American University of Beirut

Suliman S. Olayan School of Business Finance, Accounting, & Managerial Economics Track BBA Course Syllabus Spring 12-13
Course Number: Course Name: Credit Hours: Section Number, Time and Place: Instructor: Office: Phone: E-mail: Office Hours: Prerequisites: Catalogue Course Description: ACCT 230 Introduction to External Auditing 3 T-Th 11:00 a.m- 12:15 p.m- Room # OSB 238 Abdeljalil Ghanem , PhD OSB Building, 3rd Floor, Room # 347 01-374-374, Ext # 3763 ag10@aub.edu.lb T-Th 3:30 p.m- 5:00 p.m or by appointment ACCT 221 and business junior standing. An introduction to auditing and the professional responsibilities of a career in accounting. Topics include: the legal and ethical responsibilities of accountants; professional auditing standards; international auditing standards; the acquisition, evaluation, and documentation of audit evidence, reports on the results of the engagement, evaluation of internal control; compliance testing; substantive testing; statistical sampling, and auditing EDP. ACCT 230 is an interactive course based on case studies and discussions. The course offers you a comprehensive insight into the accounting / auditing profession. It covers core concepts relating to professional responsibilities that are essential not only to the future auditors among us, but also to those of us

Instructors afterthoughts:

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(business people or otherwise) who may hire auditors and / or rely on their work to make financial decisions. The first part of the course will answer such questions as: What is the difference between accounting and auditing? Why the need for auditors? What is their role? What assurances do they give? What is their responsibility for discovering fraud? Do we, as clients, enjoy privileged communication with our auditors? In the latter part of the course, you will integrate your knowledge of accounting, finance, management, and information technology. You will also draw on your personal experiences with people and society as you acquire a case-driven, first-hand experience of the audit process. Throughout the course, we will reflect on auditing as a career path.

General Instructional Objectives (GIOs)

Students will: GIO-1. Acquire the logic of financial statement auditing. GIO-2. Comprehend the importance of professional literature within their area as a means of maintaining professional competence. Students will: SLO-1.1. Explain auditors ethical and legal responsibilities to clients and third parties. SLO-1.2. Analyze risk factors relevant to an audit clients (current or potential) business and industry. SLO-1.3. Construct audit procedures relevant to particular audit objectives for an engagement. SLO-2.1. Research emerging issues in the accounting profession using appropriate resources SLO-2.2. Write a paper about an issue in the field of accounting.

Specific Learning Outcomes for theses objectives

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Required Materials:

Textbook Name Author(s) Publisher Edition Year ISBN Required / Recommended

Principles of Auditing & Other Assurance Services Whittington & Pany McGraw-Hill 18th edition 2012
978-0-07-131688-0 Required

Other: None at this time

Relationship to Other Coursework:

Modern auditing adopts a risk-based approach. To this end, besides elaborating on the relationship (and distinction) between auditing and accounting, this course capitalizes on the students professional competences (acquired from other functional areas such as Finance, Management, Management Information Systems, and Financial / Intermediate Accounting among others) that allow them to: a. Conduct a risk assessment of the business by analyzing its operations, its internal / external environment, as well as other surrounding risk factors b. Conduct ratio analysis c. Conduct variance analysis d. Assess accounting policies and procedures, detect non-compliance with GAAP, and evaluate the related impact on the financial statements e. Assess (to a certain extent) the appropriateness of information systems policies and procedures, and f. Assess (to a certain extent) the appropriateness of human resource policies and procedures

