Course Syllabus

ACC220 Survey of Accounting: The Maze of Numbers Course Start Date: 11/02/2009 Course End Date: 01/17/2010

Please print a copy of this syllabus for handy reference. Whenever there is a question about what assignments are due, please remember this syllabus is considered the ruling document.

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Facilitator Information
Jess Stern sternj@email.phoenix.edu (University of Phoenix) jscpa58@aol.com (Personal) 732-718-6117 (EST) Facilitator Availability I am available via email, phone, and AIM Chat. You can find me on AIM several evenings a week. My screen name is ProfStern1. In regards to email, I constantly check email and will respond within 24 hours. I can be reached at the number 732-718-6117; however, remember I am on Eastern Standard Time. If you would like to schedule an appointment, either on phone or chat, you may email me to do so. I am available for any questions you may have, so do not hesitate to contact me through any of the means listed above. For emergencies, when you are not able to gain access to messages on the Online Learning System (OLS), please send a message to my personal email address. In the event a third party needs to contact me, please direct them to my contact information listed under "facilitator information." No third party should use your login credentials to gain access to the classroom.

Where to Go to Class
Main: This is the main forum for the class and is where discussion is conducted. It has read-and-write access for everyone. Chat-Room: This is a read-and-write access forum. It is designed as a place to discuss issues not related to the course content. This is the forum to which we will send our bios. Course-Materials: This is a read-only forum, which means you can read messages here but cannot send any. This is where I will post the course syllabus and materials. Individual Forum: You will see one forum with your name on it. This is a private forum, shared only by you and me, the facilitator. Your classmates will not have access to this forum. This is where you will post your individual assignments, and where I will post your feedback. You can also ask questions here. However, if you have general questions about instructions of assignments, please post those in the Main forum, since other students may benefit by that exchange as well.

Policies
For class policies, please see the Policies link on the left side of the Materials page for the course on eCampus. Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within that link. University policies are subject to change so please be sure to read them at the beginning of each class as it may have changed since your last class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities it is important you read the policies governing your current class modality.

Technical Support
Technical Support is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Call 1-877-832-4867, or use the e-mail support form. Answers to the most common issues are found in the Knowledge Base by clicking Help, found at the top of every student Web site.

Feedback
Each week, I will provide grades or scores and comments on your assignments. I will send feedback to your Individual forum.

Grading Formula
Points Grade 95+ 90-94 87-89 84-86 80-83 77-79 74-76 70-73 67-69 64-66 60-63 <59 A AB+ B BC+ C CD+ D DF

Course Description
Every business depends on its accountants to organize and maintain financial information. Accountants translate the maze of numbers most people see into valuable information that keeps a company going. This course introduces students to the accounting profession and the role accounting plays in business. Students learn the fundamentals of accounting principles and the accounting cycle.

Course Topics & Objectives

Week One: Careers and Accounting in Business Summarize the role accounting plays in business. Discuss the importance of ethics in financial reporting. Discuss the various career opportunities within the field of accounting.

Week Two: Introduction to Statements I Compare and contrast sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations. Define commonly used accounting terms. Give examples of the data found on various financial statements.

Week Three: Introduction to Statements II Discuss characteristics to consider when reviewing a financial report. Identify the components of groups within a classified balance sheet.

Week Four: Cash Management Discuss principles of internal control. Summarize ways companies can monitor internal cash control. Examine the basic principles of cash management.

Week Five: Managerial Accounting Compare and contrast managerial accounting and financial accounting. Analyze managers use of accounting information.

Week Six: Cost, Volume, and Profit Explain the components of cost-volume-profit analysis.

Week Seven: Looking at Budgets Discuss the benefits of budgeting. Examine the use of different types of budgets.

Week Eight: Responsibility Centers and Incremental Analysis Identify the components of a flexible budget. Discuss the accountability of each type of responsibility center. Give examples of business decisions that would involve incremental analysis.

Week Nine: Principles and Practices Assess how accounting principles and practices function within a business.

