Course Syllabus Course Title Principles of Accounting Information Course Schedule Instructor s Name Jongsoo Han, Ph.D, CPA Telephone 82-2-3277-2779 E-mail Address jhan@ewha.ac.kr Alternate Contact Info na I am normally online from 10am~5pm M-F (Korea Standard Time, UTC+9). If you need to contact me, please send me a message Availability through e-class, and I will respond as soon as possible, normally within 48 hours. For emergencies, please call me to my office number. Course Location/Times Online/Asynchronous Ewha Global Online http://global.ewha.ac.kr Web Access to Class Students are required to use Internet Explorer 8 or higher as their primary web browser. Welcome! Welcome to Principles of Accounting Information. Whenever I run this online course, I always encounter some trial and errors. However, I promise you that I will do everything that I can to ensure that this semester will be an exciting, stimulating, and rewarding experience for all of us. My educational background includes acquiring an Undergraduate and Master degrees from Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea, and a PhD degree in Accounting from University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Before I join Ewha, I was a professor at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA. I also worked at PriceWaterhouseCoopers as a Certified Public Accountant. Course Objectives/Expected Outcomes: This course is designed to introduce students to accounting concepts and principles, and procedures that go into the preparation of corporate financial statements. The aim is to provide students with an understanding of assumptions and logic inherent in accounting techniques so that they become effective users of financial statements for decision making. In particular, we will focus on the role of accounting as the language of business. Successful completion of this course will result in an excellent foundation in accounting and financial statement analysis. Course Description: This course involves the study of the concepts, standards, and procedures that comprise generally accepted accounting principles [GAAP]. GAAP covers the external reporting process Syllabus Page 1 Principles of Accounting Information
and includes the rules for the preparation of the basic financial statements. Following is a brief overview of the course content. An overview of the financial reporting process including the objectives of financial reporting. The underlying concepts, principles and conventions governing the financial reporting process. The accounting cycle involves analyzing, recording and summarizing an entity's transactions in the books and records of an organization in order to prepare financial statements as well as other financial information. The financial statements include classified balance sheet (Statement of Financial Position), multiple step income statement and statement of cash flow. Revenue and expense recognition will be developed in some detail because these rules result in revenues and expenses appearing in a particular year's income statement. Uncollectible Accounts Receivable will be a part of this coverage as well as related topics. Inventories and Cost of Goods Sold will be explored because of their significance in balance sheets and income statements. Understanding financial statements of many firms will require an understanding of accounting methods for Inventories. Non-current assets present significant accounting issues because of their size in any enterprise. The variety of accounting methods for Non-current assets makes this area important. Capital sources, both debt and equity, will be developed appropriately. We will examine the accounting issues surrounding the reporting on these capital sources in the financial statements. Korea has adopted IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) from 2011. However, there is not much difference between IFRS and US GAAP at this introductory level of accounting. Thus, we mainly study US GAAP in this course. Material differences between IFRS and US GAAP, if any, will be explained throughout the course. Required Readings: Textbook: Weygandt, Kieso and Kimmel, Financial Accounting, 6 th edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2011. Please make sure that you purchase the 6 th edition, not the IFRS edition. You should be able to find the book at the university bookstore. Textbook and Homework on Website Besides the textbook, you will also need the access code to WileyPlus website. The access code will give you access to the WileyPlus website. Please make sure that you type in your student ID when register. Not only will you do your homework and take quizzes here, but there are a multitude of resources available. Once you are in the site, click on the Read, Study & Practice tab. The entire textbook ( Multimedia Textbook ) is available, as well many other resources, such as study guides and extra problems/questions. For more information on WileyPlus, please see the tutorials on http://www.wiley.com/college/fdoc/howto.html Syllabus Page 2 Principles of Accounting Information
