Commerce 2AA3 - Fall 2012 - 1
Commerce 2AA3
Financial Accounting
Fall 2012 Course Outline
Accounting and Financial Management Services Area
DeGroote School of Business
McMaster University
COURSE OBJECTIVE
This course will help all students (whether or not they plan a career in accounting) understand
why accounting exists, how it is implemented, its usefulness for decision making, how it affects
behaviour and contracts and why there are controversies over accounting methods.
The specific objectives of this course are:
1) Help students develop a thorough understanding of accounting procedures and the choices
possible in preparing corporate financial statements.
2) Help students become intelligent readers and users of corporate financial reports, which
include the fundamental statements (balance sheet, income statement, retained earnings
statement, and cash flow statement) plus explanatory notes, auditor’s report, etc.
3) Develop students’ appreciation of the usefulness and limitations of financial accounting
information.
INSTRUCTOR AND CONTACT INFORMATION
Day Sections:
Evening Section:
C01 Mo Th 09:30 10:20, Tu 10:30 11:20 KTH/B135 C01 Tu 19:00 22:00 BSB/B135
C02 Mo We Th 10:30 11:20 KTH/B135
C03 Mo Th 15:30 16:20 KTH/B135
Paul Ianni, CA
paulianni@gmail.com
Dr. Emad Mohammad
Office: DSB 313
mohde@mcmaster.ca
Office Hours: TBD
Office: DSB 317
I am also available by appointment
Office Hours: 12:30-2:00, Monday, Tuesday, and
Tel: (905) 525-9140 x23397
Thursday
I am also available by appointment on other days
Tel: (905) 525-9140 x27432
Commerce 2AA3 - Fall 2012 - 2
Course IA
Aadil Merali
jumaas@mcmaster.ca
Office: DSB 231
Office Hours: TBA
Administrative Assistant:
Ms. Alicja Siek
Office: MGD-303
Tel: (905) 525-9140 x24630
COURSE ELEMENTS
Credit Value:
Avenue:
Participation:
Evidencebased:
3
Yes
Yes
Yes
Leadership: No
Ethics: Yes
Innovation: No
Experiential: No
IT skills:
Numeracy:
Group work:
Final Exam:
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Global view:
Written skills:
Oral skills:
Guest
speaker(s):
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts of financial accounting. The
focus of this course will be on how accounting is used for recording economic events and for the
financial reporting, primarily to users external to business organizations. The course will
emphasize underlying concepts and principles, as well as cover accounting procedures in
sufficient detail to enable students to record accounting transactions and prepare financial
statements. A major emphasis in the course will be on understanding the information in
corporate financial reports and its use by individuals external to a corporation in making
investment and contracting decisions. The course will examine alternative accounting policies
and methods that may legitimately be used in financial reporting, and motivations that may
influence managers in choosing among them.
REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS AND READINGS
Avenue registration for course content, readings and case materials http://avenue.mcmaster.ca
Libby, Libby, Short, Kanaan, and Gowing, Financial Accounting, Fourth
Canadian Edition, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2011.
Commerce 2AA3 - Fall 2012 - 3
EVALUATION
The final grade will be calculated in the first instance from the grades obtained on the two term
examinations and the final examination. The examinations and their weightings in the
determination of the final grade are:
Components and Weights
Term Examination 1
Term Examination 2
Final Examination
Total
10/12/2012, 5:30 p.m.
11/09/2012, 5:30 p.m.
TBA
30%
30%
40%
100%
Notes on Examinations
1. All students will write the same term and final examinations.
2. Exams will have multiple-choice questions and long-answer problems.
3. Examination locations will be announced in lectures, and posted outside of DSB 317 and
DSB 324 and on Avenue.
4. The official McMaster University photo identification card must be presented at each
examination.
5. NOTE: The use of a McMaster standard calculator is allowed during examinations in this
course. See McMaster calculator policy at the following URL:
http://www.mcmaster.ca/policy/Students-AcademicStudies/examinationindex.html
6. The instructor reserves the right to adjust your final grade on the basis of the overall
evaluation of class performance, trend of your performance, participation, and other factors. This
adjustment will result in a maximum change of one grade point.
Grade Conversion
At the end of the course your overall percentage grade will be converted to your letter grade in
accordance with the following conversion scheme.
