Department of Accounting
Syllabus for ACCT 350
Summer 2012
Personal Information:
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Instructor: John Lasik, MBA CMA CPA
Office: Shaw-Smyser 339; office phone: (509) 963-3677; available on-line for e-mail
communication, M-Th 11:00 to 1:00; in office other times by appointment.
E-mail address: lasikj@cwu.edu. Be sure to start the subject line with: 350 followed by a space.
This will ensure your mail is properly received and processed.
John’s web site: www.cwu.edu/~lasikj. The ACCT 350 course site may be accessed through
John’s site. A username and password are needed to access the 350 site. These will be given to
you either prior to or during the first class meeting.
Course Description. The following description for Acct 350 appears in the current CWU Catalog:
Prerequisite, Acct 252. Theory underlying the presentation of current and fixed assets, liabilities, and
net worth.
Statement of Purpose for the Course. ACCT 350/351 provide the tools needed to understand
what GAAP is and how it is applied in practice. Mastery of 350/351 concepts will be invaluable to
you in whatever field of accounting you pursue.
Course Objectives. By the end of the course the student should:
1. Understand the nature, purpose, environment, and importance of financial reporting.
 Explain how GAAP is constantly evolving because of political and economic factors.
 Explain who the users of financial statements are and how GAAP meets the needs of such
users.
 Use the conceptual framework as the underlying foundation for measuring and reporting
business activities.
2. Master the accounting cycle and information communicated through financial reporting.
 Practice journal entries, posting, the adjusting process, closing entries, and present and
future value concepts.
 Prepare financial statements and related footnotes.
3. Understand accounting for current assets and its components.
 Identify cash and cash equivalents.
 Explain receivables.
 Compute and explain periodic and perpetual inventory systems under different costing
methods.
 Explain current asset measurement and income determination.
4. Describe accounting for current liabilities.
 Define a current liability.
 Account for liabilities defined by contract.
 Account for liabilities determined by operating activities.
 Account for contingent liabilities
350 Syllabus, Page 2
5. Understand accounting for property, plant, and equipment.
 Identify the characteristics of property, plant, and equipment.
 Account for the acquisition of property, plant, and equipment.
 Nonmonetary asset exchanges.
 Identify necessary disclosures.
 Account for self-constructed assets.
 Account for expenditures subsequent to acquisition.
6. Describe and practice GAAP for depreciation, depletion, impairment, and disposal.
 Factors involved in depreciation.
 Methods of cost allocation.
 Account for impairment of property, plant, and equipment.
 Account for the disposal of property, plant, and equipment.
 Depreciation calculation for income tax purposes.
7. Appreciate the importance of ethical behavior in the accounting and business process.
 Explain why it is important to have ethical directors, managers, auditors, and accountants.
8. Build awareness regarding professional opportunities in accounting.
Text and Other Required Materials
Textbook. Intermediate Accounting, 1st edition, by Wahlen, Jones, and Pagach. SouthwesternCengage, 2013. The 13-digit ISBN number is: 978-1-111-82237-8. Note: This text will also be used
for the next course, ACCT 351.
E-mail. You must use your CWU GroupWise e-mail account for all course-related business.
Calculator. A calculator should be brought to every class. Calculator choices will be discussed in
class. You may not use the calculator feature in your cell phone.
Course Conduct
Role of the instructor. The primary role of your instructor is to promote learning related to the course
and chapter outcomes. This means he will strive to lead the class in a manner that facilitates your
success relative to the outcomes. Your instructor promotes active learning and views himself more
as the “guide on the side” rather than the “sage on the stage.”
Role of the student. Students should take personal responsibility for the amount of learning
accomplished. Research on teaching and learning styles reveals learning is not a spectator sport.
This means you cannot be passive in your approach – you should be fully prepared to participate in
all class learning activities. Lasik’s courses typically require a minimum of 2 hours of quality study
time outside the class for every hour in class to perform at the “B” level or higher. The two hours
include time for reading, online homework, and quiz/exam preparation. The total time commitment,
including class time, is likely to approach 15 hours each week, every week.
350 Syllabus, Page 3
Grading Practices
Basis for Final Grade. Final grades are assigned based on your performance in the following areas:
Assessment
11 on-line homework quizzes
3 exams @ 120 points each
Homework (minimum of 3 assignments @ 10 points each)
Attendance
Total points
Points
110
360
30
20
520
The actual number of points may deviate from the number cited in the table. Students may earn up
to 10 bonus points for participation during the quarter for insightful contributions.
