Course Design Guide 1

ACC/423 Version 5

Course Design Guide

School of Business
ACC/423 Version 5
Intermediate Financial Accounting III
Copyright © 2010, 2009, 2007, 2006, 2004 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.

Course Description

This course is the third of a three-part series of courses related to intermediate accounting. This course
examines owners' equity, investments, income taxes, pensions and post-retirement benefits, as well as
changes and error analysis. The course finishes with a look at derivative instruments. Interwoven in the
presentation of the material is an assortment of ethical dilemmas that encourage discussions about how the
accountant should handle specific situations.

Policies

Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained
within the following two documents:

• University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document.
• Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum.

University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies
may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed
modalities, read the policies governing your current class modality.

Course Materials

Hunt, M. F. (2007). Problem solving survival guide (Vol. 1). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Hunt, M. F. (2007). Problem solving survival guide (Vol. 2) Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Kieso, D. E., Weygandt, J. J., & Warfield, T. D. (2007). Intermediate accounting, (12th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John
Wiley & Sons.

Kieso, D. W., Kieso, D. E., Weygandt, J. J., & Warfield, T. D. (2007). Intermediate accounting study guide (12th
ed., Vol. 1). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Kieso, D. W., Kieso, D. E., Weygandt, J. J., & Warfield, T. D. (2007). Intermediate accounting study guide (12th
ed., Vol. 2). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

All electronic materials are available on the student website.

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ACC/423 Version 5

Intermediate Accounting III Course Syllabus

Course Prefix and Number: ACC 423
Course Title: Intermediate Accounting III
Course Schedule: April 13,2011 to May 11,2011
Course Classroom:
Location/Times/Forums: Hohokam Campus
Wednesday from 6 to 10

Required Course Materials
Instructor’s Name:
Telephone:
University of Phoenix E-mail
Address:
Alternative E-mail Address:
Availability:
Links to course materials and electronic resources for each week of
class are located on the page of the student Website.
Content is divided by weeks.
Mike Gilchrist
480-854-2631
mikegilchrist@al.com
Will return calls within 8 hours

Welcome
Welcome to Intermediate Accounting which is more of the same only more detailed and complicated..
Instructor Bio

Hi! My name is Mike Gilchrist and I will be your instructor for this class. Let me tell you a little about myself so
that some of my thinking will hopefully make a little sense. My first love has always been teaching in any form. I
started out with the idea of teaching Literature and History and to coach football. After a couple of years in
school, I got over my idealism and “I can change the world” thinking. I realized that teachers were starving and
losing their stature in the classroom. I changed and went into the business world, where I could at least make a
decent living. I secured a B.Sc. in Accounting from BYU and then an MBA in Finance form USC in Los Angeles
then went into the business battlefield.

I have been an Analyst in cost and budgets and planning, a Director of Accounting, a VP/CFO for a publicly
traded company, and a Controller for a large HI tech company. I spent a short time owning my own company
where I learned quickly the difference between cash flow and profit. I then went back into the corporate world
but in operations and not finance. I then spent five years in the Infomercial industry as VP Operations for North
America. I have been ingrained into the high risk world of consumer likes and dislikes and learned a few tricks
about how to get you to buy something that you don’t really want. Currently I am the CFO for a ready mix
company that has evolved from a turn around project, to a highly profitable enterprise to a company that is
hanging in there in an economy that is clearly down, to a company that is about to be acquired.

Over the course of time, I got my teaching satisfaction via UOP and other schools, and have coached Pop
Warner football for 15 years. My yen for literature has been satisfied by writing articles, an embryonic novel and
a few limericks. I have a few loose screws and relate to “the Far Side” outlook on life.

This class will deal with a lot of the same issues that we discussed in 362 and 363 but will start to look at some
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of the less common items that you might run into.

Week One: Owners' Equity and Earnings per Share

Details Due Points

Objectives 1.1 Distinguish between paid-in and earned capital.

1.2 Record journal entries related to common, preferred, and
treasury stock.
1.3 Record journal entries related to the various types of dividends.
1.4 Calculate basic and diluted earnings per share (EPS).
1.5 Evaluate the various accounting treatments for stock
compensation.

Readings Read Ch. 15 of Intermediate Accounting.

Read Ch. 16 of Intermediate Accounting.
Review this week’s Electronic Reserve Readings.

Participation Participate in class discussion. 1

Discussion Respond to weekly discussion questions. 1

Questions

Learning Team Select classmates to be on your Learning Team.

