KING'S COLLEGE

William G. McGowan School of Business

Department of Accounting and Finance

MSB 120 – Introduction to Management Accounting and Planning

Course Syllabus

Catalog Description:

Introduction to the role of accounting information in the measurement of business and employee performance, and facilitating planning decisions such as product and service selection, budgeting, investments, and profit measurement.

Prerequisites: MSB 110 - Introduction to Financial Reporting

Any student who has enrolled in this course without receiving a grade of D or better in MSB 110 should see the instructor and their advisor for a course withdrawal.

Course Objectives:

This course is the second course in the accounting sequence. While the first accounting course, MSB 110, focused the students learning on principles directed at understanding, analyzing and interpreting financial information in the form of financial statements, this course has an internal decision making focus. Activities within a company and its’ management require a different type of accounting information for decision making. . The course will help student to:

· Determine what financial information is needed to run a successful business in the 21^st century.

· Develop a strong foundation in the concepts of measuring and recording economic information in the accounting records of corporations.

· Develop a strong foundation in means and methods of cost classification and how such helps us to understand costs and their behavior.

· Determine the costs in the unit cost determination and how they are assigned in order to determine unit costs.

· Determine how costs interact with sales and how they relate to the decision making process.

· Develop a budget and utilize it to monitor the company’s performance.

· Practice problem solving, critical thinking, and communication skills that are necessary to use accounting information, to form conclusions about business activities, and to communicate these conclusions to others.

Course Topics and Coverage

Accounting and Management Decisions

Role of Management Accounting in Planning and Control

Interaction between accounting, marketing, and Operations

Cost Categorization, Cost Flow, and Measurement Decisions

Product costs vs. Period costs

Traditional cost categories

Cost-Based decision making

Unit Costs for Decision Making

Elements of unit costs

Measuring unit costs

Assigning unit costs

Job Order cost systems

Cost Measurement for Management

Contribution margin income statements

Variable costing income statements

Cost-Volume-Profit analysis

Variable costing vs. absorption costing

Cost Allocation and Business Strategy

Volume based cost allocation

Activity-Based cost allocation

The Role of Budgets in Decision Making

Master budgets

Behavioral concerns in budgeting

Implementing budgets

Evaluating Performance Within an Organization

Variance Analysis for direct materials and direct labor

Limitations on variance analysis

Controlling Decisions in Decentralized Organizations

Management of decentralized operations

Performance evaluation using ROI

Transfer pricing

Management Accounting in a Competitive Business Environment

Total quality management

Just-In-Time manufacturing

Manufacturing constraints

Decisions About Capital Investments

Net Present value

Internal rate of return

Payback method

Opportunity costs

International Applications

Target costing

Value engineering

Inter-organizational cost management

William G. McGowan School of Business Mission Statement:

The King's College McGowan School of Business seeks to develop in its students the professional knowledge and skills needed to function successfully in the global economy and a commitment to exercising their professional responsibilities in an ethical and socially responsible manner. To achieve these goals, the School of Business provides a student centered learning environment designed to stimulate intellectual development, encourage critical and ethical thinking, and develop professional competencies that are current with today's business environment. Through a broad based liberal education in the Catholic tradition, graduates make ethical and humanistic contributions to the dynamic, global marketplace, based on a lifetime of learning and personal growth.

This second course in accounting, while requiring some memorization of facts, terms, and concepts necessary for the course, requires the student to expand their skills beyond memorization. A student will be required to continue the intellectual development regarding interpretation and development of accounting information through a series of problem identification and identification of the information needed to solve the problem. Such problem based learning will enhance the student learning experience and critical thinking abilities by adapting facts and concepts to new situations, and to develop logical and understandable solutions to problems. Students completing this course will further the foundation of intellectual development, critical thinking and professional competency development necessary for success in succeeding courses within the William G. McGowan School of Business. In furtherance of these guiding principles a student completing this course will be able to:

· Describe transactions accurately and effectively.

· Understand and use organizing principles.

· Synthesize facts, concepts and principles.

· Develop a broad vocabulary and sensitivity to language.

· Develop a respect for ideas supported by evidence and logical argumentation.

· Introduce students to basic differences in global accounting methods.

Course Outline

Spring Semester, 2005

Professor: Barry H. Williams, JD, MT, MBA, CPA

Professor of Accounting

Office: McGowan School of Business, Room 115

Class Schedule: Section: Time: Location:

MSB 120 E	M 6:00 – 8:30 PM	MC 106
MSB 120 F	T/TH 11:00 – 12:15 AM	MC 106
MSB 120 G	T/TH 2:00 – 3:15 AM	MC 106

Office Hours: Tuesday, Thursday 1:00 – 2:00 PM

Tuesday, Thursday 3:15 – 4:15 PM.

