As of Monday, August 22, 2016
BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
FIN 213a
INTERMEDIATE ACCOUNTING
Fall 2016
Professor: Robert A. Angell TA: Yaoxi Ding ()
Email:
Phone: 866.700.0894
Office hours: Thursday 1:30pm – 3:00pm and by appt. Office location: Sachar 1D
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will build on Fin 212a (or equivalent) by examining in detail the accounting theory and concepts which form the background for the external financial reporting. Students will expand their understanding of accounting and evaluate the impact of alternative accounting procedures on financial statements. Topics covered will include revenue recognition, accounting changes/errors, inventory measurement and valuation, long lived asset acquisition, disposition and impairment.
Instruction will be a combination of lectures, case studies , problem solving, and group presentations. This cours requires a significant amount of out-of-class work as well as working in groups to prepare for presentations. Problem solving and case studies are very important in this class since it develops students’ critical thinking and communications skills.
LEARNING GOALS
Upon completion of this course, the students will have a deeper understanding of:
· The environment of financial accounting and reporting, the conceptual framework and how accounting principles and rules are created.
· The income statement and the balance sheet, earnings management and revenue recognition
· Time value of money concept and tools to conduct financial analysis of financial statements
· The individual accounts constituting Assets, or those accounts populating the left-hand side of the balance sheet
COURSE MATERIALS
Purchase directly from Harvard Business School Publishing
(Link: http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/51904179)
· Financial Accounting Online Course.
· Microsoft Financial Reporting Strategy
· Accounting for iPhone at Apple Inc.
· Salesforce.com
· Compass Box
· Merrimack Tractors & Mowers, Inc.: LIFO or FIFO
· Delta Cargo
Intermediate Accounting, Kieso, Waygandt and Warfield with Wiley Plus Code; Wiley 16th ed. 2016 (Hardcover, Loose Leaf or Digital). To register for WileyPlus, find our course by visiting www.WileyPlus.com and enter your course ID (Section 1 is 534338, Section 2 is 53434). If you purchased a new textbook, it will have a registration code in a sealed envelope. If you don’t have a registration code, you can pay for access on the website (e-text is included). If you are not ready to buy, you can try the course free with full access for two weeks free.
Additional Course Materials/Cases are available on LATTE
Please bring laptops and basic function calculator to all class meetings.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING POLICY
Course Grading and Exams
Your course grade will be determined based on the following formula:
Homework/Attendance/Participation 10%
Case studies (Preparation, participation, presentation) 15%
Exam 1 10%
Exam 2 10%
Exam 3 15%
Exam 4 15%
Final Exam 25%
100%
Attendance
Students are expected to attend all classes and be prepared. Please arrive for class on time and remain until the end of class. It is extremely disruptive when students enter late or leave early. I do understand that there are valid reasons for needing to be late or leave early, as such, please notify me prior to class. It is expected that you will come to each class ready to discuss the readings, exercises and problems.
Homework
In an accounting class, keeping up with the assigned homework problems is critical to your success. If you do not take the time to challenge yourself and struggle with the issues in each problem, you will, in all likelihood, perform very poorly on exams. IMPORTANT: ALL HOMEWORK SHOULD BE YOUR WORK AND NOT THE WORK OF OTHERS.
Participation
Students are expected to adequately prepare for each class session and to actively participate in class discussion. Class participation involves being regularly engaged in the discussion/lecture and making a positive contribution by asking thoughtful questions, sharing relevant experiences, requesting clarification and making comments. All forms of participation should be conducted in a manner that is respectful of fellow students and the professor.
Exams
THERE WILL BE NO MAKE-UP EXAMS, UNLESS THE STUDENT HAS A VALID EXCUSE AND NOTIFIES THE PROFESSOR PRIOR TO MISSING THE EXAM. There will be absolutely no opportunity to assign the weight of a missed exam to another exam. If you miss an exam without a valid excuse, you will receive a grade of zero. Therefore, please make every effort in advance to ensure that you will be in attendance on the exam dates shown on the syllabus. Make-up exams will only be scheduled if you miss an exam for a legitimate reason; you will need to provide evidence for your absence and you must notify me prior to the scheduled exam time. All exams are closed book with no index cards/review sheets of any kind permitted while taking the test. The use of text capable calculators is strictly prohibited.
