SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
Accounting 201: Financial Accounting Fundamentals
Summer 2013
COURSE MATERIALS
Harrison, Horngren and Thomas Financial Accounting (9th ed.) 2013
MyAccountingLab
Basic function calculator (not programmable (e.g., financial))
Nine Scantron forms (882-E)
COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course is intended to introduce you to the basics of financial accounting. It explores what
financial accounting is, why it is important, and how it is used by managers, investors, and creditors
to make decisions. The course covers the recording and reporting of business transactions with a
focus on the accounting cycle, application of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP),
preparation of financial statements, and financial statement analysis. The course includes issues
relating to asset, liability, and equity valuation; revenue and expense recognition; cash inflows and
outflows; internal controls and ethics.
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION GOALS
BSBA students will graduate being effective communicators, critical thinkers, able to analyze ethical
problems, global in their perspective, and knowledgeable about the essentials of business. This class
contributes to those goals through its student learning outcomes.
COURSE-LEVEL STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Use accounting and business terminology, and understand the nature and purpose of generally
accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
2. Explain the objective of financial reporting, the elements of the financial statements, and the
related key accounting assumptions and principles.
3. Define and distinguish between cash basis and accrual basis accounting and the impact of each
on the financial statements.
4. Recognize the information conveyed in each of the four basic financial statements and the way it
is used by investors, creditors, regulators, and managers.
5. Identify and illustrate how internal controls are used to manage and control the firm’s resources
and risk.
6. Explain the nature of current assets including the measuring and reporting of items such as shortterm investments, receivables and bad debts, inventory and costs of goods sold, and prepaid
expenses.
7. Explain the valuation and reporting of current liabilities, estimated liabilities, and contingencies.
8. Identify and illustrate issues relating to the acquisition, use, depreciation, and disposal of longlived assets.
9. Identify and illustrate issues relating to the valuation, issuance, and retirement of long-term
liabilities.
10. Account for long-term investments and international business activities.
11. Identify and illustrate issues relating to stockholders’ equity including the issuance of stock,
repurchase of stock and dividends.
12. Explain the importance of operating, investing, and financing activities reported in the statement
of cash flows when evaluating firm performance and solvency.
13. Compute and interpret key financial ratios.
14. Identify the ethical implications inherent in financial reporting and be able to apply strategies for
addressing them.
GRADING
Exam 1
Exam 2
Exam 3
Homework
Individual Quizzes
Group Exercises
Top Hat
25%
25%
25%
10%
5%
5%
5%
100%
Tentative lower limits for full letter grades are as follows: A/90; B/80; C/60; D/50. A plus and minus
letter grade system may be applied to full letter grades.
Exams: There will be three noncumulative exams. Each exam will contain 25 multiple choice
questions and 4 analysis problems. No make-up exams are given.
Homework: Homework is assigned and graded for accuracy through MyAccountingLab.
Quizzes/Exercises: Expect to complete a group exercise and individual quiz in class.
Top Hat: We will use Top Hat questions to review lecture content on-the-fly. Specifically, this means
multiple choice questions taken from past exams and quizzes are built into lectures. My goal in
embedding Top Hat questions into lectures is to permit you to be an active learner. Because
responses to Top Hat questions contribute towards your final grade, answers that are not your own
will be treated as a form of academic dishonesty (see policy below on Academic Integrity).
For each lecture, Top Hat points may be earned. Half of these points are awarded for attempting the
questions; half for answering the questions correctly. Points earned in each session are recorded in to
your Top Hat grade book and posted to Blackboard grade book. It is your responsibility to track your
scores, and provide me with prompt feedback (within 48 hours of the lecture) on issues related to
these scores.
MyAccountingLab: There will be a homework assignment for each chapter covered. The minimum
time to complete the assignment will be 24 hours.
Scores: Scores for homework assignments are posted to MyAccountingLab. Scores on quizzes, THM
questions, exercises and exams are posted to your Blackboard grade book. Please contact me in a
timely manner if you have questions about any of these scores.
LECTURE PPT SLIDES
A subset of lecture slides will be posted to Blackboard. These slides are intended to ease your note
taking in the lecture, so download and print each set prior to the lecture.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
The SDSU Standards for Student Conduct (http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/srr/conduct1.html) states that
unacceptable student behavior includes “cheating, plagiarism, or other forms of academic dishonesty
that are intended to gain unfair academic advantage.” Unprofessional conduct adversely impacts
your fellow students, the accounting faculty, the School of Accountancy, SDSU, and the accounting
profession. The Charles W. Lamden School of Accountancy takes academic honesty seriously and
vigorously enforces university policy related to any such infractions. As such, any student suspected
of academic dishonesty will be reported to the SDSU Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities.
OBTAINING MYACCOUNTINGLAB
Option 1: Bookstore Custom for Acct 201
 Hardcover book + MALab
$228.49
 3 hole punch book (SVE) + MAL $156.99
 MAL access code with eText $122.99
Option 2: www.pearsonmylab.com
 $100 with ebook
 $55 without ebook
Note: this is the best option if you have a used book.
CLASS SCHEDULE
Date
5/22
5/23
5/28
5/29
5/30
6/3
6/4
6/5
6/6
6/10
6/11
6/12
6/13
6/17
6/18
6/19
6/20
6/24
6/25
6/26
6/27
7/1
7/2
Chapter
Introduction
Ch 1 The Financial Statements
Ch 2 Transaction Analysis
Lab Ch 1&2
Ch 3 Accrual Accounting & Income
Ch 4 Internal Control & Cash
Lab Ch 3&4
Exam 1 - Ch 1-4
Ch 5 Short-term Investments & Securities
Ch 6 Inventory & CoGS
Lab Ch 5&6
Ch 7 Plant Assets & Intangibles
Ch 9 Liabilities
Lab Ch 7&9
Exam 2 - Ch 5-7, 9
Ch 8 Long-term Investments & International
Ch 10 Stockholders’ Equity
Lab Ch 8&10
Ch 12 Statement of Cash Flows
Ch 13 Financial Statement Analysis
Lab Ch 12&13
Study day
Exam 3 – Ch 8, 10, 12-13