ACCOUNTING 252

Financial Accounting

Spring 2006

Instructor:  Dr. Scribner

Office:  Business Complex 316

Office Hours:   10:25-11:45 MTWTh

and by appointment

Phone:  (505) 646-5163

E-mail: escribne@nmsu.edu

 

Materials:

 

  Purchases Required:

Financial Accounting (4th edition), Libby, Libby and Short

 

Scantron form 886-E (Mini Essay Book), one each for Exams I & II

Scnatron form 882-E (ordinary Scantron form), one for final exam

These are available in the BC Computer Lab and the NMSU Bookstore.

  Other Resources:

Free tutoring and access to the answer book in the Accounting Tutorial Lab in Guthrie 305A.  Hours to be announced.

 

Prerequisite:  Acct 251

 

Course Objective:  To introduce students to the basic concepts of financial accounting.  Financial accounting statements are prepared mainly for investors, creditors and other interested external users. The main emphasis of this course will be on teaching the student to use accounting information.   The course will provide enough knowledge of accounting to enable a person to use and understand the limitations of financial statements to assess a company's financial strengths and weaknesses. 

 

At the end of the course you should be able to

1.  state the purpose of the four required financial statements

2.  create a balance sheet, income statement and retained earnings statement .

3.  define assets, liabilities, stockholders’ equity, revenues and expenses

4.  state the accounting equation and illustrate how changes affect it

5.  explain the difference between cash and accrual bases of accounting

6.  prepare basic journal entries

7.  prepare adjusting entries

8.  perform basic financial statement analysis

 

Course Policies:

Attendance:  It is much easier and quicker to learn the course content if you attend class.  Tests will emphasize items discussed in class and/or covered on quizzes and homework. You are responsible for all material covered in class, handouts, and all announcements made in your absence.

Calculators: Bring a simple, inexpensive calculator to each exam.  No PDAs, cell phones, or high-tech calculators with capabilities that would give a student an unfair advantage over others. The only exception is that a financial calculator such as the HP 10bII is not only acceptable but encouraged!

 

Students with Disabilities: If you have, or think you may have, a disability that interferes with your performance as a student, you are encouraged to discuss this on a confidential basis with the instructor, the Disabled Student Programs Coordinator at 646-1921, and/or the Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator at 646-7795.  If you have a condition that may affect your ability to exit these premises in case of an emergency, you should contact any of the above persons immediately.

 

Studying:

The nature of the material covered requires that you study before each class session.  Studying the material thoroughly by rereading, taking notes, and working through computations is essential so that your brain takes in the knowledge by multiple paths.  It is important to relate illustrations to the written material in your book.  You should remember that your grade will be based upon your ability to DO accounting rather than on your ability to follow along as someone else does it.  It’s a little like when you first learned to ride a bicycle—looked easy but you had to do it yourself to learn it!

 

Grading:

Grades will be assigned consistent with the policy in the undergraduate catalog based on the following points.

 

Available Points:

 

Regular exams (2@100 points)

200

Quizzes (5 @ 10 points)

50

Comprehensive final

150

     Total points

400

 

 

Course Letter Grade:

            A:  360-400 points, B:  320-359, C:  280-319, D:  240-279, F:  0-239 points

 

A grade of “C” (280 points) or better must be earned to qualify as satisfactory performance on an S/U option for undergraduates.  Graduate students must earn a grade of “B” (320 points) or better to qualify as satisfactory performance under an S/U option. There will be no extra credit projects available to individual students, so work diligently on homework and exam prep.

 

Exams:  There will be two regular exams and a final.  The exams will be based upon text material, homework assignments and class discussion and will consist of objective questions, problems, and short discussion questions.  The final will be comprehensive. If you have an unpreventable absence for an exam, contact the instructor to determine how to make up the work.  For students who are participating in university activities, a letter from the sponsoring department must be provided a week prior to the activity. 

 

Quizzes:  Six or seven 10-point quizzes will be given over the homework on a sporadic basis.  Your best five out of the six or seven quizzes given will count for credit.


