Leonard N. Stern School of Business
New York University
C10.0001.001 Principles of Financial Accounting
Fall 2008
MW, 9:30 – 10:45 am
T-UC-52
Professor:
Office:
Email:
Phone:
Office Hours:
Patricia Doran Walters, CFA
KMC 10-177
pwalters@stern.nyu.edu
434-962-2847 (Emergencies ONLY)
M 11:00 am – 1:00 pm and by appointment.
Course Description:
The purpose of this course is to provide students with basic knowledge of financial
accounting that will allow them to analyze and construct financial statements using the
accounting principles and standards generally accepted and used in the United States
(known as US GAAP). Accounting is the “language of business” and students will become
sufficiently literate in this language to understand & interpret the financial position and
performance of business entities (as described in their financial statements) as well as to
enhance students’ personal financial decision-making.
Course Format:
A combination of lectures and problem-solving sessions will be used. The first few weeks
provide an overview of the accrual and cash accounting systems. The remainder of the
semester will be used to examine specific accounting measurement topics. Readings and
assignments should be completed before coming to class. I emphasize that it is critical
that you keep up with the coursework. Accounting is not conducive to cramming for exams
because new material always builds on prior concepts.
Required Textbook:
Horngren, Sundem et al
Introduction to Financial Accounting. 9e (Custom Edition)
Prentice-Hall (2006)
Blackboard:
This course will be managed and communications with students will be posted on line through
Blackboard. Students will be responsible for checking the blackboard site DAILY, reading
announcements, and downloading course materials from blackboard as necessary. Homework
assignments with due dates will also be posted there weekly in advance of the class at
which they are due. Hard copies will not be available from Professor Walters.
Course Requirements and Grading: Final grades for the course will be based on the
following:
Midterm 1
Midterm 2
Final Exam
Homework
Class Participation
Total
25%
25%
25%
15%
10%
100%
All exams are closed book and cumulative since accounting is necessarily cumulative. I will
emphasize the material covered since the previous exam. Make-up exams will only be
permitted if you have a University-approved excuse (e.g., illness or family emergency) and
you must contact me before the exam is given, either by email or phone!! If you would like
any exam question re-graded, you must make a written request clearly stating your reason
for re-grading within one week of receiving the graded exam.
Midterms: The midterms will be given on the dates indicated in the schedule. If you miss
one midterm without a University-approved excuse, the final exam grade will replace the
missing midterm grade (i.e., the final exam will count for 50% of your grade). If you miss
both midterms, you will receive a zero for 25% of your grade and the final will count as
50%. If you take both midterms, I will count the higher of the midterm grades twice.
Final Exam: You will not receive a passing grade in the course without taking the final
exam.
The financial reporting concepts and the process of recognition and measurement of
transactions and events by their nature apply to every topic covered in this course.
Although the three tests will likely focus on specific issues covered since the previous test,
I reserve the right to give a cumulative exam and test on prior topics if class performance
warrants.
Homework Assignments: I will assign & collect homework weekly covering the material I
expect to cover in class that week. Homework assignments will normally be due on Monday.
You must have turned in at least 80% of the collected homework to receive the full 15
points allocated to the homework grade. Solutions to the assigned homework and other
textbook problems will be available on Blackboard. Since I do not own the copyright to the
solutions manual I will not post it in its entirety.
Attendance for all classes is mandatory and will count towards your class participation
grade. If you are unable to attend a class session, you are still responsible for all the
materials covered during that session. In addition, you are expected to arrive for class on
time. Although I understand that circumstances can conspire to make you late, this should
be the exception rather than the rule.
Extra Credit: I will provide students with up to two extra credit assignments during the
semester. Each of these assignments will be worth 2 extra credit points. All students are
eligible for extra credit. These credits do not form part of the curve, but are added to
your course grade after the curve determining letter grades is finalized.
Letter Grades: Letter grades for the course are determined by application of the
following statistical analysis:
A
AB+
B
B-
Greater than or equal to Mean + 1.75 
C+
Mean – 1.00  up to Mean – 0.50 
Mean + 1.50  up to Mean +1.75 
C
Mean – 1.75  up to Mean – 1.00 
Mean + 1.00  up to Mean + 1.50 
CMean – 2.50  up to Mean – 1.75 
Mean up to Mean + 1.00 
D
Mean – 3.00  up to Mean – 2.50 
Mean – 0.50  up to Mean
F
Less than Mean – 3.00 
Notes:
1 Mean is the average of the test scores
2  = Standard Deviation of the test scores
3 Your letter grade for the course depends on the average of your test scores,
homework and class participation, the class average, and the standard deviation of
the class grades.
Letter grades for individual tests provide an indication of your performance during the
course, but are approximations of the letter grade that would be calculated when grades
for all assessments are included.
Requests for Additional Assignments to Improve a Grade: I do not provide individual
students with additional assignments so that they can improve their grades. I provide
every student with the same opportunities to perform well. Would you please not ask me to
treat you differently than other students in this regard?
Except for the dates of the Midterms, the attached schedule is not final and may be
modified during the course of the semester to better meet the course objectives.
Yes, I will hold class on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
Date
Session
Textbook
Chapter
1
1
2
2
5
3
3
4
9/3W
9/8M
9/10W
9/15M
1
2
3
4
9/17W
9/22M
9/24W
9/29M
10/1M
10/6M
10/8W
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
10/13M
10/15W
Holiday
12
6
10/22M
13
7
10/24W
14
7
10/27M
15
8
10/29W
16
8
11/3M
11/5W
11/10M
11/12W
11/17M
11/19W
11/24M
11/26W
12/1M
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
9
9
9
9
9
9
5
12/3W
12/8M
12/10W
26
27
28
Final Exam Week
6
6
10
10
Topic
Introduction
Balance Sheet
Income Statement
Cash Flow Statement (Direct
Method)
Recording transactions
Recording transactions
Accounting adjustments
Review
Midterm 1
Sales & Accounts Receivable
Accounts Receivable &
Estimated Uncollectibles
Accounts Receivable &
Estimates Uncollectibles
Inventories & Cost of Goods
Sold
Inventories & Cost of Goods
Sold
Long-lived Assets &
Depreciation/Amortization
Long-lived Assets &
Depreciation/Amortization
Review
Midterm 2
Present Value
Liabilities
Leases
Deferred Taxes
Bonds
Liabilities “Overflow”
Cash Flow Statement (Indirect
Method)
Stockholders’ Equity
Earnings per Share
Review