Course Requirements and Expectations: Grading Discussion Topics: Online discussions are vital to your success in this course. There will be a topic set up for each Chapter. For each chapter, I will post a topic for you to discuss. You must respond to the discussion question for each chapter and also post two responses to other students postings. Your initial response to the discussion question is worth 6 points and your responses to two other students are worth 2 point each. Responses to other students must be at least three full sentences long ( Good job is not a full sentence). Late postings will not receive credit. All thoughtful responses that follow all the directions made by the deadline will get full credit. I also encourage you to read all the postings on the discussion board and respond to as many postings as possible. I will be monitoring your postings and occasionally responding to them. Let s all take advantage of the knowledge base that exists among all the students in this class!! Homework: There will be regular assignment of study exercises, and problems for each chapter. The homework problems are found at WileyPlus. The homework will be graded and posted automatically to this site. As accounting is a learning by doing course, I strongly recommend you to do ALL the assigned problems. WieyPlus will not accept any homework submitted after the deadline and you will not receive credit. Please note that sometimes, the numbers in WileyPlus will be different than those in the problems at the end of the chapter. Extra problems could be found in the Read, Study & Practice section. These problems are not graded but are a great way to prepare for exams. Quiz: You can access your quizzes at WileyPlus. Quizzes are 10 multiple choice questions. Please remember that these quizzes must be completed once they are accessed-no return trips to the quizzes are allowed! Exams: The exams are timed and will consist of questions which are similar to your homework. You will only be allowed to access the exams once. The exams are not designed to be open book and if you are not comfortable with the material, you may run out of time. Advance announcements will be made related to the nature and formats of the questions/problems on a specific exam. There will be two exams: mid-term exam and final exam. The final exam will not be cumulative over the entire semester. The final exam will generally cover material discussed in class after the mid-term. However, a word of caution is appropriate: accounting is cumulative. The ideas and concepts developed early in the course often become the basis for topics introduced later. The nature of the accounting material in this class does not suggest that you pin your hopes for a good grade on a strong 'second half performance'. Final course grades will be assigned depending upon cumulative course points accumulated by you and your fellow students. Grading will be done on a curve based on the university rule. I have no preconception of the number of points needed to earn a particular letter grade. Points will be allocated as follows: Syllabus Page 3 Principles of Accounting Information
Requirements Points Homework 100 Discussion topics 100 Quizzes 200 Mid-term Exam 300 Final Exam 300 total 1,000 Late assignments: No late assignments will be accepted.. Incompletes: A student who experiences unanticipated circumstances and fails to complete all course requirements may contact the instructor prior to the end date of the course. How to succeed in online accounting class Many students take online courses because they think online courses are easier than offline courses. But be noted that this course is NOT easier than offline courses. Here are some tips that should help you succeed. 1. Remember that online classes are not easier than regular classes. 2. You must be self-motivated and disciplined. Between work, other classes, and this online class you will be extremely busy. Set up a schedule for yourself and follow it faithfully 3. Get help as soon as you have a problem. Do not allow yourself to fall behind. Contact me ASAP if you have a special situation come up. I will do the best I can to work with you so that you can successfully complete the class. Make sure you post any questions you have on the discussion board and/or email me. 4. Do all the homework and don t fall behind. (I think I m repeating myself, but I think you get my drift) Practice, Practice, Practice 5. Read each chapter before completing the homework assignments. 6. Actively participate. Plan on visiting the class website on a daily basis, checking for announcements and emails. Syllabus Page 4 Principles of Accounting Information
Weekly Guidelines: Week One This week, we will go over the course expectations and then understand Why we need accounting? Read the full course syllabus, print out a copy and save it. Read Chapter 1 (pp. 1-11) Go to the online class site, print out the syllabus and read it Go to the online class site, and watch the following lecture video clips Class overview Why do we need accounting? Post your answer on the discussion question, and then read other students posting and post at least two responses to other students postings. No homework No quiz Discussion question #1: In the lecture video clip, you learned accounting is needed to eliminate information asymmetry. Nowadays, all listed companies provide accounting information to stockholders. Nonetheless, we still see many accounting scandals in the newspaper. For example, Kozlowski, who was the CEO of Tyco, stole $160 million worth of company s assets. Some companies who showed a very strong performance in accounting went bankrupt within a few months. Please briefly answer to the following questions Could accounting eliminate all information asymmetry? What is information risk? What should we do to reduce the information risk in accounting? Syllabus Page 5 Principles of Accounting Information
Weekly Guidelines: Week Two This week, we will understand some topics such as Basic Financial Statements The Accounting Equation Read Chapter 1 (pp. 11-28) Go to the online class site and watch the following lecture video clips Basic Financial Statements The Accounting Equation Post your answer on the discussion question, and then read other students posting and post at least two responses to other students postings. Solve homework (E1-4, 6, 13, P1-2B, 4B) No Quiz Discussion question #2: List examples of the followings and explain briefly the definition of each example: Assets (10 examples) Liabilities (5 examples) Owner s equity (4 examples) Revenues (6 examples) Expenses (6 examples) Syllabus Page 6 Principles of Accounting Information
