BMGT 210

Foundations of Accounting for Non-Business

Majors Course Syllabus
Professor Cantor
The Course
Class scheduled: January 25, 2016 March 9, 2016 (blended, online/face-to-face live class).
3:30pm-4:45pm Teaching
Mondays
Assistant Clinic
VMH 1212
Wednesdays
3:30pm-4:45pm, Live class
VMG 1212
Contact Information
Office: VMH 4333N
Phone: 301-263-0798 (Home)
240-401-4519 (Mobile)
Email: ecantor@rhsmith.umd.edu
Office Hours
Monday
2:00-3:00

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

2:00-3:00

Other times via Adobe Connect or in office by appointment.

Foundations of Accounting for Non-Business Majors helps students develop basic skills in
reading and interpreting financial accounting statements and in applying financial and
managerial accounting concepts to managing any type of business. After completion of BMGT
210, the student will be able to read a companys balance sheet, income statement, statement
of retained earnings and statement of cash flows and be able to interpret the information
conveyed about the financing, investing, and operating activities of the company. The student
will be able to use that information to assess the economic performance and financial
condition of the company. In addition, students will develop critical thinking and analytical
decision making skills with respect to business issues encountered by individuals involved in
managing a business.

Course Objectives
After completion of BMGT 210, students should be able to
Describe forms of business, business stakeholders, and business activities.
Define accounting and describe its role in business.
Describe the basic elements of a financial accounting system, analyze, record, and
summarize business transactions in an accounting system.
Prepare a full set of financial statements for a business enterprise: balance sheet, income
statement, statement of cash flows, and statement of retained earnings.
Use accrual accounting concepts to analyze, record and summarize transactions, and
prepare a full set of financial statements for both merchandising and manufacturing
businesses: balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows, and statement of
retained earnings.
Classify costs based on their behavior and perform cost-volume-profit analysis.
Use differential analysis and product pricing in decision making.
Prepare and analyze budgets.
Describe standard cost systems and variance analysis.
Course Materials

Required: Survey of Accounting (Custom Text available only through the University
bookstore)
Subtitle: BMGT
210 Author:
Warren
Text ISBN 9781305768628
Binding Style: Loose Leaf, 3 hole drill, shrinkwrap Estimated Page Count: 316 pages

Recommended: Accounting Comes Alive, The Color Accounting

Parable ISBN 978-1-4507-6960-0

Walt Disney Financial Statements and Roadmap

Required and Provided in Class
Weekly Class Schedule
The course is structured into weekly modules. Each module starts on Sunday morning and
ends on Saturday night.
Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Pre-Live Class
Live
Review Class Materials
Package
Class
Begin New Pre-Live Class Package
Optional
TA
Clinic*
*Note: One Clinic will be used to administer the Midterm Examination and one Clinic will be
used as a regular class before the Final Examination.
Course Structure
Accounting is best learned by application. This means simply that it is not sufficient to
merely read the material. Students must actually work exercises and problems that develop
the critical thinking and analytical skills required to apply the concepts effectively to factual
situations.

+
This is a blended, flipped learning course.
A blended learning course is one where part, but not all, of the traditional face-to-face
instruction is replaced by web-based online learning and pre-live class assessments. Blended
learning courses provide more flexibility as to when and where students learn than a traditional
course. In return, students are required you to take a more active, participatory role in the
learning process. Students can do this by engaging and collaborating with other students and the
instructor on a regular basis both in the classroom and online.
A course is flipped when the basic homework and class preparation occurs online before the
Live Class session. In this sense, effective class preparation in the Pre-Live Class is
extremely important, because the Live Class session assumes students will be fully prepared
so that the material can be advanced through working problems and engaging in interactive
learning activities. The Live Class will contain very little lecture and will focus on being an
active learning environment involving class discussions and student engagement. Students
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will prepare for the face-to-face class (the Live Class) via textbook readings, videos and
graded exercises and quizzes contained in online assignments (the Online Class).
Students should understand that, in terms of time commitment, the Online Class component
contains a significant amount of work because it replaces a 75-minute face-to-face class and
the readings and homework normally associated with a face-to-face class. Students should be
prepared to spend between 2-4 hours in preparation for the Live Class and 1-2 hours on PostLive Class review.
In addition to the Online Class and Live Class, students will have access to course teaching
assistants before the Live Class to ask questions and obtain assistance with class materials.
This option will be available on Mondays during regular class time (3:30-4:45).
Below are some tips for success to help you in this type of course structure.

Participate: Participation and group work are critical parts of the course. You can learn
as much, if not more, from the ideas and perspectives of your peers and instructor.
Participation also can help you articulate your ideas and develop critical thinking skills.
Manage your time: Make time for your online learning and participation in discussions
each week. Give yourself plenty of time to complete assignments including extra time
to handle any technology related problems.
Login regularly: Log in to Canvas several times a week to view announcements and
any additional materials.
Do not fall behind: This class moves at a quick pace and each week builds on the
previous. It is very difficult to catch up if you wait until the last minute to complete
your assignments or skip a learning unit.
Utilize the Canvas settings: Canvas can ensure you receive timely notifications in your
email or via text. Be sure to enable announcements to be sent instantly or daily. You
can find more information at https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-1806.
Ask for help if needed: If you need help with Canvas ELMS or other technology,
contact Smith IT. If you are struggling with a course concept, reach out to your peers,
TAs, and/or professor for support.

