ACCT 438—Advanced Accounting

Fall, 2008

College of Business

Montana State University-Billings

Instructor: Dr. Barbara Wheeling                                                          Location: MCD 309

Office: MCD 255                                                                                Time: 8:40-10:10 TR

Phone: 657-1756

Email: bwheeling@msubillings.edu

Office Hours: 10:00–12:00 MW, 12:00-2:00 TTh and by appointment.

ABOUT THE COURSE

Course Description:  In this course you will learn how to conduct the procedures for consolidating financial statements for parent and subsidiary companies.  You will also learn about accounting for foreign currency transactions and translations, and partnership accounting.

Course Objectives:  (1) Given the trial balances of a parent company and a subsidiary company, prepare the journal entries to record the purchase of all or part of the subsidiary company by the parent company

(2) Given the trial balances of a parent company and a subsidiary company, prepare consolidated financial statements according to generally accepted accounting principles

(3) Given data on foreign currency transactions, prepare journal entries in US dollars

(4) Given financial statements reported in foreign currency, prepare translated and/or remeasured financial statements

(5) Given data on a partnership, prepare the journal entries for the formation of the partnership, the distribution of capital, ownership changes, and liquidation

COB Core Values and Learning Goals:  The College of Business at Montana State University-Billings values the following experiences for students and faculty:

            In addition to the course objectives stated above, this course contributes to the learning of certain skills determined by the faculty in the College of Business at Montana State University-Billings in accordance with AACSB guidelines. The college’s mission statement says that the academic programs of the college develop student competencies in: (1) oral and written communication, (2) critical and creative thinking, (3) quantitative skills, (4) effective utilization of information and technology for business decisions, (5) ethical decision making, and (6) the effect of globalization in business.

In this course, the following learning goals are addressed:

·         Oral communications:  You will benefit from participating in class exercises and discussions.  Feel free to ask questions!

·         Written communications: You have the opportunity in this class to practice and work towards continued improvement in your writing skills by completing 2 writing assignments on advanced financial accounting topics.    One of the writing assignments is designed to respond to the request of a fictitious client of a CPA firm to give you a chance to work on an assignment that might be similar to a task that you might do on the job.

·         Critical and creative thinking:  One of the writing assignments emphasizes critical thinking skills by giving you an opportunity to choose and justify an accounting treatment for a specified topic.

·         Quantitative skills:  Topics covered in the course emphasize the use of quantitative skills in preparing financial statements and performing the accounting procedures listed above.

·         Use of information technology:  You will have the chance to use the Internet to access a website in the process of developing a solution for one of the writing assignments.

·         Globalization: You will learn about the recent movement towards convergence of international accounting standards and US GAAP by conducting research on this topic and writing a report.

Prerequisites:  ACCT 233, 234, 301, and 302, or equivalents.  It is recommended that you also have taken ACCT 303, but it may be taken concurrently.

Communication: 1. Announcements will be delivered via eCompanion. You should have received an email with instructions on how to logon to the system. You begin by accessing the MSU-B website. Click on Current Students. Click on Online University. Use the username and password that was sent to you.

2. Documents for this course, such as the syllabus and solutions for exercises and problems, will be available on eCompanion.

3. Audio recordings of lectures will be available on eCompanion to allow you to replay the lectures for clarification or in the event that you miss class.

4. Email from this instructor will be sent to your preferred email address that you submitted to the university. You can update your Preferred email address by logging into the Secure Area in Banner at:  https://atlas.montana.edu:9003/pls/blagent/twbkwbis.P_GenMenu?name=homepage Then click on Personal Information, then on Update E-Mail Address(es), then on the address marked Preferred. You can insert your myportal.montana.edu email address here if you like.

LEARNING AIDS

Texts required:  Fundamentals of Advanced Accounting, by Fischer, Taylor, and Cheng (2008 edition); Effective Writing: A Handbook for Accountants, Seventh Edition, May and May.

