UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Leventhal School of Accounting
BUAD 305X: ABRIDGED CORE CONCEPTS OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION
Course Syllabus for Spring Semester 2006
Sec.
Time
Location
14766 8:00-9:50 am MW
HOH 405
14768
10:00-11:50 am
HOH 405
MW
Professor:
Office:
Telephone:
Email:
Office Hours:
Emergencies:
Information:
Chrislynn Freed, CPA
Leventhal School of Accounting - 229
213-740-4867 (office telephone and voicemail number)
cfreed@marshall.usc.edu
Monday & Wednesday: 7:00-7:45AM; and 12:15 PM - 2:00 PM
In case of campus-wide emergencies, USC wants you to know:
USC Police, Fire, Ambulance, Emergency: 213-740-4321
USC Emergency Info Line: 213-740-9233; USC Information Line: 740-2311
Tune to KUSC Radio at 91.5 on your FM dial
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
This course is not a traditional financial-managerial course. Instead, this course will take a new approach to accounting
education. The emphasis will be on a broader and more current understanding of how accounting plays a role in
society. Another goal of the new approach will be to try to make you a very active class participant so that you can
develop inquisitive, analytical, and broad critical thinking skills. Please see items I to IV, listed below, for a list of the
broad objectives of the course. Accounting has often been called “the language of business.” Abridged Core Concepts
of Accounting Information should help you begin to understand and communicate in this language. The course should
also help you gain an appreciation for the uses of accounting information and the limitations inherent in accounting
information.
Upon completion of Abridged Core Concepts of Accounting Information you should:
I.
Have an understanding of the role of the accounting profession in society.
II.
Have an understanding of how accounting is used in business, including an appreciation of the role of financial
accounting, managerial accounting, systems, tax and auditing.
III.
Have a fundamental understanding of how to use the available tools of accounting-including such tools as the
professional literature, research literature, databases, and computer software to help clarify accounting
concepts and issues, analyze options, and make decisions or solve problems.
IV.
Become aware of the importance of ethics and values, communication skills and interpersonal skills in dealing
with accounting issues, and begin to develop skills in these areas.
COURSE PREREQUISITES:
This course is open only to students with two transferable “Principles of Accounting” courses (i.e., one should be
introduction to financial accounting and the other should be introduction to management accounting) from a two-year
or four-year institution. This course is not a review of your prerequisites.
COURSE FORMAT:
Abridged Core Concepts of Accounting Information is a one-semester, four unit course. The format of the course
consists of two 110-minute class meetings per week. Your regular class meetings will involve a variety of teaching
methods including lecture, class discussion of problems, and group presentations.
COURSE MATERIALS:
Title: Selected Chapters Custom Published: FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING REPORTING AND ANALYSIS; 7TH
EDITION
Authors: STICE and STICE
Publisher: Thomson South-Western
Title: MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING, 11TH EDITION
Author: GARRISON, NOREEN & BREWER
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION:
Your performance in BUAD 305X will be evaluated based on the following:
Group and Sub-group Assignments
Individual Class Participation/quizzes/homework
Peer Evaluations (individual contribution to group)
Mid-term Examination
Final Examination
Total
225 points
150 points
25 points
300 points
300 points
1,000 points
Your total points will be converted into a letter grade based on a single curve applied to both of my BUAD 305X
sections and will meet the grading guidelines of the Schools of Accounting and Business, which currently require the
class average to approximate 2.85. Please note that the grade of W is allowed only if a student withdraws by approved
date. The grade of IN is reserved for highly unusual cases where the student is unable to complete a single item of the
course requirements. See the attached policies for further information.
After each homework assignment, group and sub-group assignment and midterm is returned, you will have one week
to challenge your grade in writing. After this time, grades become final.
ASSIGNMENTS:
A typical week’s assignments will include:
 Background reading. Each topic includes readings about accounting concepts and issues.
 Homework problems. You can’t learn about accounting simply by reading. You need to grapple with the issues
and the numbers yourself to really understand the concepts. Therefore, you should expect to have problem
assignments every week. The problems will be important preparation for the class discussions (which affect your
individual participation points).
PEER EVALUATIONS:
Employers who recruit new hires from college campuses seek students who have developed small group skills for the
work place. Your group’s grade depends on each member’s efforts. Two and ½ percent of your course grade will be
based on your individual contribution to your group. Confidential peer evaluations will be solicited from each member
of your group concerning your contribution to the group’s efforts.
