THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SCHOOL
BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
BUS 6a-Sections 1 & 2
Financial Accounting
Spring 2019 DRAFT
Professor:
Office:
Phone:
E-mail Address:
Office Hours:
Hagit Weihs
Sachar 130 (b)
781-736-8545
hagit@brandeis.edu
Fri 12:30-1:30
and by appointment
Recitations:
(Mandatory)
Thu 6:30-8:20 PM
TAs: Raymond Lu
(luji930@brandeis.edu)
Zhangmin (Yvonne) Zheng
(yvonnezlu@brandeis.edu)
Yovel Krasner
(ykrasner@brandeis.edu)
Henry (Hang) Yuan
(henryyuan1996@brandeis.edu)
Pre-requisite Course: ECON2a or ECON10a
(*) Mid-Term Exams will be held during recitations
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 the statement of cash flows. This course will primarily
address accounting standards employed in the 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 wellbeing of an organization by employing analytical techniques that include financial ratios
and trend analysis; (3) identify ethical aspects of a financial situation and evaluate those
aspects when making business decisions.
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Workload Expectation:
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,
homework, discussions, projects, preparation for exams, etc.).
Course Materials:
Financial Accounting, 9th Ed. Libby, Libby and Hodge, Irwin McGraw Hill (required).
You can either buy an ebook or a hard copy. You do NOT have to purchase McGraw
Hill’s CONNECT digital homework platform.
Please do NOT purchase the international version of the text, or an older edition, as
it will NOT correspond to the syllabus nor any other version.
Please bring a Texas Instruments BA II Plus calculator to all class meetings. This
calculator will be used in other business classes as well and WILL be allowed for exams
in this course. No graphing or calculator with texting capability will be permitted.
Additional Course Materials/Cases: Available on LATTE
Course Requirements and Grading Policy:
Course Grading and Exams
Your course grade will be determined based on the following formula:
Homework/Attendance/Participation
Exam 1
Exam 2
Final Exam
Group Project
Total
10%
20%
25%
30%
15%
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.
Homework:
In an accounting class, keeping up with the assigned homework is critical to your
success. If you do not take the time to challenge yourself and struggle with the issues in
each and every assigned problem, you will in all likelihood perform very poorly on the
exams.
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All homework must be submitted right BEFORE the beginning of class on which it is
due. You must submit all homework assignments on time. Late submission will not be
accepted. Assignments not submitted will receive a grade of zero.
IMPORTANT: ALL HOMEWORK SHOULD BE YOUR WORK AND NOT THE
WORK OF OTHERS. Work that is copied from another source and does not reflect your
own efforts will receive zero points.
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. If
you have a question regarding an exam grade, you must bring it to my attention with one
week of receiving the grade. 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 or
cellphones 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 are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and
wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me
immediately.
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COURSE SCHEDULE – Subject to Change at Professor’s Discretion
Exams 1 and 2 will be given during the Recitation Period
Session
Date
Topics/Chapters
1
T1/15
Introduction
2
F1/18
T1/22
3
F1/25
4
T1/29
5
F2/1
6
T2/5
7
F2/8
8
T2/12
THU2/14
9
10
11
Sales and Receivables
T2/19
No Class / Midterm Recess
F2/22
No Class / Midterm Recess
T2/26
Inventory & Cost of Goods Sold
F3/1
T3/5
Non-current Assets
13
F3/8
14
T3/12
Non-current Assets
Understanding Audited Financial
Statements/Project Introduction
Evening Exam 2 (Ch. 5, 6, 7, 8,
13)
Financial Statement Analysis
15
F3/15
16
T3/19
Ch. 7
Evening Exam 1 rain date (Ch.