Learning aids: The following website may be helpful as you study the topics in this course: http://www.thomsonedu.com/accounting/fischer/.  When you find your textbook on this website, you will find several help aids for you to use. 

Tips for Studying Accounting:

General:

q  Read the assigned chapter before class.

q  Read the chapter more than once.  Here’s how.            

¨       Step 1.  The first step in reading a chapter is to skim it.  Skimming means going through the chapter and reading only the first sentence of each paragraph.  This step does not require much time and acquaints the student with the content of the chapter.

¨       Step 2.  The next step is to read the chapter, once, all the way through, reading every sentence but without trying to understand everything.  This step will acquaint the student with more information about the topics in the chapter.

¨       Step 3.  Read the chapter again.  This time, read with the intent of understanding the material.  You may reread certain parts but do not reread anything more than once.  If you cannot understand a certain paragraph or section of the chapter, make a note in the margin and go on.  Do not worry about what you did not understand and be sure to listen to the instructor as he/she explains that point in class.

¨       Step 4.  After the lecture, you may want to read certain parts of the chapter again, if you need additional clarity.

q  Print out the Power-point presentation before class to make notes on.

q  Rewrite your notes after class while they are still fresh in your mind.

q  Outline the chapter. 

¨       Do it in bullet points.

¨       Restate key points in your own words.  This is a very good learning step.

q  Develop a notebook binder organized by chapter for all homework done in class for review for exams, and for the CPA Exam later. 

q  Use note cards for formulas.

q  Use cumulative study (review old material along with the new).

q  Make sure you understand the “why” not just the “how”.

q  See if you can explain what you are doing to someone else.  If so, then you probably understand it.

q  Use a buddy or study group, if it fits your learning style (see below).

q  Over-shoot your target.  If you want a ‘B’ in the class, try for an ‘A’.

Assignments/Exams:

q  For writing projects, proofread your work. 

¨       Have someone else proofread your writing. This is the best approach.  The writing lab in the academic support center is a good resource for this.

¨       Put it away for a day or so and then proof it.  You will find more mistakes than if you proofed it immediately after writing.

q  Understand what the question, writing assignment, etc requires you to do.  If you don’t know, ask your professor to clarify before the project is due.

Practice, Practice: 

q  Do problems, problems, and more problems until you can solve them without referring to examples in the chapter or the solution.  If you can’t do it without the book open or the solution in front of you, you do not yet understand it.

q  Take on-line quizzes from the text’s website.

q  Attempt the assigned problems early so you are prepared with questions.

q  Know vocabulary.  To do this, you may have to memorize.

Time Management:

q  Set aside enough time to study – do not over commit.

q  Start studying for the exam in advance.  Do not delay and attempt to cram.  You will run out of time.

Study Environment:

q  Study in an environment where you can focus totally on your work.

q  Study at a time of day when you are most alert.  Your mind will absorb much more than if you try to study when you are tired.

q  Set up special time and place to do homework.

Learning Styles:

q  Know your learning style.

q  Visual (V). The student who learns best by seeing will benefit from visual learning aides: 

¨       handouts,

¨       flash cards or note cards,

¨       hard copy of the Power-point presentation for the chapter, and

¨       illustrations written on the board.

q  Reading (R).  The student who learns best by reading will benefit from-

¨       Reading the chapter,

¨       Taking notes, and

¨       Outlining the chapter.

q  Listening (A).  The student who learns best by hearing instruction will benefit from –

¨       Class discussion and lecture,

¨       A buddy or study groups where the student can get together with another student(s)from the class and discuss topics covered by the professor. 

q  Doing (K).  The student who learns best by doing will benefit by –

¨       Participating in class,

¨       Repeat homework exercises or work additional problems (practice),

¨       Taking on-lines quizzes pertaining to the chapters of the text,

Using tutorials to work problems similar to those in the text.
REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESS

Final Grade Breakdown: 

Writing assignments:  Your written assignments will be graded on organization, clarity and readability, spelling and grammar, content, and proper documentation.  These assignments are selected to help you practice writing about technical topics.