Weekly Guidelines: Week Three This week, we will understand some topics related with the recording process of accounting such as Accounts Accounting Cycle Journalizing Posting Trial Balance Read Chapter 2 (pp. 46-75) Go to the online class site and watch the following lecture video clips Accounts Accounting Cycle, Journalizing, Posting, and Trial Balance After watching the two lecture video clips, solve the practice example of Chapter 2, and then check your answers with the following lecture video clip. Practice example of Chapter 2 Post your answer on the discussion question, and then read other students posting and post at least two responses to other students postings. Solve homework (E2-3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, P2-3B) Take Quiz #1 (Chapter 2) Discussion question #3: Many people say expenses are expired asset. An account related to this concept is Prepaid expense. That is because prepaid expense has the characteristics of both asset and expense. Explain What the sentence, expenses are expired asset, means How prepaid expense has the characteristics of both asset and expense Syllabus Page 7 Principles of Accounting Information
Weekly Guidelines: Week Four This week, we will understand some topics related with the adjusting process, which is essential in computing the net income of a company. Read Chapter 3 (pp. 92-117) Go to the online class site and watch the following lecture video clips Adjusting entries 1 (Accrual basis vs. Cash basis) Adjusting entries 2 (Typical examples of Adjusting entries) Adjusting entries 3 (More examples of Adjusting entries) Post your answer on the discussion question, and then read other students posting and post at least two responses to other students postings. Solve homework (E3-3, 4, 11, 12, 13, P3-2B) Take Quiz #2 (Chapter 3) Discussion question #4: Accounting is built on a few assumptions. They are Time period assumption Monetary unit assumption Economic entity assumption Explain the above three assumptions, and what difficulties accounting have without those assumptions Syllabus Page 8 Principles of Accounting Information
Weekly Guidelines: Week Five This week, we will understand the final step of the Accounting cycle, which is Closing entries. We will also review the whole accounting cycle by going over following two examples: Practice Example of Chapter 3 Practice Example of Chapter 4 Read Chapter 4 (pp. 150-171) You do not have to understand the worksheet (pp. 144-150) for this class. Before watching any lecture video clips, solve the practice example of Chapter 3, and then check your answers with the following lecture video clip. Practice example of Chapter 3 Then, go to the online class site and watch the following lecture video clips Closing entries Then, solve the practice example of Chapter 4, and then check your answers with the following lecture video clip. Practice Example of Chapter 4 Post your answer on the discussion question, and then read other students posting and post at least two responses to other students postings. Solve homework (E4-2, 3, 10, 11, 13, P4-2B) No Quiz Discussion question #5: Accounting transactions are different from Business events. Explain the difference between accounting transactions and business events List 5 examples of business events that cannot be accounting transactions. Syllabus Page 9 Principles of Accounting Information
Weekly Guidelines: Week Six Until last week, we learned the accounting cycle for service companies. This week, we will understand the accounting cycle for Merchandizing companies. Specific topics for this week include: Recoding purchases and sales under Perpetual Inventory system and Periodic Inventory system Trade terms and Discount We will also learn specific formats of balance sheet and income statement, which include: Classified balance sheet Multiple-step income statement. Read Chapter 5 and Appendix 5A (pp. 194-222) Go to the online class site and watch the following lecture video clips Overview of Chapter 5 Recording of transactions for merchandising firms Trade terms Classified Balance Sheet and Multiple-step Income Statement Post your answer on the discussion question, and then read other students posting and post at least two responses to other students postings. Solve homework (E5-2, 4, 6, 10, 13, 14, P5-3B, 6B) Take Quiz #3 (Chapter 5) Discussion question #6: Answer to BYP 5-6 (pp. 240-241). Syllabus Page 10 Principles of Accounting Information
Weekly Guidelines: Week Seven Until last week, we learned the accounting cycle for service and merchandising companies. From this week, we will understand the specific accounts of balance sheet. The account we should learn this week is Inventory account. Specific topics related with inventories are: Inventory valuation under FIFO, LIFO, and Weighted Average methods Periodic and Perpetual Inventory systems Lower of Cost or Market method Inventory Error Read Chapter 6 and Appendix 6A (pp. 244-269) Go to the online class site and watch the following lecture video clips Overview of Chapter 6 Inventory valuation-periodic inventory system Inventory valuation-perpetual inventory system LCM and Inventory errors Solve homework (E6-3, 5, 8, 10, 15, P6-3B, 8B) Take Quiz #4 (Chapter 6) Discussion question: No Discussion question Weekly Guidelines: Week Eight Mid-term exam Syllabus Page 11 Principles of Accounting Information