Course Materials
Kimmel, P., Weygandt, J., & Kieso, D. (2003). Essentials of accounting: Tools for business decision making (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. All electronic materials are available on your student Web site. Supplemental Resources Axia Colleges Writing Style Handbook, available online at https://axiaecampus.phoenix.edu/Writing_Style_Handbook_AxiaUOP.pdf

Point Values for Course Assignments

Week One CheckPoint: Career Opportunities

30

Discussion Questions Participation Week Two CheckPoint: Proprietorships, Partnerships, & Corporations Assignment: Financial Statements Week Three CheckPoint: Classified Balance Sheets Discussion Questions Participation Week Four CheckPoint: Cash Management Matrix Assignment: Internal Cash Control Week Five CheckPoint: Financial Reporting Discussion Questions Participation Week Six CheckPoint: Cost, Volume, and Profit Questions Assignment: Cost, Volume, and Profit Formulas Week Seven CheckPoint: Budgets Matrix Discussion Questions Participation Week Eight CheckPoint: Flexible Budgets Assignment: Responsibility Center Presentation Week Nine Capstone Discussion Question Final Project: Business Plan Participation Point Total

10 10 30 100 30 10 10 30 100 30 10 10 30 100 30 10 10 30 100 20 250 10 1,000

Week One
Careers and Accounting in Business Summarize the role accounting plays in business. Discuss the importance of ethics in financial reporting. Discuss the various career opportunities within the field of accounting.

Course Assignments
1. Course Preparation Read the course description and objectives. Read the instructors biography and post your own.

2. Readings Read Appendix A. Read Ch. 1 of Essentials of Accounting.

3. CheckPoint: Career Opportunities Visit the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos001.htm for an overview of the accounting field. Visit www.careers-in-accounting.com for additional details such as salary expectations and general job expectations. Locate three job postings within your state for positions in the field of accounting. Write a 200- to 300-word summary of the educational requirements for each position, the starting salary (if listed), and a brief description of the responsibilities of the position.

4. Discussion Questions Based on what you know about accounting, what role do you see it playing in business operations? How dependent do you think a business is on its accounting department? Explain why. Why are ethics so important in the field of accounting?

Weekly Reminders
Discussion Questions Discussion question responses will count towards the class participation requirement. Only posts in the Main classroom forum will count towards your class participation score. Summary of Week 1 Deliverables Assignment Discussion Question 1 Main Forum Location Due Day 2

Discussion Question 2 CheckPoint: Career Opportunities

Main Forum Individual Forum

Day 4 Day 5

Week Two
Introduction to Statements I Compare and contrast sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations. Define commonly used accounting terms. Give examples of the data found on various financial statements.

Course Assignments
1. Readings Read Ch. 1 of Essentials of Accounting.

2. CheckPoint: Proprietorships, Partnerships, & Corporations Explain the differences between a proprietorship, a partnership, and a corporation in 200 to 300 words. Why would an entrepreneur want to choose one over the other? If you were starting a new business, which would you choose? Explain why.

3. Assignment: Financial Statements Write a 350- to 700-word paper describing a balance sheet, an income statement, a retained earnings statement, and a statement of cash flows. How does a company use these financial statements to make future business decisions? Use and define the following terms in your paper when explaining how a company uses the information on the statements: o o o o Assets Comparative statements Liabilities Stockholders equity

Format your paper according to APA standards. Post your paper as an attachment.

Weekly Reminders
Discussion Questions Discussion question responses will count towards the class participation requirement. Only posts in the Main classroom forum will count towards your class participation score. Summary of Week 2 Deliverables Assignment CheckPoint: Proprietorships, Partnerships, & Corp. Assignment: Financial Statements Location Individual Forum Individual Forum Due Day 4 Day 7

Week Three
Introduction to Statements II Discuss characteristics to consider when reviewing a financial report. Identify the components of groups within a classified balance sheet.

Course Assignments
1. Readings Read Ch. 2 & 4 of Essentials of Accounting.

2. CheckPoint: Classified Balance Sheets Write a 200- to 300-word response explaining what information would be found in each of the following groupings on a classified balance sheet and how that data might indicate the future success or failure of a business: o o o o Current assets Long-term investments Property, plant, and equipment Intangible assets

3. Discussion Questions When reviewing a financial report, why must information be reliable, relevant, consistent, and comparable? Why are these accounting characteristics important? What kinds of problems might result if a financial report is not reliable, relevant, consistent, or comparable? How does information from financial reports influence business decisions? Why is it important for business managers to understand the information found on financial reports?

