THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SCHOOL
BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
BUS 6a Sections 2 and 3
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING
Fall 2012
Professor: Robert Angell
Email: rangell@brandeis.edu
Phone: 866.700.0894
TAs:
Anthony Nguyen
(anguyen@brandeis.edu)
Madelyn Katz
(katzm@brandeis.edu)
Office hours: Monday 10-11am
Wednesday 10 – 11:30 am and by appt.
Office location: Sachar 11b
Recitations: Monday 6:30 – 8:20 PM
Location: TBD
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
the 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
COURSE MATERIALS
Libby, Libby and Short Financial Accounting, 7th Edition, Irwin McGraw Hill (Required).
Note: There is a custom soft cover version of this text available in the bookstore for a price
substantially lower than the hard cover text. Please do not purchase the international version of
the text as it will not correspond to the syllabus.
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
Exam 1
Exam 2
Final Exam
Group Project
10%
20%
25%
30%
15%
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. Homework will be collected on a surprise
basis. You will be allowed one homework “free pass” on a day that you choose during the
semester. Please notify the TA when you decide to use this pass. Free passes may not be used after
the fact (i.e. after you have received a poor grade on an assignment). Solutions to homework
problems will be available on LATTE after each assignment is due in class. Homework will be
returned to you by the next class meeting. If you would like to review your homework as the
LATTE solutions become available, you should make a copy of your homework prior to handing it
in. IMPORTANT: ALL HOMEWORK THAT IS HANDED IN 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
Academic integrity is central to the mission of educational excellence at Brandeis University. Each
student is expected to turn in work completed independently, except when assignments specifically
authorize collaborative effort. It is not acceptable to use the words or ideas of another person- be it
a world-class philosopher or your lab partner- without proper acknowledgement of that source.
This means that you must use footnotes and quotation marks to indicate the sources of any phrases,
sentences, paragraphs or ideas found in published volumes, on the internet, or created by another
student. Violations of university policies on academic integrity, described in Section 3 of Rights
and Responsibilities, may result in failure in the course or on an assignment, and could end in
suspension from the University. If you are in doubt about the instructions for any assignment in this
course, you must ask for clarification.
Student Accommodations
If you have a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and require accommodations,
please contact Beth Rodgers Kay (brodgers@brandeis.edu) 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 times in Schwartz Hall 106
Date
Day
Topics/Chapters
9/5
Wed
Introduction
9/10
Mon
Balance Sheet, Income
Statement/Interrelationship of
Financial Statements
Chapters 1,
2(pgs 42-56)
E1-3, E1-4, E1-7, P1-1, P1-2, CP1-2, CP1-3
9/12
Wed
Analysis of Economic Events
via Journal Entries
Chapter 2 (pgs
57-77)
E2-4, E2-6, P2-1, P2-2, P2-3 (#1, for #2
prepare journal entries and post to Taccounts, continue with #3 and #4)
Wed
Adjusting Journal Entries
Chapter 3,
Global
Connections B
(LATTE)
E3-2, E3-3, E3-4, E3-5, E3-17, P3-2, P3-6,
CP3-2, CP3-3
E4-6, E4-8, P4-2, P4-3, P4-5, P4-8, CP4-6
10/3
Wed
Income Statement and
Expanded Transaction Analysis
Exam 1 (Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4)
Non-recurring Items and
Income Statement
Chapter 4
9/24
Thu
(M)
Mon
Chapter 5
E5-10, E5-12, P5-6, CP5-2, CP5-5
Sales and Receivables
Chapter 6
E6-9,E6-13, E6-17, E6-18, P6-1, P6-4, P6-5
Sales and Recievables
Inventory & Cost of Goods
Sold
Inventory & Cost of Goods
Sold
Chapter 7
E7-3, E7-9, E7-10, E7-16, E7-17, E7-20,
P7-1, P7-3, P7-4, P7-8, P7-9, P7-10
Non-current Assets
Chapter 8
E8-2, E8-8, E8-9, E8-11, E8-13, E8-23,
P8-3, P8-6, P8-8, P8-9, P8-10,P8-11,CP8-6
Chapter 14
E5-17, E14-3, E14-8, E14-9, P14-10, CP12-3,
P7-7, P6-6, CP6-3
9/19
9/20
10/10
Tu
(M)
Wed
10/15
Mon
10/17
Wed
10/22
Mon
10/24
Wed
10/29
Mon
Understanding Audited
Financial Statements/Project
Introduction
Exam 2 (Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8)
10/31
Wed
Financial Statement Analysis
11/5
Mon
11/7
Wed
11/12
Mon
11/14
Wed
Financial Statement Analysis
Liabilities and Time Value of
Money
Bond Pricing and Impact of
Debt Financing
Bond Pricing and Impact of
Debt Financing
11/19
Mon
Statement of Cash Flows
11/26
Mon
Statement of Cash Flows
10/9
Reading
Chapters 1,
2(pgs 42-56)
Global
Connections A
(LATTE)
Chapter 9
Assignments
E9-4, E9-15, E9-22, P9-11, P9-12, CP9-2
Chapter 10
M10-2, M10-3, M10-4, M10-6, E10-16,E1020, E10-21, P10-8 (1&3), P10-10, P10-12
Chapter 13
E13-4, E13-7, E13-8, E13-16, P13-1, P13-2,
P13-4 (2 only), CP13-2, CP13-4
11/28
Wed
Stockholders’ Equity
12/3
Mon
Stockholders’ Equity
12/5
Wed
Investments
12/10
Mon
12/12
Wed
Investments
Financial Statement Analysis
Project Due
Chapter 11
E11-8,E11-11,E11-16,E11-18, E11-22, E1123, E11-24,P11-5,P11-9,CP11-2,CP11-4
Chapter 12
M12-3, M12-4, E12-2, E12-5, E12-6, E12-7,
P12-4, CP12-1, CP12-4
Final Exam – Comprehensive with Emphasis on Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14 (Date and Location TBD )