Weekly Guidelines: Week Nine This week, we will understand Receivables account. The specific topics related with Receivables accounts are: Recognizing Accounts Receivables Valuing Accounts Receivables Direct write-off method vs. Allowance method Estimating allowances Percentage of sales method Percentage of receivables method Read Chapter 9 (pp. 384-395) Go to the online class site and watch the following lecture video clips Direct Write-off and Allowance methods Estimating uncollectible accounts Solve homework (E9-5, 6, P9-3B, 4B) Take Quiz #5 (Chapter 9) Discussion question #7: In chapter 9, you learned that there are two methods for estimating uncollectible accounts; one is percentage of sale method and the other is percentage of receivables method. Why do we have those two methods? What are the advantages and disadvantages of them? Syllabus Page 12 Principles of Accounting Information
Weekly Guidelines: Week Ten This week, we will understand the remainders of Chapter 9, which is Receivables account. The specific topics related with Receivables accounts are: Disposing of Accounts Receivables Notes Receivables Then, we will proceed to understand Non-current assets, which is the last asset item of the balance sheet. The specific topics related with Non-current asset accounts are: Plant (Tangible) assets Acquisition Depreciation Read Chapter 9 (pp. 395-408) Read Chapter 10 (pp. 424-438) Go to the online class site and watch the following lecture video clips about Chapter 9 Disposing of receivables Notes receivables And then watch lecture video clips about Chapter 10 Overview and Acquisition of Plant Assets Depreciation Solve homework (E9-9, 12, P9-6B; E10-2, 5, 7, P10-1B, 2B) Take Quiz #6 (Chapter 9 and 10) Discussion question #8: One of the key concepts of Chapter 10 is depreciation. Concerning about depreciation, the accounting standard says, Depreciation is a process of allocation, not a process of valuation?. Why is depreciation a process of allocation not a process of valuation? IFRS allows companies to choose either the cost model or the revaluation model? Explain these two models. Assume a company adopts the revaluation model. What should a company do if there is a difference between the book value and the market value of an asset? Syllabus Page 13 Principles of Accounting Information
Weekly Guidelines: Week Eleven This week, we will complete Chapter 10. The specific topics related with Non-current asset accounts are: Plant (Tangible) assets Disposition Natural resources Intangibles The, we will understand Liabilities, which is the first component of the Credit side of the balance sheet. The specific topics related with Liabilities are: Current Liabilities Read Chapter 10 (pp. 439-452) Read Chapter 11 (pp. 472-479) Go to the online class site and watch the following lecture video clips about Chapter 10 Plant Asset Disposals Natural resources Intangibles And then watch lecture video clips about Chapter 10 Current Liabilities Solve homework (E10-9, 10, 12, P10-6B; E11-6, P11-2B) Take Quiz #7 (Chapter 10 and 11) Syllabus Page 14 Principles of Accounting Information
Weekly Guidelines: Week Twelve This week, we will complete Liabilities. Even thought Liabilities consists of Current and Non-current liabilities, the major concern of this chapter is a Non-current liability. The specific topics related with Noncurrent Liabilities are: Non-current liabilities (Bond payables) Issuance of Bond Valuation of Bond (Amortization of Bond discount/premium) Straight-line method Effective Interest method Disposition of Bond Read Chapter 11 (pp. 482-499) Read Appendix 11B (pp. 506-509) Go to the online class site and watch the following lecture video clips Bond Payable-basic Bond Payable-Issuance Bond Payable-Valuation Bond Payable-Disposition Solve homework (E11-2, 8, 9, 11, 17, 19, P11-3B, 6B) Take Quiz #8 (Chapter 11) Discussion question #9: One of the goals of accounting is to provide relevant and reliable information. These two are the major qualitative characteristics of accounting. Explain what is relevance and what makes accounting information relevant. Explain what is reliability and what makes accounting information reliable. In many situations, it is difficult to obtain both relevant and reliable information. Explain at least one situation where information Syllabus Page 15 Principles of Accounting Information
Weekly Guidelines: Week Thirteen This week, we will understand Shareholders equity, which is the last component of the balance sheet. The specific topics related with Shareholders equity are: Stock Transaction Issuance of stocks Treasury stocks Preferred stocks and Dividends Retained earnings and Presentation Read Chapter 12 (pp. 532-569) Go to the online class site and watch the following lecture video clips Basics of Shareholders Equity Stock Transactions Preferred Stocks and Dividends Retained earnings and Presentation Solve homework (E12-1, 5, 7, 18, P12-2B, 4B) Take Quiz #9 (Chapter 12) Discussion question #10: Preferred stocks have many different forms. One example is a cumulative preferred stock. Find at least three different forms of preferred stocks and explain each of them Syllabus Page 16 Principles of Accounting Information
Weekly Guidelines: Week Fourteen Until last week, we learned the balance sheet and income statement and their components. This week, we will understand a new financial statement, which is Statement of Cash Flow. The specific topics related with Statement of Cash Flow are: Preparing Statement of Cash Flow Cash flow from operating activities Cash flow from investing activities Cash flow from financing activities Read Chapter 14 (pp. 636-653) Go to the online class site and watch the following lecture video clips Basics of Statement of Cash Flow Preparing Statement of Cash Flow After watching the two lecture video clips, solve the practice example of Statement of Cash Flow, and then check your answers with the following lecture video clip. A Practice example of Statement of Cash Flow Solve homework (E14-2, 4, 8, P14-5A, 9A) Take Quiz #10 (Chapter 14) Discussion question: No discussion question for this week Weekly Guidelines: Week Fifteen Final exam Syllabus Page 17 Principles of Accounting Information