ACC322 Syllabus - University of Alberta

UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND MIS

A

322

I

A

M

D

M

S

Instructor: Patricia (Trish) Stringer Class

Office: Bus 2-33 A1: TR 2:00 pm-4:50 pm (BUS 2-5)

Office Hours: TBA Email:

1. Course Description and Objectives

This course is an introduction to managerial accounting. It is designed to make business students aware of the roles that accounting plays within organizations. The focus is primarily on the informed use of managerial accounting information, rather than on its production. The course emphasizes the links between accounting information and management activities such as strategic and operational decision making, financial planning and control, organizational design, and performance evaluation.

The course examines how managerial accounting is used within a variety of organizations, including manufacturing, merchandising, and service businesses, as well as public-sector and not-for-profit organizations.

Specific skills developed in this course include the abilities to:

• Identify, categorize, and analyze the behaviour of costs;

• Utilize cost information in making decisions (i.e., cost-benefit and profitability analyses);

• Prepare and use budgets; and

• Use accounting information to evaluate and motivate the performance of divisions, departments, and other units within organizations.

At the conclusion of the course, students should be familiar with the basic terminology, concepts, and techniques of managerial accounting, be able to utilize them in managerial problem solving, and be able to critically evaluate managerial accounting data and reports. Prerequisite: Accounting 311.

2. Evaluation

Your grade in this course will be based on the marks you obtain on four (4) quizzes, one eighty (80) minute midterm exam, a group project, and a (2) two-hour comprehensive final exam. These marks will be weighted as follows to determine your percentage mark in the course:

Quizzes 10%

Midterm Exam (Thursday, May 27 during class time 2:00pm) 30%

Group Project (due Thursday, June 10 at 2:00pm) 20%

Final Exam (Friday June 18 at 11:30 am) 40%

Total 100 %

Up to 5% of bonus marks may be allocated to in-class exercises.

Letter grades will be assigned to the percentage marks in accordance with University Regulations [Section 23.4(4) of the University Calendar]. Grades in this course will be based on a combination of absolute achievement and relative performance.

2.1. Exams

All exams in this course will be closed book. You may use a non-programmable calculator. You will have eighty (80) minutes to write the midterm exam and two (2) hours to write the final exam.

The final exam will be comprehensive.

• Midterm Exam – Thursday, May 27 during regular class time - 2:00pm

• Final Exam – Friday, June 18 at 11:30 am

Section 23.5.1 of the Calendar provides the University Regulations for the conduct of exams. At an exam, students must be able to present their student ID cards or other acceptable photo identification.

Cell phones, iPods, and other electronic devices must be turned off and put away prior to the exam (the only permitted electronic devices are non-programmable calculators).

2.1.1. Absence from Exams

If a student is absent from the midterm exam for a legitimate and adequately documented reason, tell your instructor in writing as soon as possible. The weight of the missed exam will be reallocated to the final exam. There will be no deferred midterm exam in this course.

If a student is absent from the final exam, he or she must obtain permission to write the deferred exam from their Faculty Office. The application and supporting documentation pertaining to the absence must be presented to the applicable Faculty within two working days following the scheduled date of the exam missed or as soon as the student is able, having regard to the circumstances underlying the absence.

2.1.2. Exam and Group Project Re-marking Policy

After marked midterm exam papers and group projects have been returned, the answer key will be posted on Blackboard. Students should review the marking carefully and bring to his or her instructor’s attention any questions about their marks as soon as possible. No remarking requests will be accepted more than one week after the results have been made available. All appeals must be in writing and the original copy of the exam or group project must be attached.

2.1.3. Final Exam Viewing and Reappraisals

For information regarding applying for a reappraisal of your final exam please see:

2.2. Quizzes

Four (4) scheduled quizzes will be administered in this course via Blackboard. Please see the tentative class schedule for due dates. More information will be posted in the quiz section on Blackboard. Online quizzes are available Thursday afternoon at 5:00pm until 1:59pm on the following Tuesday afternoon.

For each quiz, you will have 2 attempts, and only the better will count; 15 minutes maximum for each attempt. If you go over the 15 minutes your score will be reduced to zero.

2.3. Group Project

For this project, students must work together in groups of two to four. Students are expected to form groups on their own or via the discussion board on Blackboard. The groups will be formed on the group portion of Blackboard.

The project is an analysis of a business case. The case and instructions will be posted on Blackboard.

