293 Financial Accounting - COURSE OUTLINE
293 Financial Accounting - COURSE OUTLINE
293 Financial Accounting - COURSE OUTLINE
Purpose of Course:
Financial Accounting is principally concerned with the construction and interpretation of financial reports
prepared for parties external to the issuing firm or entity. The major objectives of this course are to
develop an understanding of the concepts, principles and conventions upon which financial accounting
is based, and more importantly to provide an analytical basis upon which to intelligently interpret
financial statements. Consideration will be given to accounting techniques and the formulation of
financial reports; however, the course will focus on understanding accounting policies, their rationale
and the implications for users of the financial accounting information. The user orientation approach will
include interpretation and assessment of financial statements from a variety of North American
corporations.
An important learned outcome of Busi/Comm 293 is that students develop their critical-thinking and
problem-solving skills.
Expectation of students:
Consistent with the above noted learning expectation, students are expected and encouraged to:
• attend all classes having completed the initial pre-reading of the textbook materials or any
material supplied by the instructors
• actively participate in class discussions
• deal with classmates in a professional manner
• submit homework on the stipulated days and times
• write midterms and finals on the days and times stipulated in the course outline
• not use their computers except for taking notes during class
The course grade will be determined using the following weighting for the different components of the
course:
Final Exam 50%
Midterm 35%
Assignments 15%
100%
You must achieve an aggregate passing grade on the examination components in order to pass
the course. [(MT*35% + FINAL*50%) ≥ 42.5%]
At least 90% of an examination will be common to all students. However, it is quite
possible that 10% will be instructor-specific, reflecting differences in the specifics of the material
covered in class.
Assignments:
The homework assignments are due at the beginning of class. Late assignments will not be accepted
nor will any assignments be remarked. Submit assignments based on the .pdf templates posted on
WebCT and only use one side of the paper. The primary purpose of the assignments is to provide
direct, ongoing feedback and to assist you in preparation for examinations. This course moves quickly
and is cumulative in nature, getting behind can make this course overwhelming.
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING: A USER PERSPECTIVE, Hoskin, Fizzell and Davidson, Fourth Canadian
Edition, John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd. Note, this textbook comes with very useful supplementary on-
line learning materials at http://ca.he.wiley.com/WileyCDA/ Select students, then first aid Station,
then the textbook. You are strongly encouraged to use this learning tool to enhance your
understanding of the course content. In particular, there is an outstanding “Accounting Cycle Tutorial”.
In Busi/Comm 293 we spend only two classes on the bookkeeping/accounting cycle process. If you are
uncomfortable or unfamiliar with bookkeeping you are strongly encouraged to use this tutorial to
enhance your skills. A common reason that some students do not perform well in Busi/Comm 293 is
that they do not master the bookkeeping (debit, credit) process at the start of the course. Later, when it
is assumed that students have mastered these concepts, many become overwhelmed by the later
chapter content, which is built on this early understanding and mastery. More generally, throughout the
course you are encouraged to use the “Study by Chapter” materials. The combination of
“Demonstration Problems”, “Multiple Choice Quizzes”, “Power Point Presentations” and other materials
are an excellent supplement to the textbook and lectures.
A $35 materials fee (for class handouts) must be paid to the duplicating services centre (HA 423) or
online at www.sauder.ubc.ca/theStore/store/. This fee must be paid by May 16th please.
Thank you. Keep your receipt (in case of “errors”…). Grades may be withheld if the fee is not
paid. No handouts will be provided to students who have not paid the fee by the beginning of class
on the 21st of May. [FYI, I don’t get a single cent of the fee.]
Review/Supplementary Problems:
Review/Supplementary problems are an integral component of the course requirements. These
problems have been selected to provide examples of procedural and conceptual issues and are
intended to assist students in understanding and responding to technical and discussion/essay type
questions encountered during the course and on examinations.
“Practice” Examinations:
There will be one midterm and one final examination with solutions posted on WebCT. The
assignments, in conjunction with your reading and class discussion, will equip you to successfully
WebCT:
Periodically, materials will get posted on Web CT (www.webct.ubc.ca). For your campus-wide
login (“CWL”) go to www.it.ubc.ca If you need technical support, please e-mail webct-
[email protected] WebCT will contain the critical files for the course, including
assignments, assignment solutions, and a midterm and final examination with solutions.
Students are advised to check this site regularly for updates.
E-Mail:
I will also be e-mailing you (as necessary). If you don’t have an e-mail account, you can get one at
www.interchange.ubc.ca Please make sure that your e-mail address is up-to-date: Go to
www.students.ubc.ca Under “Quicklinks”, click on Student Service Centre (SSC). Login to the SSC, and
under “Personal Information”, click on e-mail change.
Examinations:
Cell phones are NOT allowed on the desks during exams. Thus, make sure you have a watch to keep track of
time. At the start of the exams, turn your cell phones OFF and PUT THEM AWAY in your
jacket/pants/bag/purse/”murse”. Programmable calculators are not permitted for examination purposes.
Course Schedule:
### Refer to the “Learning Outcome and Exam Skill Level Expectation” on the following pages
for details as to what you are responsible for.
@@@ Be very careful to ensure that you have no conflicts with this time.
M Master: You are expected to be able to complete relatively technical/analytical problems on this
topic plus discuss its conceptual/theoretical merits.
C Conceptual: You are expected to be able to thoughtfully discuss the conceptual/ theoretical
merits of this topic, and complete simple technical/analytical problems related to it.
I Ignore: You are not responsible for this topic.