The University of Texas at Dallas

Global Leadership Executive MBA Program

Financial Accounting: AIM 6201

Section: MIM
Spring 2010: January 11– February 28, 2010

Professor Contact Information

Carolyn Reichert, Ph.D. Phone: (972) 883.2726 (W) Fax: (972) 883.6164
Course Manager (972) 867.7088 (H)

E-Mail: Use Blackboard e-mail

Office Location: SM 1.506
Office Hours: By appointment

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Restrictions

There are no pre-requisites for this class.

Course Description

This course provides an introduction to the concepts of financial accounting with an

emphasis on the interpretation of financial statements. Specifically it covers how to
prepare financial statements (income statement, balance sheet, and statement of
cash flows) and how to utilize the information contained in financial statements. The
course also covers in detail how financial statements report the financial effects of
certain important types of transactions that firms commonly undertake.

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes

♦ Summarize the information provided by the balance sheet, income statement and
statement of cash flows and interpret individual amounts
♦ Compute financial ratios and use financial ratios and other information to
compare companies competing in an industry in terms of profitability and liquidity
♦ Recognize ethical issues in reporting financial results and assess the impact of
those issues on shareholders and other external users of the information

Text: Introduction to Financial Accounting, 9th ed.

C. Horngren, G. Sundem, J. Elliott and D. Philbrick, Prentice Hall, 2006
Cases: Cases in Financial Reporting: A Casebook for Introduction to Financial
Accounting. D. Hirst and Mary McAnally, University Readers (SKU:
34873), 2009.
(To order the case book, please go to www.universityreaders.com. Click
on “Students Buy Here” and “Create an account.” Next, from the drop-
down menu, choose “Texas” and then “University of Texas at Dallas.”
Fill out the form to create your personal account. Once you sign in with
your username, you should easily find this casebook with the course
information “AIM 6201.”)

Other: Articles from business publications, solutions manual for the text, sample
true/false exam questions, sample reports for the financial statement
analysis project, and team member evaluation form for the project (these
items are posted on Blackboard).

The Wall Street Journal (optional, but highly recommended)

The Cases in Financial Reporting text provides you with exposure to financial
disclosures of actual companies. Articles from business publications such as The Wall
Street Journal and Fortune are posted on Blackboard. The purpose of these articles is
to relate the concepts we discuss to the real world. I strongly encourage you to do
additional reading of this nature. It will not only improve your understanding of the role
of financial accounting but will also broaden your knowledge of business.

Schedule of Assignments
________________________________________________________________

Note: Read “Strategy for Studying for the Course” on page 9 to understand the
meaning of each of the items in the schedule and how to prioritize them.
________________________________________________________________

Week 1: Financial Accounting Basics

Dates: Jan 11– Jan 17

Lecture: Financial Accounting Basics I (60 Minutes)

Financial Accounting Basics II (30 Minutes)
Comprehensive Review Problem (60 Minutes)

Readings: Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4

Practice: Ch. 1: 36, 43; Ch. 2: 46, 47; Ch 3: 38; Ch 4: 39

________________________________________________________________

Week 2: Statement of Cash Flows; Financial Statement Analysis I;

Dates: Jan 18 – Jan 24

Lecture: Statement of Cash Flows (60 Minutes)

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 Financial Statement Analysis I (30 Minutes)

Readings: Chapters 5 & 12 (Horngren)

Practice: Ch. 5: 57, 58, 59; Ch. 12: 47, 48, 50-54
Problem 5-59 (Horngren) (discussed in the lecture)

Articles: Burning Up (Bb)

Once Hot Now Toast (Bb)
Return on Equity Example (Bb)
Managing Working Capital (Horngren, p. 157)
Warren Buffet: Nothing to Hide (Horngren p. 555)

______________________________________________________________

Week 3: Financial Statement Analysis II

Dates: Jan 25 – Jan 31

Lecture: Reebok and LA Gear (20 Minutes)

(For this lecture refer to the Reebok and LA Gear case in the
Casebook)

Exam date: Mid-term Exam, Saturday, Jan 30: 9:00 am – 12:30 pm CST
(Based on material from Weeks 1 to 3)
________________________________________________________________

Week 4: Inventory; Property, Plant & Equipment

Dates: Feb 1– Feb 7

Lecture: Inventory (40 Minutes)

Property, Plant & Equipment & Frederick’s PPE (45 Minutes)
(For this lecture refer to the Frederick’s PPE case in the
Casebook)

Readings: Chap. 7 and 8 (pages 335-357)

Practice: Ch. 7: 56, 67, 70; Ch. 8: 31, 39, 61, 70, 71

Articles: Inventory Chicanery Tempts More Firms, Fools More Auditors

(Bb)
Paying FIFO Taxes: Your Favorite Charity (Bb)
Earnings Helper (Bb)
_____________________________________________________________

Week 5: Inventory; Intangible Assets

Dates: Feb 8 – Feb 14

Lecture: Chrysler and Keysor Roth (35 Minutes)

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 Intangible Assets & Merck (20 Minutes)
(For this lecture refer to the Merck case in the Casebook)
Readings: Chap. 8 (pages 357-362);
Practice: Ch. 8: 54

Articles: Real Assets, Unreal Reporting (Bb)

_______________________________________________________________

Week 6: Investors’ Reliance on Financial Statements; Leases;

Consolidated Financial Statements (Balance Sheet only);

Dates: Feb 15– Feb 21

Lecture: Investors’ Reliance on Financial St. & Miniscribe (35 Minutes)

