Syllabus & Outline

Tentative Version 1.03 (subject to change)

Additions to V 1.00 are marked in Blue

Additions to V1.01 are marked in Pink

Additions to V1.02 are marked in Red

Accounting 2101 Professor Davis

Sections: FO1L (41652) and FO2L (41662)
(I merged the two sections into one on Blackboard) Spring 18

If you have a suggestion to improve the course, please e-mail Sunqian.Ren@baruch.cuny.edu

right away (do not wait till the end of the term). If your idea is good, I will even give you
extra credit.
If you have any questions, check the Blackboard Discussion Boards and post there. I generally check it
20/6.

For personal issues email: Sunqian.Ren@baruch.cuny.edu

Please do not email me directly. She will forward emails to me.
Highly Recommended Reading ............................................................. 3
Required Text .......................................................................................... 4
Grading..................................................................................................... 6
Calendar ................................................................................................... 7
Live Office Hours..................................................................................... 8
Academic Integrity .................................................................................. 9
Students with Disabilities ..................................................................... 10
Time Commitment ................................................................................. 11
Studying ................................................................................................. 12
Lectures ................................................................................................. 13
Exams ..................................................................................................... 14
Blackboard ............................................................................................. 15
E-mail ...................................................................................................... 16
Connect Homework............................................................................... 17
Useful Computer Tools ......................................................................... 18
Syllabus .................................................................................................. 19
Goals and Objectives ............................................................................ 20
Zicklin Learning Goals addressed in this course: ............................. 20
 Highly Recommended Reading
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey
Highly
Recommended If you want to succeed in the business world, this is the book to read
(it has sold over 25,000,000 copies)
This may be the most important part of your education.

Subscribe to the Wall Street Journal at dirt cheap rates ($1 for 15 weeks) to learn what is going on in
the business world.
For about 1¢ an issue they home deliver the print edition and you also get online and full digital access,
as well as a other benefits. Of course, they lose money on this, they just want to hook you early in your
Strongly career.
Suggested http://r.wsj.net/ldN8j (just click)

You will get one extra credit point for this.

Don't send me your receipt, the WSJ will give me a full list of all participants.
 Required Text

The book includes a Connect homework card (which is required for the course). If you buy a used copy, you will have to buy the
Connect homework card (from the college bookstore, or from McGraw-Hill).
The library has 2 copies of the textbook (not the homework card) on reserve (but I cannot guarantee availability).

ISBN: 9781260308457
Price: $65 at http://shop.mheducation.com/mhshop/productDetails?isbn=1260308456
Or at Baruch bookstore.

Note: You must get the 4th edition.

Sign on for Connect: (see below)
Questions regarding the text and ConnectPlus should be directed to McGraw Hill technical support at 1-800-331-5094 or
www.mhhe.com/support.
You need to purchase access to the SAM platform in order to complete the projects. The cost is $40. Once purchased, your
SAM account will be active until you graduate and you’ll be able to access Excel projects in other classes in the future. If you
have a SAM account from a previous class, simply login to SAM at http://sam.cengage.com/Login.aspx and join your new class
(see The Excel Project at the end of the syllabus for details).

DO NOT CONTACT PROFESSOR DAVIS or Sunqian Ren or your recitation instructor

for assistance of any kind related to excel projects, we have nothing to do with SAM or with
its grades. Direct your questions to the excel help desk:
http://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/excelhelp
 Grading
Grade
Online Quizzes (generally 1 each lecture) 21%
Online Homework (generally 1 each chapter) 21%
Online Excel Project 8%
In class Midterm (100-200 questions) 20%
In class Final (100-200 questions, MUST pass final to pass course) 30%
100%
As you can see, Quizzes, Homework and the Excel project make up 50% of the grade. Ignoring them is NOT an option
if you want to pass. Skipping one quiz or homework, won't change your grade much. However, it is a horrible idea.
You are starting a bad habit, because skipping a few quizzes or homeworks will quickly torpedo your grade. The
easiest part of the course is the home assignments. You should average at least 98% on the assignments.
Submissions after the due date on homeworks and quizzes lose 2 points for every day late.
The exams are long (100-200 questions) and hard. Historically, not everyone gets an A on the exams.