Monday 3:30 -4:30 PM

Other times by appointment. Should you need to be in touch or wish to schedule a time to meet with me, the best way is to send me an e-mail to the address listed below.

Te1ephone: 570-208‑5900, Ext. 5699

E‑Mail Address: bhwillia@kings.edu (office)

Required Texts: Management Accounting, Albrecht, Stice, Stice and Skousen, 3^rd Edition, South-Western College Publishing.

ISBN: 0-324-20676-3

Other Required Materials:

A) Calculator

B) Book Web Site: http://www.swlearning.com/accounting/albrecht/swain/swain.html

Course Procedures

Student Responsibilities:

1. Attendance in Class. Accounting courses are problem oriented and require review and reinforcement which can only be achieved through attendance in class. Excessive absences will affect your class participation portion of the final grade.

2. Homework. Timely completion of homework assignments is necessary to keep pace with the flow of coursework. Homework assignments will be collected on a regular basis and will be used in determining the final course grade. Failure to turn in assigned homework, late homework, and failure to prepare class assignments on a timely basis will affect your final course grade.

3. Class Participation. The free interchange of ideas, questions and concerns is a major part of the learning process and is required. Participation in class discussion will affect your final course grade.

4. Resource Chapters. It is the student's responsibility to read the material assigned prior to class. The professor reserves the right to make changes in this syllabus during the semester.

5. Examinations. MSB 120 is a departmentalized course, exams are prepared for all sections and will be given at the same time. Each exam will be scheduled in advance and all students are expected to take each exam when scheduled. The exams will be graded and returned on a timely basis. ALL EXAMINATIONS ARE SCHEDULED OUT OF CLASS AND GENERALLY FOR LATE AFTERNOON. Students are required to notify the professor of any conflict PRIOR to the scheduled exam, failure to notify the professor prior to the exam or failure to take the exam will result in a zero for the exam.

6. Accommodations for Students with Disabilities. All students who have a learning disability or a physical handicap should schedule an appointment with the instructor during the first week of class to discuss accommodations for the classroom and/or assignments and examinations.

Grade Computation:

Your grade will reflect your overall class performance as measured by attendance, participation, homework and testing. You will be required to demonstrate your learning through three examinations and a final examination.

The final course grade will be computed as Follows:

Three Examinations and Final Examination............... 90%

Class Participation and Homework......................... 10%

Total 100%

Letter grades are based upon the following numerical equivalents:

A = 95 – 100

A- = 92 - 94

B+ = 89 - 91

B = 85 – 88

B- = 82 - 84

C+ = 78 - 81

C = 73 – 77

C- = 70 – 72

D = 65 – 69

F = Below 65

Homework Assignments

All homework assignments and topics are subject to change at the discretion of the professor.

Week Beginning	Chapter	Exercises	Problems
1/17/2005	1	2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 15, 17

1/24/2005	2	2, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 19	7

1/31/2005	3	1, 3, 6, 9, 11, 13, 14	7, 9, 11

2/7/2005	First Examination
2/14/2005	4	2, 3, 5, 7, 10	8, 15, 16

2/21/2005	5	1, 4, 6, 9, 14	9

2/28/2005	Second Examination
3/14/2005	6	1, 3, 8, 10, 12, 14, 18	2, 13

3/21/2005	7	2, 6, 7, 8	1, 2

3/28/2005	8	1, 3, 6, 10	2, 3

4/4/2005	Third Examination
4/11/2005	9	1, 2, 4, 6, 11, 13, 15	2, 5

4/18/2005	10	1, 2, 3, 4, 5

4/25/2005	Statement of Cash Flows	14-7, 14-9, 14-14, 14-16	14-9

To Be Announced	Fourth Examination

Other important dates:

January 21 [Fri]----------------------- Last day for course ADD

January 28 [Fri]----------------------- Last day for course DROP

March 7 - 11 [Mon - Fri]------------- Winter Recess - No Day or Evening classes

March 14 [Mon]---------------------- All classes resume - Day & Evening

March 16 [Wed]---------------------- Mid-semester grades due - Day & Evening classes

March 16 - April 1 [Wed-Fri]--------- Advisement period

March 24 - 28 [Thurs - Mon]--------- Easter Recess - No classes

March 29 [Tues]---------------------- All Day classes resume

April 1 [Fri]--------------------------- Last day for authorized course Withdrawal (no refund)

May 3 [Tues]-------------------------- Day Classes FOLLOW THURSDAY CLASS SCHEDULE

May 4 [Wed]------------------------- Last meeting of day of classes

------------------------- Day Classes FOLLOW FRIDAY CLASS SCHEDULE