ACCT 5521                         FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING                           Summer, 2010
Email: tombeam@dr.com                                                                                      Dr. T Beam
Fax: 215-836-7158                                                              Home Page:alpha.fdu.edu/~tbeam
Objective: To provide a conceptual  overview of external financial statements from an
end user approach, including internal  controls,  financial  statement  preparation and
analysis,  generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), and financial statement ratios. 
Selected managerial accounting topics will be included as well.
Prerequisites: Students are assumed to have taken or waived all tier one courses in the
MBA core curriculum.

Text:
    Bruns Jr, Wm J, Accounting For Managers: Text and cases, Thomsom/South-
Western, Mason, Ohio, 3rd  Ed, 2005.

Grades
will be based on:    Take Home Exam    10%    Homework & Participation    30%
                                                 In Class Exam    50%    Discussion Board                  10%   

Class        Reading                                                   Exercises & Cases
                       
 1 5/25      Handout                                                    An Attorney’s Advice

 2 5/27      1.2-15 Statements, Concepts                    HO 3, Maria Hernandez 1-16 (June) (Read)
                                                                                 Beta Company (Read), EMAIL Me

 3 6/1        1.19-26 Records, 50-66 Ratios                 HO 1, Pico 1, Maria Hernandez 1-16 (June/Read)
                                                                                  Monterrey Mfg 1-42 (Just Look At)

 4 6/3         2.2-12 Current Assets                               HO 4, Pico 2, Identify the Industries 1996
                  2.17-20 Revenues                                     Inventory Problem, C/F Exercise (Read)

  5 6/8       2.33-43 Property Plant & Equipment         HO 5,6, Pico 3, Chemalite, Inc. 1-27
                                                                                  Circuit City Stores 2-21

  6 6/10       2.73-87 Liabilities & Time                        Pico 4, Company Drivers 1-67
                                                                                   Depreciation Examples

  7 6/15       2.99-106 Owner’s Equity                         HO 2, Pico 4A,Buying Time 2-67

  8 6/17       2.107-120 Cash Flow Statement              Pico 4B, Delta & Singapore A 2-44
                                                                                  Zephyrs Baseball 2-55

  9 6/22      3.2-11 Auditing & Rules                           Pico 5, Precision Worldwide 4-7
                                                                                  Blumberg reading

10 6/24       -                                                              -

11 6/29                  Exam                                           -

12 7/1        4.2-6 Decision Making                            Pico 6, Handout Assignment
                  5.2-4 Indirect Costs                                A/C Bus Trip, Red Bearded Baron

 
The Official First Page:
                                      FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY
                                            SILBERMAN COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: AN END USERS APPROACH                                SUMMER 2010
                                                                                                                                           Dr Tom Beam

Course Description: 
To provide an understanding of financial reporting issues through discussion and analysis.  The underlying
justifications, implications, and uses of various financial statement presentations will be explored.  The course
will provide students with basic skills necessary to understand, use, and analyze financial statements.  The
primary emphasis will be from an end user perspective.  End users are defined as those constituencies who
rely on the information contained in financial statements to make informed business decisions.  Those users
include financial institutions, trade creditors and investors.

Pre- or corequisite: None

Outcomes: Upon completion of this course, students should:
.  Recognize the differences between amounts determined under accrual vs. cash basis
    accounting
.  Understand the nature of information contained in the income statements, balance sheet,
    and statement of cash flows
.  Understand the nature of accounting for an organization's operating, investing and financing
    activities
.  Recognize how ratios and other techniques can be used to analyze an organization's
    financial statements

Course Topics:
.  Underlying principles and concepts of financial statement preparation to include the
    accounting model
.  Financial statement overview to include the basic concepts and content of:
     the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement
.  Utilization of financial information for financing and investing decisions
.  Preparation and analysis of cash flow statement and its components
.  Impact of alternative accounting decisions and estimates on financial statements.
    In particular, the impact on:
        Inventory costing
        Capitalization and depreciation policies
        Accounts Receivable
.  Long term liabilities
.  Leases
.  Analysis of financial statements using ratios
.  How the residual equity of owners are accounted for
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: AN END USERS APPROACH                                SUMMER 2010
                                                                                                                                          Dr. Tom Beam

Learning Objectives: 
Students in this course are managers and executives.  The course is based on the premise that managers need
an understanding of how accounting information is produced, reported, and used as a basis for decision-
making is emphasized.

