Principles of Financial Accounting, Shon
Fordham University
Gabelli School of Business Administration
Principles of Financial Accounting
ACBU 2222
Spring 2016
Professor:
Email:
Class website:
Office hours:
John Shon
jshon@fordham.edu
http://johnshon.com/2222
Faber 452, by appointment: Mon/Thurs: 1.00-2.00
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Accounting is the language of business. ACBU 2222 is the first in a sequence of courses dealing with
financial accounting. These courses will develop your understanding of the theory, concepts, principles, and
practices underlying the analysis and preparation of financial statements. ACBU 2222 begins this process by
considering broad issues like the role of financial reporting in our society, the role of auditors and regulator,
and the accounting standard setting process. Most of this course will, however, focus on building up specific
financial accounting skills: understanding the accounting accrual process, constructing financial statements,
and understanding the different components that make up these financial statements. Learning these specific
procedures and rules about how financial events are captured, measured, and reported is the crucial building
block into ultimately being able to use and interpret sophisticated financial information.
TEXTBOOK
Financial Accounting, 9th Edition, by Weygandt, Kieso and Kimmel; published by Wiley.
HOMEWORK
To be discussed in class.
CLASS PARTICIPATION
Attendance will be taken daily. Before each class, you should have read the assigned chapters in the
textbook, as well as attempted the recommended problems in the syllabus, and therefore be ready to
participate in discussions.
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Principles of Financial Accounting, Shon
QUIZZES and EXAMS
All quizzes and exams are in-class and closed book. The quizzes and exams will cover material from the
lectures and homeworks. Quizzes will take 20 minutes at the beginning of each of the designated classes.
You will need a calculator. You will not be allowed to use your phones during quizzes or exams. No makeup
exams will be given.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS (FSA) PROJECT
To be discussed in class.
GRADES
Quizzes
20%
Midterm
20%
Final exam
30%
FSA Project
20%
Homework and participation 10%
Total
100%
GETTING HELP
This is largely an active, self-motivated course. You will not be able to pass the exams by sitting passively,
listening to lectures. You should take diligent notes. Prepare ahead of time: do not wait for me to introduce
new material to you—read it yourself first. The most important part of the course is solving exercises and
problems. It is only through the constant struggling and solving of examples and problems that you will truly
learn the material. Moreover, the material in each class sequentially builds on what you learn in the previous
class, so it is essential that you keep up. I cannot stress enough how important this is to your learning
experience. You will learn accounting better—and perform better on the problem-oriented quizzes/exams—
if you keep up with the work on a timely basis. Cramming is not a good idea for this course.
If you fall behind, you need to be proactive! Please do not sit around passively hoping things will get better.
There are many resources available to you. Your first line of defense should be … me! Please take advantage
of my office hours. If your schedule doesn’t fit office hours, then we can set up an appointment for a time
that works for you; I will try to be as flexible as possible. Please come and talk with me about whatever your
problems are!
You should also consider setting up study groups with classmates—you’d be amazed at how much you can
learn from simply struggling through material together with someone. You can also schedule an appointment
with the GSB Study Center for a one-on-one tutor. (Go to www.gsb-access.com > Academics > Study
Center, and set up an appointment.)
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Principles of Financial Accounting, Shon
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Cheating includes (but is not limited to): (a) Plagiarism (that is, copying or paraphrasing material from the
internet or any other source and claiming the material as one’s own); (b) Giving or receiving any assistance
on an exam or quiz (or any other assignment meant to be completed by an individual student) by any means
(including, but not limited to, verbal communication, emailing, text messaging, skyping, facebooking,
photographing/sharing exam questions); (c) Unauthorized use of cellphones, notes, or any other devices or
materials on an exam or quiz.
If cheating is suspected, the case will be sent immediately to the appropriate dean for processing through the
official applicable procedures of the university’s Academic Integrity Committee. A grade of “INC” (at best)
will be assigned as the student’s grade for the course until the matter has been resolved. Consequences of
cheating can include failing the assignment in question, failing the entire course, and possibly (in the event of
multiple violations) suspension or expulsion from the university.
Obviously, cheating in any form is a very serious matter with consequences that could derail your academic
and professional career. If you need more information on the university’s policies re: academic integrity, as
well as the consequences of violating these policies, please refer to the student handbook.
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