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Department of ABA
Accounting 418/618
Financial Reporting and Statement Analysis Fall 2020
Instructor: Loretta Amerongen, PhD, FCA, FCPA Location: Off Campus-C19Remote
Office: Off Campus-C19Remote Email: [email protected]
Office Hours via Zoom – by appointment (additional office hours will be held prior to exams)
Class times
Lecture A1 – Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 to 10:50 MT Lecture A2 – Tuesdays and Thursday from 11:00 to 12:20 MT
The 11:00 lecture from each class will be recorded and posted on eClass by the end of the day for that class.
MT – Mountain Time Materials
Lecture Notes – Notes for each topical area will posted on eClass prior to the start of the lectures on that topic. The notes form the basis for the class lectures.
Practice Problems and Solutions – These will also be posted on eClass by topical area. The practice problems and solutions include all of the old exam questions for this class.
Optional Text: Hilton, M. and Herauf D. Modern Advanced Accounting in Canada. 9th Ed. Toronto, ON: McGraw-Hill Ryerson.
Prerequisite: Accounting 415 (Intermediate Financial Accounting II). You must have successfully completed Accounting 415 prior to taking this course.
Learning Objectives:
This course incorporates the Learning Goals of the BCom Program, in particular critical thinking, and written communication. This course is designed to develop an
understanding of the concepts and practices that underlie financial reporting for a subset of more complex events and transactions including long-term investments,
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multinational operations, deferred income taxes and accounting for not-for profit organizations. At the end of this course, you will have developed the following course specific knowledge:
• An understanding of the rules and principles governing accounting for not-for-profit organizations including the ability to prepare a complete set of financial statements for a not-for profit organization.
• An understanding of rules and principles governing accounting for foreign currency transactions including accounting for individual transactions entered into by a Canadian company in a foreign currency, accounting for hedges of those
transactions and translation of the financial statements of a foreign subsidiary of a Canadian parent company.
• An understanding of the rules and principles governing accounting for long term passive investments, investments subject to significant influence, and investments subject to control, including the ability to prepare a complete set of consolidated financial statements.
• An understanding of accounting for deferred income taxes in complex situations.
In addition, you should be able use the knowledge acquired in the course to reason from basic principles to determine how to account for transactions in unfamiliar situations.
Time Commitment: For success in this course, it is generally necessary to spend 6 to 8 hours a week outside of class to develop an understanding of the underlying
accounting concepts. This understanding is best developed through a review of lecture notes prior to attempting practice problems provided; followed by working through all practice problems. A comprehensive answer should be developed for each problem before reviewing the solution provided. When you review the solution, you should identify areas of difficulty and refer back to lecture notes to refine your understanding of the concepts.
In the past, students who have attempted to cram for exams, (started looking at notes and problems for the first time two to three days before the exam), have done poorly. An understanding of financial accounting is best developed over time by application of concepts to problem material.
Preparing for Class: Generally ten to fifteen course pack pages are covered in each lecture. Careful review of course pack material prior to each lecture will significantly improve your understanding of the materials covered during the lecture.
Lectures will be delivered via Zoom. All students are to have video (camera) on at all times during the lectures.
Recording of lectures in any fashion by students is allowed only with the prior written consent of the instructor or as part of an approved accommodation plan. Recorded material is to be used solely for personal study and is not to be used or distributed for any other purpose.
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Grades in the course will be assigned on the following basis:
Exam Weight Date
Midterm I 25% Saturday, October 3rd 9:00 AM MT
Midterm II 25% Saturday, October 31st 9:00 AM MT
Final 50% Saturday, December 12th 9:00 AM MT
MT – Mountain Time
Midterms are 80 minutes and the final is 150 minutes (2.5 hours). All exams including midterms and the final are consolidated. Exams will be held in Zoom meetings that will be recorded. You are required to have your video on at all times during the exam and you must ensure your face can be clearly seen during the entire exam. If you disappear from the exam for any reason during the exam, that exam will not count. If this happens on a midterm exam, the weight from the exam will be put on the final and you will have an extra question covering material from the missed midterm. In addition, your final will be separately proctored and you will be required to show your screen for the entirety of the exam. If this happens on the final, you will be required to write a separately
proctored exam on Saturday, December 12th at 1:00 PM MT time where you will be required to show your screen at all times during the exam.
