University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Bryan School of Business and Economics
Department of Accounting and Finance
ACC 600: Professional Accounting Research (3 credit hours)
Tu/Th 12:30-1:45, Bryan 216
Fall 2010
INSTRUCTORS:
TAX
FINANCIAL
Samuel M. Moore
Office: 387 Bryan Building
Phone: 334-5690 (no voice mail)
Email: smmoore@uncg.edu (best way to contact me)
Office Hours: By appointment
Ms. Amanda L. Cromartie, CPA
Office: 342 Bryan Building
Phone: 256-0127 (no voice mail)
Email: altesh@uncg.edu (best way to contact me)
Office Hours: Mon/Wed 1pm-2pm, Tues 2:30pm-3:30pm, and by
appointment
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1. To develop and enhance your skills in identifying tax questions and planning
opportunities; in locating and using tax authority to respond to these questions and
plans; and in using the law to prepare a response to a question or to formulate a
planning strategy.
2. To develop and enhance your skills in identifying financial research issues; in
locating and using financial accounting authority to address the issues; and in
using the authority to prepare a response to a question or to formulate a suggested
solution.
3. Expand your communication skills, especially written.
4. Provide an environment in which you can
a. Learn to analyze facts, distinguish relevant information from irrelevant,
recognize and state the issues, and reduce the rules to succinct statements.
b. Develop reasoning skills, planning skills, and synthesis skills.
RECOMMENDED MATERIALS:
 Prentice Hall’s Federal Taxation 2011 Comprehensive, by Pope, Anderson, and
Kramer (many of you already have a copy - earlier editions are acceptable – you
will also use it for ACC 655 & 656) (ACC 600 uses 2 chapters and an appendix.)
 It is also recommended to have access to an intermediate financial accounting
text.
 Other materials provided.
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES:
We will use a number of electronic resources for this course. Access information and
external links in Blackboard will be provided when necessary. For tax research, we will
access resources including CCH Tax Research, RIA Checkpoint, LexisNexis Academic
and the IRS. For financial research, we will access resources including FASB Accounting
Standards Codification, the SEC Edgar database, and the FASB.
PREREQUISITE:
.
GRADING:
ACC 420, Federal Tax Concepts or equivalent.
Grading Scale:
A = 93-100
A- = 90-92
B+ = 88-89
B = 83-87
B- = 80-82
C+ = 78-79
C = 70-77
F = Below 70
A grade will be determined by:
TAX:
50% of Total Grade
The grade for tax will be composed of an average of
Research & Writing Assignments and Examinations. The
number and time of these components will be announced.
FINANCIAL: 50% of Total Grade
Homework/Class Participation – 5%
Research & Writing Assignment – 10%
Research & Writing Assignment w/Presentation – 15%
Final Exam – 20%
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
Students are expected to abide by the UNCG Academic Integrity Policy. All
examinations are expected to be done honestly and by your own efforts. As much can be
learned through discussions with each other, we encourage students to discuss graded
homework and assignments with other students, but the final result for all of these should
be each student's own work. For all written homework and assignments, students need to
be careful to avoid plagiarism and failure to cite references. The UNCG Academic
Integrity Policy can be found at http://academicintegrity.uncg.edu/violation/.
EXAMS:
Exams are a combination of multiple choice, short answer and essay questions. Make-up
exams other than the final exam will only be given if the instructor is notified by the day
of the exam and the instructor accepts the reason for the make-up exam as valid. For the
final exam, the course will follow UNCG’s policy. UNCG’s policy is that only those
students with three or more final exams within the 24 hour period surrounding our
scheduled final exam and have documentation from the registrar’s office are eligible to
take the final exam on the make-up day. Documentation from the registrar’s office must
be submitted to Amanda Cromartie before Monday, December 6. The final exam
make-up day for this course is Wednesday, December 15 (time and place TBA).
HOMEWORK:
Homework will be assigned 5-7 days prior to the due date. It will be posted on
Blackboard and explained in class.
RESEARCH & WRITING ASSIGNMENTS:
These assignments will be longer than the homework and you will generally have at least
two weeks to complete an assignment. Some of the assignments are completed in two
parts.
LATE ASSIGNMENTS:
Late assignments will not be accepted.
WRITING FOR THIS COURSE:
This course is writing intensive. A portion of your grade will be based on how well
written your work is including: spelling, grammar, word usage, and writing style. If you
need assistance with your writing, make use of the Writing Center located at 3211 HHRA
Building.
USE OF COURSE WEB SITE:
Materials for this course are available on the University's Blackboard site at
https://blackboard.uncg.edu. You are responsible for checking this site for
announcements, power point slides, and other materials relevant to the course. You are
also expected to check your UNCG email regularly.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Students are expected and required to be prepared for every class. Students are
responsible for all assigned readings and other materials assigned without regard to
whether the material is mentioned or covered in class.
NOTE: The Topics appearing below do not indicate nor represent class periods nor
meeting dates nor order of presentation. The Topic designations are primarily and
essentially for convenience of reference and identification. A particular Topic
designation may extend over more than one class period; more than one Topic
designation may be covered and considered at one class meeting date. All Topics and
Readings will be announced in advance of the time of requirement.
TAX
TIME SENSITIVE CLASSES:
Tuesday, August 24th
Tuesday, August 31st
Thursday, October 7th
Tuesday, October 12th
FIRST CLASS
COMPUTER LAB - Bryan 221 - CCH & RIA
Last Tax Class
Fall Break
Topic:
Reading:
Introduction to Professional Research and Tax Research
PAK, Corporations ch. 1, pp. 1-1 to 1-7
Topic:
Reading:
Research Process
PAK, Corporations Appendix A
Topic:
Reading:
Constitutional and Legislative Sources of Federal Tax Law
PAK, Corporations ch. 1, pp. 1-7 to 1-9
Topic:
Reading:
Administrative and Judicial Sources of Federal Tax Law
PAK, Corporations ch. 1, pp. 1-9 to 1-23
Topic:
Reading:
Rules in Tax Practice
PAK, Corporations ch. 1, pp. 1-34 to 1-35
Topic:
Reading:
Working with the IRS
PAK, Corporations ch. 15
Topic:
Reading:
Tax Planning
TBA
FINANCIAL
TIME SENSITIVE CLASSES:
Thursday, October 14th
Tuesday, October 19th
FIRST CLASS – Financial Research
COMPUTER LAB - Bryan 221 – FASB
Accounting Standards Codification
Thanksgiving Holiday-No Class
Thursday, November 25th
Tuesday, November 30th &
Thursday, December 2nd Presentations
Thursday, December 9th
Final Exam, 12pm-3pm, Location TBA
Topics:
 Authoritative Financial Sources
 FASB
 AICPA
 SEC
 Codification of GAAP
 International Accounting Standards
 FASB and International Convergence
 SEC Reporting
NOTE: Required readings and/or homework will be announced in class.