Ranking Procedure for Exams. If the unadjusted class average is lower than 76.00 percent of the
points available, an equal number of points will be added to everyone’s score such that the class
average improves to 76.00 percent. The following additional considerations about the grading policy
apply:
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If the unadjusted class average is higher than 76.00 percent, adjustment points will not be
subtracted to “curve down” the class average.
If some students officially withdraw from the course, prior adjustment points may change as
their scores are deleted.
Assigning letter grades. Your grade in this course is based solely on your adjusted course
percentage. To monitor your progress throughout the quarter, divide the total number of adjusted
points earned by the total number of points possible. Then apply the following scale:
Course %
Above 97.00%
93.00 to 97.00
90.00 to 93.00
87.00 to 90.00
83.00 to 87.00
80.00 to 83.00
77.00 to 80.00
71.00 to 77.00
68.00 to 71.00
65.00 to 68.00
61.00 to 65.00
58.00 to 61.00
Less than 58.00
Grade
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
Interpretation
The highest grades are reserved for students who have
excelled in every phase of the course.
These grades denote work that is superior, but does not
warrant the special distinctiveness of the “A.”
“C” grades indicate that a student has made substantial
progress toward meeting the objectives of the course
and has fulfilled the requirements of the course.
“D” grades are for students who have made progress
toward meeting the objectives of the course, but who
fulfilled the requirements in a substandard manner.
The “F” grade is reserved for students who have failed
to meet or have accomplished so few of the
requirements of the course that they are not entitled to
credit.
Exams. The exams will be given during regular class time. Do not assume that an early Exam 3 will
be available. See the "Key dates" section of the course website.
350 Syllabus, Page 4
Makeup work. It is anticipated that a few of you may be forced to miss a deadline date for a
homework assignment, quiz or an exam during the quarter for various reasons. A makeup
opportunity without penalty may be given at the instructor’s discretion, but only in those instances
when the absence is “excused.”
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Excused absences include personal illness, emergencies in your immediate family, job
interviews, and university sponsored trips, among others. Lasik considers the reason for the
excused absence request: "Is the reason controllable or discretionary on the part of the student
or is the reason non-controllable or non-discretionary?"
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With the exception of emergency situations, requests for excused absences must be submitted
prior to the deadline for the homework, quiz, or exam. Absences for discretionary events during
the quarter, such as participating in a family reunion or family vacation, are not considered
excused by your instructor. Repeating, makeup opportunities will not be provided for unexcused
absences.
Attendance. Unless excused, you are expected to attend 100 percent of the class sessions.
Attendance will be checked through observation. Each student begins the quarter with 20 out of 20
attendance points. If you are absent (unexcused), you will lose 2 points from your attendance total
for each full class session missed (1 point before the break, 1 point after the break). Again, with the
exception of emergency situations, requests for excused absences must be submitted prior to
class, not after.
Timeliness of Homework and On-Line Quizzes. On-line assignments and quizzes have specific due
dates and times. Timeliness is important. Deadlines are generally set at least three (3) days in
advance and published in the “Key Dates” section of the course site. Keys to the assignments and
quizzes are usually posted shortly after a submission deadline passes. If you submit after a deadline
passes and the reason for the late submission was not excused, no credit will be awarded.
Extra credit? Extra credit is not offered on an individual student by individual student basis.
Expected CB Student Conduct. Please view the COB student Statement of Conduct and Honor
Code.
Academic dishonesty. If your instructor has evidence that you’ve cheated, the letter grade of “F” will
be reported immediately to the Registrar. Further, a report of academic dishonesty will be submitted
to the CWU’s Office of Student Affairs recommending additional disciplinary action. Refer to the
CWU Catalog, Appendix A and B.
Students with Special Needs or Disabilities. Students who have special needs or disabilities that
may affect their ability to access information or material presented in this course are encouraged to
contact the Office of Disability Support Services at (509) 963-2171 for disability-related educational
accommodations.
350 Syllabus, Page 5
Chapter and exam schedule.
Meeting #
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Day
Tue
Thu
Tue
Thu
Tue
Thu
Tue
Thu
Tue
Thu
Tue
Thu
Tue
Thu
Tue
Thu
Tue
Thu
Date
06/19
06/21
06/26
06/28
07/03
07/05
07/10
07/12
07/17
07/19
07/24
07/26
07/31
08/02
08/07
08/09
08/14
08/16
Chapter(s)
1&2
3
4
4&5
5
Exam 1
Review & Time Value
Time Value
6
6&7
7
Exam 2
Review & 8
8&9
9
10
11
Exam 3
You should anticipate that the actual conduct of the course will follow the procedures outlined in this
document. However, your instructor reserves the right to make changes if he believes that changes
are warranted. In the unlikely event that changes are made, such changes will be announced in
class and communicated on the course website.