Instructions Create the Learning Team Charter.
Review the objectives from Week One and discuss additional
insights and questions.

Individual Resources: Intermediate Accounting and Electronic Reserve 7

Owners’ Equity Readings
Paper Prepare a 700- to 1,050-word response to the following questions:

• Why is it important to keep paid-in capital separate from

earned capital?
• As an investor, is paid-in capital or earned capital more
important? Explain why.
• As an investor, are basic or diluted earnings per share more
important? Explain why.

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

Week Two: Investments

Details Due Points

Objectives 2.1 Distinguish between debt and equity investments.

2.2 Classify securities as available-for-sale, held-to-maturity, or
trading.
2.3 Determine when to use the fair value and equity methods of
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accounting for investments.

2.4 Prepare journal entries for investments using the fair value and
the equity method.
2.5 Distinguish between traditional and derivative financial
instruments.

Readings Read Ch. 17 of Intermediate Accounting.

Review this week’s Electronic Reserve Readings.

Participation Participate in class discussion. 1

Discussion Respond to weekly discussion questions. 1

Questions

Learning Team Collaborate as a team to provide written responses to a facilitator-

Instructions assigned problem.
Prepare a 5- to 10-minute oral presentation accompanied by a 7- to
9-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation illustrating your team’s
solution to the assigned problem.

Note. Each week, the facilitator assigns one Learning Team a

problem to present that the team must complete during the
succeeding Learning Team Meeting.

Individual Resource: Intermediate Accounting 6

Assignments From Prepare written responses to the following assignments from the
the Text text:

• Ch. 15: Exercises E15-13 & E15-18

• Ch. 16: Exercise E16-20

Learning Team Resource: Intermediate Accounting 4

Assignments From Prepare written responses to the following assignments from the
the Text text:

• Ch. 15: Problem P15-1

• Ch. 16: Problems P16-6 & P16-7 and Concepts for Analysis
CA16-4

Week Three: Accounting for Income Taxes

Details Due Points

Objectives 3.1 Differentiate between temporary and permanent differences.

3.2 Calculate current and deferred tax assets and liabilities.

Readings Read Ch. 19 of Intermediate Accounting.

Review this week’s Electronic Reserve Readings.

Participation Participate in class discussion. 1

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Discussion Respond to weekly discussion questions. 1

Questions

Learning Team Collaborate as a team to provide written responses to a facilitator-

Instructions assigned problem.
Prepare a 5- to 10-minute oral presentation accompanied by a 7- to
9-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation illustrating your team’s
solution to the assigned problem.

Note. Each week, the facilitator assigns one Learning Team a

problem to present that the team must complete during the
succeeding Learning Team Meeting.

Individual Resource: Intermediate Accounting 8

Assignments From Prepare written responses to the following assignments from the
the Text text:

• Ch. 17: Questions 1 & 26 and Exercises E17-1, E17-7, &

E17-12

Learning Team Resource: Intermediate Accounting 4

Assignments From Prepare written responses to the following assignments from the
the Text text:

• Ch. 17: Problems P17-1 & P17-9

Week Four: Accounting for Pensions and Post-Retirement Benefits

Details Due Points

Objectives 4.1 Differentiate between a defined contribution and a benefit plan.

4.2 Determine the components of pension expense.
4.3 Calculate pension liability and expense.

Readings Read Ch. 20 of Intermediate Accounting.

Review this week’s Electronic Reserve Readings.

Participation Participate in class discussion. 1

Discussion Respond to weekly discussion questions. 1

Questions

Learning Team Collaborate as a team to provide written responses to facilitator-

Instructions assigned problems.
Prepare a 5- to 10-minute oral presentation accompanied by a 7- to
9-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation illustrating your team’s
solution to the assigned problem.

Note. Each week, the facilitator assigns one Learning Team a

problem to present that the team must complete during the
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succeeding Learning Team Meeting.

Individual Resource: Intermediate Accounting 4

Assignments From Prepare written responses to the following assignments from the
the Text text:

• Ch. 19: Exercises E19-3, E19-6, E19-7, & E19-9

Learning Team Resource: Intermediate Accounting 4

Assignments From Prepare written responses to the following assignments from the
the Text text:

• Ch. 19: Problems P19-2 & P19-7

Week Five: Accounting Changes and Error Analysis

Details Due Points

Objectives 5.1 Prepare journal entries associated with changes in accounting

principles, reporting entities, and estimates.
5.2 Prepare journal entries associated with changes due to errors.