On Blackboard I posted a Grade Calculator. This allows you to record all your past performance. You can also play
with it to see what happens if. This allows you to answer questions like: what do I need to get an A in course, etc.

To foster a cooperative environment in the class (not a competitive environment), average grades are NOT disclosed.
This way every student is focused on improving their own grades, not on comparing themselves to others.

It is NOT possible to make up for poor performance by doing custom extra work. No extra credit will be assigned or accepted.
The weights, above, are identical for everyone. If I give extra credit assignments, they are for everyone.

There are no make-up exams. If you miss the midterm exam due to an emergency, the final exam will count 50%. You must
provide written documentation showing that you missed the midterm due to an emergency (e.g., a doctor’s note).
 Calendar
Exam dates
Optional Live Review Session
(will be taped and posted on Blackboard) Sunday March 18 11:00-1:00 Rm 5-150
Midterm (Chapters 1-3, 5) Sunday March 25 11:00-1:00 Rm 5-150
Drop Date Monday April 16
Optional Live Review Session
(will be taped and posted on Blackboard)
Sunday May 13 11:00-1:00 Rm 5-150
Final
Sunday May 20 1:00-3:00
(Chapters 1-3, 5-12, Appendix C)
Make-up Final
Friday May 18
(If you can't make it May 20)
 Live Office Hours
The following is the schedule of live help for this course

Day Time Location

Sunqian Ren Monday 2:00-3:00 VC 12-290

Xintian Lin Monday 3:00-4:00 VC 12-250G

Heyun Li Wednesday 2:30-3:30 VC 12-220

 Academic Integrity
I am confident that everyone in class will always apply the highest
standard of academic integrity.

An ethical lapse can have drastic consequences.

At the minimum, an "F" in the course.
However, it can lead to termination from the program and a
permanent mark on the student record – which can have extremely
negative implications in a job search.
It is just not worth the risk.
I fully support Baruch College's policy on Academic Honesty, which states, in part:

“Academic dishonesty is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Cheating, forgery, plagiarism and collusion in
dishonest acts undermine the college's educational mission and the students' personal and intellectual growth.
Baruch students are expected to bear individual responsibility for their work, to learn the rules and definitions that
underlie the practice of academic integrity, and to uphold its ideals. Ignorance of the rules is not an acceptable
excuse for disobeying them. Any student who attempts to compromise or devalue the academic process will be
sanctioned. "
Professor Davis
 Students with Disabilities
Students with disabilities may receive assistance and accommodation of various sorts to enable them to
participate fully in courses at Baruch. Contact Student Disability Services 646-312-4590 (TTY, hearing impaired
phone 646-312-4601).

To establish the accommodations appropriate for each student, please e-mail me about your needs. Please
include the form from the Office of Student Disability Services in you e-mail. I will try my best to work with
you., as I have succeeded doing in past semesters.
 Time Commitment
Since this is a 3 credit course. It requires a minimum of about 12 hours every week (on average) for watching the
lectures and doing homework. Be realistic. An F in the course is not something that you or I want. If you cannot make
this time commitment, it is a good idea to take the course next semester.
 Studying
 First watch the lecture on Blackboard / Course Documents / Lectures

o If there are parts that are not clear, review those parts

o If they are still not clear, read the parts of the book on this

o If they are still not clear, go to the Blackboard Discussion Board on the topic and read what other
people have written. If you find a thread and it is still not clear, add to the thread. If there is nothing
about this, start in new thread in the correct forum.

 Get any lecture materials posted in Course Documents on Blackboard, and review carefully.

 Do the Connect quiz on the lecture. If you did not get 100%, do it again (and again) till you get 100%.

 Read the book.

 Do required homework problems on Connect Accounting. If you did poorly on the homework, do it again
(and again).

