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Accounting Learning Goals

Students who major in accounting can expect to achieve the following learning goals:

Skills that mirror the CPA exam topics will be acquired from the following courses:

  • Intermediate I, II & III (344, 345, 436)
  • Cost Accounting (223)
  • Accounting Information Systems (320)
  • Taxation – Individual and Corporate (441, 442)
  • Audit Theory (440)
  • Advanced Accounting (447)

ACCT 223 Learning Goals:

  • Explain the uses of cost accounting information and the relationship to financial and management accounting
  • Illustrate basic cost accounting procedures for the three basic elements of manufacturing costs
  • Distinguish between the two basic types of cost accounting systems: job order costing and process costing
  • Illustrate the job order and process costing systems
  • Understand the accounting procedures followed and source documents used in accounting for materials, labor, and factory overhead
  • Introduce JIT systems
  • Account for and distinguish between scrap, spoiled goods, and defective work
  • Identify cost behavior patterns and use the three available methods to separate mixed costs into their fixed and variable components
  • Prepare a factory overhead budget and determine a predetermined factory overhead rate
  • Apply factory overhead using the predetermined factory overhead rate
  • Account for the difference between actual and predetermined factory overhead
  • Account for service department overhead costs
  • Prepare cost of production reports
  • Prepare the components of both a master budget and a flexible budget
  • Understand the relationship between budgets and standards and the use of budgets in determining standards at various levels of activity
  • Compute, analyze, and record material and labor variances
  • Compute the difference between actual and applied overhead and using the two, three, and four way variance analysis methods
  • Understand how to report variances on cost accounting and financial accounting financial statements
  • Understand how job order costing, budgeting, and activity based costing can be applied to a service organization
  • Analyze a balanced scorecard for various business entities
  • Compare and contrast variable and absorption costing and reconcile the net income calculated under these methods.
  • Prepare segment income statements
  • Conduct cost volume profit analysis using the contribution margin per unit and contribution margin percentage approaches
  • Calculate and understand the margin of safety and impact of income taxes on cost volume profit analysis
  • Understand the nature of relevant costs and revenues and apply these concepts to decision making
  • Strengthen student’s skills in the use of spreadsheet programs

ACCT 320 Learning Goals

  • Apply systems techniques and documentation including flowcharting, IPO/HIPO charts, logical data flow diagrams, narrative techniques, resource utilization and decision analysis
  • Discuss electronic commerce, electronic security, and encryption issues, including virtual cash, privacy and transaction integrity
  • Describe transaction-processing systems, design of double entry systems, transaction coding and form design
  • Evaluate internal control and transaction processing controls
  • Review concepts of information systems security vulnerabilities threats and disaster risk
  • Analyze the transaction cycles related to customer orders, accounts receivable, credit, billing and collection
  • Analyze the transaction cycles for procurement, cash disbursements, human resources and payroll
  • Analyze the transaction cycles for production, inventory and fixed assets
  • Describe various types of application controls to assure accuracy and integrity of financial information and discuss the types of EDP systems used for transaction processing
  • Produce reports for management decision-making, financial reporting and profitability analysis
  • Obtain an overview of financial reporting for non-business entities
  • Distinguish between private and public sector organizations
  • Identify the sources of authoritative accounting standards for various public and private sector organizations
  • Define the 11 fund types used by state and local governments
  • Obtain an overview of the contents of a governmental financial report
  • Define the governmental reporting entity

ACCT 344 Learning Goals

  • Define the function and primary focus of financial accounting
  • Identify the objective and qualitative characteristics of financial reporting information, and the elements of financial statements
  • Analyze routine economic events and record their effects on a Co.’s financial position using the accounting equation
  • Describe the four basic financial statements
  • Convert from cash basis net income to accrual basis net income
  • Describe the purpose of the balance sheet and understand it usefulness and limitations
  • Describe the earnings quality and how it is impacted by management practices to manipulate earnings
  • Explain the difference between net income and comprehensive income and how we report components of the difference
  • Discuss revenue recognition methods and how those methods affect net income and comprehensive income
  • Describe how the concept of time value of money is incorporated into the valuation of bonds, long-term leases and pension obligations
  • Describe the two approaches to estimating bad debts and their effect on the balance sheet and income statement
  • Explain the difference between perpetual and periodic inventory systems and their impact on ending inventory, cost of goods sold, income taxes and net income

ACCT 345 - Learning Goals

  • Explain the difference between perpetual and periodic inventory system
  • Determine the expenditures that should be included in the cost of inventory
  • Understand supplemental LIFO disclosures and the effect of LIFO liquidation on net income
  • Understand and apply the lower-of-cost-or market rule used to value inventories
  • Estimate ending inventory and cost of goods sold using the retail inventory method, applying the various cost flow methods
  • Identify the various costs included in the initial cost of property, plant and equipment, natural resources and intangible assets
  • Explain how to account for dispositions and exchanges for other nonmonetary assets
  • Explain the concept of cost allocation as it pertains to property, plant and equipment and intangible assets
  • Identify situations that involve a significant impairment of the value of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets and describe the required accounting procedure
  • Demonstrate how to identify and account for investments classified for reporting purposes as held-to-maturity, trading securities and available-for-sale
  • Explain the adjustments made in the equity method when the fair value of the net assets underlying an investment exceeds their book value at acquisition
  • Define liabilities and distinguish between current and long-term liabilities
  • Identify situations that constitute contingencies and the circumstances under which they should accrued
  • Identify the underlying characteristics of debt instruments and describe the basic approach to accounting the debt
  • Account for bonds issued at face value, at a discount, or at a premium, recording interest at the effective rate or by the straight-line method

