ACCTG 331 – INTERMEDIATE ACCOUNTING
SPRING 2015
COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Mr. Paul Sager, CPA
Class Days: T-Th 12:30pm and 2:00pm
Class Location: GMCS-324
E-mail: psager@mail.sdsu.edu
Office Hours: T-Th 11:30-12:15; or by appointment
Office Hours Location: EBA 113
Units: 3
Phone/Text: 858-342-4506
Course Overview
The purpose of this Intermediate Accounting is to enhance and expand your current understanding of corporate financial
reporting for the subject areas covered in the course. More specifically, we will take an in-depth look at the mechanics of
financial accounting and the theory behind U.S. GAAP as presented in the statement of operations (i.e., income statement) and
the statement of financial position (i.e., balance sheet). We will also cover the impact of International Financial Reporting
Standards how these rules differ from GAAP for the relevant topics.
Student Learning Outcomes
BSBA students will graduate being:

Effective Communicators

Critical Thinkers

Able to Analyze Ethical Problems

Global in their perspective

Knowledgeable about the essentials of business
ACCTG 331 contributes to these goals through its student learning outcomes. At the end of this course students should be able
to:



Identify, measure, classify, present and disclose financial information in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted
Accounting Principles and International Financial Reporting Standards.
Properly record transactions in the relevant topic areas. This means knowing how to calculate the amount of the
accounting impact of a transaction under accrual accounting and how to properly journalize such transactions.
Effectively work in groups to analyze business transactions and apply the correct accounting techniques in properly
recording those transactions and present the effects on financial statement presentation.
Enrollment Information
Prerequisites: Admission to Accounting major, minor, or certificate. Minimum grade of C in Accountancy 201 and 202.
Completion of General Education requirement in Communication and Critical Thinking.
Adding/Dropping Procedures: Any student wishing to add this course during schedule adjustment must attend the first
class and remain the entire 2 hours, 40 minutes. All students dropping this course must follow SDSU policies obtain the
required signatures prior to the University deadlines.
Course Materials
Required Textbook: Intermediate Accounting, 7th Edition (with Connect access card); Spiceland, Sepe, Nelson and
Tomassini
An e-book is included with Connect access. This might be a more cost effective solution for those who like e-books.
Recommended Textbook: Financial Accounting Exam Questions & Explanations 18th edition – Gleim
Scantrons: We will be using the red Parscore forms (F-289) for all exams.
Calculator: A financial calculator is required for use in this course. Financial calculators have the time value
of money function keys (e.g., PV, FV, PMT, N, I/YR). Examples include (but are not limited to):

