Accounting Systems

AC 230—Winter, 2008

Meeting Times: 7:45—8:50 a.m. MWF Place: Business Center 117

Instructor: Paul Magnall Office: Business Center 108

Office Hours: M 2:00—3:00 p.m. Office Phone: 352-8428

T 1:00—2:00 p.m. Home Phone: 352-2197

W 2:00—3:00 p.m.

H 8:30—9:30 a.m.

PREQUISITES:

Principles of Accounting I and II (AC 121 and AC 122) and one course credit in Computer Science (this could be either CS 100/CS 102 [preferred] or CS 120)

TEXTBOOKS:

1. Students should have a Principles of Accounting textbook available to them as a reference book.

2. Students may want to have a spreadsheet book as a reference book (GIP Textbook from CS 102 or

become familiar with the MS Office Help system)

3. You are required to purchase the Building Accounting Systems Using Access 2003 by Perry

and Schneider.

4. Additional readings will be expected from items posted on MY.WARTBURG.EDU.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

The purpose of this course is to apply theoretical accounting concepts to real-world situations. The course will discuss the relevant topics of developing an accounting system and how the accounting information can be used as an information system for making business decisions. The course will require students to complete a significant number of computer projects. This course will spend extensive time with MS Access and with general ledger software.

ASSIGNMENTS:
A tentative schedule of events for the four weeks is included with the syllabus. It is not complete and is subject to changes as we proceed. The class will be separated to a certain extent into two parts:

1. Accounting concepts and 2. Computer applications. Students are expected to have read the material assigned material and are expected to complete the written assignments on the dates prescribed.

ATTENDANCE POLICY:

The instructor hopes that the class will be interesting enough for students to want to come to class and students must realize that a significant amount of material will be delivered only in class. Students are responsible for informing the instructor when they will not be attending class and are responsible for getting material distributed or shared on the class day missed.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
The students are expected to do their own work in this course. You may be expected to work in teams on some of the computer projects (they will be designated), but this means that you MUST understand what your team is doing. At times during the semester, this understanding will be evaluated by having each partner “test” their own project or the exam may “test” the student’s understanding of the concepts.

The official Honor Code, as approved by faculty and Student Senate, is as follows:

“As a matter of personal commitment, students faculty and staff of Wartburg College are expected to demonstrate four simple principles:

1) All submitted work must be your own.

2) When using the work or ideas of others, including fellow students, provide full credit

through accurate citations.

3) Ask for clarification if there is uncertainty about citation rules on a particular assignment.

4) Maintain academic honesty on examinations and class assignments.”

SPECIAL NEEDS:

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) provides protection from illegal discrimination for qualified individuals with disabilities. Students requesting instructional accommodations due to disabilities must arrange for such accommodations by contacting Pathways Associate for Testing and Advising Carla Coates. She can be reached at the Pathways Center, 314 Vogel Library, Wartburg College, Waverly, IA 50677, 352-8230, <Carla.coates@wartburg.edu>. Presenting documentation of a student’s disability early (before the beginning of classes) is helpful and often necessary to secure needed materials in a timely way. Accommodations should be requested PRIOR to affected assignment due dates. For more detailed information, please see http://www.wartburg.edu/pathways/testing/AccomodationProcessStudents.pdf

EVALUATION PROCESS: Made up of 5 parts—each with a separate weight of the final grade

Examinations (25%)

There will be two examinations given during the term—Friday, February 29, 2008 and Tuesday, April 15, 2008. The exams will primarily be essay format—there will be a few multiple choice questions as well. You will be required to give responses to several questions from a larger list of possible questions. Also, to help in the preparation for the exams, students will be required to write two multiple choice questions and one essay question for each week (use the index cards provided for these questions)—these will be collected every Monday morning.

Participation (10%)

You are expected to contribute to the flow of the class. This will require you to read the assigned material and to share information from your past experiences. The instructor will be making notations of participation after each class session. Just being present physically is not going to earn a student the maximum grade for this portion of the evaluation process.

Computer Projects (35%)

There will be several computer assignments/projects that you will be completing during the term. Some of them will be done by students individually and some of them will be team efforts. With each project assigned, students will also be informed on how the project will be evaluated (assignment of points). Projects turned in late will receive a deduction of 10% per day. Discussions will be held if individual projects look too much alike—remember the ACADEMIC INTEGRITY RULES.

Homework Assignments (10%)

You are expected to complete homework assignments—outside of the computer projects. Some of them will be collected and graded before we discuss them and others will simply be discussed in class. All assignments that will be graded will be collected at the beginning of the class period.

Review of an Accounting System for a Business (20%)

Each of you (either individually or in pairs) will be visiting a business. You are to write a summary of the accounting information system for that business including a list of its strengths and weaknesses from your point of view. You will also be making an oral presentation of the accounting system to the rest of the class—the assignment of specific day when you will be giving the presentation will be assigned later. Both the written paper and the presentation will be evaluated. The businesses that might be of interest for this project:

Accounting Systems

Under 55% F