 Optional: Do any of the optional material on Connect (there is no credit for doing this).

Keep up with the material - cramming is not effective.

 Lectures
Lectures cover some of the material in the book.

However, lectures also cover a lot of material not in the book (and, therefore, not in homework). This additional
material provides intellectual concepts underlying basic accounting issues. Please review lectures carefully until
they are 100% clear to you. They appear on exams.

Please read the chapter. Some material in the book is not on exams.

For some chapters, the lecture covers a lot of additional material. For other chapters (full of descriptive, simple
facts), the lectures cover less than the book. In other words, mastery of the course material can be attained only by
studying the lecture and the book.

The earlier lectures do not cover much material. Using a chess analogy, we are learning how each piece moves, and
the rules of the game. In the later chapters we start playing the game. The later chapters assume that we have a
clear understanding of how each piece moves and the game rules, so the lecture can cover much more material.

This is important, because the pace of the class shifts dramatically from the beginning of the term (not much
material covered in each lecture, not much homework, only quizzes), to the end of the term (a lot of material
covered in each lecture, significant homework).

If you are in school because you want to learn something, and are interested in getting a business education, watch
each lecture. I try to give you an understanding of the business world in each lecture.
If you are interested only in your grade, consider transferring to a different section, or a different school. You might
be happier there.

The vast majority of students enjoy the Mozart music in the background during the lectures. Some professional
musicians are distracted by the music, I apologize.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_effect

http://www.rense.com/general12/morebrains.htm
 Exams
There is no way to cram for a good exam. Just master all the material, and come to the exam calm and alert,
prepared to think. Most exam questions will come from the Quizzes, Homework and Optional material on Connect.

All exams are CUMULATIVE.

Central concept can be 20%-30% of an exam. Each minor topic is generally only a few points on the exam. Since
there are many questions (usually 100-200), the exam tries to be comprehensive.

Every exam (especially with so many questions) can have some poor questions (not clear or misleading). To allow for
this possibility, I don't count the first few (usually 2-5) wrong answers on the exam.

If an exam is too hard (i.e. the median grade is too low), I curve the exam.

I try to post the grades on Blackboard within 72 hours after the exam.

To foster a cooperative environment in the class (not a competitive environment), average grades are NOT disclosed.
This way every student is focused on improving their own grades, not on comparing themselves to others.
 Blackboard
Course Documents: Super important. Includes Lectures and Important Documents.
Discussion Board: Very Important
Use the discussion board to communicate with fellow classmates (ask questions, help another student, offer
advice, thank someone for their help). It is a class bulletin board. The more it is used, the more helpful it is
for everyone.

Just make sure all entries are related to the course.

If you have more than one question or issue – open up a separate thread for each issue. It is very messy to
have a thread with two topics.

A very useful option is to subscribe to a forum that you are interested in. Just hit the subscribe button (top
row) and you will receive an email whenever there is any new comment in that forum. I personally subscribe
to almost all the forums.

Tools: My Grades has all your grades on the midterms and final and extra credit. It does not have Connect
grades (quizzes and homework) and it does not have SAM grades until the end of the semester.
 E-mail
Sunqian.Ren@baruch.cuny.edu

Harry.Davis@baruch.cuny.edu

I use e-mail for informal communication. I thus dispense with the usual formalisms of letters (greetings, closings,
etc.). I do not hesitate to answer an email by just saying "Yes" or "No" (of course I attach your original e-mail, so it is
clear what I am talking about). You can also dispense with formality in your e-mails to me. I hope you don't consider
this rude, it is just an efficiency measure to save time for everyone.

E-mail is only for private communication between you and me. Questions of general interest (for example,
accounting issues, questions on the lectures, exams, bugs in Connect, homework help) belong in the Discussion
Forum on Blackboard, where everyone can benefit.
 Connect Homework
To register go to:
http://connect.mheducation.com/class/professor-davis-spring18

If you do not have an Access card, you can still register with Courtesy Access, and then when you get the Access card, you
can make the registration permanent.