LETTER GRADE
PERCENT
LETTER GRADE
PERCENT
A+
A
A-
90 - 100
85 - 89
80 - 84
C+
C
C-
67 - 69
63 - 66
60 - 62
B+
B
B-
77 - 79
73 - 76
70 - 72
D+
D
D-
57 - 59
53 - 56
50 - 52
F
00 - 49
Commerce 2AA3 - Fall 2012 - 4
Communication and Feedback
Students who are uncomfortable in directly approaching an instructor regarding a course concern
may send a confidential email to the respective Area Chair (mohde@mcmaster.ca) or the
Associate Dean (adbusac@mcmaster.ca).
Students who wish to correspond with instructors or TAs directly via email must send messages
that originate from their official McMaster University email account. This protects the
confidentiality and sensitivity of information as well as confirms the identity of the student.
Emails regarding course issues should NOT be sent to the Area Administrative Assistants.
Instructors are required to provide evaluation feedback for at least 10% of the final grade to
students prior to Week #8 in the term.
Instructors may conduct an informal course review with students by Week #4 to allow time for
modifications in curriculum delivery.
Students who wish to have a course component re-evaluated must complete the following form:
http://www.mcmaster.ca/policy/Students-AcademicStudies/Form_A.pdf
In order for the component to be re-read:
•
•
•
•
•
the component must be worth 10% or more of the final grade in the course
students pay a fee of $50 in Gilmour Hall #209 (receipt is then brought to APO)
the Area Chair will seek out an independent adjudicator to re-grade the component
an adjustment to the grade for the component will be made if a grade change of three points
or greater on the 12 point scale (equivalent to 10 marks out of 100) has been suggested by the
adjudicator as assigned by the Area Chair
if a grade change is made, the student fee will be refunded.
LECTURES
Lectures will be a combination of lecture presentation and discussion of conceptual and
numerical examples from the text plus current business examples of topics covered. The material
in the course will generally follow that assigned in the text. However, lecture coverage will
include material not covered in the text and exclude some material in the text. Students are
responsible for all material covered in lectures and, therefore, should attend all lectures.
Absence from lectures is not an excuse for not being aware of the details of coverage in the
course. Students should prepare for each lecture by reading the relevant chapter in the text,
reviewing the lecture notes, looking at any examples to be covered and attempting the assigned
questions before each class. Some materials relating to lectures will be posted on Avenue.
Guidelines will be given each lecture as to the specific coverage in the following lecture(s).
Commerce 2AA3 - Fall 2012 - 5
TUTORIALS
Tutorials will be held each week, except the first week of the term. Attendance will be taken at
these tutorials. Therefore, you must attend the tutorial to which you have been assigned. An
adjustment to the calculated grades as above, to a maximum of 3%, will be made based upon
attendance and participation in tutorials. DO NOT SIGN in tutorials on behalf of other students.
Doing so is considered cheating. Both students will, at minimum, lose all the bonus points
regardless of their attendance record. You are required to be present for the entire hour of
the tutorial for the bonus for that week. You will only be eligible for bonus marks for the
tutorials if you attend at least 5 tutorials during the semester; that is, students who attend
less than 5 tutorials will NOT receive any credit for attendance. Each tutorial will be
worth 0.3% of your final mark up to a maximum of 3%.
PARTICIPATION AND AVENUE DISCUSSION BOARD
Class participation is an integral part of the learning experience in this course. Students should
participate in lecture and tutorial discussions either by asking questions, volunteering answers to
questions raised or responding when asked specifically. Note that it is not expected that students
will have the correct answers to all questions. Rather, participation will allow students to test
their ideas and develop confidence in their understanding of the course material.
Instructors enable the Avenue discussion board to allow discussions among students of courserelated matters in a public forum. Past experience was mainly positive as many students have
benefited from each other. Unfortunately, very few students have abused that forum by posting
inaccurate information and by using it as a social chat forum. To maintain Avenue discussion
board for course-related academic matters only, instructors will deny access to students who
abuse it.
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
It is the student’s responsibility to understand what constitutes academic dishonesty. Please refer
to the University Senate Academic Integrity Policy at the following URL:
http://www.mcmaster.ca/policy/Students-AcademicStudies/AcademicIntegrity.pdf
This policy describes the responsibilities, procedures, and guidelines for students and faculty
should a case of academic dishonesty arise. Academic dishonesty is defined as to knowingly act
or fail to act in a way that results or could result in unearned academic credit or advantage.
Please refer to the policy for a list of examples. The policy also provides faculty with procedures
to follow in cases of academic dishonesty as well as general guidelines for penalties. For further
information related to the policy, please refer to the Office of Academic Integrity at:
http://www.mcmaster.ca/academicintegrity
Commerce 2AA3 - Fall 2012 - 6
REQUESTING RELIEF FOR MISSED ACADEMIC WORK
1.
