ACCTG 201 – Financial Accounting Fundamentals
Fall 2014
INSTRUCTOR:
Kevin W. Hee
EMAIL:
khee@mail.sdsu.edu
LECTURES:
Thursday (1900-2015) at ENS 280
Friday (1100-1215) at SHW 012
ENS is the Exercise & Nutritional Sciences building
SHW is the Storm Hall West building
LABS:
Mondays (1200-1315)
Tuesdays (0800-0915)
Wednesdays (1200-1315)
MY OFFICE:
Student Services East Building (SSE) 3449
OFFICE HRS:
Thursday: 1400-1600
(If students cannot make these above times, students can
always make an appointment to come see me in my office.)
GTA office hours will vary depending on the GTA.
OFFICE PHONE:
619-594-6021
COURSE MATERIALS:
Financial Accounting, 10th Edition; Harrison, Horngren and
Thomas (2014)
MyAccountingLab (www.myaccountinglab.com)
Poll Everywhere (free)
ADDITIONAL:
ACCTG 201 - Syllabus
We will be using the red Parscore forms (F-289) for ALL
EXAMS.
Page 1
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will encompass the study of corporate financial accounting concepts and
theories with emphasis on the preparation of the income statement, balance sheet, and
statement of cash flows. Coverage involves the process of analyzing, processing,
interpreting and communicating financial information to aid in decision making.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR ACCTG 201:
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the fundamentals of financial
reporting (what you may know as “financial accounting”). More specifically, we will
look at the mechanics of financial accounting and the theory behind United States
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) as presented in the statement of
operations (i.e., income statement) and the statement of financial position (i.e., balance
sheet).
This is a unique class environment because of the wide variety of majors taking the
course. I am
At the end of this course students should be able to:
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Use accounting and business terminology and understand the nature and
purpose of GAAP and IFRS.
Identify, measure, classify, present and disclose financial information in
accordance with US GAAP principles.
Understand the concepts and measurements that underlie the financial
statements (i.e., balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash
flows).
Analyze ethical issues and problems within the accounting environment.
Be aware of global issues within the accounting environment.
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.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
According to the SDSU Academic Senate policy on cheating and plagiarism:
2.2 Plagiarism shall be defined as the act of incorporating ideas, words, or specific
substance of another, whether purchased, borrowed, or otherwise obtained, and
submitting same to the University as one’s own work to fulfill academic
requirements without giving credit to the appropriate source. Plagiarism shall
include but not be limited to (a) submitting work, either in part or in whole,
completed by another; (b) omitting footnotes for ideas, statements, facts, or
conclusions that belong to another; (c) omitting quotation marks when quoting
ACCTG 201 - Syllabus
Page 2
directly from another, whether it be a paragraph, sentence, or part thereof; (d)
close and lengthy paraphrasing of the writings of another; (e) submitting another
person’s artistic works, such as musical compositions, photographs, paintings,
drawings, or sculptures; and (f) submitting as one’s own work papers purchased
from research companies.
Unprofessional conduct adversely impacts your fellow students, the accounting faculty,
the Charles W. Lamden School of Accountancy, SDSU, and the accounting
profession. The Charles W. Lamden School of Accountancy takes academic honesty
very seriously and vigorously enforces university policy related to any such
infractions. Any student suspected of academic dishonesty will be reported to the SDSU
Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities; if found responsible, the student will
receive a failing grade (F) for the course.
SPECIAL ACCOMODATIONS:
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.
BLACKBOARD:
This course module will be managed via the Blackboard course website. Therefore, each
student needs an email account (either SDSU Rohan or an alternative email system like
Google, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.). 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. Please note that
Hotmail accounts sometimes do not accept mail sent directly through Blackboard’s mass
email system, but they do receive individual emails. If you do not receive an
announcement via email, you may want to change servers from your Hotmail server to
another mail server. The Blackboard website will be where I make announcements and
upload course documents such as lecture slides. All points for assignments, quizzes and
exams that factor into the students’ grades will be posted on Blackboard. You will also be
able to access MyAccountingLab through the Blackboard website.
MYACCOUNTINGLAB:
MyAccountingLab is a web-based tutorial and assessment software for students in this
course. The program provides practice problems and adaptive study modules that are
designed to help enhance students’ understanding of the accounting principles covered in
this course. Like in most endeavors, practice is key to helping you succeed.
MyAccountingLab provides students with virtually unlimited sources of practice
ACCTG 201 - Syllabus
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problems and self-assessment tools (e.g., Dynamic Study Modules which is an adaptive
learning tool).