Student Accommodations
If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is central to the mission of educational excellence at Brandeis University. Each student is expected to turn in work completed independently, except when assignments specifically authorize collaborative effort. It is not acceptable to use the words or ideas of another person- be it a world-class philosopher or your lab partner- without proper acknowledgement of that source. This means that you must use footnotes and quotation marks to indicate the sources of any phrases, sentences, paragraphs or ideas found in published volumes, on the internet, or created by another student. You are expected to be familiar with and to follow the University’s policies on academic integrity (see http://www.brandeis.edu/studentlife/sdc/ai/). Instances of alleged dishonesty will be forwarded to the Office of Campus Life for possible referral to the Student Judicial System. Potential sanctions include failure in the course and suspension from the University.
CLASS SCHEDULE – Subject to Change at Professor’s Discretion
1 / Introduction/ Pre Test / HBS Online Financial Accounting Course:
Welcome to Fin Acnting
Terms and Concepts
The Balance Sheet
The Income Statement
Accounting Records
The Statement Cashflows / Exercises: 1.1, 2.1 - 2.3, 3.1 – 3.19, 4.1 – 4.11, 5.1 – 5.4, 6.1 – 6.3
2 / Financial Accounting Review/
Exam 1 / HBS Online Financial Accounting Course:
Revenue and Receivables
Inventories and COGS
Dep & Non-current Assets
Liabilities&Fincing Costs
Investments & Inv Income
Deferred Taxes&Expenses
Owners Equity / Exercises: 7.1 – 7.8, 8.1 – 8.8, 9.1 – 9.4, 10.1 – 10.8, 11.1 – 11.3, 12.1 – 12.4, 13.1 – 13.2
3 / Income Statement and Comprehensive Income/
Exam 2 / Kieso
Chapt 1: Major Challenges in Financial Reporting Only
Chapter 3
Chapter 4 / CA1-15; E3-6,18; P3-2,8,11; E4-8; P4-1, 7; CA4-2,6; Financial Reporting Problem- The Proctor& Gamble Company (P&G)
4 / Balance Sheet And Earnings Management / Chapter 5 (including App 5a)
Microsoft / E5-4, 6, 17. P5-5
Case 1 Read and Prepare (Microsoft)
5 / Case 1 Microsoft’s Financial Reporting Strategy
6 / Exam 3 (HBS online, Kieso Chapts 1, 3, 4, 5)
Time Value of Money Concepts / Chapter 6
Apple / P6-2, 4, 6, 9, 11
Case 2 Read and Prepare (Apple)
7 / Revenue Recognition
Case 2 Accounting for iPhone at Apple Inc / Chapter 18
Salesforce / E18-1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 14, 25, 26, P18-2
Case 3 Read and Prepare (Salesforce)
8 / Cash and Receivables/
Case 3 Salesforce.com / Chapter 7 / E7-2, 12, 18, 27, P7-5, 8, 11
9 / Valuation of Inventories
Cost-Basis
Inventories: Additional Valuation Issues / Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Compass Box / P8-2, 4, 11
E9-3, 7, 12, P9-7, 10, 11
Case 4 Read and Prepare (Compass Box)
10 / Acquisition and Disposition of Property, Plant & Equipment (PP&E)
Case 4 Compass Box (Inventory) / Chapter 10 / E10-13, 16, 22, P10-1, 6, 8
NOTE: READING AND ASSIGNMENT NOT DUE UNTIL CLASS 12
11 / Exam 4 (Chpts 6,7, 8, 9,18) / Merrimack Tractors / Case 5 Read and Prepare (Merrimack Tractors)
12 / Depreciation – A Method of Cost Allocation
Case 5 Merrimack Tractors & Mowers, Inc.: LIFO or FIFO / Chapter 11
Delta Cargo / E11-1, 11, 16, 19, P11-1, 7
Case 6 Read and Prepare (Delta Cargo)
13 / Intangible Assets
Case 6 Delta Cargo (PP&E) / Chapter 12 / E12-1, 11, 16, P12-3, 4, 5
Final Exam – Cumulative (Date and Location TBD )