UNIVERSITY OF BALTIMORE

ROBERT G. MERRICK SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

ACCT 302

INTERMEDIATE ACCOUNTING II

SPRING SEMESTER 2009

 

Instructor: Susan A. Lynn, DBA, CPA

Office: Business Center 451

Office Hours: Tuesday, 2:00-3:00 p.m., 4:15-5:15pm.; Thursday, 2:00-3:00 p.m

Phone: 410 - 837-5099 (Office)

            410 -837-5722 (Fax) (Please call and let me know when you are faxing me materials.)

Email: slynn@ubalt.edu

 

Course Web Site: http://home.ubalt.edu/ntsblynn/

 

Langsdale Library Course Reserve Page:  http://webreserves.ubalt.edu/eres/coursepage.aspx?cid=568 (password- Chaucer)

 

Text Website: http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072994029/student_view0/index.html

 

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

A.       To review in detail the major issues related to the following topics in financial accounting:

           1. operational assets

           2. investments

           3. time value of money concepts

           4. bonds and long-term notes

           5. stockholders’ equity

           6. earnings per share 

B.       To develop the student's analytical, written, and problem solving abilities in accounting.

 

C.       To develop the student’s understanding of the differences between US GAAP and IFRS.

 

D.       To develop the student’s IT capabilities related to accounting (e.g., spreadsheets, internet research, on-line accounting databases)

 

PREREQUISITES:

ACCT 203 and 204 (Principles of Accounting) and ACCT 301 (Intermediate Accounting I) are prerequisites for ACCT 302.  Students are expected to take the responsibility for reviewing material from these courses on their own.

 

TEXTS Spiceland, Sepe, and Tomassini, Intermediate Accounting, Fourth Edition, or Fourth Edition Update, McGraw-Hill, 2007.

 

               A Student Study Guide and Working Papers are available but are not required. 

              Gleim and Collins, Financial Accounting:  Exam Questions and Explanations, 12th edition or 13th edition, Gleim Publications, 2005 or 2007.          

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:

The University of Baltimore comprises a community of students, faculty, administrators, and staff who share a commitment to learning. As the practice of academic honesty is essential to learning, the university has established a policy for academic integrity.  It can be found online in the Student Handbook at (http://www.ubalt.edu/template.cfm?page=283).

All members of our community share responsibility for actively fostering academic honesty, actively discouraging academic dishonesty, and engaging in ongoing discussion of activities that may violate the spirit of honesty.  Although the academic integrity policy places primary emphasis on fostering honesty, it also provides clear consequences for behavior that violates the policy, together with fair procedures for judging alleged cases of dishonesty. 

This course is conducted in accordance with the Academic Integrity policy of the University of Baltimore: The university's Academic Integrity Policy is derived from the following convictions:

that honesty is the foundation of personal integrity

that honesty promotes substantive learning

that honesty validates the recognition of scholarly achievement

that honesty demonstrates respect for the work of others, enabling effective cooperation.

 

STUDY TIME REQUIREMENTS:

 

ACCT 302 requires a significant and regular time commitment from the student.  You should plan to spend a MINIMUM of 10-12 hours per non-exam week in studying for the course.

 

I believe teaching is a passive process while learning is an active process. I believe that my function is to help you learn not to "teach" you. I will make a substantial and sincere effort to help you be successful in the class. I expect you to make that same type of effort to help yourself.

 

In order to be successful in the class, I suggest you use the following approach:

 

1. There is no substitute for reading the chapters in your text thoroughly. (I suggest a minimum of three times over the course of your study of each topic).

 

2. There is also no substitute for working all the questions, cases, exercises, and problems assigned before the class in which they are discussed. ACCT 302 is a problems course. My experience convinces me that working the written assignments on your own is essential to understanding the logic and theory that underlies them. It is also essential for retaining the material and developing the ability to apply the theory and procedures studied to new situations. Merely reviewing solutions after they have been presented in class does not present a sufficiently intense learning experience to promote learning.

 

3. A helpful tool for reviewing the course material as well as for preparing for the multiple choice questions on the exam is Gleim and Collins, Objective Questions and Explanations, 12th edition and the multiple choice questions in your textbook (solutions are posted on the course website).

 

4. Tutoring for this course is available from the Academic Resource Center (www.ubalt.edu/arc). All ARC tutoring is free. Depending upon the course, tutors may be available days, evenings, or even weekends. You may work individually with a tutor or request a small-group tutorial to share questions and insights with other students. Tutors can help you with reviewing course material as well as Excel and writing assignments. Some tutors may be able to provide assistance by e-mail, phone, fax, or web-based audio-conferencing. If you are interested, stop by the office in the academic center, call 410-837-5383, or e-mail arc@ubalt.edu.