Your submission is due Thursday, June 10 by 2:00pm and can be in hardcopy or softcopy (Please submit the softcopies via the group Blackboard function). A late submission will be assessed a penalty of 33⅓-percentage points for each day that it is late; therefore, any submission more than two days late will receive a mark of zero. Your submission should be either given to your instructor in person or submitted via Blackboard.

3. Course Materials and Activities 3.1. Required Textbook

Management Accounting (Sixth Canadian Edition) by Hansen, Mowen, Senkow, & Pollanen (Thomson Nelson). A customized version for Accounting 322 is available at the Bookstore. The non-customized version is also acceptable.

3.2. Blackboard

You will be able to obtain the following materials from Blackboard at

• Lecture notes and related items

• Solutions to recommended questions from the textbook.

• Sample midterm and final with solutions.

• Case and instructions for the group project.

Blackboard also provides a web forum (Discussion Board) for posting questions.

3.3. In-class Activities

Our classes will be a combination of lectures and discussions of problems. Most of the concepts and techniques taught in this course are best illustrated and learned through problem solving. Therefore, we will analyze many problems in class. In addition to attending the classes, it is expected that you will review the relevant chapter of the textbook and any other assigned material before coming to class. When specific questions have been assigned for the class, you should be prepared to analyze and discuss them. The attached class schedule identifies the specific questions for each class.

Solutions to problems done in class will not be released on blackboard.

3.4. Out-of-class Activities

Following the lectures on a particular topic, you should work on the recommended questions from the textbook. The recommended questions for each chapter are identified in the attached class schedule. You can check your answers against the solutions posted on Blackboard. For your convenience, the questions are classified into a primary “A” set and a secondary “B” set. At a minimum, you should work through the “A” set of questions for each chapter. For helpful additional practice, you are strongly advised to also work on questions from each chapter’s “B” set.

4. Academic Integrity

Absolute and complete academic honesty is expected of you in this course. It is important for you as a student to behave in an ethical manner. The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect.

Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour (online at potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.

Policy about course outlines can be found in Section 23.4(2) of the University Calendar.

T

C

S

# Dates Quizzes /

Assignment Topics Required

Reading Recommended Questions

1 T May 11 Introduction & basic concepts & terminology Chapters 1 & 2

A: 2-2, 2-7, 2-12, 2-16, 2-22 B: 2-11, 2-15, 2-18, 2-20, 2-23

2 R May 13 Cost behaviour & estimation Chapter 3 A: 3-6, 3-10, 3-15, 3-26, 3-27

B: 3-14, 3-16, 3-17, 3-24, 3-28 3 T May 18 Quiz 1 due Activity-based costing Chapter 4 A: 4-1, 4-7, 4-12, 4-16, 4-19, 4-24

B: 4-2, 4-9, 4-15, 4-20, 4-23, 4-28

4 R May 20 Job-order costing & Variable costing Chapters

5 & 8

A: 5-19, 5-30, 5-31, 5-32, 5-33 B: 5-14, 5-15, 5-20, 5-25, 5-34 5 T May 25 Quiz 2 due Segmented reporting & Review for midterm Chapter

8

A: 8-12, 8-16, 8-17, 8-37, 8-40 B: 8-14, 8-31, 8-34, 8-44, 8-49 6 R May 27 Mid-Term Exam during class time – 2 pm

7 T June 1 Cost-volume-profit analysis Chapter 9 A: 9-22, 9-23, 9-25, 9-26, 9-33

B: 9-27, 9-30, 9-34, 9-36, 9-37 8 R June 3 Tactical decision making & Financial performance

evaluation

Chapters 10 & 16

A: 10-4, 10-9, 10-31, 10-39

B: 10-8, 10-10, 10-30, 10-34, 10-44 9 T June 8 Quiz 3due Managerial performance evaluation & Transfer pricing Chapter 16

A: 16-3, 16-6, 16-8, 16-9, 16-17, 16-23, 16-24, 16-30, 16-32

B: 16-16, 16-20, 16-26, 16-34, 16-35 10 R June 10 Assignment

due Budgeting Chapter 13 A: 13-9, 13-10, 13-17, 13-26, 13-38

B: 13-6, 13-7, 13-20, 13-35, 13-40 11 T June 15 Quiz 4 due Course wrap up & review

F June 18 Final Exam – 11:30 am