Having trouble registering?

Get help here: http://bit.ly/StudentRegistration

When using Connect, you can use your textbook and you can ask ANYONE for help:
 Fellow students - post a question on Blackboard Discussion Board
 Work colleagues
 Your CPA.

Quizzes
I created all the questions (so please let me know if you have any suggested improvements). You can take each quiz as often as
you like. Your grade will be calculated using only your highest grade. So there is never a penalty if you do poorly or don't finish a
quiz.

Homework

Our goal in using Connect is to help us master the material. Students find the program helpful even though it has
been psychologically diagnosed as obsessive compulsive. Make sure to follow instruction VERY CAREFULLY. Connect
is VERY UNFORGIVING.

You can do the problems one day, leave the problems, and come back the next day to look over your answers.

On your first attempt of the homework I give 105 points, which includes a 5 point curve for Connect errors. If you
submit your homework and are unhappy with your grade, you can resubmit as often as you want. For each
submission the maximum score (in points) drops 10%. So on the 2nd attempt the maximum score is about 94 points,
3rd attempt = 85, 4th attempt = 76, 5th attempt = 68, 6th attempt = 62, 7th attempt = 55, etc. Your grade will be
calculated using only your highest grade. So there is never a penalty in doing another attempt. I only use the points
in calculating the grade, ignore the percentages.

Time Cutoff for Connect: After the lectures are posted you will have at least a week to do the quizzes and usually at least two
weeks to do the homework (although two homeworks may overlap). Submissions after the due date lose 2-5 points
for every day late.
 Useful Computer Tools
I have used these tools for years. They are free and extremely helpful.

Dropbox: This program automatically backs up everything important on my computer. It works flawlessly
in the background. It also will automatically update files on more than one computer.
Go to www.dropbox.com/

Lastpass: This program keeps track of all my 100+ passwords. I would be lost without it.
https://www.lastpass.com/

Everything: This program allows me to find any file on my computer. Extremely useful.
https://www.voidtools.com/

If you know of any other great tools let me know. Thanks.

 Syllabus
(Subject to modification)
Lecture Week starting Chapter
Welcome Welcome 1/27
Operating Cycle 1/27
Cash Flow vs. Income 1/27
Accounting Equation 2/3 1
Introduction Transactions 2/3 2
Beyond the Balance Sheet 2/10 2, 11
Debits and Credits 2/10 2
Adjusting Entries 2/17 3
We skip Chapter 4
Accounts Receivable 2/24 5
Bad Debts 2/24 5
Receivables
Financial Statement Analysis 2/24 5
Notes/ Receivable 2/24 5
Manufacturers vs Retailers 3/3 6
Cost of Goods Sold Statement 3/3 6
LIFO vs. FIFO 3/3 6
Perpetual vs. Periodic 3/10 6
Inventory
Freight 3/10 6
LCM 3/10 6
Financial Statement Analysis 3/10 6
Inventory Errors 3/10 6
Acquisition 3/24 7
Next Year Measurement 3/24 7
Basket Purchase 3/24 7
Natural Resources 3/24 7
Long Term Assets
Intangible Assets 3/24 7
Depreciation 3/24 7
Asset Disposal 3/24 7
Financial Statement Analysis 3/24 7
Current Liabilities 4/8 8
Line of Credit 4/8 8
Payroll, Unearned Revenue, Sales Tax 4/8 8
Current Liabilities
Current Portion of Long Term Debt 4/8 8
Contingent Liabilities 4/8 8
Financial Statement Analysis 4/8 8
Time Value of Money 4/14 Appendix C
Leverage 4/14 9
Bonds 4/21 9
Long Term Liabilities Leases 4/21 9
Pensions 4/21 Not mentioned in boo
Financial Statement Analysis 4/21 9
Miscellaneous topics 4/28 10
Owners' Equity
EPS and P/E ratio 4/28 10
Cash Flow Statement Direct vs. Indirect 5/5 Chap 11 Part A We skip Part b
Financial Statement Analysis 5/5 12 Mostly Review
 Goals and Objectives
ACC 2101 is the first in a sequence of courses dealing with financial accounting and
reporting. These courses are intended to develop your understanding of the theory, concepts,
principles, and practices underlying the preparation of external financial reports. This course
begins this process by considering broad issues like the environment of financial reporting,
the role of financial reporting, the users of financial reports, and the accounting standard
setting process. Most of this course will, however, focus on specific reporting issues: for
example, the accounting process, the income statement, inventories, accounts receivable,
and fixed assets. The general course goal is to use accounting information in various
economic decision-making contexts. Financial accounting produces financial statements that
primarily serve external decision-makers, such as investors, financial analysts, creditors and
government agencies. You will review balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow
statements and evaluate the set of underlying transactions that lead to these statements. We
will focus on actual corporate financial statements and I strongly encourage you to apply
your understanding to any financial statements that you have at your disposal. We will try to
focus our attention on using and interpreting accounting information as much as possible. The
end product will be an understanding of contemporary financial reporting, which will allow
you to better understand how to use accounting to help you make business decisions.
Some key learning goals associated with this course are:
- To provide students with an understanding of the preparation of
financial statements in US GAAP;
- To provide students with an understanding of the role of the FASB and SEC
in proving the regulatory framework of financial reporting in the US;
- To give students an appreciation of IFRS and an appreciation of how it differs from
US GAAP
- The credibility and usefulness of financial reports derive, in large part, from the
integrity of those who prepare and audit these reports. This course will emphasize the
importance of maintaining high ethical standards as part of a high quality financial
reporting system.

