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RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
COURSE OUTLINE
Spring 2006
Raymond Sanchez Mayers
Phone: 732.932.7520 ext. 111
Fax: 732.932.8181
Email:
Website:
19:910:537:55 Financial Management
Thursday, 6:00 – 8:40 PM
I.Catalog Course Description
Overview of fiscal responsibilities of social agency executives. The accounting process, financial statements, budgeting, internal controls, audits, tax compliance, and fund accounting are examined.
II.Course Overview
This course is designed to provide students with a working knowledge of the tools of financial management of non-profit organizations. These include financial analysis, financial planning, budgeting, marketing, costing, and other processes as applied to human service organizations.
III.Place of Course in Program
This course is an Advanced Elective, with successful completion of the Foundation year as a pre-requisite. It is open to students in the Advanced Direct Practice and the Public and Nonprofit Management concentrations.
IV. Course Objectives
1. To help the student acquire a working knowledge of the language and principles of financial management.
2. To help the student develop skills in budgeting, costing, investing, financial planning, and financial statement analysis.
3. To acquaint the student with the basic concepts of nonprofit accounting, budgeting, and marketing.
4. To familiarize the student with necessary resources for effective nonprofit financial management.
5. To provide a basis for developing accountable practice in the human services.
V.Required Texts
Mayers, R. S. (2004). Financial Management for Nonprofit Human Service Organizations, 2nd edition, Springfield: Charles C. Thomas, Publisher
Mayers, R.S. & Fulghum, F.H. (2007). Cases, Readings, and Exercises in Financial Management for Nonprofit Human Service Organizations (Workbook). On CD-ROM – to be handed out in class.
Additional readings are listed below. They will be available on reserve at the library or in the student workbook. Other readings may also be assigned or distributed. Class exercises and assignments will be from the Workbook.
VI.Course Requirements
There are specific requirements listed for each topic of the course, but in general the student is expected to:
1. Read assigned work and be prepared to discuss the readings in class;
2. Participate in all class exercises;
3. Complete all written assignments.
VII.Grading
Criteria for grading is as follows:
1. Completion of assignments in a timely and appropriate manner.
2. Ability to integrate readings by practical application.
3. Ability to write clearly and concisely.
4. Ability to demonstrate creativity and analytical skills in projects.
Grades will be based upon:
1. In-class exercises20%
2. Budget system analysis20%
3. Control analysis20%
4. Investment analysis20%
5. Financial statement analysis20%
VIII.Course Evaluation
Rutgers University issues a survey that evaluates both the course and the instructor. This survey is completed by students toward the end of the semester, and all answers are confidential and anonymous. The instructor may also choose to conduct a mid-point evaluation.
IX.Course Outline
Week DateTopics and Assignments
1 1/18/07INTRODUCTION: Overview of course
21/25/07Human Services Finance In Context
Required Reading
Mayers, Chapter 1: The Social Context of Human Services Funding
32/1/07Management, Planning, and Budgeting
Required Reading
Mayers, Chapter 2: The Financial Management Process
Fee, D. (2000). Understanding financial operations. Association Management, 52(1): 112-114.
4 2/8/07Budgeting
Required Reading
Mayers, Chapter 3: The Role of Planning in Budgeting
52/15/07Budgeting
Required Reading
Mayers, Chapter 4: Budgeting
Wing, K., Gordon, T., Hager, M., Pollak, T., Rooney, P. (2006). Functional Expense Reporting for Nonprofits. The CPA Journal, 76(8):14-18.
62/22/07Marketing and Fundraising
Required Reading
Mayers, Chapter 5: Marketing and Fundraising
Tinkleman, D. (2005). Nonprofit Organizations’ Cost Allocations. The CPA Journal, 75(7): 50,52,54.
7 3/10/07Grantwriting and Grants Management
Required Reading
Mayers, Chapter 6: Grantwriting and Grants Management
Mayers & Fulghum Workbook, Reading 6-1: Reflections of a Proposal Reviewer by Dick Schoech.