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This course addresses the following BBA program learning goals: Program Learning Goals Emphasized Professional Business Competence Through this course, students will use concepts, principles and theories from core business professional knowledge and competence in order to obtain an appropriate understanding of the audit client and to conduct an appropriate risk assessment so as to perform a due diligent GAAS audit, properly evaluate audit findings, and to further make value-adding recommendations to the client. Decision Making - In this course, students will recognize and describe analytical-quantitative and qualitative approaches that guide the auditor in making the appropriate decisions concerning the audit. They will also demonstrate competency in the application of these analyticalquantitative and qualitative approaches. Ethics In this course, students will understand and explain ethical principles/rules/codes of conduct and situational variables bearing upon business/managerial/accounting ethical dilemmas. Teamwork In this course, students will apply teamwork principles in a team exercise situation. Communication The final output of the audit process is a report that communicates the audit results to the financial statement users. Accordingly, in this course, students will understand and explain principles of effective and efficient business communication (through reports, papers (writing) and presentations) commensurate with expectations from a junior-level undergraduate student. Global Business Environment - In this course, students will identify and define key globalization factors and demonstrate their relevance on business competitiveness as it relates to the entitys risk assessment.

Instructional Methodology:

Lectures, instructional videos, case analysis, and class discussion. To this end, material (reading and other) will be assigned ahead of time, and students will be expected to come to class prepared.

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Performance Evaluation and Grading:

Test 1 (objective & subjective format) Test 2 (objective & subjective format) Final Exam Case Attendance & Constructive Participation*

25% 25% 35% 5% 10%

TOTAL 100% *PLEASE REFER TO THE ASSESSMENT RUBRIC ON PAGE 6.

Summary of Topical Coverage:

The Role of the Public Accountant Professional Standards Audit Process : Audit evidence and documentation Planning the audit and assessing the risk Internal control Auditing Transaction Cycles: Cash &Investments Receivables, Inventories, Fixed assets , Debts and equities . Evaluating Findings & Communicating Results

Hours 2.50 hrs. 5.00 hrs. 13.75 hrs

% of Time 6.70% 13.3% 36.7%

16.25 hrs.

43.3%

Total Hours (based on 15 weeks per semester

@ 2.5 hours per week for 3 credit hours)

37.5 hrs.

100%

Use of Technology:

Students will be expected to make efficient and effective use of online resources available to them therein and through the Universitys libraries. Students are expected to complete all work with the highest standard of integrity in line with AUBs Student Code of Conduct and OSBs Honor Code. Plagiarism, forgery, cheating or any form of academic misconduct will not be tolerated. Any of the above may cause a students final course grade to be lowered significantly or the student may receive a failing grade, depending on the severity of the offence. Plagiarism is the presentation of the work of another as ones own work.

Academic Honesty:

Other Course Policies:

Attendance: Attendance is mandatory and graded (See Performance

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Evaluation and Grading). Examinations are based on material from class discussions (including exercises & case discussions), the textbook, and additional handouts. Students are strongly advised to take notes. Communication: Students are required to check their email for announcements and / or assignments for which they will be held responsible. NO EXCUSES are accepted!! Deadlines and Due Dates: These will be strictly enforced. Late submissions will automatically lose one letter grade per day (24 hours). Missing work will be assigned a grade of zero. Group work: Individuals must contribute their fair share to any group effort resulting in a deliverable to the instructor. In addition, everyone in the group will be held accountable for the quality, originality and proper sourcing of the entire group product. Make-up Exams: NO MAKE-UP EXAMS will be held under ANY circumstances. For students who miss the midterm exam and produce an AUB valid excuse as per AUB policy (i.e. a medical excuse issued by the AUB infirmary or the AUH), I will put the weight of their midterm on the final exam. (Warning: It may not be in the students interest to have such a large weight on the final exam.) Students who miss an exam and do not have an AUB valid excuse as per AUB policy will get a zero on that exam.

Assessment Rubric

Attendance and Class Participation

Evaluation Criteria Excellent *Participates frequently *Introduces various new ideas *stimulates discussion (3-4 pts) *90-100% of sessions (3 pts) Good *Participates occasionally *Introduces some new ideas *Sometimes stimulates discussion (1-2 pts) *50-89% of sessions (1-2 pts) Poor * Participates rarely *Ideas are redundant (0 pts) *0-49% of sessions (0 pt)

Class Participation

Attendance

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