Course Graded Tasks

Your performance in the course will be evaluated based on the successful completion of
the following assessments:

Assessments
Individual Online Graded Exercise Package (Pre-Class)
Individual Participation in Class Discussions
Team Project I (Preparing Financial Statements)
Team Project II (Solving Managerial Accounting Issues)
Individual Midterm Examination (Financial Accounting)
Individual Final Examination (Managerial Accounting)

Number of
Assignments
6/5 *
Approx. 3
1
1
1
1

Total
Weight
20%
10%
10%
10%
25%
25%

* Note: six assignments will be given and only the highest six will count.

Individual Online Graded Exercise Package (Pre-Class) Each Weeks Pre-Live Class
materials will include a set of graded problem exercises. Students will be able to request answer
checks two times while working the exercise, before submitting answers (the check will apply
only to the exercise on which the student is working). In addition, students will be able to
retake the Online Exercise Package up to five times, with the highest score being the one that
counts. After submission of answers, students will immediately see their scores and will see
correct answers after the assessment due date. In addition, of the six Individual Online Exercise
Packages, students will drop their lowest graded assessment, counting only their highest five.
Individual Participation in Class Discussion All students are expected to participate in class
discussions. The instructor will seek volunteers to participate in class discussions, but also will
call on students to give everyone a full opportunity to obtain class participation credit.
Participation scores will be based on the number of times students have participated and the
substance of student contributions to class discussions.
Team Project I (Preparing Financial Statements) Teams will complete a problem set involving
the preparation of financial statements, including footnote disclosures, based on various
financial transactions. The problem is based on the concepts covered in the first half of the
course. The Project will be graded based on demonstration of critical analysis applying course
concepts, as demonstrated in the preparation of the financial statements.
Team Project II (Solving Managerial Accounting Issues) Teams will complete a
memorandum that addresses a series of managerial accounting issues. The memorandum will
be graded based on accuracy, formatting, critical analysis and writing.
Walt Disney Financial Statements At the beginning of the course, students will receive a
copy of the Walt Disney financial statements and a Roadmap that assists students in
reading and understanding the financial statements. The Walt Disney Financial
Statements will be discussed in class and tested on both the Midterm and Final
Examinations.
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Midterm Examination (Financial Accounting) Students will complete a closed-book

Midterm Examination on financial accounting concepts and the Walt Disney financial
statements.
Final Examination (Managerial Accounting) Students will complete a closed-book Final
Examination based on all managerial accounting concepts and the Walt Disney financial
statements.
Academic Integrity
The University is an academic community. Its fundamental purpose is the pursuit of knowledge.
Like all other communities, the University can function properly only if its members adhere to
clearly established goals and values.
The Universitys Code of Academic Integrity is designed to ensure that the principles of
honesty and integrity are upheld. You are expected to adhere to this Code. The Smith School
does not tolerate academic dishonesty. All acts of academic dishonesty will be dealt with in
accordance with the provisions of this Code. Anyone suspected of academic dishonesty will be
referred to the Office of Student Conduct immediately. Please visit the website for more
information on the Universitys Code of Academic Integrity.
Academic Dishonesty: any of the following acts, when committed by a student, shall
constitute academic dishonesty:
Cheating: intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or
study aids in any academic exercise.
Fabrication: intentionally and unauthorized falsification or invention of any information
or citation in any academic exercise.
Facilitating academic dishonesty: intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help
another to violate any provision or the Code of Academic Integrity.
Plagiarism: intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as ones own
in any academic exercise.
To avoid plagiarism, always cite your sources. You can view more about citing sources at:
http://www.lib.umd.edu/tl/guides/citation-tools. Feel free to use any of the styles listed
here.
To help you avoid unintentional cheating, the following table lists levels of collaboration that
are acceptable for each type of graded exercise. If you are ever unclear about acceptable levels
of collaboration, please ask!

Individual Online
Exercise Package
Individual Class
Participation
Team Project I
(Preparing Financial
Statements)
Team Project II
(Solving Managerial
Accounting Issues)
Individual Midterm
Examination (in
class)
Individual Final
Examination
(in class)
Special Needs
Any student with special needs should bring this to my attention as soon as possible, but not
later than the second week of class.
Learning Assistance Service
The Learning Assistance Service (LAS) is a valuable resource available to University students.
It is located in the Shoemaker Building Room #2201 and open to students on a daily basis. The
mission of the LAS is to assist students in improving their academic skills. This improvement
may be realized as enhanced effectiveness and increased efficiency in meeting your academic
responsibilities. Student skill issues addressed include time management, listening, note-taking,
problem-solving, studying, and test taking. Assistance is available in different formats to
accommodate your specific concerns. The LAS has many different learning videos
(approximately 30 minutes each) which may be viewed at any time that fits into your schedule.
This can be a very effective use of a break between classes. I encourage all of you to consider
taking advantage of this opportunity. Do it now to get your semester off to the best possible
start. For students who want to fully use the LAS as an academic resource, LAS Workshops are
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presented each semester. Drop-by registration in advance is suggested.

Grading
The planned schedule for assigning course grades is as follows:
Grades Scores
A+ 95.0%-100.0%
A
91.0%-94.9%
A- 89.9%-90.9%
B+
89.0%-89.8%
B
81.0%-88.9%
B79.9%-80.9%
C+ 79.0%-79.8%
C
71.0%-78.9%
C- 69.9%-70.9%
D
60.0%- 69.8%
F
00.0%-59.9%
As a general matter, class grades may be curved in the sole discretion of the instructor, based on
overall class performance. A mark of I (Incomplete) is given only if your course work has
been qualitatively satisfactory, when, because of illness or other compelling circumstance
beyond your control, you have been unable to complete a small portion of the course
requirements. Under no circumstances will the mark of I be recoded for you if you have not
satisfactorily completed the major portion of the course requirements.