ACCT 311 Master Syllabus

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MBA 603: Managerial Economics and Decisions of the Firm Master Syllabus - Online

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Course Description

Design of accounting systems to serve the internal needs of management with an emphasis on underlying theory. Product costing, including activity-based costing, budgeting and other planning applications, information for decision making, planning, performance evaluation, and other control application for decentralized organizations

Required Course Materials

  1. Horngren’s Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis (17th ed.) authored by Datar and Rajan (Pearson Higher Education 2020).
  2. Access to Pearson’s MyAccountingLab, which is also integrated in the “Peason MyLab” tab in our Blackboard course.
  3. Online materials will be available throughout the semester on the course page of the Blackboard: http://mymasonportal.gmu.edu.
  4. Green scantrons (Form No. 882-E) for the midterm and final examinations

Learning Goals for Students in the Costello College of Business Undergraduate Program (those in bold will be addressed in this class)

Our students will:

  • Be competent in their discipline.
  • Be aware of the uses of technology in business.
  • Be effective communicators. o Have an interdisciplinary perspective. 
  • Be knowledgeable about global business and trade. 
  • Recognize the importance of ethical decisions. 
  • Be knowledgeable about the legal environment of business. 
  • Be knowledgeable about team dynamics and the characteristics of effective teams. 
  • Understand the value of diversity and importance of managing diversity in the context of business. 
  • Be critical thinkers.

Learning Goals for Students in the Undergraduate Accounting Program (those in bold will be addressed in this class)

  • Students will record, analyze, interpret and communicate financial and non-financial information for users of such information in accordance with applicable professional authoritative literature. 
  • Students will assess risks inherent in financial and non-financial information and provide appropriate assurance to users of such information and they will be able to develop, validate, and evaluate processes and controls which serve to ensure the integrity of financial and nonfinancial information. 
  • Students will understand the environment and role of the accounting profession in the proper functioning of commerce, and in society at large, and the ethical and regulatory responsibilities associated with that environment and role. 
  • Students possess the following technical competencies: (1) research skills to access, understand, and apply relevant professional authoritative literature; (2) decision modeling skills to identify issues, analyze alternatives, and implement solutions related to financial and non-financial information; and (3) technology and data analysis skills to manage financial and non-financial information.

Student Responsibilities

To maximize your learning experience, daily attendance is essential and constructive participation is an important part of the classroom experience. Please attempt to be on time and remain for the entire period. Readings and homework assignments are expected to be completed before coming to class. You are responsible for any material covered during an absence, even if it was supplementary material and not in the textbook. 

Lecture notes and other documents used in class will be posted on the Canvas website. I recommend that you routinely visit Canvas to download and print these documents for your ongoing studies and reference in class. At a minimum, please visit Canvas a few hours before class to obtain these documents for the upcoming lecture. You need to regularly download or print out notes and other documents by yourself and take them to class for reference. 

I will post on Canvas the solutions to Supplemental Problems from the end of each chapter. Solutions to In-class Problems will be provided in class. If you miss a class, you may get the solution to these problems from a fellow classmate.

Exams

All students are required to take two midterm examinations and one comprehensive final exam on the date/time specified in the course schedule. The exams are closed-note and closed-book tests, and exams will cover both computational and conceptual materials. The coverage of the two mideterm exams are not cumulative, while the comprehensive final exam cumulatively covers all the materials we learn in this course. 

Students will be asked to present their ID card (e.g., Mason card or driver license) at each exam, and any student without an ID card will not be allowed to take the exam. In any exam, students are allowed to use only simple four-function calculators without any programming features or memory function. Students are not allowed to possess such electrical items as phones, computers, tablets, etc. during exam hours. Students must return all of their exam materials at the end of each exam. Failure to return the exam to the professor or proctor constitutes an act of academic dishonesty and a violation of the Honor Code. Therefore, failure to return the exam can result in a “zero” score for the exam and the student being reported to the Honor Code Committee.

Make-up Exam Policy

You can only miss the regularly scheduled midterm exam with prior approval from the instructor, and for reasons allowable under university policy. You will need to provide acceptable, official documentation in advance of the regularly scheduled midterm exam supporting your request for the make-up midterm exam. 

Absences from final exam will not be excused except for sickness on the day of the exam or other cause approved by the student’s academic dean or director. Students missing a midterm or final exam without prior approval will automatically receive a score of “zero” for that exam.