 

ORGANIZATION OF COURSE:

 

Classroom activities in the course will vary depending on the material covered and may consist of interactive lectures, problem solving activities, and small group activities.  Before we discuss a chapter in class, I expect you to have read and studied the reading assignments in the chapter.  I also expect you to work assigned case, exercise, and problem material before we review the material in class. I have found that students are not likely to be successful in Intermediate Accounting if they only review solutions as they are discussed in class.

 

The reading and written assignments are listed in the class calendar.  I will review some written assignments as part of my lecture on each chapter. Some written assignments will be collected and graded as homework. In addition, because ACCT 302 is a problem oriented course, I will provide you with solutions to additional problem material which you can review on your own and which we can discuss in class if you have additional questions about the material. I expect you to work through "basic" material on your own so that we can spend class time on more complex materials.

 

The class calendar is subject to revisions; these will be announced in class.  Students are responsible for being familiar with these revisions whether or not they have been absent from class. Although I will not take attendance, I encourage you to attend class regularly in order to be successful in the course.

 

SMALL GROUP ACTIVITIES

 

In order to develop students’ problem solving skills, we will be working in small groups during the semester. Students are responsible for the learning that goes on in these groups. Students will be assigned to groups at the second class meeting. During group activities, we will be sometimes be using a form of Problem-Based Learning (PBL). During PBL you will encounter an accounting problem first in the learning process and will then proceed to seek the accounting concepts needed to solve the problem. In each phase of a PBL problem, you will need to ascertain what you know that will help you decipher the problem and what additional information you need to resolve the issue. These are the keys to succeeding in the problem solving process. PBL more closely approximates the kinds of problems and the approaches to finding financial accounting solutions that you will face in your professional career.

 

 

 

In order for group activities to achieve their full potential, all members of a group must be present and arrive for class on time. In my experience students who have missed class or arrive late have experienced difficulty keeping up with the material. However, I recognize that absences and lateness may occur. For this reason, if more than ten in-class group exercises are collected, a maximum of two of your lowest grades will be dropped.

 

 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Students will be given detailed learning objectives for each topic studied in the course. These are listed on the outlines provided for each chapter. Learning objectives includes behavioral verbs in the following skill categories:

           •          Knowledge (ability to recall previously learned material)

           •          Comprehension (ability to grasp meaning, explain, restate ideas)

           •          Application (ability to use learned material in new situations)

           •          Analysis (ability to separate material into component parts and show relationships between parts)

 

EXAMS:

Exams will consist of problems, short essays, and multiple choice questions.  The material covered on the exams will be announced in class. The final exam is comprehensive. The final examination will be held on the date listed in the schedule of classes. 

 

No make-up exams will be given. You must contact me prior to an exam which is missed or a grade of zero will be given.  Absences from exams because of illness require a doctor's written excuse.  All other absences must be approved by me and will require appropriate documentation. Absences from the final examination will not be excused except for illness on the day of the examination.  It is the responsibility of the student to notify the instructor and provide requested documentation. If you miss an exam (with an approved excuse), the comprehensive final will count as your score for the exam that is missed.

 

 

HOMEWORK:

 

I will collect homework at the beginning of each class meeting announced as a homework collection date. Homework cases, exercises, and problems are to be completed in neat, legible fashion on 8 ½ x 11 sheets, analysis tablets or working papers. Students are responsible for meeting homework collection dates whether or not they have been absent from class. NO late homework will be accepted. Xerox all homework problems that will be collected. If a student must miss a class, he or she may turn in all problems assigned for the day prior to the class meeting.

 

READING VERIFICATION FORMS:

 

I will collect reading verification forms (to help ensure that you are reading the text before we discuss it in class) at the beginning of the class for which they are due. Students are responsible for completing these forms whether or not they have been absent from class. NO late forms will be accepted. If a student must miss a class, he or she may turn in the reading verification form for the day prior to the class meeting.

 

COURSE GRADE:

The student's course grade will be determined as follows:

 

Exams (4 @ 50 points)

200 points (40%)

Final Exam

160 points (32%)

* Homework

20 points (4%)

* Reading Verification Forms

20 points (4%)

  Group Activities

40 points (8%)

** Writing, IFRS Research,  and Computer Projects

60 points (12%)

                     Total

500 points

 

* If more than seven homeworks or more than five reading verification forms are collected, a maximum of your two lowest homework and two lowest reading verification form scores will be dropped. If more than ten in-class group exercises are collected, a maximum of two of your lowest grades will be dropped.