(Read the Miniscribe material before listening to this lecture)
Leases (70 Minutes)
(For this lecture refer to the AMR Corp case in the Casebook)
Consolidated Balance Sheet (38 Minutes)

Readings: Chap. 9 (pages 405-409, 418-425);

Chap. 11 (pages 489-493, 503-506, 512-514)
Practice: Ch. 9: 63;
Problem 11-43 (part 1), 11-45 (part 1) (Horngren) (these
problems are discussed in the lecture)

Articles: Accounting Analysis (Bb)

Murky Waters: A Primer on Enron Partnership (Bb)

Assignment: Team Assignment: Financial Statement Analysis Project Part I

Due date: Posted Black Board by Feb 21 midnight CST

________________________________________________________________

Week 7: Course Conclusion

Dates: Feb 22– Feb 28

Lecture: None

Exam Date: Final Exam, Saturday, Feb 27, 9 am – 1 pm CST

(Comprehensive)

Assignment: Team Assignment: Financial Statement Analysis Project Part II

Due Date: Posted to Black Board by Feb 28 midnight CST

Peer Evaluation: Due by Feb 28

Course Evaluation: Due by Feb 28

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________________________________________________________________
Grading Policy and Evaluation
Grading Formula
• Team Financial Statement Analysis Project 40%
• Examinations 60%
Midterm 30%
Final 30%

Individually Written Examinations 60%

Midterm (60%) and Final (30%)

There are two exams for this course. Anyone missing an exam will automatically
receive a grade of zero for that test. Exceptions for documented medical or family
reasons may be permitted. Where possible, either the course manager or I should be
contacted prior to the time of the exam. At my discretion, either a make-up exam will
be scheduled or a reallocation of the weight to remaining examinations will be made.
Exams will be based on the assigned material in the textbook, casebook and class
readings.

The timed examinations will be downloaded from Blackboard. You will have
prespecified time to complete each one and post your solutions to Blackboard.
Examinations are to be done individually. Evaluation is based on the correctness and
quality of the response. It is important to pace yourself on the exams. Content is far
more important than appearance, so don’t waste time on formatting, fonts and other
similar items.

Assignment:

Format for Written Assignments

Written assignments should be Word documents or Excel files (no html formats).
• Each assignment can have a maximum of one document and one workbook.
• Problems and questions should be answered in order.
• Assignments should comply with any page limits.
• Charts and exhibits should be numbered and appropriately referenced in the
body of the document.
• Word documents:
o Double-spaced, 12 pt. Arial or Times New Roman font
o Citations properly formatted in MLA style
• Clearly identified by author or team
o For an individual assignment, the student name needs to be on the first
page of the document AND as part of the document name.i.e.
SmithMidterm.doc when it is submitted.
o For a team assignment, the team number and names of team
participants on the first page AND the team number as part of the
document name i.e. Team2JCPFinal.doc when it is posted
o There is no need for a separate cover pages

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Submission
Assignments should be posted on Blackboard (Bb) within the course area by the due
date. Assignments are submitted to the Digital Drop Box under Tools tab. Be sure to
use the SEND command to submit to the Drop Box. Do not use ADD command to
post.

Late Assignments
THERE ARE NO EXTENSIONS. Assignments are of varying lengths. Plan well
ahead so that you are not surprised by the time needed to complete the assignment.

Peer Evaluation
Students need to complete a peer evaluation for the Team Financial Statement
Analysis Project. The peer evaluation is an electronic document whose link is located
on Blackboard (Bb) in the course area under the Information button.

Course Evaluation
The completion of a course evaluation is a course requirement. Students need to
complete a course evaluation form which is an electronic document whose link is
located on Blackboard (Bb) in the course area under the Information button. Students
who do not submit a course evaluation by the due date will receive an incomplete
grade for the course.

UTD Policy on Cheating:

Students in this class will be held to the standards established by Regents’ Rules and
Regulations (Part One, Chapter VI, Section 3, Subsection 3.2, Subdivision 3.22) which
states: Candidates are expected to be above reproach in scholastic activities.
Candidates who engage in scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties,
including the possibility of failure in the course and dismissal from the University.
“Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion,
the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in
part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to
give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts.” Professors
randomly use “Turnitin.com” to screen papers against other published works on the
web to insure against plagiarism.

Strategy for Studying for the Course:

Listen to the Lectures carefully and try to understand the material covered. To check
whether you have understood the material try to do the lecture problems once again
on your own. Use the Readings in the Horngren text to clarify any difficulty that you
have with the material in the lectures. Otherwise, just glance through the Readings
material, time permitting; you will not be tested on the material beyond that covered in
the lectures. The Practice problems may be used if you need additional practice in
doing problems. Once again, if you are very comfortable with the lecture material,
practice problems may not be necessary. However, if this is the first time you are
taking an accounting course, I recommend that you try out the practice problems. The
solutions to these problems are available in Horngren’s solutions manual (on

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Blackboard). When doing an Assignment, give it a good try but do not spend too
much time on it. I have indicated the amount of time that is reasonable to spend for
each of the assignments. Note that I will grade your homework based largely on effort
and not accuracy. When preparing for the Exams make sure that you understand
well the material in the lectures and assignments. About 85% of the exam will be
made up of problems and about 15% will be True/False type questions covering some
of the descriptive material in lectures, assignments, and Articles. I will not test you on
the details in the articles but rather on the major points, which for each article you
should be able to summarize in two to three sentences. Sample True/False
questions are available on Blackboard.