8 3/8/07Diverse Payer Sources
Required Reading
Mayers,Chapter 7: Purchase of Service Contracting, Fees for Service and Third Party Payments
93/22/07Financial Controls
Required Reading
Mayers, Chapter 8: Internal Control
Stevens, C. (2004). Essential Internal Controls. Association Management, 56(8):114.
Hamel, W.W. (2003). What Corporate Governance Legislation Means to You. Association Management, 55(3): 49-51.
10 3/29/07Investments
Required Reading
Mayers, Chapter 9: Investments
Mayers & Fulghum Workbook, Reading 9-1: How to read the financial pages of a newspaper.
“Healthcare Organizations Stay on Top of Investments”, The NonProfit Times, September 22, 2003.
11 4/5/07Accounting
Required Reading
Mayers, Chapter 10: The Basics of Accounting
12 4/12/07Nonprofit Accounting
Required Reading
Mayers, Chapter 11: Nonprofit Accounting
13 4/19/07Financial Reporting
Required Reading
Mayers, Chapter 12: Financial Reporting
Keating, E.K. & Frumkin, P. (2003). Reengineering Nonprofit Financial Accountability: Toward a More Reliable Foundation for Regulation. Public Administration Review, 63(1): 3-15.
144/26/07Financial Statement Analysis
Required Reading
Mayers, Chapter 13: Financial Statement Audits and Analysis
Read:
Chabotar, K.J. (1989). Financial Ratio Analysis Comes to Nonprofits. The Journal of Higher Education, 60(2):188-208.
15 5/3/07Systems Summary
Required Reading
Mayers, Chapter 14: Financial Information Systems
Jones, R.A. (2000). Sizing up NPO Software. Journal of Accountancy, 190(5): 28-44.
X. Academic Integrity Policy
All work submitted in a graduate course must be your own.
It is unethical and a violation of the University’s Academic Integrity Policy to present the ideas or words of another without clearly and fully identifying the source. Inadequate citations will be construed as an attempt to misrepresent the cited material as your own. Use the citation style preferred by the discipline.
Plagiarism is the representation of the words or ideas of another as one’s own in any academic exercise. To avoid plagiarism, every direct quotation must be identified by quotation marks or by appropriate indentation and must be properly cited in the text or in a footnote. Acknowledgement is required when material from another source is stored in print, electronic, or other medium and is paraphrased or summarized in whole or in part in one’s own words. To acknowledge a paraphrase properly, one might state: “to paraphrase Plato’s comment…” and conclude with a footnote identifying the exact reference. A footnote acknowledging only a directly quoted statement does not suffice to notify the reader of any preceding or succeeding paraphrased material. Information which is common knowledge, such as names of leaders of prominent nations, basic scientific laws, etc., need not be footnoted; however, all facts or information obtained in reading or research that are not common knowledge among students in the course must be acknowledged. In addition to materials specifically cited in the text, only materials that contribute to one’s general understanding of the subject may be acknowledged in the bibliography. Plagiarism can, in some cases, be a subtle issue. Any question about what constitutes plagiarism should be discussed with the faculty member.
XI.Disability Accommodation
Please Note: Any student who believes that s/he may need an accommodation in this class due to a disability should contact the designated Coordinator for the Concerns of Students with Disabilities at the School of Social Work, Arlene Hunter, Assistant Dean for Student Services and Director of Admissions () for a letter of accommodation. Students must have a letter of accommodation from the Coordinator in order to receive accommodations. (Undergraduate New Brunswick students should contact the Coordinator for Students with Disabilities for their College.) Any student who has already received a letter of accommodation should contact the instructor privately to discuss implementation of his/her accommodations immediately. Failure to discuss implementation of accommodations with the instructor promptly may result in denial of your accommodations.
Updated: January 4, 2007