University of Alberta

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University of Alberta School of Business

Department of Accounting & Business Analytics Accounting 415

Intermediate Financial Accounting II Winter 2021

MW 9:30-10:50am (section B1)

Instructor: Prof. Shamin Mashruwala Email: [email protected]

Office hours (over Zoom): Wed 1:00-2:30pm

Course Description

ACCTG 415 is the second part of Intermediate Financial Accounting covering principles, methods, and applications of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). It builds upon materials learnt previously in ACCTG 311 and ACCTG 414. The primary focus of this course is accounting for liabilities and shareholders’ equity. Topics include long-term debt, shareholders’ equity, complex financial instruments, accounting for income taxes, leases, pensions, earnings per share, and accounting changes. We will also discuss the differences between IFRS and Accounting Standards for Private Enterprises (ASPE).

Learning Outcomes

This course focuses on the following Learning Goals of the BCom program: critical thinking and quantitative skills. A professional accountant’s expertise depends on both technical skill and professional judgment ability, which rely on critical thinking and quantitative skills. During this course, students develop this expertise via a thorough understanding of the rationale (conceptual basis, assumptions, etc.) of each accounting method as well as extensive practice in applying these methods. Likewise, the exams are designed to assess the student’s understanding of the relevant accounting concepts and methods and his/her ability to apply these methods.

Required Materials

• Kieso, Weygandt, Warfield, Wiecek, and McConomy. Intermediate Accounting, 12^th Canadian Edition, Volume 2, Wiley.

• Course website on eClass – here you will find lecture slides/videos, solutions to self-study and in-class problems, and sample exams/solutions.

• Zoom – we’ll use the Zoom conferencing platform for all synchronous (live) activities.

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2 Course Activities

The course will be a combination of asynchronous and synchronous activities.

Asynchronous activities are those activities that you complete on your own time. They include reading the textbook, watching the lecture video, and working through textbook problems. You should keep up with these activities, so you don’t fall behind on the material.

These activities should be begun by you on or before the date listed in the detailed schedule on pages 6-7.

Synchronous activities are live, real-time activities that will be conducted using Zoom. We’ll have Zoom meetings weekly (see the dates in the schedule). These meetings will focus on doing problems together for the relevant chapter. You are expected to have studied the relevant chapter prior to our Zoom meeting.

I will not be recording these Zoom problem-solving sessions. However, I will post the written solutions to all the problems that we do over Zoom (on eClass).

It is your responsibility to complete all activities. If you miss a Zoom meeting for any reason, you are still responsible for all material covered.

The following sequential process is important when taking this course:

1. Read the assigned chapter of the textbook (as per the schedule).

2. Watch the related video for the chapter.

3. Attend the Zoom session where we’ll go through problems for the chapter.

4. Work through the recommended self-study problems for the chapter (from the textbook, listed in the schedule). The solutions to all the self-study problems will be posted on eClass.

This is a difficult course. Students should expect to spend a considerable amount of time to gain an adequate understanding of the course material. Some studying tips are provided on pages 4-5 of this syllabus. The chapters we’ll study progressively cover more difficult and technically challenging material. If you don’t understand the earlier material you will not be able to understand what comes later. In the past, students who failed to keep up with the course materials throughout the semester did very poorly in the course.

Course Evaluation

There will be two midterms and a final exam. The weighting of these components is indicated below:

Midterm exam 1 Wed, Feb 10 (during class time) 30%

Midterm exam 2 Wed, Mar 24 (during class time) 30%

Final exam Mon, Apr 19 (9:00-11:00am) 40%

Total 100%

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Note that the University average grade distribution is based on all courses across campus, including courses of varying levels of difficulty. Traditionally, the median (mean) grades in the courses in the ABA department are lower than the University average. As a result, the distribution of grades in this course will not necessarily coincide exactly with the University average distribution. In the past several years, the mean grade in this course has been B.

Make-up or extra work to improve your grade is not possible.

Exams

All exams will be given online and the exam dates are shown above (and in the schedule). The midterm exams will be held during normal class time (80 minutes), while the final exam will be held from 9:00-11:00am (2 hours). Prior to each exam, I will provide details about the exam format and the protocols for taking the exam.

Each midterm exam will cover three chapters, as indicated in the schedule. The final exam is cumulative and will cover all the nine chapters studied during the semester. The exams will cover material from the textbook and the lecture slides. You are responsible for all assigned materials unless I have explicitly excluded it.

Exam Remarking Policy

Any concerns about the grading of a midterm exam must be raised within one week from the time that exam marks are made available. Any exam brought to my attention for re-grading should be accompanied by a short written explanation of the question(s) you’d like me to review. Note that exams submitted for re-grading will be re-graded in their entirety, which may result in your grade increasing or decreasing.

Absences from Exams

All exams are mandatory and must be taken. If you cannot take an exam because of an emergency, you must advise me of the reason for your absence prior to the exam (via e-mail). Excused absences are not granted automatically and will be considered only for acceptable reasons such as incapacitating illness or a family emergency. Unacceptable reasons include (but are not limited to) personal events such as vacations, weddings, or travel arrangements.

• Midterm exams:

• If you miss a midterm exam for an acceptable reason, no make-up midterm will be given.

