Vancouver Island University
Faculty of Management, MBA Programs
PMBA 504 – Basics of Accounting and Quantitative Methods
Fall 2013
Faculty
Office:
Phone:
Email:
web:
Professor Gordon Holyer
Building 250, Room 426
753-3245, local 2539 / Fax: 740-6551
gordon.holyer@viu.ca
http://web.viu.ca/holyerg
Text:
Basics of Accounting and Quantitative Methods PMBA 504
Note: This book is specially compiled for this course, and must be
purchased from the bookstore.
Material is taken from:
Lind, Marchal, Wathen, and Waite, Basic Statistics For Business &
Economics, Third Canadian Edition, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2009
Phillips, Libby, Libby, Anderson, Fundamentals of Financial Accounting,
Second Canadian Edition, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2009
Course Description
This course has two key objectives. The first objective is to provide students with
the basic tools needed to understand and use accounting information in order to
improve their decision-making skills. The second objective is to provide students
with an overview of statistical techniques used in business decision-making.
Learning Outcomes
(Where: I=Introduced, D=Developed, A=Assessed)
Basics of Accounting
Knowledge and Understanding
Successful students will have a knowledge and understanding of:

The various forms of business organizations and the types of business activities
they engage in; (IDA)
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Accounting information, what is it and what are its qualitative characteristics;
(IA)
Cash and accrual bases of economic measurement;(IDA)
The balance sheet: starting the business, organizational structure and
financing;(IDA)
The statements of income and equity;(IDA)
The accounting cycle and its application;(IDA)
Merchandise inventory and long-lived assets;(ID)
The statement of cash flows;(IA)
Financial statement analysis.(IA)
Successful students will have the ability to (skills and attributes):

Understand what accounting information is, why it is important, and how it is
used by economic decision makers.(IDA)
Basics of Quantitative Methods
Knowledge and Understanding
Successful students will have a knowledge and understanding of:

The statistical techniques used in business decision-making.(IDA)
Successful students will have the ability to (skills and attributes):
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
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Define the difference between descriptive and inferential statistics;(IDA)
Understand the difference between a population and a sample and the concept of
sampling error;(IA)
Understand Probability distributions and calculate the mean and variance of
random variables;(IA)
Calculate probabilities for continuous probability distributions;(IA)
Use the standard normal distribution to calculate probabilities;(IA)
Understand the difference between sample statistics and population
parameters;(ID)
Calculate the mean and variance of the sampling distribution of the mean and
explain what is meant by a sampling distribution for a sample statistic;(IDA)
Explain the role of the Central Limit Theorem in sampling;(ID)
Set up and interpret estimates for the population mean, binomial parameter, and
the population proportion using different confidence levels;(IDA)
Use the t-distribution when appropriate;(IDA)
Perform tests of hypotheses for the population mean and population proportion
and understand the terminology of hypotheses testing (IDA)
o type I and type II errors
o
o
o
o
Evaluation:
one sided and two-sided tests
z-values and p-values
null and alternate hypotheses
use of intervals in testing
Test 1
Test 2
50%
50%
In order to pass this course the student must have an overall passing grade.
Grading Scale Grades will be assigned according to the following scale.
A+
A
A-
90 – 100%
85 - 89%
80 – 84%
D
Referrals
B+
B
B-
76 – 79%
72 – 75%
68 - 71%
F
C+
C
C-
64 - 67%
60 - 63%
55 - 59%
<54 Failure
Course Schedule:
Week Topic
1
What is Statistics
Descriptive Statistics
2
Discrete Probability Distributions
Normal Probability Function
3
Sampling Methods and Central Limit Theorem
Estimation and Confidence Intervals
4
One-Sample Tests of a Hypothesis
5
TEST October 21, 2013
6
Reporting and Interpreting the Financial Results of Business
Activities
Reporting Investing and Financing Results on the Balance
Sheet
7
Reporting Operating Results on the Income Statement
Adjustments, Financial Statements, and the Quality of
Financial Reporting
8
Reporting and Interpreting the Statement of Cash Flows
9
Analyzing Financial Statements
10
TEST Exam Period: December 5 - 16
Reading
Lind Ch 1 & 2
Lind Ch 5 & 6
Lind Ch 7 & 8
Lind Ch 9
Phillips Ch 1
&2
Phillips Ch 3
&4
Phillips Ch 12
Phillips Ch 13
Course Outline:
Week Topic
Chapter
1
What is Statistics
Types of Statistics
Uses and Abuses of Statistics
Lind 1
1
Descriptive Statistics
Frequency Distribution
Mean, Median, Mode
Measures of Dispersion
Lind 2
2
Discrete Probability Distribution
Lind 5
Mean, Variance, and Standard Deviation of a Probability Distribution
Binomial Probability Distribution
Poisson Probability Distribution
2
Normal Probability Distribution
Standard Normal Distribution
Finding Areas under the Normal Curve
The Normal Approximation to the Binomial
Lind 6
3
Sampling Methods
Sampling Error
Sampling Distribution of the Sampling Mean
Central Limit Theorem
Lind 7
3
Point Estimates and Confidence Intervals
Confidence Interval for a Proportion
Choosing an Appropriate Sample Size
Lind 8
4
Hypothesis Testing
Five Step Procedure for Testing a Hypothesis
One-Tailed and Two-Tailed Tests of Significance
p-Value in Hypothesis Testing
Testing for a Population Mean
Lind 9
5
TEST October 21, 16:30 – 18:30 Building 250 – Room 125
6
Understanding a Business
Four Basic Financial Statements
Phillips 1
6
Overview of the conceptual Framework
The Balance Sheet
Phillips 2
7
The Income Statement
Accrual and Cash Bases of Accounting
Phillips 3
7
Adjusting Revenues and Expenses
Preparing Financial Statements
Closing the Books
Phillips 4
8
Classification of Cash Flows
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: Direct Method
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: Indirect Method
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Additional Cash Flow Disclosures
Phillips 12
9
Financial Statement Analysis
Ratio and Percentage Analysis
Interpreting Ratios and Other Analytical Considerations
Phillips 13
10
TEST
Final Examination Period December 5 – 16, 2013