Readings Read Ch. 22 of Intermediate Accounting

Review this week’s Electronic Reserve Readings.

Participation Participate in class discussion. 1

Discussion Respond to weekly discussion questions. 1

Questions

Individual Resource: Intermediate Accounting 4

Assignments From Prepare written responses to the following assignments from the
the Text text:

• Ch. 20: Question 2 & 10 and Exercise E20-7

• Ch. 22: Exercise E22-19

Individual Resource: Intermediate Accounting 10

Final Examination Click the link to the Final Examination on the student website
available from the end of Week Five through the end of Week Six.
Complete the Final Examination. You are allowed one attempt to
complete the exam, which is timed and must be completed in 3
hours. Results are autograded and sent to your instructor.
In class final 30
Note. Final Examination questions are adapted from Intermediate
Accounting.

Learning Team Resource: Intermediate Accounting 4

Assignments From Prepare written responses to the following assignments from the
the Text text:
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• Ch. 20: Problem P20-8

• Ch. 22: Problem P22-3

Learning Team Collaborate as a team to provide written responses to a facilitator- 5

Problem assigned problem.
Presentation Prepare a 5- to 10-minute oral presentation accompanied by a 7- to
9-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation illustrating your team’s
solution to the assigned problem.

Note. Each week, the facilitator assigns one Learning Team a

problem to present that the team must complete during the
succeeding Learning Team Meeting.

Optional Discussion Questions

Week One Discussion Questions

• Why do companies offer stock options? Should stock option compensation be included as an expense
when calculating an organization’s net income? Explain why or why not. If so, how should the amount of
expense be calculated?

• What are some similarities and differences between common stock and preferred stock? As a
shareholder, would you want preferred or common stock? Explain why. As a corporation, would you rather
issue preferred or common stock? Explain why.

• What are the different types of dividends that a company can pay out? Which type would you prefer?
Explain why. When should a company pay dividends?

• What is the purpose of a stock split? What are some benefits of a stock split for a company? What are
some benefits for an investor? What is the effect to the market value of the stock?

• What are the differences between basic and diluted earnings per share? What are the differences
between the numerator and the denominator in the basic and diluted earnings per share calculations? As
an investor, do you evaluate a company as a potential investment using basic or diluted earnings per
share? Explain why.

Week Two Discussion Questions

• What are the differences between traditional and derivative instruments? Why do companies use
derivative instruments? Are derivatives a good investment? Explain why or why not.

• Why do companies make investments in other companies? What are the differences between debt and
equity investments? What would influence a company to choose equity or debt as an investment?

• How do the various classifications of investments affect financial statements? What is the rationale
behind the different accounting methods for the various investment classifications? Which is more important
when determining the accounting method for securities, influence, or ownership? Explain why.

Week Three Discussion Questions

• Why are there differences between taxable and financial income? What are some examples of
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permanent and temporary differences? Why do these differences exist? How do they affect the financial
statements?

• How are deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities derived? How do they relate to the difference
between tax expense and taxes payable? How could an organization have a tax receivable? Why is the tax
expense reported on the income statement comprised of current and deferred tax?

• How are the tax benefits of net operating losses (NOL) disclosed on financial statements? Which is
more beneficial to an organization, an NOL carryforward or an NOL carryback? Explain why. When would a
company decide to forego a carryback?

Week Four Discussion Questions

• What are the differences and similarities between a defined contribution plan and a defined benefit
plan? As an employee, would you rather have a defined contribution plan or a defined benefit plan? Explain
why. As an employer, would you rather offer a defined contribution plan or a defined benefit plan? Explain
why.

• What are the components of pension expense? How is the interest rate determined? Why are prior
service costs amortized? How do the components of pension expense differ among the various types of
contribution and benefit plans?

• How does a pension plan differ from a 401(k) plan? As an employee, would you rather have a pension
plan or a 401(k) plan? Explain why. If you were an employer, would your decision change? Explain why or
why not.

Week Five Discussion Questions

• What is a change in accounting principle? How do you determine if a change in principle should be
reported retroactively, currently, or prospectively? How do these changes affect the financial statements?

• Why do accountants make errors? What types of errors may occur? Why is it necessary to correct
them? What are the ramifications of not correcting errors?

• What are some examples of counterbalancing errors? What are some examples of
noncounterbalancing errors? What are the differences between counterbalancing and noncounterbalancing
errors? How are each handled? Does it matter if the books are closed? Explain why or why not.

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Copyright © 2010 Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

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