Instead, the weight of the midterm will be reallocated to the final exam (i.e., your final exam will count for 70% of your course grade).

• If you miss a midterm exam without an acceptable excuse, you will receive a mark of zero for the missed exam.

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• Final exam

• If you are absent from the final exam, you must obtain permission from the School’s Undergraduate Office to write a deferred final exam.

• If permission is not granted by the Undergraduate Office to write a deferred final exam, you will receive a mark of zero for the missed exam and your course grade will be computed accordingly.

Once you have taken an exam, your grade will not be changed or reallocated due to explanations given after the exam. Therefore, if you are too ill to write an exam, please do not attempt it.

Zoom Meeting Attendance

You are expected to attend every Zoom meeting. If you miss a Zoom meeting for any reason, it is your responsibility to speak to your classmates about what material was covered and what announcements were made. Note: Audio or video recording of Zoom meetings is not allowed.

Code of Student Behavior

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 Behavior and avoid any behavior which 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.

Some Suggestions for Studying

Below are some tips to help you succeed in this course.

1. For each chapter, study the textbook and lecture slides thoroughly before attempting the self- study problems.

2. Work through as many of the recommended self-study problems as possible (these are listed in the schedule). The solutions for the self-study problems are on eClass. Accounting can only be learned through problem-solving, so doing problems is critical and should be an essential part of your study routine.

3. Don’t make the mistake of relying too much on the solutions when you’re working through problems. During an exam, you’ll have to work through problems from scratch without any notes or solutions next to you. Therefore, you should practice doing the same when studying.

It’s fine to refer to the solutions when you get stuck and to check your final answers. But if you can only complete the textbook problems by checking the solution every step of the way

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(or worse yet, if you only study the solutions instead of actually working through the problems yourself), you probably won’t be well-prepared for the exams.

4. Attend all the Zoom meetings. If you must miss a meeting, be sure to review all of the material and problems that you missed, so that you don’t fall behind.

5. Check eClass often. Announcements, lecture slides, videos, in-class problems, practice exams, and the solutions for the recommended textbook problems will be posted on eClass.

6. Finally, keep up with the course material. Do not wait until right before the exams to start studying! This course covers a lot of difficult and challenging material. Study at a steady pace as we go through each chapter and you’ll be better-prepared for the exams.

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CLASS SCHEDULE

Date Asynchronous Synchronous

Mon Jan 11

- Read Chapter 13 (Current and Non- Financial Liabilities)

- Watch slides for Chapter 13 - Self-study problems:

E:1,2,4,5,10,11,13,15,17,18,20,21,23,28 P:2,4,11,13,17

Zoom meeting: Introduction to class, syllabus

Wed Jan 13 Mon Jan 18

- Read Chapter 14 (Long-Term Financial Liabilities)

E:2,3,4,5,6,7,8,11,12,13,14,16,18,19,21 P:1,3,4,5,6,7,11,12,13

Wed Jan 20 Zoom meeting: Chapter 13 in-class

problems

Mon Jan 25

- Read Chapter 15 (Shareholders’ Equity) - Watch slides for Chapter 15

- Self-study problems:

E:1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,11,12,13,14,16 P:1,3,5,7,9,10,11,14

Wed Jan 27 Zoom meeting: Chapter 14 in-class

problems

Mon Feb 1

- Read Chapter 16 (Complex Financial Instruments)

E:9,10,11,12,14,19,25 P:8,9,10

Wed Feb 3 Zoom meeting: Chapter 15 in-class

problems Mon Feb 8

Wed Feb 10 MIDTERM EXAM 1

(Chapters 13, 14 & 15)

Mon Feb 15 NO CLASS (Family Day)

Wed Feb 17 NO CLASS (Reading Week)

Mon Feb 22

- Read Chapter 17 (Earnings Per Share) - Watch slides for Chapter 17

- Self-study problems:

E:1,3,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,15,17 P:2,5,6,7,8,9,11,12,13

Wed Feb 24 Zoom meeting: Chapter 16 in-class

problems Mon Mar 1 - Read Chapter 18 (Income Taxes)

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E:1,3,4,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,15,16,17,19,2 2,23,24,25,28,29

P:1,2,3,4,5,9,10,12

Wed Mar 3 Zoom meeting: Chapter 17 in-class

problems Mon Mar 8

problems (part 1)

Mon Mar 15

- Read Chapter 19 (Pensions) - Watch slides for Chapter 19 - Self-study problems:

E:1,3,4,5,6,10,13,19,20,21 P:3,4,8,10,11,12

problems (part 2) Mon Mar 22

Wed Mar 24 MIDTERM EXAM 2

(Chapters 16, 17 & 18) Mon Mar 29

- Read Chapter 20 (Leases) - Watch slides for Chapter 20 - Self-study problems:

E:1,3,4,5,8,12,14,17 P:3,4,6,10,14

problems

Mon Apr 5 NO CLASS (Easter Monday)

Wed Apr 7

- Read Chapter 21 (Accounting Changes &

Error Analysis)

E:2,4,5,7,8,11,12,16,17,18,20,21,22,23,24

Zoom meeting: Chapter 20 in-class problems

Mon Apr 12

Wed Apr 14 Zoom meeting: Chapter 21 in-class

problems

Mon Apr 19 FINAL EXAM

9:00-11:00am (All nine chapters)