Zicklin Learning Goals addressed in this course:

1) Business Knowledge.
a) Accounting concepts and principles
b) Distinguishing operating, investing, and financing activities
c) The information presented in the four basic financial statements: balance
sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows, and the statement of owner’s
equity
d) The accounting model
e) The procedures and techniques used to prepare a complete set of
financial statements
e) Interpretation and application of accounting information for business decisions
f) Distinguishing ethical from unethical behavior in accounting
2) Technological skills
 a) Knowledge of Excel
b) Using the Internet to gather financial information
c) Blackboard, the software program that enables students, through the use of an
ID and a password, to gain access to assignments and course announcements.
d) Connect, specifically designed software for completing homework assignments
and quizzes.

BBA Learning Goals Significant Moderate Minimal

Part of Part of Part of
Course Course
Course
Analytical Skills ☒ ☐ ☐

Technological Skills ☒ ☐ ☐
Communication Skills: Oral ☐ ☐ ☒
Communication Skills: Written ☐ ☐ ☒
Civic Awareness and Ethical ☐ ☐ ☒
Decision Making
Global Awareness ☐ ☐ ☒

Assignments Course Learning Goals BBA Learning Goals

Recommended Teaches student the skills needed to succeed in the Civic Awareness and Ethical
Text business world Decision-Making

Provide students with: Analytical Skills

an understanding of the preparation of financial
Required Text statements in US GAAP Civic Awareness and Ethical
Decision-Making
an understanding of the role of the FASB and SEC Global Awareness
in proving the regulatory framework of financial
reporting in the US
Lectures
an appreciation of IFRS and an appreciation of
how it differs from US GAAP

Homework Analytical Skills

Demonstrate knowledge of material
and Quizzes Technological Skills

Analytical Skills
Use the internet
Blackboard Technological Skills
Interact with other students
Communication Skills: Written
 Technological Skills
Excel Project Learn how to use Excel

The Trueblood Criterion is used by accountants and it says that the past and present reports of the
firm will provide useful firm information that will be used to predict future cash flow to firm and then
future cash fow to users (creditors and shareholders)

The sacrifice value is the price of the asset when we buy it. It is a historial or past value

We pick up Income when we switch from Sacrifice Value to Benefit Value.