QUIZZES, HOMEWORK AND PARTICIPATION account for 15% of the course points (150 points in total). The
primary goal of the homework assignments and participation portion of the grade is to reward your preparation and
individual contribution to the learning environment in the classroom. The 150 points will be distributed as follows:
Individual participation
Quizzes
Homework
30 points
60 points
60 points
The 30 points relating to individual participation will be based on attendance in class and the quality and quantity of
each student’s contribution to class discussion. For each unexcused absence after one, three points will be deducted
from the 30 points.
QUIZZES AND COLLECTED HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS will account for 60 points each, of your course
grade. Course material should be read and homework completed prior to each class.
Quizzes may cover any of the readings and homework questions. There will be quizzes on the dates indicated in the
assignment schedule.
Homework assignments will be randomly collected and graded. Assignments will be collected and graded depending
on one toss of a coin. I will toss a coin and ask a student to call “heads” or “tails”. If the student correctly calls the
toss, the assignment will not be collected for that day. If the student incorrectly calls the toss, I will collect the
assigned homework.
There will be no make-up quizzes or homework assignments; however, students will be allowed to drop one quiz and
one homework assignment grade. If you have an excused absence from class be sure to email me your homework for
that day by 5:00 p.m. just in case it is collected. This way it won’t count as your dropped homework.
EXAMINATIONS:
The midterm and final examinations account for 60% of the course grade. The content of these exams will be drawn
from the course texts and class discussions. The exams will be a mix of objective and subjective components – details
about the format will be announced in classes near the exam date.
MAKE-UP EXAM POLICY:
Exams missed without the prior approval of your professor or without adequate documentation of the reason for
missing the exam will result in a recorded grade of zero for the missed exam. Only in the case of a well-documented
true emergency should an exam be missed. Please be sure to get your professor’s prior approval. If the mid-term
exam is missed with prior agreement and adequate documentation, the grade obtained on the final exam will
automatically be substituted for the missed exam as well. All students must take the final exam as scheduled unless an
incomplete contract has previously been approved according to School of Accounting regulations (see School of
Accounting standards at the end of this syllabus).
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
Ethics and values are very important in accounting and the world of business, non-profit and governmental
organizations. We will consider ethical issues in accounting throughout this course. Ethics and values are also
important in education. Professors will assume, unless there is evidence to the contrary, that you are an ethical student.
To help you fulfill your ethical responsibilities as a student, the ethical standards for BUAD 305X are listed below.
Graded group assignment: All work is to be performed exclusively by the members of the group and all group
members must contribute their fair share to each assignment. If outside research is performed, sources are to be cited
and information discovered via outside research is to be clearly labeled as such. If outside research is performed, the
products of your research are not to be shared with any student who is not a member of the group.
Graded sub-group assignment: All work is to be performed exclusively by the members of the sub-group and all
sub-group members must contribute their fair share to each assignment. Your work on this sub-group assignment is
not to be shared with any student who is not a member of the sub-group.
Knowledge of standards violation: Allowing another student to obtain course points by deceit contributes to a
general lowering of the ethical standards of the University and contributes to deception of potential employers and
other academic institutions. Thus, you have an obligation to take some action when you know another student is
violating the course’s academic integrity standards. This is a difficult personal trial to face, but it is an important part
of your ethical obligation as a student. If you know that another student is violating the standards, it is your
responsibility to inform the student’s professor. See the latest edition of SCAMPUS for discussion of academic
integrity violations and penalties. In this course, academic integrity violations generally will be penalized with a grade
of F for this course. For a detailed listing of other additional serious penalties, review the appropriate pages of
SCAMPUS.
DROPS AND ADDS:
Do you know anyone who is thinking about adding this course? Group assignments begin early in the course.
Therefore, adds or changes of sections cannot be accepted after the first week of classes.
Are you thinking about dropping the course? The last day to do so without a “W” is Friday, January 27th. Friday,
April 7th is the last day to drop with a “W.” If you do decide to drop the course, please let your professor or your
group members know immediately. This is particularly important if you decide to drop during the first two weeks of
classes when groups are being formed.
SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTING GRADING AND ACADEMIC STANDARDS:
A summary of the most important grading and academic standards of the School of Accounting is attached to the end
of this syllabus. These pages contain information on grading matters such as the rules for “incompletes” and
information about the grade requirements for accounting majors.
RETENTION OF GRADED PAPERS:
I will retain all graded material that has not been returned to the student for one semester. After that time, I will
discard all materials.