ACCT 436 Learning Goals

  • Distinguish between operating and capital leases and to account for both
  • Account for income taxes in financial statements via inter and intra period allocations
  • Account for defined benefit pension plans as well as other post retirement benefit plans
  • Account for the various subdivision of shareholder equity for “C” corporation
  • Account for various form of share based compensation plans
  • Account for earning per share
  • Account for change in accounting principles and for correction of prior period errors
  • Prepare the statement of cash flows; both indirect and direct methods

ACCT 440 Learning Goals

  • Describe the nature of financial statement audits
  • Explain why audits are demanded by society
  • Describe how the credibility of the accounting profession was affected by the large number of companies reporting accounting irregularities recently
  • Contrast the various types of audits and auditor responsibilities
  • Describe the nature of ethics and ethical dilemmas
  • Describe the types of CPA liability
  • Identify the components of audit risk
  • Identify and explain the types of audit evidence
  • Describe the purposes of audit documentation
  • Describe the types of audit working papers and the way they are organized
  • Describe the major steps in the audit process
  • Describe how the auditors access fraud risk
  • Define what is meant by internal control
  • Understand the different types of sampling plans used in auditing

ACCT 441 Learning Goals

  • Acquire an overview of the federal tax system
  • Understand the sources of tax law
  • Understand and be able to interpret certain provisions in the current tax code including:
    • Gross income inclusions and exclusions
    • Deductions and losses
    • Business expenses
    • Depreciation
    • Cost recovery
    • Amortization and depletion
    • Employee and self-employed expenses
    • Itemized deductions
    • Passive activities
    • Tax credits and payments

ACCT 442 Learning Goals

  • Understand, calculate, and apply various business and individual tax credits
  • Understand the tax payment procedures used by self-employed persons and employees
  • Understand and calculate realized and recognized gains and losses on property transactions
  • Understand the recovery of capital doctrine and to be able to calculate basis
  • Understand and be able to calculate disallowed and postponed gains and losses on like kind exchanges and involuntary conversions
  • Understand the difference between capital and ordinary assets and the relevance of sales as opposed to exchanges and the holding period to the taxation of capital transaction
  • Understand the tax treatment of capital gains and losses
  • Identify section 1221, 1231, 1245, and 1250 assets and the tax treatment of gains and losses under these sections
  • Apply the recapture provisions applicable to related parties, IDC, and corporations
  • Apply reporting procedures applicable to sections 1221, 1231, 1245, and 1250
  • Understand and apply the AMT tax including the application of AMT adjustments, preferences and credits, and the features of the corporate AMT
  • Understand the differences between and use of various accounting periods applicable to corporations
  • Understand the differences between and the use of the cash, accrual, and hybrid methods of accounting and the procedures for changing accounting methods
  • Understand and be able to apply the installment , completed contract, and percentage of completion methods of accounting
  • Understand and apply the tax rules applicable to corporations and to compute the corporate income tax
  • Apply the reporting procedures applicable to corporations
  • Understand the tax issues involved in incorporating a business including the rules related to liability assumption and basis determination
  • Understand the tax issues related to differences between corporate debt and equity and the related treatment of shareholders losses
  • Apply the rules for determining earnings and profits and allocating earnings and profits to corporate distributions
  • Determine the resulting treatment of dividends to shareholders
  • Understand the nature and tax treatment of property and constructive dividends, stock dividends, stock rights, and stock redemptions
  • Understand the tax effects of various elections and expenditures related to forming a partnership
  • Describe the tax years and accounting methods available to partnerships
  • Apply the reporting procedures applicable to partnerships and partners
  • Determine partnership basis and loss limitations
  • Apply the tax rules applicable to transactions between a partner and a partnership
  • Apply the tax rules related to proportionate non-liquidating and liquidating distributions
  • Determine the amount and character of gains or losses to a selling partner
  • Understand the characteristics of an qualifications for S corporation election and how to make and terminate S elections
  • Compute and allocate separately and non-separately stated income, expenses, and credits
  • Determine the effects of distributions to S corporation shareholders
  • Calculate the built in gains tax and the passive investment income penalty tax

ACCT 443-447 Learning Goals

  • Distinguish between an asset and a stock acquisition
  • Compare the two alternative views of consolidated financial statements: economic entity and parent company concepts
  • Describe the valuation of assets and liabilities acquired in a business combination accounted for by the acquisition method
  • Understand the concept of control as used in business combinations
  • Understand role and reporting of non-controlling interest in business combinations
  • Understand accounting for investment accounts on parent company books
  • Learn workpaper techniques and elimination entries necessary to complete a business combination
  • Prepare a schedule for the computation and allocation of the differences between implied and book value at date of acquisition and subsequent periods
  • Describe meaning of foreign currency and the differences between measured and denominated
  • Account for and report on the more common type of foreign currency transactions including hedging
  • Translate foreign financial statements into US $ in preparation for consolidating financial statements
  • Understand the need for disaggregated financial data and how to report such data for operating segments and major customers
  • Assist business to form partnerships; account for their operations, ownership changes and termination