Accounting 3300—Cost Accounting
Spring 2013
Professor:
Richard E. McDermott, Ph.D.
251 Wattis Bldg.
Cell: 801-628-8413
Professor’s Website: http://faculty.weber/rmcdermott 2
Email for correspondence or questions: remcdermott@weber.edu 1
Email to turn in Code Blue and Pegasus homework: acc3300sp2013@gmail.com 1
Notes:
This is essentially a paperless class.
Homework for the Horngren textbook will be completed and turned in through the Pearson’s online homework
program (My Accounting Lab).
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Homework for the service industry costing module (Code Blue) and the contractor costing module (Pegasus)
will be turned in electronically to: acc3300sp2013@gmail.com. Hard copies will not be accepted, and
homework sent to the wrong account will not be graded.
The professor’s website will contain announcements, PowerPoint presentations, additional teaching
supplements, grades, and so on. Students should check the website at least one day before class.
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Textbooks and Other Teaching Materials:
Cost Accounting-- A Managerial Emphasis. 14th Edition. Horngren, Datar and Rajan 4
Code Blue—Third Edition, McDermott and Stocks, Purchased first day of class.
Code Blue Questions and Problems: Download from http://faculty.weber.edu/rmcdermott
Contractor case study and supplements including Pegasus case study: Download from
http://faculty.edu/rmcdermott
Pearson’s “My Accounting Lab.” Instructions on how to purchase this will be given the first day of class.
Note:
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If you wish you may use the 12th or 13th edition of Horngren. You will need to buy the Pearson online
homework program (My Accounting Lab), however, via the Internet.
Office Hours:
Tuesday and Thursday: 2:00 to 3:00 PM
Monday Wednesday and Friday: 11:00 AM to 12:00 Noon
Other times by appointment
Syllabus Accounting 3300 Spring 2013
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Course Description:
This is the second course in cost accounting. Cost accounting focuses on determining the costs of goods and
services produced by manufacturing companies, service industry firms, and contractors.
Accounting 3300 Exit Competencies:
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
1) Understand the role of the cost accountant.
2) Understand cost behavior.
3) Understand and distinguish between job costing and process costing.
4) Be able to apply applicable rules for normal and abnormal spoilage.
5) Prepare budgets.
6) Develop information for decision making.
7) Understand the major pricing models, and apply them to real-world situations.
8) Be able to allocate support department costs, common costs, and revenues, using multiple methodologies.
9) Understand the balanced scorecard, and the theory of constraints.
10) Be able to calculate the cost of quality.
11) Be able to analyze and improve quality in a manufacturing setting by using control charts, Pareto diagrams,
and cause and effect diagrams.
12) Understand new concepts in the management of inventories including just-in-time.
13) Understand and apply the various models for transfer pricing.
14) Understand multinational considerations in cost accounting.
15) Understand and apply current concepts in performance measurement, and compensation.
16) Understand the differences between service industry cost accounting, contractor cost accounting, and
manufacturing cost accounting, and be able to prepare cost reports and financial statements for each
industry.
Accounting School Learning Outcomes:
Graduates from the School of Accountancy will understand:
1) The key competencies of the accounting profession.
2) Relevant, economic, social, and international issues in the accounting profession.
3) The professional role played by accountants in society by providing and ensuring the relevance and integrity
of financial and other information;
4) The ethical and regulatory environment for accountants;
5) Business processes, analysis, and decision making;
6) How to record, report, and analyze accounting data for decision making;
7) Project and engagement management;
Syllabus Accounting 3300 Spring 2013
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8) The design and application of technology to financial and non-financial information management;
9) How to communicate orally and in writing in professional situations and to participate in group learning.
10) How to use the library, the Internet, and research databases as resources to gather information.
Classroom Participation:
Classroom participation is essential to the learning process. Lack of participation indicates a lack of interest in
the subject or the absence of preparation, and may affect your final grade. There is no such thing as a dumb
question. If you do not understand a concept being taught, speak up!
Quizzes and Examinations:
There will be a quiz at the end of each module/case study/chapter. All quizzes and tests will be taken in the
Student Services Testing Center on chi-tester. Since chi-tester does not allow one to format such things as
tables, you will be given a hard copy properly formatted on which to work your examination when you enter the
testing center. Problems will consist of true/false, multiple choice conceptual, multiple choice problems, fill-inthe-blank conceptual questions, fill-in-the-blank work out problems, and essay questions. There is no partial
credit for any but essay questions. You will not receive a score when you finish your chi-tester. You will be able
to access your answers through any computer three days after the testing period closes, however. When answers
are posted on the web, I will leave a reserve copy of the test with problems worked out in the Accounting Office
for student review for one week after answers are posted.
Most of the questions are taken from the test bank. I work these problems before putting them on the exam as I
have found the test bank occasionally contains errors or questions that are unclear. If you wish to challenge the
answer on a missed question, you may do so in writing for one week after the test answers are posted on the
web.
Students can miss or drop one exam during the semester. There typically are no make-up exams. At the end of
the course, there will be a comprehensive examination.
Since everyone makes “stupid mistakes” I recommend that students work all chi-tester problems twice to
eliminate as many of these as possible. Students who have done this in the past have reported that they picked
up as much as half a grade.
Homework:
Service Industry and Contractor Cost Accounting Homework: As detailed above, homework for the service
industry cost accounting module (Code Blue) and construction industry module (Pegasus) will be turned
electronically into acc3300sp2013@gmail.com one day after the problems are shown on the assignment
schedule. In the subject box, you should put your last name followed by first initial followed by the module and
assignment number. For example: “McDermott R Code Blue Assignment 1.”Late homework may be turned in
one day late for a 50% penalty.
Problems should be worked on Excel. Hard copies will not be accepted in lieu of electronic copies. Failure to
follow these instructions will result in a point penalty,
Manufacturing Cost Accounting Homework: As detailed above, homework for Horngren will be turned in
through “My Accounting Lab.” Homework is due at the beginning of class, the class following the assignment
date on the course schedule.
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I will drop three Horngren homework assignments when calculating the final grade. That means that students
can miss three day’s assignments without penalty.
Time Requirements:
This is a difficult and time-consuming course. You should plan to spend three hours of outside study time for
every hour in class.
Course Schedule:
The course schedule is intended to be a guideline only. The time it takes to cover chapter topics may vary from
class to class. The professor reserves the right to change the schedule, when he believes it is to the benefit of
the class to do so.
Announcements:
Students are responsible for any announcements made in class, including changes in quiz or testing schedules,
changes in the syllabus, added course material, and added assignments. The professor will not repeat
announcements for students who come late to class.
Students are also responsible for any announcements made on the professor's website. Students should check
the website several times each week. The website address is: http://faculty.weber.edu/rmcdermott
Grading:
Grades are typically calculated on the percentage of the high number of points in the class. Ninety percent or
above receive a grade in the A range, etc.
Composition of Final Grade
Item
Percent of Grade
Quizzes
75%
Final Exam
10%
Homework
15%
Total
100%
Civility and Professionalism in the Classroom:
Students are expected to act in a professional and civil manner in the classroom. Points may be deducted from
the final grade for inappropriate behavior including:

Arriving late or leaving early from class. If an unavoidable emergency occurs, please inform the
instructor.

In attendance.

Talking and inattention.

Unpreparedness, missed deadlines, and fraudulent excuse making.
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
Overt hostility or disrespect to the professor or to other students.

Eating or sleeping in the classroom.

Reading the newspaper.

Consumer mentality: I paid for this class, therefore I want . . .

Refusing to participate.

Arguing relentlessly over a grade.
Scholastic Dishonesty:
Students are expected to be above reproach in all scholastic activities. Students who engage in scholastic
dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and dismissal
from the University. Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, or the
submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or part to another person, taking an
examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student, or the attempt to commit
such acts.
Provost Statement:
The Provost has requested that all faculty include the following statement in their syllabi.
In the event of an extended campus closure due to natural disaster, epidemic, or other event, I will continue to
provide instruction via the internet. I will provide text-based mini-lectures (narratives, slides, and/or
presentations) which correspond to the material covered each class period and will expect you to login to the
system on a regular basis to keep up with course work and to receive instruction. Assignments will continue to
be turned in through the internet according to due dates listed on the syllabus and schedule. Within the internet
online discussions & collaborations will be made available to allow you to interact with other students and me
about course material. I will check email on a regular basis should you need to communicate with me
personally. The severity of the "event" and impact on human life, communication lines, etc., will determine the
extent that we can continue classes.
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