Key Dates
:

01/27/06

Deadline for late registration/course addition

01/27/06

Deadline for degree application (http://www.nmsu.edu/~registra/) (graduating seniors) without late fee

03/16/06

Last day to drop a course with a "W"

03/16/06

Last day to notify instructors of final exam schedule hardship (see inside back cover of NMSU Class Schedule)


 

ACCOUNTING 252

Spring 2006 - Tentative Assignment Schedule

 

Day

Date

Chapter

Learning Objectives

Homework

Topic

Th

1/19

 

 

 

Introduction

T

1/24

Ch   1

 1-4

E 1-1, E1-2, E1-3

Financial Statements

Th

1/26

Ch   1

 

E1-4, E1-5, E1-8, E1-9, E1-11

Financial Statements

T

1/31

Ch   2

 1-7

E2-2, E2-3, E2-4, E2-8

Inv, Fin Decisions

Th

2/  2

Ch   2

 

E2-11, E2-15, E2-19, P1-1 (Chapter 1, page 37), CP2-8 (Chapter 2, page 96)

Inv, Fin Decisions

T

2/  7

Ch   3

 1-6

E3-2, E3-3, E3-6, E3-7

Operating Decisions

Th

2/  9

Ch   3

 

E3-8, E3-12, E3-13

Operating Decisions

T

2/14

Ch   4

 1-5

E4-1, E4-4, E4-5, E4-6

Adjustments

Th

2/16

Ch   4

 

E4-9, E4-10, P4-8

Adjustments

T

2/21

 

 

 

EXAM I (Ch. 1-4)—Bring Scantron Mini Essay Book, two pencils, and a plain calculator.  Get plenty of sleep the night before.

Th

2/23

Ch   5

1-4

E5- 2, E5-5, E5-7, E5-11

Communicating Acct Info

T

2/28

Ch   5

 

E5-13, E5-18, P5-2, CP5-7

Communicating Acct Info

Th

3/  2

Ch   6

1-4, 5(aging only)

E6-2, E6-6

Sales, Rec., Cash

T

3/  7

Ch   6

 

E6-15, P5-7 (Chapter 5, page 269), P6-1 (Case A)

Sales, Rec., Cash

Th

3/  9

Ch   7

1-3, 6(ratio only)

E7-1, E7-4

Inventory

T

3/14

Ch   7

 

E7-7, E7-11, P7-6

Inventory

Th

3/16

 

 

 

EXAM II (Ch. 5-7)—

Bring Scantron Mini Essay Book, two pencils, and a plain calculator.  Get plenty of sleep the night before.

T

3/28

Ch   8

1,2,3,4,5,6,7 In loaned textbook

E8-1A(a,b), E8-4A(a), E8-9A, E8-12A

PP&E

Th

3/30

Ch   8

In loaned book from Prentice-Hall being class-tested

E8-16A,E8-17A,E8-21A,FSA8-1

PP&E

T

4/  4

Ch   9

 1,2,4,7,8(PV only),9 (Back to

E9-2, E9-5, E9-13(c and d)

Liabilities

Th

4/  6

Ch   9

regular textbook.)

E9-15, E9-18

Liabilities

T

4/11

Ch 10

 1,2,3(JE for par only),5,6

M10-4, E10-4, E10-5

Bonds

Th

4/13

Ch 10

 

E10-8, E10-12

Bonds

T

4/18

Ch 10

Professionalism Issues

 

 

 

Cash

Tips on combating spring fever, from the NMSU Center for Learning Assistance:  Study on the grass outside Zuhl Library;  take a walk around campus before classes start for the day;  sit as far from the windows as possible in your courses.  E6-23

Th

4/20

Ch 11

1-4,6-7

E11-1, E11-2, E11-4

Owners’ Equity

T

4/25

Ch 11

 

E11-8, E11-9, E11-18

Owners’ Equity

Th

4/27

Ch 11

 

P11-1, CP11-6

 

T

5/  2

 

Review or catch up

 

 

Th

5/  4

 

Review

Some final exam study tips from the NMSU Center for Learning Assistance:  Stick with your regular daily routine as much as possible;  eat three meals a day for fuel;  study over a two-week period for maximum retention of ideas;  review your most difficult courses with study groups;  and take short, frequent breaks.

W

5/10

 

COMPREHENSIVE FINAL (Ch. 1 – 11)

3:30-5:30 p.m.  Bring Scantron Mini Essay Book, two pencils, and a plain calculator.  Get plenty of sleep the night before.