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS MODEL – BA II PLUS

HEWLETT PACKARD MODEL – 10B

HEWLETT PACKARD MODEL – 12C
Excel: Some assignments will require using Excel. Students can use SDSU resources or provide their own computers.
Blackboard: This course will be managed via the Blackboard course website. Therefore, each student needs an email account.
Please make sure that you update your email address in the SDSU database. You can check on your Blackboard email account
(or update/change it) by going to the SDSU Web Portal at http://sunspot.sdsu.edu/portal. The Blackboard website will be
where I make announcements, upload class slides and solutions for assignments. All points for assignments and exams that
factor into the students’ grades will be posted on Blackboard.
Course Structure and Conduct
CLASS LECTURES: Classes will consist of lectures using PowerPoint slides and in-class problems/exercises that are designed
to help students better understand the correct financial reporting rules for a variety of common business transactions. Students
are responsible for downloading and printing the slides from the Blackboard website. The pace of my lectures and in-class
exercises are based on the assumption that students have read the textbook material ahead of time and printed out the
relevant slides for class (i.e., YOU ARE PREPARED FOR CLASS).
BLACKBOARD: This course will be managed via the Blackboard course website. Therefore, each student needs an email
account. Please make sure that you update your email address in the SDSU database. You can check on your Blackboard email
account (or update/change it) by going to the SDSU Web Portal at http://sunspot.sdsu.edu/portal. The Blackboard website will
be where I make announcements, upload class slides and solutions for assignments. All points for assignments and exams that
factor into the students’ grades will be posted on Blackboard.
CONNECT ONLINE HOMEWORK: The graded homework assignments must be completed and submitted online by 2:00pm
on the due date. The homework system will not accept any homework submissions made after the assigned date and time.
Students will be allowed three attempts for each homework problem.
The homework is designed to be a supplementary tool to help students: 1) understand the concepts covered in the financial
module and 2) apply the concepts in a practical situation. All homework assignments will be completed online via Connect that
comes with your edition of the Spiceland textbook. All students must register online in accordance with the instructions found
in your Connect access card that you purchased with your Spiceland textbook. You will need to provide a user name and
password to log on and do the homework assignments throughout the semester. Multiple students cannot use the same access
card. The following website is where you need to go to access the homework problems. Please register at the following
websites (depending on your section) by clicking on the “Register as Student” link and following the instructions:
http://connect.mheducation.com/class/p-sager-spring-2015-sager
Each graded homework assignment is worth a maximum of 10 points and points are earned on a sliding scale based on the
accuracy of your answers. The lowest homework score will be dropped. The grading scale will be as follows:
% of Homework Answered Correctly
Homework Points Earned
<60%
0 points
60.0% to 79.99%
5 points
>=80%
10 points
Students with Disabilities
If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, it is your responsibility to contact
Student Disability Services at (619) 594-6473. To avoid any delay in the receipt of your accommodations, you should contact
Student Disability Services as soon as possible. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive, and that accommodations
based upon disability cannot be provided until you have presented your instructor with an accommodation letter from Student
Disability Services. Your cooperation is appreciated.
Academic Honesty
The University adheres to a strict policy regarding cheating and plagiarism. These activities will not be tolerated in this class.
Become familiar with the policy (http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/srr/conduct1.html). Any cheating or plagiarism will result in
[Insert your policy on cheating or plagiarism, e.g. failing this class and a disciplinary review by Student Affairs.]
Examples of Plagiarism include but are not limited to:

Using sources verbatim or paraphrasing without giving proper attribution (this can include phrases, sentences,
paragraphs and/or pages of work)

Copying and pasting work from an online or offline source directly and calling it your own

Using information you find from an online or offline source without giving the author credit

Replacing words or phrases from another source and inserting your own words or phrases

