THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SCHOOL
BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
BUS 6a
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING
Spring 2016 – Monday/Wednesday 3:30pm – 4:50pm
Professor: Linda A Stoller
Email: lstoller@brandeis.edu
Phone: 617-733-2144
TAs: Wenyi Zhang
Office hours: TBD
Office location: TBD
Recitations: Monday 6:30- 8:20pm
Location: TBD
Zwy0312@brandeis.edu
Devin Setyawan
devins@brandeis.edu
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, students 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
http://connect.mheducation.com/class/l-stoller-spring-2016-section-3
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 LA TTE
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING
POLICY
Course Grading and Exams
Your course grade will be determined based on the following formula:
Homework/Attendance/Participation
10%
Exam 1
20%
Exam 2
25%
Final Exam
30%
Group Project
15%
TOTAL
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.
Workload and Homework Expectations
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. Failure to complete the homework on time will place you in a
disadvantage in preparation and there is a significant penalty or the late submission of
homework.
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.
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.
1.
CLASS SCHEDULE - Subject to Change at Professor's Discretion
Exams 1 and 2 will be given during the Recitation Period
Session
Date
Day
Topics/Chapters
Reading
Assignments (due
the next class)
Ch 1, Ch 2
(pp 42-56)
1
1/13
W
3
1/20
1/25
Global
Connections
A (LATTE)
NO CLASS – Martin Luther
King Day
1/18
2
Introduction
W
M
Balance Sheet, Income
Statement/Interrelationship
of Financial Statements
Analysis of Economic Events
via Journal Entries
Ch 1, CH 2
(pp 42-56)
Global
Connections
A (LATTE)
Ch 2
(pp 52-57)
Ch 3
4
1/27
W
Adjusting Journal Entries
5
2/1
M
Income Statement and
Expanded Transaction
Analysis
6
7
2/3
2/8
W
M
M
Evening
E1-3, E1-4, E1-7,
P1-1, P1-2
Chapter 2
LearnSmart
E2-4, E2-6, P2-1,
P2-2, P2-3
Chapter 3
LearnSmart
E3-2, E3-3, E3-4,
E3-5, E3-17, P3-2,
P3-6
Chapter 4
LearnSmart
Ch 4
E4-6, E4-8, P4-3,
P4-5
Review of Chapters 1 – 4
Non-recurring Items and
Income Statement
EXAM 1 (CHAPERS 1, 2, 3, 4)
2/8
Global
Connections
B (LATTE)
Ch 1 LearnSmart
Chapter 5
LearnSmart
Ch 5
E5-8, E5-10, E5-12,
P5-6
Chapter 6
LearnSmart
8
2/10
W
2/15
–
2/19
9
2/22
Sales and Receivables
Ch 6
10E6-9, E6-13,
E6-18,
P6-3, P6-4, P6-5
NO CLASSES – MIDTERM
BREAK
M
Sales and Receivables
Chapter 7
LearnSmart
10
2/24
W
Inventory & Cost of Goods
Sold
11
2/29
M
Inventory & Cost of Goods
Sold
Ch 7
E7-3, E7-9, E7-10,
E7-18, E7-20, P7-1,
P7-3, P7-4, P7-8,
P7-9, P7-10
Chapter 13
LearnSmart
12
3/2
W
Non-Current Assets
13
3/7
M
Financial Statement Analysis
Project Introduction
14
15
16
3/9
W
Ch 8
E8-2, E8-8, E8-11,
E8-13, E8-23, P8-3,
P8-6, P8-8,P8-9,
P8-10, P8-11
Chapter 13
LearnSmart
E5-17,E13-3, E13-8,
E13-9, P7-7, P13-10
Review Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8,13
3/14
M
Project Workshop
3/14
M
Evening
3/16
W
EXAM 2 (Chapters
5,6,7,8,13)
Understanding Financial
Statement Analysis
Email to Prof. Stoller
team liaison and
companies to
analyze
Chapter 9
LearnSmart
17
3/21
M
Liabilities and Time Value of
Money
Ch 9
E9-4, E9-15, E9-22
P9-11, P9-12
Chapter 10
LearnSmart
18
19
3/23
W
Bond Pricing and Impact of
Debt Financing
3/28
M
NO CLASS – MARCH RECESS
3/30
W
Bond Pricing and Impact of
Debt Financing
Ch 10
M10-2, M10-3,
M10-4,
M10-6, E10-16,
E10-20
P10-8,P10-10,P10-12
Chapter 12
LearnSmart
20
4/4
M
Statement of Cash Flows
21
4/6
W
Statement of Cash Flows
Ch 12
E12-4, E12-7, E12-8,
E12-16, P12-1, P12-2
P12-4
Chapter 11
LearnSmart
22
4/11
M
Stockholders’ Equity
Ch 11
E11-8, E11-11,
E11-16
E11-18, E11-22,
E11-23
P11-5, P11-8
Stockholders’ Equity
23
4/13
W
Appendix E
LearnSmart
24
4/18
M
Investments
25
4/20
W
Investments
4/25
–
4/27
26
Appendix E
ME-3, ME-4, EE-2,
EE-5, EE-6, EE-7,
PE-4
NO CLASS – SPRING RECESS
5/2
M
FINAL
EXAM-
Financial Statement Analysis
Project Due
COMPREHENSIVE with
Emphasis on
Chapters 9,
DATE AND
10, 11, 12, 13, App E
LOCATION TBD