ACCOUNTING 201 – INTRODUCTION TO FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING

Catalog Description: ACC 201 Introduction to Financial Accounting. (3) I, II.

Prerequisite: MAT 105 or take MAT 107 or higher concurrently. A user’s approach to understanding financial accounting and reporting, emphasizing how creditors, investors, and others use accounting information in decision making and why financial accounting information is important to these users.

Text: Financial Accounting: Information for Decisions, by Ingram & Albright, 6th edition;

(Thomson South-Western, 2007) ISBN 0-324-31341-1.

Paper Recommended: Wall Street Journal.

Internet Access: Internet access is a requirement for this course. The study of some course material and the taking of class quizzes and some of the exams will be performed via the internet. Students must obtain and use an e-mail account on a regular basis. Also, there are many resources available for the text that are online.

Blackboard: Students must use the Blackboard system. Class announcements, assignments, changes to the syllabus, and online quizzes and exams will be posted on Blackboard. Blackboard should be checked on a daily basis for updates. Information about using Blackboard can be found at this link: Blackboard instructions. Login to Blackboard here: https://learn.eku.edu/webapps/login/.

Submitting Work Online: The option may be given to submit papers and projects online. When this is done, please send the file as an attachment (in Microsoft Word) and use the following format to name your file: yourlastname_assignmenttitle.doc [e.g., Jones_articlesummary1.doc

Course Objectives:

This course introduces the concepts and terminology of accounting and financial reporting for modern businesses. The course will help you in analyzing and interpreting financial information about businesses to assess how well they are performing and to identify major financial strengths and weaknesses in these businesses. To accomplish this, you will learn basic accounting concepts and the relationship between accounting information and business activities. You will practice problem solving skills, as well as written communication skills that are necessary in using accounting information, forming conclusions and communicating this information to others. You will identify and discuss ethical issues related to financial reporting. This course will also help you understand how the various fields of business work together. In addition, the course will help you develop the knowledge and skills expected by employers.

Note: While some memorization of facts, terms, and concepts is necessary in this course, just the learning of facts is not sufficient so meet the course objectives. Learning to use information means that you should learn to identify problem requirements, to identify necessary and relevant information for solving the problems, to adapt knowledge of facts and concepts to new situations, and to develop logical and understandable solutions.

Class Format and Attendance: Class will consist of discussion and analysis. The student must be well prepared for the discussion each day. Preparation for class includes chapter reading and homework problem assignments that are due. You should anticipate spending a minimum of 10 hours outside of class each week in preparation. There is no short cut. What you get from the course depends on what you are willing to put into it. Class attendance is critical to the learning process and is a course requirement. Please be considerate of your fellow students and do not arrive late or leave early from class.

The self-study portion of this class requires discipline and excellent study habits. All online exams, quizzes, and written assignments must be completed by each student without the help of others.

Library usage: Library resources are required in this course. Print or online accounting rated journals must be used for the article summaries assigned as outside projects.