Sy Course Outline – Fall 2012 ACC 1001, Section 331, Principles I

Instructor: Dr. Joseph Kerstein

Office Room No: Wilf Campus BH: 405B Office Hours: before/after class and by appointment E-Mail: [email protected]

Introduction Whether or not you plan on being an accountant, this course will prove very useful to you in your career by helping you to understand accounting ‘numbers’ used for business decisions. Financial statements are the primary means for communicating these numbers. The objective of this course along with the second course in the accounting principles sequence (ACC 1002) is to help make you financially literate by learning how to read financial statements. In addition, you will learn how to prepare financial statements, which requires knowing how to record basic transactions in journals and ledgers according to Generally Accepting Accounting Principles (GAAP).

An outline of learning objectives 1) Provide an introduction to accounting including: a. What is accounting? b. The building blocks of accounting under GAAP c. The basic accounting equation d. Financial statements 2) Learn the recording Process a. What is an account? b. Journal entries c. The Journal and Ledger d. The trial balance 3) Learn how to adjust the accounts a. Timing issues b. The basics of adjusting entries c. The adjusted trial balance and financial statements 4) Learn how to complete the accounting cycle a. Closing the books b. Prepare a post-closing trial balance c. The classified balance sheet 5) Learn how to account for specific situational transactions a. merchandising operations and inventory b. receivables c. long-term assets used in a trade or business

Course Organization This will be a challenging course for many of you. I strongly advise you to read the assigned chapter before each lecture and work diligently through the assigned problems. Do not assume that understanding the solutions in class without reinforcement through homework is enough to have mastered the material.

University Assistance I encourage you to utilize the services of the Office of Academic Support for assistance with time , reading comprehension, note-taking, test preparation, concentration and other issues that can impede your academic progress. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 646-685-0109 or email [email protected]. Also, students with disabilities who will be requesting documented disability related accommodations should make an appointment with the Office of Disability Services, 646 592-4132 during the first week of class. Once you have been approved for accommodations, please contact me to ensure the successful implementation of those accommodations.

Required Course Materials  Accounting Principles 10th edition by Weygandt, Kimmel, and Kieso (Wiley 2011) o You may purchase the textbook online directly from the publisher to avoid some of the marked-up costs. o You may purchase any of the available textbook formats but I recommend the binder ready version (BRV) option because it is more economical and enables you to bring only chapters that you need to class.

Class Policies ANGEL: Information for this course can be found on the internet. You are required to monitor the class website on ANGEL which will include announcements, the syllabus with assignment details and solutions, and schedule changes, etc.

ASSIGNMENTS: To prepare for exams, the learning process in accounting requires problem solving, where you conscientiously work through problems and then get feedback to identify weaknesses/errors. As suggested earlier, do not assume that understanding the solutions in class without reinforcement through homework is enough to have mastered the material.

HAND-IN ASSIGNMENTS: 1) For your first hand-in assignment, please do P1-1B as follows: In part (a) use journal entries instead of the tabular analysis; In part (b) show the income statement, owner’s equity statement, and balance sheet. You will be required to hand this in before our midterm break (9/13). 2) You will also be required to hand in CCC3 located in Set C Problems of Chapter 3 after the midterm break no later than October 16th. The total points on both assignments will count 10% of your grade with the higher (lower) of the two grades counting 7% (3%). We will go over the problems as part of the midterm exam review.

ATTENDANCE POLICY: Reasonable attendance is expected. No excuses are necessary for the first four misses. However, after you have missed four classes, you will need to provide an excuse that is approved by the director’s office. Otherwise, 1 percent of your final grade will be deducted for each missed class after 4. (For missed midterm exam, see Makeup Policy below).

EXAMINATIONS AND GRADING POLICY: The intention of the course is to give students that work hard to learn and keep up with the material the best chance of getting a good grade. Keeping up with the material not only helps your grade but is an excellent investment of your time given the value of accounting in your business career.

Midterm 35 or 50% *** Final Exam 35 or 50% *** Class participation 5% Hand-In Assignments 10% 100%

*** The higher (lower) of your midterm and final exam grades will be weighted 35 (50) percent

MAKEUP POLICY FOR MIDTERM EXAM: Please note that students need an excuse approved by the Dean or Associate Dean’s office to avoid getting a zero on a missed midterm exam. If a student has a legitimate excuse for missing a quiz or exam, then the weight of the missed quiz or exam will be added to the final.

FINAL EXAM POLICY: Date of final exams may be modified by permission only.

ACADEMIC HONESTY: Cheating is totally unacceptable behavior and can become a crutch/bad habit. Accountants who are dishonest can get a permanently bad reputation that not only hurts their livelihood but indirectly hurts the reputation of classmates who graduated from Yeshiva University. The policy of the school requires that we report cheating to the Dean for disciplinary actions that can result in failing the course. Academic honesty is expected in all areas of the course (exams, assignments, etc.)

CALCULATORS: Calculators may be used during exams. You are not permitted to use a programmable calculator, PDA, or cell phone for exams. In addition, financial calculators will NOT be permitted for use during exams. I suggest that you purchase an inexpensive calculator with basic arithmetic functions for use throughout the course.

CELL PHONES: All ringers on cell phones must be turned OFF during class and exams.

Class Schedule Unless otherwise mentioned in class, the exercises and problems listed below are for your practice only. As suggested earlier in the syllabus, please attempt to work on these before class which will help you prepare you for exams. The notation below is from your exercises/problems at the back of the book, i.e., ‘BE’ stands for beginning exercise, ‘E’ stands for exercise, and ‘P’ stands for problem. Answers to the chapter exercises/problems will be posted on ANGEL. Date Day Chapter- topic Exercises/problems 8/28/2012 T 1 -Accounting in Action BE3; E4,5,6; P2B, 3B 8/30/2012 Th 1-Accounting in Action

9/4/2012 T 1-Accounting in Action

9/6/2012 Th 2-The Recording Process E2,3,9,13,14; P1B,3B 9/11/2012 T 2-The Recording Process

9/13/2012 Th 2-The Recording Process

No Classes from September 16 to October 10 10/11/2012 Th 3 -Adjusting the Accounts BE3,4,5; E3,5,6,7; P2B; 10/16/2012 T 3-Adjusting the Accounts

10/18/2012 Th 3-Adjusting the Accounts

10/23/2012 T Review

10/25/2012 Th Midterm Exam (Chapters 1-3) 10/30/2012 T Go over Midterm Exam

11/01/2012 Th 4-Completing the Acc. Cycle E2,3,4,12,15 11/06/2012 T 4-Completing the Acc. Cycle

11/08/2011 Th 5-Acc. for merchandise oper. E1,2,4,7,9,10 11/13/2012 T 5-Acc. for merchandise oper.

11/15/2012 Th 6-Inventories BE3; E1,4,6(periodic),11,14,15,16,18 11/20/2012 T 6-Inventories

11/22/2012 Th No Class

11/27/2012 T 6-Inventories

11/29/2012 Th 9-Accounting for Receivables E3,4,6,9,12,14; P1B,6B 12/04/2012 T 9-Accounting for Receivables

12/06/2012 Th 9-Accounting for Receivables

12/11/2012 T 10-Plant Assets, etc. BE3,6; E5,6,7,8,9; P2B, 6B 12/13/2012 Th 10-Plant Assets, etc.

12/18/2012 T 10-Plant Assets, etc.

12/20/2012 Th Review (Ch 5,6,8-10)