Initial purchase and registration with MyAccountingLab can only be done through
the link provided on the course Blackboard website. If you try and go directly to the
MyAccountingLab webpage, you will not be allowed to register. By using the link
provided in Blackboard, it ensures that your MyAccountingLab is linked to your
Blackboard and assignment grades can be accurately synced. Trying to bypass
Blackboard can have a negative impact on your course grade.
CLASS LECTURES:
Classes will consist of lectures using PowerPoint slides that are designed to help students
better understand the correct financial reporting rules for a variety of common business
transactions. Students are responsible for accessing the slides from the Blackboard
website. The lecture slides will be posted to the Blackboard website under the “Course
Documents” tab. The slides are intended to ease the burden of note-taking during class.
The pace of my lectures are based on the assumption that students have read the
textbook material ahead of time, worked through any study modules assigned for
pre-class work and reviewed relevant slides for class (i.e., BE PREPARED
FOR CLASS!!). If you are not prepared for lectures, you will not be maximizing
what you can learn from each lecture and your grade will most likely suffer.
LAB SECTIONS:
In addition to the auditorium lectures on Thursdays or Fridays (depending on your
section), students are required to attend a 75-minute lab during the week. Each lab section
is run by a graduate teaching assistant (GTA) from the Charles W. Lamden School of
Accountancy. Each GTA is currently pursuing their Masters of Science in Accountancy
(MSA) degree at SDSU either through our BMAcc or MSA programs. Students will be
placed in randomly-chosen groups within each lab section. Labs will consist of the
following activities:
 Brief Review/Q&A on topics covered in the auditorium lectures
the previous week.
 Graded group exercises on the weekly topics.
 Graded individual quizzes on the weekly topics.
EXAMS:
There will be three non-comprehensive multiple-choice exams. Students will need a
Parscore sheet (F-289) for the exams. Exams will be administered during the times and
dates listed below. No makeup exams are given. Exams will be handed back to students
in their lab sections. Exams will be administered on Saturdays (2 hours in duration) at
different times and classrooms dependent on your lab section day.
ACCTG 201 - Syllabus
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Exams #1 and #2 will start at 8am (Monday lab sections), 10:30am (Tuesday lab
sections) and 1pm (Wednesday lab sections). Exam #3 will start at 6pm for all
sections.
Calculators:
No programmable calculators are allowed to be used during exams. Only basic
function/4-function calculators will be allowed. GTA’s will check all students’
calculators before the exams to ensure that each student only has a basic function
calculator. Cell phones cannot be used in any way during exams, not even to check
the time. If a student is seen with a cell phone in his/her hand, that student will
receive an automatic zero for that exam.
QUIZZES:
Quizzes will consist of multiple choice, fill-in-the-blanks and problems. Each quiz will be
administered at the end of the lab section and covers material from the prior week’s
lecture. I design the quizzes such that students should complete the quizzes in
approximately 15-20 minutes. It is imperative not to fall behind in this class because of
the volume of concepts covered and the sustained pace of the module. Please be aware
that the quizzes are not designed to be wholly representative of the difficulty of
questions on the exams. The quizzes are designed as a tool to ensure that students are
keeping up-to-date with the material covered in lectures. There will be 11 quizzes total
during the semester. The lowest quiz grade will be dropped when calculating the
student’s final point tally in the course.
GROUP WORK:
At the beginning of the semester, students will be randomly assigned to groups (in their
labs) 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. There will be graded
group assignments during every lab over the course of the semester. These simulations
are designed for students to work in their groups in class. Points will be earned on a
group basis based on the accuracy of the groups’ answers to the simulations. Whatever
number of points earned by the group is the number of points earned by the individual
student within the group (e.g., if the group earns 8 out of a possible 10 points on a
simulation, each group member that worked on the simulation will earn 8 points each.).
HOMEWORK:
Homework assignments are administered through MyAccountingLab which is the online
learning system that we will be using in conjunction with the Harrison, Horngren and
Thomas textbook. Homeworks are due after I have lectured on the topics covered in the
homework assignments. For example, if I lecture on Chapter 2 on Thursday/Friday’s
lecture, the Chapter 2 homework will be due by noon on the following Monday
(regardless of your lecture section). Therefore, homeworks are graded on accuracy.
ACCTG 201 - Syllabus
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The lowest homework grade will be dropped in when calculating the student’s final
point tally in this module.
