12-12
Case: Bidco Foods Inc.*
11
Mar 21st to Mar 27th / Chapter 13: Capital Budgeting Decisions
There is no on-campus class / Exercises 13-3, 13-4 & 13-7
Problem 13-28
12
Mar 28th to April 4th / Case study analysis and course Review / Cases:
York University*
Justa Co*
Final Exam Comprehensive / Chapters 1 to 13

* The cases to be analyzed in weeks 8, 10 and 12, will be posted to the course websites (the other cases are available in any of the textbooks recommended for this course).

Tutorials:

There will be a two-hour weekly tutorial. The TA will go through worked examples of textbook problems and assist students in areas where they have concerns.

Attendance at tutorial sessions is not mandatory. Tutorial sessions are unstructured as there is no prepared agenda beyond the list provided below and TA’s are there simply to help you with any questions you have on accounting theory, study techniques, and practice problems. The best feature of these tutorials is that if you wish to get extra help, you are invited to attend all the sessions offered each week. With 2 hours of tutorials a week, there is no need to spend money on expensive outside tutors.

The following problems will be worked through in the tutorials:

Week & Date / Time and Location TBA / Take up in tutorial
1 Jan 16th / No tutorial
2 Jan 23rd / Problems 2-20 & 2-22
3 Jan 30th / Problems 3-14, 3-17 & Problem 4-25
4 Feb 6th / Problem 5-20 & 5-29
Feb 13th / No Tutorial / Co-curricular days
5 Feb 20th / Exercise 6-1, Problems 6-12 and 6-13
6 Feb 27th / Exercises 7-4, 7-8, Problem 7-22
7 Mar 5th / Exercises 8-3, 8-7 & Problem 8-14
8 Mar 12th / Exercises 9-6, 9-7 & Problem 9-17
9 Mar 19th / Exercises 10-14 & Problem 10-22
10 Mar 26th / Exercises 11-4, 11-8 & Problem 11-20
11 April 2nd / Exercises 12-3 & Problems 12-20, 12-24
Exercise 13-11 & Problems 13-21,

Course Evaluation (for all sections):