THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SCHOOL
BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
BUS 6a – Sections 2 & 3
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING
Fall 2015
Professor: Robert A. AngellTAs: Kyla Gabriel ()
Email: ric Gordon ()
Phone: 866.700.0894Devin Satyawan ()
Wenyi Zhang ()
Office hours: T/Th 5:00 – 6:00pm and by appt. Office location: Sachar1D
Recitations: Thursday 6:30 – 8:20 PM Location: Golding Judaica Center 110
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The primary objective of this course is to develop a fundamental understanding of financial accounting and corporate reporting issues. Students will be exposed to a variety of real world applications involving for profit financial statements. More specifically, students will acquire skills allowing them to read, interpret and analyze the income statement, balance sheet and statement of cash flows. This course will primarily address accounting standards employed in US (GAAP) but will acquaint students with international standards (IFRS) used by other countries in numerous accounting areas. Further, issues related to the project on the convergence of standards currently being conducted by the FASB and IASB will be discussed. Throughout the course, emphasis will be placed on interpreting financial statements to understand how accounting information, in a variety of decision settings, can be utilized by managers.
LEARNING GOALS
Upon completion of this course, the student will have a fundamental understanding of financial reporting issues as they relate to for profit businesses. Students will be able to (1) prepare, understand, and interpret the basic financial statements (statement of earnings, balance sheet and statement of cash flows) and (2) evaluate the financial well-being of an organization by employing analytical techniques that include financial ratios and trend analysis. Additionally, students will be able to identify ethical aspects of a financial situation and evaluate those aspects when making business decisions.
COURSE MATERIALS
Libby, Libby and Short Financial Accounting, 8th Edition with Connect (ISBN 9781308488646), Irwin McGraw Hill(Required). You can either buy the fully digital version which includes an ebook and assignments OR purchase the printed text and online assignments separately.
McGraw Hill web address for assignments (LearnSmart AND Homework Problems) is
© 2015
Please do not purchase the international version of the text as it will not correspond to the syllabus nor any other version.
Please bring a basic function calculator to all class meetings.
Additional Course Materials/Cases are available on LATTE
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING POLICY
Course Grading and Exams
Your course grade will be determined based on the following formula:
Homework/Attendance/Participation10%
Exam 120%
Exam 225%
Final Exam30%
Group Project15%
100%
Attendance
Class and Recitation attendance is required. Records of attendance will be kept for each class and recitation. Students are allowed one excused absence. Please notify me in advance when you are unable to make it to class. After the first absence, the homework/attendance component of the grade will be negatively affected. Please arrive for class on time and remain until the end of class. It is extremely disruptive when students enter late or leave early. I do understand that there are valid reasons for needing to be late or leave early, as such, please notify me prior to class. It is expected that you will come to each class ready to discuss the readings, exercises and problems.
Homework
In an accounting class, keeping up with the assigned homework problems is critical to your success. If you do not take the time to challenge yourself and struggle with the issues in each problem, you will, in all likelihood, perform very poorly on exams. Success in this four- credit course is based on the expectation that students will spend a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for class (readings, papers, discussion sections, preparation for exams, research, etc.). All homework will be submitted via the McGraw Hill Connect platform. IMPORTANT: ALL HOMEWORK SHOULD BE YOUR WORK AND NOT THE WORK OF OTHERS.
Participation
Students are expected to adequately prepare for each class session and to actively participate in class discussion. Class participation involves being regularly engaged in the discussion/lecture and making a positive contribution by asking thoughtful questions, sharing relevant experiences, requesting clarification and making comments. All forms of participation should be conducted in a manner that is respectful of fellow students and the professor.
Exams
THERE WILL BE NO MAKE-UP EXAMS, UNLESS THE STUDENT HAS A VALID EXCUSE AND NOTIFIES THE PROFESSOR PRIOR TO MISSING THE EXAM. There will be absolutely no opportunity to assign the weight of a missed exam to another exam. If you miss an exam without a valid excuse, you will receive a grade of zero. Therefore, please make every effort in advance to ensure that you will be in attendance on the exam dates shown on the syllabus. Make-up exams will only be scheduled if you miss an exam for a legitimate reason; you will need to provide evidence for your absence and you must notify me prior to the scheduled exam time. All exams are closed book with no index cards/review sheets of any kind permitted while taking the test. The use of text capable calculators is strictly prohibited.
Academic Integrity
You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. Please consult Brandeis University Rights and Responsibilities for all policies and procedures related to academic integrity. Students may be required to submit work to TurnItIn.com software to verify originality. Allegations of alleged academic dishonesty will be forwarded to the Director of Academic Integrity. Sanctions for academic dishonesty can include failing grades and/or suspension from the university. Citation and research assistance can be found at LTS - Library guides.