POLL EVERYWHERE:
Over the course of the semester, we will use Poll Everywhere (PE) questions to review
lecture content on-the-fly. This means multiple choice poll questions taken from past
exams and quizzes are built into the lectures. Being passive in a lecture room of this size
is quite easy. My goal in embedding these PE questions into my lectures is to permit you
to be an engaged state of mind during lectures and an active participant in the learning
process. Points for correctly answered PE questions will contribute to your final grade.
Students can use any web-connected device (e.g., laptop, cellphone, tablet) to submit
their answers to the PE questions during each lecture.
PE is free for students. You do not have to pay any fees to sign up.
GRADING FOR THE COURSE:
ASSESSMENT
Exam #1 (Oct 4, 2014)
Exam #2 (Nov 8, 2014)
Exam #3 (Dec 13, 2014)
Poll Everywhere Participation
Quizzes
Homework
Group Exercises
TOTAL
% WEIGHT
(25%)
(25%)
(25%)
(5%)
(5%)
(10%)
(5%)
(100%)
Pages in the textbook for which you are responsible (regardless of
content covered in lecture):
CHAPTER 1: All pages
CHAPTER 2: All pages
CHAPTER 3: All pages
CHAPTER 5: pp. 245, 254-274 (you are not responsible for short-term investment
content in this chapter)
CHAPTER 6: pp. 300-320, 322-323
CHAPTER 7: pp. 362-392, 394-396
CHAPTER 8: pp. 449-458 (only time value of money is covered; you are not responsible
for content on long-term investments)
CHAPTER 9: pp. 482-497, 510, 516-517
CHAPTER 10: pp. 550-562
ACCTG 201 - Syllabus
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WEEK
1
LECTURE
DATES
8/28, 8/29
2
9/4, 9/5
3
9/11, 9/12
4
9/18, 9/19
5
9/25, 9/26
6
10/2, 10/3
TOPIC COVERED
Introduction to the Course
LAB
ACTIVITY
Introduction
NOTES
GTA’s will cover logistics for labs
Monday – Labor Day Holiday;
Chapter 1 – Financial
No labs
lectures will still take place on
Statements
Thursday and Friday
SEPTEMBER 8TH IS THE LAST DAY TO DROP CLASSES
Quiz #1 (Ch 1
Chapter 1 – Financial
material from
Ch 1 HW (HW #1) due on 9/8
Statements
week 2)
Group exercise
Quiz #2 (Ch 1
Chapter 2 – Transaction
material from
Analysis
week 3)
Group exercise
Quiz #3 (Ch 2
Chapter 2 – Transaction
material from
Ch 2 HW (HW #2) due on 9/22
Analysis
week 4)
Group exercise
Quiz #4 (Ch 2
material from
REVIEW
week 5)
Group exercise
10/4 (SATURDAY) – EXAM #1 covers Chapters 1-2
10/9, 10/10
Chapter 3 – Accrual
Accounting and Income
8
10/16, 10/17
Chapter 3 – Accrual
Accounting and Income
9
10/23, 10/24
Chapter 5 – Short term
investments and receivables
10
10/30, 10/31
Chapter 6 – Inventory
11
11/6, 11/7
Review
7
Return Exam #1
Quiz #5 (Ch 3
material from
week 7)
Group exercise
Quiz #6 (Ch 3
material from
week 8)
Group exercise
Quiz #7 (Ch 5)
Group exercise
Quiz #8 (Ch 6)
Group exercise
Ch 3 HW (HW #3) due 10/13
Ch 5 HW (HW #4) due 10/27
Ch 6 HW (HW #5) due 11/3
11/8 (SATURDAY) – EXAM #2 covers Chapters 3, 5, 6
12
11/13, 11/14
Chapter 7 – Operating Assets Return Exam #2
13
11/20, 11/21
Chapter 8 – Time Value of
ACCTG 201 - Syllabus
Quiz #9 (Ch 7)
Tuesday – Veterans’ Day Holiday
Lectures still take place
Ch 7 HW (HW #6) due 11/17
Page 7
14
11/27, 11/28
15
12/4, 12/5
16
12/11, 12/12
Money
No lectures
Chapters 9 & 10 – Liabilities
and Stockholders’ Equity
No lectures
Group exercise
No labs
Quiz #10 (Ch 8)
Group exercise
Quiz #11 TBA
Group exercise
Thanksgiving Break, 11/28-11/29
Ch 8 HW (HW #7) due 12/1
Last day of classes for the semester is
on Wednesday, Dec 10
12/13 (SATURDAY – EXAM #3 covers Chapters 7-10
ACCTG 201 - Syllabus
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