AIM 2302 – Introduction to Management Accounting

Spring 2006

Instructor
Tai-Yuan (Ted) Chen
Office: SOM4.429
Phone: 972-883-4434
Email: txc015100@utdallas.edu or via WebCT
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 3:30pm – 4:30pm

Required Material: Horngren, Sundem, and Stratton, Introduction to Management

Accounting, 13th edition

Course Objectives: This course introduces the field of management accounting, which
has been defined by the Institute of Management Accountants as:

. . . process of planning, designing, measuring and

operating non-financial and financial information systems
that guides management action, motivates behavior, and
supports and creates the cultural values necessary to
achieve an organization’s strategic, tactical and operating
objectives.

While management and financial accounting share some common

ground the emphases are different. Management accounting is
primarily concerned with information for decision-makers within the
organization managers and those who work with them. Financial
accounting provides information for decision-makers outside
(external to) the organization.

One of the main objectives of this course is to familiarize you with

the requisite technical skills for basic business analysis. For
example, you will learn to determine unit product costs, calculate
the costs of goods manufactured, conduct cost-volume-profit
analyses, create budgets, and measure performance against
budgets.

Unless you understand managerial accounting, you cannot have a

thorough understanding of a company’s internal operations. What
you learn in this course will help you understand the operations of
your future employer, and help you understand other companies
you encounter in your role as competitor, consultant, or investor.
Course Operation: Part of the class time will be spent discussing concepts, part will be
spent solving applied problems, and part will be spent answering
questions. You are expected to have read all assigned material for
that class BEFORE attending the lectures. You should take notes
during the lectures.

Working problems is key to your success. Management accounting

is an applied discipline; the more problems you do, the better you
should be at applying your knowledge. Pay attention to the
problems solved in the class and the homework problems. If you
have trouble solving a homework problem, ask about it in the next
class, as others may also have had difficulty.

Web CT: I will post the lecture notes and class handouts on WebCT
(webct.utdallas.edu). You need your UTD username and password
to log in to WebCT. Periodically, I may post extra problems and/or
solutions on WebCT.

Grading: Your final grades will be determined as follows:

1. Classroom Attendance: 10%

2. 3 Exams
Exam I: 30%
Exam II: 30%
Exam III: 30%

Attendance: Attendance will be randomly taken.

Exams: There will be 3 exams. The exams are not cumulative and they
will be 90 minutes long. Practice exams will not be distributed
or posted on the internet. The exams are closed book and
closed note. Exams are multiple choice and many questions will
require calculations. Please mark your answers on both the
exam itself and the scantron.

Academic Integrity: In order to ensure fairness and on behalf of the overwhelming

majority of honest students, I will refer anyone suspected of
academic dishonesty to the Office of Student Conduct. There
are no exceptions to this policy under any circumstances. If a
student is found guilty of academic dishonesty by the Office of
Student Conduct, the student will receive an F for the course in
addition to any punishment determined by the Office of Student
Conduct.
 Course Outline
Date Reading Topic
Mon. 1/09 Ch. 1 Course overview
Wed. 1/11 Ch. 1 Introduction to management accounting
Mon 1/16 Holiday
Wed. 1/18 Ch. 2 Cost behavior and cost-volume relationship
Mon. 1/23 Ch. 2 Cost behavior and cost-volume relationship
Wed. 1/25 Ch. 2 Cost behavior and cost-volume relationship
Mon. 1/30 Ch. 3 Measurement of cost behavior
Wed. 2/01 Ch. 3 Measurement of cost behavior
Mon. 2/06 Review
Wed. 2/08 Exam #1
Mon. 2/13 Ch. 5 Relevant information and decision making
Wed. 2/15 Ch. 5 Relevant information and decision making
Mon. 2/20 Ch. 5 Relevant information and decision making
Wed. 2/22 Ch. 6 Relevant information and decision making
Mon. 2/27 Ch. 6 Relevant information and decision making
Wed. 3/01 Ch. 6 Relevant information and decision making
Mon. 3/06 Spring Break
Wed. 3/08 Spring Break
Mon. 3/13 Ch. 4 Cost management systems and activity-based costing
Wed. 3/15 Ch. 4 Cost management systems and activity-based costing
Mon. 3/20 Review
Wed. 3/22 Exam #2
Mon. 3/27 Ch. 13 Accounting for overhead costs
Wed. 3/29 Ch. 13 Accounting for overhead costs
Mon. 4/03 Ch. 14 Job-costing and process-costing systems
Wed. 4/05 Ch. 14 Job-costing and process-costing systems
Mon. 4/10 Ch. 14 Job-costing and process-costing systems
Wed. 4/12 Ch. 7 Master budget
Mon. 4/17 Ch. 7 Master budget
Wed. 4/19 Review
Mon. 4/24 Exam # 3