Course Syllabus BUS 141 P
Accounting
Contact Details for Professor
Instructor:
Tel:
E-mail:
Andreas Rambow, PhD (cand.)
02/614.81.88
andreas.rambow@vub.ac.be
Course Description
This course combines financial and managerial accounting concepts in a single course
and includes a study of the accounting cycles of service organizations and
merchandisers. Emphasis is on the analysis and recording process of business
transactions and the preparation of financial statements. The course covers also topics
in valuation and reporting of assets, liabilities and equity. The second half of the course
discusses managerial accounting concepts. Emphasis is placed on analysis of cost
behavior, budgeting concepts, standard cost systems and variance analysis, and the use
of accounting information to make decisions.
Course Prerequisites (if any)
None
Learning Objectives
After this course, you should be able to:
1. identify the fundamental principles of accounting to develop an
understanding of basic business transactions
2. identify and analyze basic business transactions and record them
in an accounting information system
3. prepare financial statements in the appropriate formats
4. identify and communicate with the different users of accounting
and financial information to help facilitate decision making
5. identify and analyze basic business transactions to record in
accounting information systems
6. define the characteristics of business entities and their impact
on underlying financial transactions
7. identify the interdependency of financial statements through
their preparation and analysis
8. employ managerial accounting techniques to communicate financial
and accounting information within an organization
9. identify the different users of accounting and financial
information to facilitate decision making
Course schedule
Weeks
Topics
Week 1:
Chapter 1: Introduction to Accounting and Problems as
assigned by
the Accounting Profession
instructor
Chapter 2: Financial Statements and
Accounting Concepts/Principles
Week 2:
Chapter 3: Fundamental Interpretations
Made from Financial Statement Data
Week 3:
Chapter 4: The Bookkeeping Process and Problems as
assigned by
Transaction Analysis
instructor
Week 4:
Chapter 5: Accounting for and
Presentation of Current Assets
Week 5:
Chapter 6: Accounting for and
Problems as
Presentation of Property, Plant and
assigned by
Equipment and Other Non-Current Assets instructor
Week 6:
Chapter 7: Accounting for and
Presentation of Liabilities
Week 7:
Midterm Exam
Week 8:
Chapter 8: Accounting for and
Presentation of Stockholders' Equity
Chapter 9: The Income Statement and the
Statement of Cash Flows
Week 9:
Assignment
Problems as
assigned by
instructor
Problems as
assigned by
instructor
Problems as
assigned by the
instructor
Problems as
assigned by
instructor
Chapter 11: Financial Statement Analysis Problems as
assigned by
Chapter 12: Managerial Accounting and instructor
Cost-Volume-Profit Relationships
Fall Recess: No classes
Week 10:
Chapter 13: Cost Accounting and
Reporting
Problems as
assigned by
instructor
Week 11:
Chapter 14: Financial Statement Analysis Problems as
assigned by
instructor
Week 12:
Chapter 15: Cost Control
Problems as
assigned by
instructor
Week 13:
Chapter 16: Costs for Decision-Making
Problems as
assigned by
instructor
Week 14:
Financial Statement Presentations
Problems as
assigned by
instructor
Week 15:
Final Exam, exact date to be announced
Problems as
assigned by
instructor
Course Materials
Accounting: What the Numbers Mean, 10/e
David H. Marshall, Millikin University (Emeritus)
Wayne W. McManus, International College of the Cayman Islands
Daniel F. Viele, Webster UniversityTextbook:
A hand-held calculator
Course Assessment
Course Assignments:
1. Weekly Problem Sets………….…………………………10%
2. Short Weekly Quizzes……………………………………20%
3. Midterm Exam………………………………….………..25%
4. Final Exam……………………………………………….25%
5. Financial Statement Analysis Presentation........................20%
Grading Scale of Vesalius College
Vesalius College grading policy, in line with the Flemish Educational norms, is
now as stated follows:
Letter grade
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
F
Scale of 20
17.0-20.0
16.1-16.9
15.3-16.0
14.5-15.2
13.7-14.4
13.1-13.6
12.3-13.0
11.5-12.2
10.7-11.4
10.0-10.6
0-9.9
Scale of 100
85-100
81-84
77-80
73-76
69-72
66-68
62-65
58-61
54-57
50-53
0-49
Additional Course Policies
1. This course is demanding and will require a lot of your undivided attention,
time and commitment. Please try to read the chapters we are covering in
advance, so that you know what we are talking about and are prepared. A
student who is not prepared will get much less out of this class.
2. Although attendance is not part of the grade computation for the course, your
presence at all class meetings is expected to receive the full grade you have
earned. Roll will be taken at each class meeting. Any absence will result in a
deduction of one percentage point from your overall course grade.
3. Attendance in this class is required. Roll will be taken randomly at any time
during the class meeting. Absences will be reported to your academic advisor
for the purpose of following up and further action. Your presence at all class
meetings is expected to receive the full grade you have earned. Any absence
will result in a deduction of one percentage point from your overall course
grade.
3. Academic dishonesty (aka “cheating”) will be reported to the Student Conduct
Committee (SCC) for sanctions in accordance with college policy.
4. The use of cell phones and computers in class is not allowed. You are
expected to behave professionally during all aspects of the course.
Anybody violating this code of conduct will be asked to leave and lose
the attendance points for the day.
Academic Honesty Statement
Academic dishonesty is NOT tolerated in this course.
Academic honesty is not only an ethical issue but also the foundation of
scholarship. Cheating and plagiarism are therefore serious breaches of academic
integrity.
Following the College policy, cheating and plagiarism cases will be
communicated in writing to the Associate Dean for Students and submitted to the
Student Conduct Committee for disciplinary action.
If you refer to someone else’s work, appropriate references and citations must be
provided. Grammar, spelling and punctuation count, so use the tools necessary
to correct before handing in assignments.