A. Knowledge
Committed to a user approach, the course focuses on concepts and ideas rather than procedures.  Throughout
the course issues related to providing information useful for decision-making is emphasized.  Specific areas in
which the student is expected to demonstrate proficiency are:

.  Demonstrate a basic understanding of the underlying concepts involved in the preparation of financial
statements
.  Read, interpret and analyze financial statements
.  A recognition concerning the impact that current accounting standards have on an organization's financial
position and its operating results
.  Recognize potential ethical conflicts which may arise in the preparation of financial statements
.  Be familiar with basic similarities and differences between U.S. and international financial statements.

B. Skills
Students will be expected to demonstrate their proficiency in the following skill areas:
.  Analytical skills in problem solving
.  Use of computer skills i.e. use of spreadsheets
.  Quantitative skills i.e. present value analysis
.  Oral and written communication skills

C. Perspectives that form the context for business
.  Ethical Issues: The impact of ethical issues will be examined.  Management's influence over the results shown
in their reports will be discussed.
.  Global Issues:  American vs. international accounting and reporting standards will be contrasted.
.  Influence of Political, Social, Legal and Regulatory Issues: The establishment of the FASB and its function in
creating accounting rules will be examined.

D. Integration of core areas and application of cross-functional approach to organizational issues
The creations and interpretation of financial information is essential in all areas of business and non-business
decision making.  To aid in that process it is important that all users recognize that financial information
predicated on judgements may not be precise but should contain the qualities of relevance and reliability.

QUIZZES may be given unannounced throughout the course and will cover material assigned for the given
class. There is no makeup of quiz grades. If used, quizzes grades will count 5% of the homework and
participation.

PARTICIPATION & TIMELINESS Your level of participation will be assessed at the end of the
semester and it will be part of your grade. If material is turned in late, it will lower the grade you would
otherwise have received. The cases and the take home portion of the exam should be turned in on the
date due; if your  cannot be in  class, they should  be mailed, faxed or e-mailed. One  half a letter grade
will be deducted for each half week delay. Homework that will not be graded can be turned in during
the next class that you attend.

BLUMBERG READING For each of the 10 items discussed, identify the accounting principle at
issue. If there is no specific accounting issue state why you think that this item was included in the list.
Should there be a LIBRARY ASSIGNMENT,  it requires that 2 articles relevant to the course be
copied, read and key points identified. Turn in a copy of the article as well as the 5 key points.

WEB COURSE JOURNAL ENTRIES are to be made 3 times in week 2 (the first three questions),
and twice each in weeks 3, 4 and 5. You enter the web course through the fdu page (webcampus.fdu.edu).
You need to respond to each of the questions that I post. Questions should be responded to in the week
they are listed in. Responses need to be of substance. Do not just agree or disagree. Every student is
expected to respond to each of them or to one of the responses of one of the other students. I may
respond as well. If I respond to one of your postings, your are expected to answer my response if it
poses a question or challenge. I very often ask people to explain themselves. Try to remember that
just stating how you feel about something is not an acceptable response. This is not a survey of your
feelings or opinions. You need to give reasoned positions. Expect me to challenge you. Responses
need to be timely. If they are late they will count less. I will not count any posting after classes have
officially ended, i.e., before finals week. In the summer that is the day before the last class.