STATEMENT FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services
and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP.
Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open
8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.
BOOKS TO BRING TO CLASS:
You should bring the Financial Accounting textbook for the first half of the course and the Managerial
Accounting textbook for the second half of the course to class. To reinforce class discussions we will be doing
additional problems included in your textbook during class.
INDIVIDUAL CLASS TOPICS AND ASSIGNMENTS:
The detailed schedule on the following page provides you with a list of the topics, reading assignments, and homework
assignments, due each day. Please note that you are required to complete the reading assignments and
homework assignments as preparation for the class they are assigned for.
The detail schedule also provides you with the dates of quizzes and the due dates for the group and sub group
assignments.
Schedule of Assignments BUAD 305x
Class
MW
1
2
3
1/9
1/11
1/16
4
Topics
Readings
Homework
Introduction
The Accounting Information System
HOLIDAY
None
Ch. 7
None
E7-2; E7-5
None
1/18
The Accounting Information System
None
P7-18
5
1/23
The Balance Sheet
Ch. 4
E4-1; E4-17; E4-18; P4-19
6
1/25
The Income Statement
Ch. 5
E-5-1; E5-2; E5-6; E5-15, part 1; P5-28
7
1/30
The Revenue Cycle
Ch. 9
8
2/1
Costs of Goods Sold and Inventory
9
2/6
Cost of Goods Sold and Inventory
10
11
12
13
14
2/8
2/13
2/15
2/20
2/22
Expenditure Cycle
Investments in Operating Assets
Statement of Cash Flows
HOLIDAY
Statement of Cash Flows
Ch. 10, pp.
425-447
Ch. 10, pp.
447-457
Ch. 11
Ch. 12
Ch. 6
E9-2; E 9-6; E9-11; E9-18; P9-24; Quiz #1 on Ch. 7, 4
&5
E10-2; E10-3; E10-4; P10-25
15
2/27
16
3/1
17
18
3/6
3/8
19
3/13 &
3/15
3/20
20
E10-17; P10-33; P10-35
None
E11-1; E11-9; E11-10; E11-18; Quiz #2 on Chs. 9 & 10
E12-2; E 12-4; E12-6; P12-22, parts 1 and 2; P12-29
E6-1; E6-4; E6-5; E6-8; E6-10
None
P6-24
Financial Statement Analysis
Ch. 3
E3-4; E3-12; E3-14; P3-17; Quiz #3 on Chs. 11, 12 & 6
Financial Statement analysis; Review for
Midterm
MID-TERM EXAM
Review Midterm Exam; Mandatory
presentation on using Peachtree for subgroup project by Dee Davidson
SPRING BREAK
None
P3-29
Cost Terms, Concepts and Classifications
Ch. 2
E2-11; P2-16; P2-24; Group Project Step 1 Due
3/22
Job-Order Costing
Ch. 3
E3-3; E3-15; P3-27
21
3/27
Cost Behavior: Analysis and Use
Ch. 5
E5-7; P5-13; Quiz #4 on Chs. 2 & 3
22
3/29
Cost-Volume-Profit Relationships
Ch. 6
23
4/3
Variable Costing
Ch. 7
E6-1; E6-3; E6-5; E6-6; E6-7; E6-16; E6-17; Peachtree
Project due (50 points)
E7-3; E7-8; P7-13; Hand out ABC case
24
4/5
Activity Based Costing
Ch. 8
25
4/10
Profit Planning and Budgeting
Ch. 9
ABC case due; Quiz #5 on Chs. 5, 6 & 7; Group
Project Step 2 Due
P9-9; P9-11
26
4/12
Standard Costs
Ch. 10
E10-3; E10-4; E10-13; P10-17; P10-19
27
4/17
Relevant Costs for Decision Making
Ch. 13
E13-3; E13-4; E13-12; P13-16
28
4/19
Recap and Review
None
Quiz on Chs. 8, 9, 10 & 13
29
4/24
Group Presentations
None
None
30
4/26
Group Presentations
None
None
Detailed outline and copies of PowerPoint slides for
Group Project due
Final Exam: Section #14766: Monday, May 8th, 11:00am-1:00pm; Location TBA
Section #14768: Monday, May 8th, 8:00-10:00am; Location TBA
All readings BEFORE the midterm exam are from the Stice and Stice textbook
All readings AFTER the midterm are from the Garrison, Noreen & Brewer textbook