1,2,3,4)
Inventory & Cost of Goods Sold
12
THU3/14
Assignments (due the next class)
Balance Sheet, Income
Ch. 1, 2(pgs
Chapter 1 LearnSmart
Statement/Interrelationship of
42-56)
E1-3, E1-4, E1-7, P1-1, P1-2
Financial Statements
NO CLASS: MONDAY ON A TUESDAY SCHEDULE
Analysis of Economic Events via
Ch. 2 (pgs 57Chapter 2 LearnSmart
Journal Entries
77)
E2-4, E2-6, P2-1, P2-2, P2-3
Ch. 3,
Global
Chapter 3 LearnSmart
Adjusting Journal Entries
Connections B M3-7, E3-2, E3-3, E3-4, E3-17, P3-2, P3-6
(LATTE)
Income Statement and Expanded
Chapter 4 LearnSmart
Ch. 4
Transaction Analysis
E4-6, E4-8, P4-2, P4-3, P4-5
Review/Catch Up
Non-recurring Items and Income
Ch. 5
Chapter 5 LearnSmart
Statement
E5-8, E5-10, E5-12, E5-15, P5-6
Sales and Receivables
Ch. 6
Chapter 6 LearnSmart
E6-9,E6-13, E6-17, E6-18, E6-24, P6-4
Evening Exam 1 (Ch. 1, 2, 3, 4)
At recitation location
F2/15
THU2/28
Reading
Ch. 1, 2(pgs
42-56)
Global
Connections A
(LATTE)
Chapter 7 LearnSmart
E7-3, E7-9, E7-10, E7-20, P7-1, P7-3, P7-4,
P7-8, P7-9, P7-10
At recitation location
Ch. 8
Chapter 8 LearnSmart
E8-2, E8-8, E8-11, P8-3, P8-8, P8-9, P810,P8-6,P8-11
Email to prof. Weihs team and liaison
At recitation location
Ch. 13
Chapter 13 LearnSmart
E5-17, E13-3, E13-8, E13-9, P13-4, P7-7
Financial Statement Analysis
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Session
Date
THU3/21
Topics/Chapters
Evening Exam 2 rain date (Ch.
5, 6, 7, 8, 13)
Liabilities and Time Value of
Money
17
F3/22
18
T3/26
Bond Pricing and Impact of Debt
Financing
19
F3/29
Bond Pricing and Impact of Debt
Financing
20
T4/2
Statement of Cash Flows
T4/2
***Last day to Drop***
F4/5
Statement of Cash Flows
21
22
T4/9
Stockholders’ Equity
23
F4/12
Stockholders’ Equity
24
T4/16
F4/19
T4/23
F4/26
25
T4/30
26
TH5/2
Investments
Reading
Assignments (due the next class)
At recitation location
Ch. 9
Chapter 9 LearnSmart
E9-4, E9-15, E9-19, P9-11, P9-12
Chapter 10 LearnSmart
M10-2, M10-4, M10-6, E10-16, P10-8, P1010, P10-12
Ch. 10
Ch. 12
Chapter 12 LearnSmart
E12-4, E12-7, E12-8, E12-16, P12-1, P12-2,
P12-4
Ch. 11
Chapter 11 LearnSmart
E11-8,E11-11,E11-16,E11-18, E11-22, E1123, P11-5,P11-8
Appendix E
Appendix E LearnSmart
MA-3, MA-4, EA-2, EA-5, EA-6, EA-7,
PA-4
No Class / Passover and Spring
Recess
No Class / Passover and Spring
Recess
No Class / Passover and Spring
Recess
Ethical
awareness
memo (posted
on LATTE)
Investments
FRIDAY ON A THURSDAY
SCHEDULE: Review/Catch Up
Financial Statement Analysis
Project Due
Prepare ethical awareness
questions/observations for class discussion
on 4/30
Financial Statement Analysis Project Due
Final Exam – Comprehensive with Emphasis on Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, Appendix A
FINAL EXAM DATE WILL BE ANNOUNCED BY THE REGISTRAR DURING
THE SEMESTER – DO NOT MAKE TRAVEL PLANS UNTIL YOU KNOW THE
SPECIFIC DATES/TIMES OF YOUR FINAL EXAMS.
(Exam period is 5/6-5/14)
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