Homework/Writing Assignments

Ten 10-point homework will be administered via MyAccountingLab, and your lowest score (including zero for a missed homework) out of the ten will be dropped. Writing assignment is worth another 10 points. The maximum total grade for “Homework/Writing Assignments” is 100 points. The due dates of these assignments are listed in the class schedule, and their requirements will be announced in class and/or in Blackboard. Writing assignments will be turned via “SafeAssign” in Blackboard (per instruction by professor).

Grade Weights

Your final grade will be determined as follows:

Class Participation (attendance and pop quizzes) 3%
MyAccounting Lab Homework/Writing Assignment 7%
Midterm Exam #1 25%
Midterm Exam #2 25%
Final Exam 40%
Total 100%

Final grades will be assigned based on the percentage points earned in the overall course (e.g., A ≥ 90%, 90% > A- ≥ 88%, 88% > B+ ≥ 85%, 85% > B ≥ 80%, 80% > B- ≥ 78%, 78% > C+ ≥ 75%, 75% > C ≥ 70%, 70% > D ≥ 60%, and F < 60%). “Extra credit” assignments are not given in this course.

(Example) Course Schedule
# Date Chp Topic In-class Problems Supplemental Problems
1   2 An Introduction to Cost Terms and Purposes 21, 22, 31 23, 26, 32
2   2 An Introduction to Cost Terms and Purposes (cont’d)    
           
3   2 An Introduction to Cost Terms and Purposes (cont’d)    
4   5 Activity-Based Costing & Activity-Based Management 19, 21 18, 20, 23, 28, 30
           
5   5 Activity-Based Costing & Activity-Based Management (cont’d)    
      [HW#1- Chp2]    
6   6 Master Budgeting and Responsibility Accounting 21, 42 22, 23, 24, 43
           
7   6 Master Budgeting and Responsibility Accounting (cont’d)    
      [HW#2- Chp5]    
8   7 Flexible Budgets, Direct-Cost Variances, and Management Control 23, 29 21, 22, 27, 30
           
9   7 Flexible Budgets, Direct-Cost Variances, and Management Control (cont’d) ; Pre-MT1 Review; [HW#3- Chp 6]    
10     Midterm Exam #1    
           
11   8 Review MT1; Flexible Budgets, Overhead Variances, and Management Control 23, 24 21, 22, 26, 29
12   8 Flexible Budgets, Overhead Cost Variances, and Management Control (cont’d)    
           
13   9 Inventory Costing and Capacity Analysis 21, 26 22, 25, 29, 30
14   9 Inventory Costing and Capacity Analysis (cont’d)    
      [HW#4- Chp 7 & 8]    
           
15   10 Determining How Costs Behave 31, 33, 34 21, 23, 26, 27
16   10 Determining How Costs Behave (cont’d)    
      [Writing Assignment]    
           
17   11 Decision Making and Relevant Information 24, 25 22, 23, 28, 30, 33
18   11 Decision Making and Relevant Information (cont’d)    
      [HW#5- Chp 9]    
           
19   11 Decision Making and Relevant Information (cont’d)    
20   12 Strategy, Balanced Scorecard, and Strategic Profitability Analysis;
Pre-MT2 Review		   19, 20, 22, 28
      [HW#6- Chp 10]    
           
      Election Day – no class    
21     Midterm Exam #2    
      [HW#7- Chp 11]    
           
22   13 Review MT2; Pricing Decisions and Cost Management 23, 31 17, 19, 20, 22
23   13 Pricing Decisions and Cost Management (cont’d)    
           
24   14 Cost Allocation, Customer Profitability Analysis, and Sales-Variances 27, 28 18, 19, 20, 23
25   14 Cost Allocation, Customer Profitability Analysis, and Sales-Variances (cont’d)    
      [HW#8- Chp 13]    
           
26   21 Capital Budgeting and Cost Analysis 24, 25 21, 22, 23, 26, 27
      Thanksgiving Day – no class    
           
27   21 Capital Budgeting and Cost Analysis (cont’d)    
      [HW#9- Chp 14]    
28   21 Capital Budgeting and Cost Analysis (cont’d); 
Pre-Final Review		    
           
29     Comprehensive Final Exam, 10:30 am – 1:15 pm    
      [HW#10- Chp 21]    
  • All MyAccountingLab Homework and Writing Assignments are due online by end of the due days in MyAccountingLab wesite and Canvas, respectively.
  • The professor reserves the right to make any necessary changes to the syllabus with appropriate announcements in class or on Canvas. Inability to access the course page or failure to read emails cannot be an excuse for late submissions or missing an assignment.

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