BOOK REVIEW  (Optional) Read the book Risk by Dick Francis. Prepare a two page (double
spaced, normal margin, normal point size pages)  evaluation of (1) the significant issue of accounting
ethics faced by the protagonist at the very end of the novel,  (2) the use of cost data in the solution
of the crime,  (3) how the money was removed from the country, and (4) how you would change
the accounting system if you were the controller so that this could not happen again. There is no
right answer. This can add up to 4 points on to your average.

INTEGRITY Please note the university's policy on cheating, plagiarism, and other violations of
integrity which allows each professor some freedom within constraints. My policy is: First offence,
F in the course. I know my policy is somewhat severe and I have no sense of humor on this subject.
    I encourage you to get help with all of your education, especially with written assignments. But
help means assistance and not replacement of effort. You should understand anything that you turn
in with your name on it. If you can not explain any word or phrase that you use, it will be treated
as plagiarism.


Please see Suggestions for Succeeding in My Class.

Please see Guidelines for Papers.

CASES  may (and should) be done in groups. I will not actually grade each case. What I am looking
for is a complete effort. So you should come up with something of substance that responds to the case.

Maria Hernandez: Answer questions 1 and 2 in the text on page 1-18. Note: the payment of $33,000
to designers does NOT include any payments to Maria Hernandez.

Monterrey Manufacturing: Just look at the case. Figure out how you would attempt it.

Identify the Industries 1996 & Company Drivers - 1999/2000: Using financial ratios and your
knowledge of the industries used, identify which set of financial statistics is which industry. Keep track
of the sequence of your choices and the rational for each pick so that we can discuss them.

Circuit City Stores:    Do questions 1 and 2 in the text on page 2-24.

Buying Time: Respond to the questions in the text. Note that there is a typo in the text. The formula
on the top of page 2-69 that reads PV = (PV / (1+i)^n) should read PV = (FV / (1+i)^n).

Delta & Singapore:   
    [1] Do question 1 in the text on page 2-47.
    [2] On January 1, 1989, each airline company purchased a new aircraft for $50 million. For
depreciation Delta uses SL, 10 yrs, and 10% Salvage, and Singapore uses SL, 8 yrs, and 10% Salvage.
On January 1, 1993 each company increased its useful life (Delta by 5 years, Singapore by 2). Salvage
values were also adjusted (Delta, no change, and Singapore, 20%) and recalculated based on the
original purchase price. Calculate depreciation for each company for this acquisition for the years 1989
through 2003.
    [3] Repeat part 2 using DDB depreciation.


Kansas City Zephyrs:      Determine what you consider to be the proper income before taxes for
1984. (Use 8% to discount any future cash flows back to the present if you think that that is appropriate.)

Chemalite, Inc: Use the following copy of the Financial Statements for the first six months (ended
June 30, 2003) and create your own financial statements for the six months ended December 31, 2003.
   
                                                                Chemalite, Inc.
                                                                 Balance Sheet
                                                                  June 30, 2003
                    Cash                                  $230,000
                    Raw Materials Inventory        75,000 
                               Current Assets          305,000
   
                    Machinery & Equipment        62,500

                    Patent                                  125,000              Common Stock    $500,000
                  Organization Costs                     7,500
                                  Total Assets         $500,000 

                                                          Cash Flow Statement
                                              For the Six Months Ended June 30, 2003
                Operating Cash Flow            < $75,000>

                Financing Cash Flow
                             Sale of Stock               375,000

                Investing Cash Flow:
                Machinery & Equipment           <62,500>
                Organization Costs                    < 7,500>
                                                                <70,000>
                     Net Cash Flow                   $230,000

    Non Cash Patent/Common Stock       $125,000


Precision Worldwide:
    1] List all possible alternatives available to Precision, from making only steel rings at one end of the
spectrum to making only plastic rings and scrapping raw steel inventories and using FG for
replacements only at the other end.
    2] List all the important criteria that should apply to this decision.
    3] Answer the question on page 4-9.