Privacy: This class requires the use of tools that may disclose your coursework and identity to parties outside the class. To protect your privacy you may choose to use a pseudonym/alias rather than your name in submitting such work. You must share the pseudonym/alias with me and any teaching assistants as needed. Alternatively, with prior consultation, you may submit such work directly to me.
Student Accommodations
If you have a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and require accommodations, please contact Beth Rodgers Kay () and bring it to my attention prior to the second meeting of the class.
CLASS SCHEDULE – Subject to Change at Professor’s Discretion
Exams 1 and 2 will be given during the Recitation Period
Date / Day / Topics/Chapters / Reading / Assignments (due the next class)8/27 / Th / Introduction / Chapters 1, 2(pgs 42-56)
Global Connections A (LATTE)
9/1 / T / Balance Sheet, Income Statement/Interrelationship of Financial Statements / Chapters 1, 2(pgs 42-56) / Chapter 1 LearnSmart
E1-3, E1-4, E1-7, P1-1, P1-2
9/3 / Th / Analysis of Economic Events via Journal Entries / Chapter 2 (pgs 57-77) / Chapter 2 LearnSmart
E2-4, E2-6, P2-1, P2-2, P2-3
9/8 / T / Adjusting Journal Entries / Chapter 3,
Global Connections B (LATTE) / Chapter 3 LearnSmart
E3-2, E3-3, E3-4, E3-5, E3-17, P3-2, P3-6
9/17 / Th / Income Statement and Expanded Transaction Analysis / Chapter 4 / Chapter 4 LearnSmart
E4-6, E4-8, P4-2, P4-3, P4-5
9/22 / T / Non-recurring Items and Income Statement / Chapter 5 / Chapter 5 LearnSmart
E5-8, E5-10, E5-12, P5-6
9/24 / Th / Review of Chapters 1 - 4
9/24 / Th Evening / Exam 1 (Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4)
10/1 / Th / Sales and Receivables / Chapter 6 / Chapter 6 LearnSmart
E6-9,E6-13, E6-17, E6-18, P6-3, P6-4, P6-5
10/6 / T / Sales and Receivables
10/8 / Th / Inventory & Cost of Goods Sold / Chapter 7 / Chapter 7 LearnSmart
E7-3, E7-9, E7-10, E7-18, E7-20, P7-1, P7-3, P7-4, P7-8, P7-9, P7-10
10/13 / T / Inventory & Cost of Goods Sold
10/15 / Th / Non-current Assets / Chapter 8 / Chapter 8 LearnSmart
E8-2, E8-8, E8-11, E8-13, E8-23,
P8-3, P8-6, P8-8, P8-9, P8-10,P8-11
10/20 / T / Financial Statement Analysis
Project Introduction / Chapter 13 / Chapter 13 LearnSmart
E5-17, E13-3, E13-8, E13-9, P7-7, P13-10
10/22 / Th / Project workshop / Email to Prof Angell team, liaison and companies to analyze
10/27 / T / Understanding Audited Financial Statement Analysis
10/29 / Th / Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 14 Review
10/29 / Th
Evening / Exam 2 (Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 13)
11/3 / T / Liabilities and Time Value of Money / Chapter 9 / Chapter 9 LearnSmart
E9-4, E9-15, E9-22, P9-11, P9-12
11/5 / Th / Bond Pricing and Impact of Debt Financing / Chapter 10 / Chapter 10 LearnSmart
M10-2, M10-3, M10-4, M10-6, E10-16, E10-20, P10-8, P10-10, P10-12
11/10 / T / Bond Pricing and Impact of Debt Financing
11/12 / Th / Statement of Cash Flows / Chapter 12 / Chapter 12 LearnSmart
E12-4, E12-7, E12-8, E12-16, P12-1, P12-2, P12-4
11/17 / T / Statement of Cash Flows
11/19 / Th / Stockholders’ Equity / Chapter 11 / Chapter 11 LearnSmart
E11-8,E11-11,E11-16,E11-18, E11-22, E11-23,P11-5,P11-8
11/24 / T / Stockholders’ Equity
12/1 / Th / Investments / Appendix E / Appendix E LearnSmart
ME-3, ME-4, EE-2, EE-5, EE-6, EE-7, PE-4
12/3 / T / Investments
12/8 / Th / Financial Statement Analysis Project Due
Final Exam – Comprehensive with Emphasis on Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, Appendix E (Date and Location TBD )