 

** The requirements for the writing, IFRS research,  and computer projects are detailed in separate handouts. All projects must be submitted in order to receive a passing grade for the course. 10% of the total points for a project will be deducted for each day a project is late.

 

The computer project requires you to have basic knowledge of a spreadsheet package such as Excel or Quattro Pro. You are required to familiarize yourself with the basic features of a spreadsheet package if you have not already done so. Learn how to reference cells in the spreadsheet, how to write simple equations using data contained in the cells, how to copy an equation in one cell to a series of other cells, how to save the spreadsheet to your data diskette, and how to print the spreadsheet. You will not need to use the database features of the software, graphing capabilities, or macros.

 

Letter grades for the course will be assigned based on the total number of points earned by the student using a scale which will be determined at the end of the course.  I do not generally "curve" grades. However, there are several ways in which you can "earn a curve" for the course. Each exam will have more points than those listed above. In addition, you may "earn a curve" through the homework and reading verification forms as explained in class. In addition, after computing all grades, I will take a final look to determine the fairness of the grades. A strong score on the comprehensive final exam is the best evidence you can give me that you deserve a higher grade.

 

 

 

 

 


 During the course, students may judge their performance using the following scale:

 

Letter Grade

Required Points

A

450

 A-

434

  B+

417

B

400

 B-

384

  C+

367

C

350

 C-

334

  D+

317

D

300

 D-

283

F

below 283

 




SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS

Note: The specific assignments (homework, reading verification forms, etc. ) due each week will be announced in class and posted on WebTyco.)

Note: Class sessions after the dates exams are scheduled are reserved as alternate exam dates in case of exam postponements because of weather, etc.

 

 Week

Of

Chapter

Topic

Multiple

Choice

Modules

 in Gleim

Assignment

      in Spiceland

1/27




6

 

Introduction 

Diagnostic Testing

 

Time Value of Money Concepts



 

4.1 thru 4.3



 

E4,6,7,8,9,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18

P2 

Handout

2/3

14

Bonds and Long-Term Notes

 

12.1 thru 12.6,

10.6, 15.6

E3,4,5,6,7,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,24,

25,26

 

P3,4,5,8,9,10,11,12,14,18,20

Handout          

2/10

14

(cont.)

 

 

 

2/17

 

 

12

EXAM I

 

Investments



10.1-10.3, 10.7



E1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,17,18,19,20,21,23,24

P1,2,6,7,8,9,10,11

Handout

 

2/24

   12

(cont.)

 

Handout

 

 

 

Accounting for Fair Value

 

 

 

 

Handout

 

 

 

 

 

3/3

 

 

 

10

 

EXAM II

 

 

Operational Assets - Acquisition and Disposition

(Omit Appendix)

Handout on exchanges



 

7.1,7.2, 7.5

9.1 thru 9.5,12.7

 




E1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,20,21,22,23,24,26

P1,6, 7, 8,10

 

Handout

3/10

10

(cont.)

COMPUTER PROJECT DUE 

 

 

 

3/17

 

SPRING BREAK

 

 

3/24

10 (cont.)

 

11



Operational Assets - Utilization and Impairment

(Omit Appendices 11-A and

 11-B)

 



7.3,

8.1 thru 8.4



E1,2,3,4,6,7,9, 10,11,12,13,14,15,

16,18,19,20,21,22,24

P4,7,8,12

 

Handout

3/30

(Mon.)

 

Last Day to Drop with a “W”

 

 

3/31

 

 

11

(cont.)

 

EXAM III

 

 

 

4/7

 

No Class

 

 IFRS Web Assignment

4/14

11 (cont.)

EXAM IV

 

 

 

 

 

4/21

 

 

 

 

18

 

 IFRS Web Assignment Due

 

Stockholders’ Equity

(Omit Appendix)

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.1,3.5,

15.1 thru 15.4

 

 

 

 

E1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,13,

15,19,20

 P2,3,5,9,10

4/28

18

(cont.)

 

 

19-B

 

 

 

 

Earnings per Share



 




16.1-16.2

 




E11,12,13,14,

15,16,17,18,19,21

P8,11,12,13,14

 

 

5/5

19-B

(cont.)

 

 

 

5/14

(Thurs.)

 

FINAL EXAM

11:30-2:00 pm