Students may request relief from a regularly scheduled midterm, test, assignment or other
course component in the following two ways:
a)
b)
for absences from classes lasting up to five (5) days; or
for absences from classes lasting more than five (5) days.
a)
For absences from classes lasting up to five (5) days
Students must use the MSAF (McMaster Student Absence Form). This is an on-line, selfreporting tool, for which submission of medical or other types of supporting documentation is
normally not required. Students may use this tool to submit a maximum of one (1) request for
relief of missed academic work per term as long as the weighting of the component is worth 29%
of the final grade or less. Students must follow up with their course instructors regarding the
nature of the relief within two days of submitting the form. Failure to do so may negate the
opportunity for relief. It is the prerogative of the instructor of the course to determine the
appropriate relief for missed term work in his/her course.
If the value of the component is worth 30% or more, students must report to the APO to discuss
their situation and will be required to provide appropriate supporting documentation.
b)
For absences from classes lasting more than five (5) days
Students cannot use the MSAF. They MUST report to the APO to discuss their situation and
will be required to provide appropriate supporting documentation.
Students who wish to submit more than one request for relief of missed academic work per term
cannot use the MSAF. They must report to the APO and discuss their situation with an academic
advisor. They will be required to provide supporting documentation and meet with the Director.
The MSAF cannot be used during any final examination period.
Students who require accommodations to meet a religious obligation or to celebrate an important
religious holiday must make their requests in writing within three weeks of the start of term to
the APO.
Students seeking relief due to: work-related (for part-time students only) commitments;
representing the university at an academic or varsity athletic event; and/or conflicts between two
(or more) overlapping scheduled midterm exams, have the option of applying for special exam
arrangements. Such requests must be made to the APO at least ten (10) working days before the
scheduled exam along with acceptable documentation. There will be only one common sitting
for the special exam. Instructors cannot themselves allow students to unofficially write make-up
exams/tests. Adjudication of the request must be handled by the APO.
Commerce 2AA3 - Fall 2012 - 7
STUDENT ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES
Student Accessibility Services (SAS) offers various support services for students with
disabilities. Students are required to inform SAS of accommodation needs for course work at the
outset of term. Students must forward a copy of such SAS accommodation to the instructor
normally, within the first three (3) weeks of classes by setting up an appointment with the
instructor. If a student with a disability chooses NOT to take advantage of an SAS
accommodation and chooses to sit for a regular exam, a petition for relief may not be filed after
the examination is complete. The SAS website is:
http://sas.mcmaster.ca
POTENTIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE COURSE
The instructor and university reserve the right to modify elements of the course during the term.
The university may change the dates and deadlines for any or all courses in extreme
circumstances. If either type of modification becomes necessary, reasonable notice and
communication with the students will be given with explanation and the opportunity to comment
on changes. It is the responsibility of the student to check their McMaster email and course
websites weekly during the term and to note any changes.
Commerce 2AA3 - Fall 2012 - 8
COURSE SCHEDULE
Commerce 2AA3
Financial Accounting
Fall 2012 Course Schedule
Week of:
September 3
September 10
TOPIC
Ch. 1: Financial Statements and
Business Decisions
(Note: First class is on Thursday,
September 6)
Ch. 1: Financial Statements and
Business Decisions
Exercises
Problems
2, 3, 6, 8, 11
1, 3
September 17
Ch. 2: Investing and Financing
Decisions
3, 5, 7, 10, 12
1, 2, 5
September 24
Ch. 3: Operating Decisions and Income
Statement
(Note: No class on Wednesday,
September 29)
Ch. 4: Adjustments and Financial
Statements
1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 15
2, 3
1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 17
4, 5
Ch. 5: Statement of Cash Flows
(Note: No class on Monday, October
8)
Ch. 7: Revenues, Receivables, and Cash
1, 4, 6, 9, 16, 17
2, 5
2, 5, 9-11, 14, 17, 24
2, 4, 5
October 22
Ch. 8: Cost of Goods Sold and
Inventory
1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 20
1, 2
November 29
Ch. 8: Cost of Goods Sold and
Inventory
10, 12, 15, 21
3, 6
November 5
Ch. 9: Long Lived Assets
3, 6, 8, 11, 16, 19, 26
2, 3, 9
November 12
Ch. 10: Current Liabilities and Notes
Payable
3, 7, 9, 12
2, 7, 10
November 19
Ch. 11: Long-Term Liabilities
TBA
TBA
November 26
Ch. 12: Owners’ Equity
2, 3, 6, 8, 11, 13, 16
3, 4, 8
October 1
October 8
October 15