A separate assignment box will be set up for each student in eClass. Five minutes before the start of the exam, the assignment box will be available and you may download the exam and print it. In addition to a word version of the exam, you will be provided with an excel document. You are required to use the excel document provided to answer the exam questions. At the end of the exam you will be required to upload you exam into the assignment box. Assignment boxes will be set to close within a
couple of minutes of the end of the exam, therefore you must ensure you stop writing as soon as time is called for the exam. The protocol for the file name is Last Name_First Name_MTI; MTII or FINAL. In addition, please include your ID number in the excel file.
There will be different versions of the exam with subtle differences between exams.
During the exam you are not permitted to engage in any kind of communication with anyone. This includes talking, texting, emailing or any other type of electronic
communication. If you communicate with anyone this will be considered an act of academic dishonesty.
During the exam you may access your lecture notes and problems and solutions but you are not permitted to access the internet. This means exams are open book with respect to class notes and problems and solutions, however, this does not mean you will be able to pass exams without studying and understanding the material. The emphasis in exams will be on testing your understanding of financial accounting rather than ability to memorize and regurgitate. The biggest misconception about open-book exams is that there is no need to study. You should study just as you would for any
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other exam. Having notes and problems will not help if you do not understand the material. In addition, there will be time pressure on the exams, so being able to access books and notes will be of little help.
Use of pre-prepared templates – This is not permitted. If there is any indication on an exam, that a student has copied in a template from any source what so ever and attempted to use that to answer an exam question that will be considered an act of academic dishonesty.
Proctors will be present during the exam Zoom meeting. If a proctor feels there is any suspicious activity, Proctors have the right to say something to the offending student (e.g. please show me what is in your hand). The proctor may also send a Zoom chat to the offending student. A non-response will be considered an act of academic
dishonesty. Please note that this is similar to a classroom setting where the instructor may walk by your desk or give instructions to the class.
Washroom breaks are not permitted. Please organize yourselves accordingly.
Information for Exams
Prior to each exam an information sheet about the exam will be posted on eClass. You may ask any questions you wish about exam content in lectures, in front of the rest of the class, however I reserve the right to decide whether I will answer a particular
question. I will not answer questions about exam content, asked outside of the lectures.
I will, however, answer any questions about understanding of course notes and problems and solutions.
Absences from Exams
Occasionally life events occur that require a student to miss term work, term
examinations, or final examinations. Excused absences are not granted automatically and will be considered only for acceptable reasons such as incapacitating illness, severe domestic affliction, or religious convictions.
Unacceptable reasons include, but are not limited to, personal events. When a student is absent without an acceptable excuse, a final grade will be computed using a raw score of zero for the work missed. Any student who applies for or obtains an excused absence by making false statements will be liable under the Code of Student Behaviour.
If a student is absent from a midterm exam for a legitimate and adequately documented reason, the weight of the missed exam will be reallocated to the final exam. In additiol to the final written by other students, the student will have an additional question from the Midterm missed. There will be no deferred mid-term exams in this course.
If a student is absent from the final exam, he or she must obtain permission from the Undergraduate office to write a deferred final exam. The deferred exam date for this course will be Saturday, January 9, 2021 at 9:00 AM MT. All deferred exams will be
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separately proctored and the student writing the exam will be required to share their screen at all times during the exam.
Etiquette
Certain types of behaviour are distracting both to the instructor and to your fellow students. Therefore, I ask that you:
• Arrive on time for class and stay until class is over.
• Refrain from using personal communication or entertainment devices during the Zoom class meetings.
• Not engage in messaging or telephone conversations with your fellow students that are separate from the class discussion.
• Turn off your cell phone or any computer-based messaging applications. If you need to communicate with your classmates or the instructor, please use the Zoom chat feature.
Other than information provided in class, eClass will be where announcements and other information regarding the course will be made. Please plan to check this site regularly and/or make sure your settings in eClass will send you emails when there are updates.
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
http://www.governance.ualberta.ca/StudentAppeals.aspx) and avoid any behaviour that could 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.
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Topical Coverage
Not - For – Profit Organizations
3 to 4 Lectures Chapter 12
Foreign Currency
Translation of individual transactions 3 Lectures
Chapter 10
Translation of Financial Statements 2 Lectures
Chapter 11
Business Combinations
Introduction to Long Term Investments 1 Lecture
Chapter 2
Consolidation at Acquisition 3 Lectures
Chapter 3 and 4
Post Acquisition Consolidation 3 – 4 Lectures
Chapter 5
Intercompany Transactions 3 – 4 Lectures
Chapter 6
Deferred Income Taxes
3 Lectures Lecture Notes