Submitting a piece of work you did for one class to another class
If you have questions on what is plagiarism, please consult the policy and this helpful guide from the Library
Turnitin
Students agree that by taking this course all required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to
Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com
reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. You may submit your papers in such a way
that no identifying information about you is included. Another option is that you may request, in writing, that your papers not
be submitted to Turnitin.com. However, if you choose this option you will be required to provide documentation to
substantiate that the papers are your original work and do not include any plagiarized material.
Assessments and Grading
Course grades will be assigned in accordance with San Diego State University policy (see General Catalog, pp. 468-470).
Undergraduate grades shall be: A (outstanding achievement, available only for the highest accomplishment), B (praiseworthy
performance, definitely above average), C (average, awarded for satisfactory performance, the most common undergraduate
grade), D (minimally passing, less than the typical undergraduate achievement), F (failing).
Table1. Your course grade will be based on the following weighted components
Component
POINTS
(PERCENT)
Unit Test Ch 1, 2
100
10%
Unit Test Ch 3, 4, partial 21
100
10%
Unit Test Ch 5, 7, partial 6
100
10%
Unit Test Ch 8, 9
100
10%
Unit Test Ch 10, 11
100
10%
Unit Test Ch 12,13, partial 6
100
10%
Less one Unit Exam dropped
(100)
(10%)
Final Exam-Cumulative
200
20%
In-class assignments (20 points each)
100
10%
Homework (10 points each, lowest dropped)
100
10%
Group Simulation (15 points each)
60
6%
Accounting Assessment
10
1%
Attend Accounting Orientation
10
1%
CALCPA registration
10
1%
Attend 2 Career Services Sessions
10
1%
1,000
100%
TOTAL
UNIT TESTS: There will be six unit test exams. Students will need a Parscore sheet (F-289) for the exams. Exams will be
administered during class times on the dates listed in the class schedule. The lowest Unit Test score will be dropped.
Unit tests are not handed back during class period for review by students. If a student wishes to go over their unit test, that
student must make an appointment to review the exam in my office.
FINAL EXAM-COMPREHENSIVE: he final exam is a comprehensive exam covering all materials in the course. It will have
questions on the most important core material covered during the Intermediate Accounting course.
IN-CLASS ASSIGNMENTS: In-class assignments will be short problems similar to the homework assigned in connect. Your will
show all work and the assignment will be graded for the correct answers as well as your documented methods and calculations.
In-class assignments can be individual or group.
GROUP WORK: At the beginning of the semester, students will be assigned to groups via Blackboard. When you log into your
Blackboard account, your group number will show up on the bottom of your home screen. This group will be your permanent
group for the entire semester for all graded group assignments.
GRADED GROUP WORK: There will be four graded simulation assignments during the semester. These simulations are
designed for students to work in their groups outside of class. Points will be earned on a group basis based on the accuracy of
the groups’ answers to the simulations. All members of the group will receive the same point score unless one or more team
members do not contribute equally to the assignment. Each submission will include a contribution percent for each team
member. If a team member’s contribution is less than others, the student’s score will be reduced proportionally. For example,
if the simulation score is 12 and student A contributes at 50% of the other team members, student A will receive 6 points and
other team members will receive 12 points.
In addition, one or more of the graded in-class assignments will require you to work with your group. All group members
present will receive the same score.
IN-CLASS, UNGRADED WORK: The in-class group work will consist of open-book/notes ungraded exercises designed to have
students analyze different business transactions and practice application of relevant concepts and principles in financial
reporting. In-class group work does not have to be done in your assigned groups.
10-K ANALYSIS-UNGRADED: Each group will select a public company at the beginning of the semester. Throughout the
semester groups will be asked to present and discuss how their selected company has reported and disclosed the relevant
accounting topics. This is not graded, but will help students learn how the topics are implemented in practice.
JOIN CALCPA REQUIREMENT : The CalCPA is a professional organization dedicated to increasing the value and promoting the
integrity of the CPA profession, contributing to the success of their members and strengthening client, employer, public and