Weekly Reminders
Discussion Questions Discussion question responses will count towards the class participation requirement. Only posts in the Main classroom forum will count towards your class participation score. Summary of Week 3 Deliverables Assignment Discussion Question 1 Discussion Question 2 CheckPoint: Classified Balance Sheets Main Forum Main Forum Individual forum Location Due Day 2 Day 4 Day 5

Week Four
Cash Management Discuss principles of internal control. Summarize ways companies can monitor internal cash control. Examine the basic principles of cash management.

Course Assignments
1. Readings Read Ch. 4 of Essentials of Accounting.

2. CheckPoint: Cash Management Matrix Use Appendix B. For each principle in the matrix, describe how the principle ensures the reliability of a companys financial statements and provide at least one example of how the principle might work in a real company. Do not use examples from your text. Post Appendix B as an attachment.

3. Assignment: Internal Cash Control Write a 700- to 1,000-word paper that addresses which internal controls are not being followed in these listed situations: The accounting department receives from sales invoices once a month. Most of the information is missing on the invoices. Rob, Sue, and Bob use the same cash register at the donut shop. Sam does the ordering of materials at the beginning of every month and pays the bill. Bank reconciliations are done by the person who is responsible for all cash responsibilities. New checks came in and are left on the shelf with other supplies. Everyone has access to the computer system and the last audit was seven years ago by the former accountant. ` Include how a company might use the five basic principles of cash management to increase accuracy for a business. Please explain all of the internal controls substantively. Format your paper according to APA standards. Post your paper as an attachment.

Weekly Reminders
Discussion Questions Discussion question responses will count towards the class participation requirement. Only posts in the Main classroom forum will count towards your class participation score. Summary of Week 4 Deliverables

Assignment CheckPoint: Cash Management Matrix Assignment: Internal Cash Control

Location Individual Forum Individual Forum

Due Day 4 Day 7

Week Five
Managerial Accounting Compare and contrast managerial accounting and financial accounting. Analyze managers use of accounting information.

Course Assignments
4. Readings Read Ch. 5 & 6 of Essentials of Accounting.

5. CheckPoint: Financial Reporting Write a 200- to 300-word response to the following: Describe how the following financial reports are used internally in a business: income statement, balance sheet, CVP income statement, statement of cash flows, and retained earnings statement. Give real world applications by using examples to demonstrate the type of business decisions that are made using these statements.

6. Discussion Questions How would you describe the difference between financial and managerial accounting? What are the distinguishing features of managerial accounting? Select a management function planning, directing and motivating, or controllingand explain how that function relates to business as a whole. Next, select a different function listed by a classmate. Discuss with your classmate how the functions you each selected complement each other.

Weekly Reminders
Discussion Questions Discussion question responses will count towards the class participation requirement. Only posts in the Main classroom forum will count towards your class participation score. Summary of Week 5 Deliverables Assignment Discussion Question 1 Discussion Question 2 CheckPoint: Financial Reporting Main Forum Main Forum Individual Forum Location Due Day 2 Day 4 Day 5

Week Six
Cost, Volume, and Profit Explain the components of cost-volume-profit analysis.

Course Assignments
1. Readings Read Ch. 6 of Essentials of Accounting.

2. CheckPoint: Cost, Volume, and Profit Questions Write a 200- to 300-word response that addresses questions 7, 9, & 14 in the Questions section on p. 284285 of the text.

3. Assignment: Cost, Volume, and Profit Formulas Review the following illustrations found in Ch. 6 of your text: 6-12, 6-15, 6-17, 6-18, 6-19, & 6-20. Write a 350- to 700-word paper that addresses the following: o o o Explain the components of cost-volume-profit analysis. What does each of the components mean? Based on the formulas you have reviewed, what happens to contribution margin per unit when unit selling prices increase? Illustrate your explanation with an example from a fictitious company of how an increase in unit selling prices might affect contribution margin. When fixed costs decrease, what does this do for sales? Illustrate your explanation with an example from a fictitious company. Define contribution ratios. What happens to contribution ratios as one of the components changes?

o o o

Format your paper according to APA standards.