government trust in CalCPA member advice, work products and opinions.
As new accounting majors, you likely have a multitude of questions about the profession and what it means to be an
accountant in the state of California. The CalCPA’s website (http://www.calcpa.org/content/home.aspx) is a useful resource in
learning more about the accounting profession. The website also provides information that can be very useful to someone
wanting to learn more about the accounting profession such as CPA exam information, CPA license requirements in the state of
CA and other career resource information. In addition to the information resource benefits, CalCPA has multiple scholarship
opportunities available to its student members.
As a requirement for this course, every ACCTG 331 student is required to join the CalCPA as a student member. Membership is
free. You must join by February 28, 2015. Please email me proof of your membership (e.g. a snapshot of your account
information under the “My Account” link or a scanned printout of your account page or you can just copy the account page
onto a Word document or copy it directly into the body of the email and send it to me).
ATTEND CAREER SERVICES WORKSHOPS REQUIREMENT: Seeing how getting a job seems to be a common goal for
many (if not all) accounting students at SDSU, it is extremely important to get connected to the Career Services Department.
Career Services’ main goal is to help students develop the tools necessary to obtain employment during school (internships)
and after graduation (full-time employment). Therefore, we are requiring every ACCTG 331 student to attend two Career
Services workshops by the end of the Spring 2015 semester.
Here is the web link to the Career Services website: http://career.sdsu.edu
Grade of Incomplete. A grade of Incomplete (I) indicates that a portion of required coursework has not been completed and
evaluated in the prescribed time period due to unforeseen, but fully justified, reasons and that there is still a possibility of
earning credit. It is your responsibility to bring pertinent information to the instructor and to reach agreement on the means by
which the remaining course requirements will be satisfied. The conditions for removal of the Incomplete shall be reduced to
writing by the instructor and given to you with a copy placed on file with the department chair until the Incomplete is removed
or the time limit for removal has passed. A final grade is assigned when the work agreed upon has been completed and
evaluated. An Incomplete shall not be assigned when the only way you could make up the work would be to attend a major
portion of the class when it is next offered. Contract forms for Incomplete grades are available at the Office of the Registrar
website
Tentative Course Schedule
Table 2. The course schedule, including topics and class activities listed by week, is presented in the following table
Changes to the course schedule, if any, will be announced in class.
DATE
Feb 10 Tu
TOPIC COVERED
Syllabus
Principles of Accounting Assessment
--Bring PARSCORE
Financial Accounting Framework
Review of Accounting Process
In-class exercise-ungraded
Balance Sheet-Start
ACCOUNTING ORIENTATION—MANDATORY
ATTENDANCE
UNIT TEST # 1
LAST DAY TO DROP
Balance Sheet
Income Statement
Income Statement
Feb 12 Th
Statement of Cash Flows
Jan 22 Th
Jan 27 Tu
Jan 29 Th
Jan 30 1pm
Feb 3 Tu
Feb 5 Th
Feb 17 Tu
Feb 19 Th
Feb 24 Tu
Feb 26 Th
Mar 3 Tu
Mar 5 Th
Mar 10 Tu
Mar 12 Th
Mar 17 Tu
Mar 19 Th
Mar 24 Tu
Mar 26 Th
In-Class Exercise #1
Simulation # 1 DUE
UNIT TEST # 2
Income Measurement and Profitability Analysis
Income Measurement and Profitability Analysiscomplete
Cash and Receivables
Time Value of Money (Recorded Lecture)
Cash and receivables-complete
In-class exercise #2
Simulation # 2 DUE
UNIT TEST # 3
Inventory Chap 8
Inventory Chap 8-complete
In-class Exercise - Ungraded
Inventory Chap 9
Inventory Chap 9-complete
In-Class Exercise #3
UNIT TEST # 4
RELEVANT
CHAPTERS
CH 1
CH 2
CH 2
CH 3
CONNECT
ASSIGNMENT
HW #1: Ch
1&2 DUE
CH 1, 2
CH 3
CH 4
CH 4
CH 4
CH 21 Part A &
C
CH 4, 21
HW #2: Ch 3
DUE
HW #3: I/S
DUE
HW #4: SCF
DUE
CH 3, 4+21A/C
CH 5
CH 5
HW #5:
Chap 5 DUE
CH 7
CH 6, Part A
HW #6:
Chap 6A&7
DUE
CH 5,7
CH 8
CH 8
CH 9
CH 9
CH 8,9
HW #7:
Chap 8 DUE
HW #8:
Chap 9 DUE
RELEVANT CHAPTERS
DATE
Mar 31 Tu
SPRING BREAK
Apr 2 Th
SPRING BREAK
Apr 7 Tu
PP&E and Intangible Assets
CH 10/11
Apr 9 Th
PP&E and Intangible Assets
CH 10/11
Apr 14 Tu
PP&E and Intangible Assets-complete
In-class exercise #4
Simulation # 3 DUE
Apr 16 Th
UNIT TEST # 5
CH 10,11
Current Liabilities
Time value of money, pp 321-342 (recorded lecture)
Long-term Liabilities
Long-term Liabilities completed
In-class exercise #5
Simulation #4 DUE
UNIT TEST # 6
Review
CH 13
CH 6 pp. 321-342
CH 14
Apr 21 Tu
Apr 23 Th
Apr 28 Tu
Apr 30 Th
May 5 Tu
May 7 Th
May 9 Sat
3:30pm
TOPIC COVERED
CH 14
CH 13, 14, 6
Review
FINAL EXAM- Comprehensive
ALL MATERIAL
CONNECT
ASSIGNMENT
HW #9: Chap 10&11
DUE
HW #10: Chap 13
DUE
HW # 11: Chap
6&14 DUE