Post your paper as an attachment.

Weekly Reminders
Discussion Questions Discussion question responses will count towards the class participation requirement. Only posts in the Main classroom forum will count towards your class participation score. Summary of Week 6 Deliverables

Assignment CheckPoint: Cost, Volume, and Profit Questions Assignment: Cost, Volume, and Profit Formulas

Location Individual Forum Individual Forum

Due Day 4 Day 7

Week Seven
Looking at Budgets Discuss the benefits of budgeting. Examine the use of different types of budgets.

Course Assignments
1. Readings Read Ch. 79 of Essentials of Accounting.

2. CheckPoint: Budgets Matrix Use Appendix C to define each of the types of budgets listed and describe their uses. Post Appendix C as an attachment.

3. Discussion Questions How does budgeting help management make good business decisions? What are some of the different types of budgets? Describe in detail one type of budget covered in the text. Describe what the budget is used for and what information it provides a business. As you respond to your classmates, discuss how the budget you described relates to the budgets they described. Discuss how a business benefits from each of the budgets.

Weekly Reminders
Discussion Questions Discussion question responses will count towards the class participation requirement. Only posts in the Main classroom forum will count towards your class participation score. Summary of Week 7 Deliverables Assignment Discussion Question 1 Discussion Question 2 CheckPoint: Budgets Matrix Main Forum Main Forum Individual Forum Location Due Day 2 Day 4 Day 5

Week Eight
Responsibility Centers and Incremental Analysis Identify the components of a flexible budget. Discuss the accountability of each type of responsibility center. Give examples of business decisions that would involve incremental analysis.

Course Assignments
1. CheckPoint: Flexible Budgets Respond in 200 to 300 words, to the following: o o o o What is a flexible budget? What are the steps to developing a flexible budget? What information is found on a flexible budget report? How is that information used to evaluate performance?

2. Assignment: Responsibility Center Presentation Imagine you have been selected by your manager to present a training session to a group of new employees. The new hires do not have accounting backgrounds and have little or no work history in a responsibility center. The purpose of this training session is to explain the functions of each of the different responsibility centers. Develop a 10- to 12-slide Microsoft PowerPoint presentation that you may use as part of this training session. Explain what each of the different responsibility centers is and what each is accountable for and why each center has its own budget. Provide an example of the kinds of decisions where incremental analysis would be used in each center. Include speaker notes for your presentation.

Post your presentation as a Microsoft PowerPoint attachment. Weekly Reminders

Discussion Questions Discussion question responses will count towards the class participation requirement. Only posts in the Main classroom forum will count towards your class participation score. Summary of Week 8 Deliverables Assignment CheckPoint: Flexible Budgets Assignment: Responsibility Center Presentation Location Individual Forum Individual Forum Due Day 4 Day 7

Week Nine
Principles and Practices Assess how accounting principles and practices function within a business.

Course Assignments
1. Final Project: Business Plan You want to start your own business. You found an investment group that is willing to give you the capital needed for the first year of your business, but only if you can convince them you have a solid plan for the success of this business. Your investor is very concerned with how the accounting functions of this business will be handled. Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper based on the scenario above. Persuade your investor to put up the capital by addressing the following questions in your business plan: o o o o o o o o What is the name of your business? What type of business structure is itsole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation? Why did you choose that structure? What type of services or products does your business provide? What role will accounting play in the start up of your business? What type of work characteristics will you look for when hiring your accounting staff? What education should a person have in budgeting, internal controls, and cash management before going into business? What kinds of internal controls will you put in place for the business? How will your managers use financial information to predict outcomes for your business?

Format your paper according to APA standards. Post your paper as an attachment.

2. Capstone Discussion Question Think back over what you have studied and learned in this course. Do you have a new perception of or appreciation for the field of accounting and how it contributes to business? Explain.

Weekly Reminders
Discussion Questions Discussion question responses will count towards the class participation requirement. Only posts in the Main classroom forum will count towards your class participation score. Summary of Week 9 Deliverables Assignment Location Due

Capstone Discussion Question Final Project: Business Plan

Main Forum Individual Forum

Day 3 Day 7