Ronald W. Hilton, Managerial Accounting (4^th ed. 1999)

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E-mail Account (Recommended)

Ronald W. Hilton, Study Guide for Managerial Accounting 4th ( 2nd Printing 1999)

Recommended Readings:

The Wall Street Journal (Online Edition @ http://www.wsj.com)

Business Section of: L.A. Times, New York Times or San Diego Union Tribune

Business Week

Management Accounting

Strategic Finance (available at http://www.mamag.com/strategicfinance/)

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Course Description:

The three-unit Accounting 202 course is one of nine common-core lower-division preparatory classes for the business major. This course is designed to expose students to the theory and practice of selecting and analyzing managerial and financial accounting information for internal use by managers for decision-making, planning, directing and controlling purposes.

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Class Attendance:

Class attendance is expected, however, there are no specific attendance requirements. Attendance will be taken for the university's records.

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Plagiarism*:

Plagiarism, derived from a Latin word meaning "kidnapping", is defined as "[t]he act or an instance of copying or stealing another’s words or ideas and attributing them as one’s own." Plagiarism of copyrighted material is a copyright infringement. Plagiarism violations are also, however, enforceable by academic and licensing boards as ethical improprieties whether or not any copyright infringement occurred. Specifically, San Diego State University condemns plagiarism. The severe penalties of plagiarism (or cheating—a form of plagiarism) can include "severance from the University and in some cases revocation of an advanced degree . . . ." Unethical behavior also violates both the Institute of Management Accountants’ and Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ ethical standards. Violations of these standards could also detrimentally affect one’s ability to become "certified." Besides undermining one’s integrity and credibility, this sanction could be financially injurious as well. The average "certified" accountant makes between $5,000 to $27,000 per year (depending on age group) more than non-certified accountants.

Academic work typically exposes students to overt and covert plagiarism. Overt, or apparent, plagiarism can occur when paraphrasing a thesis and taking it as one's own. Coping the exact words of a source without quotation marks but acknowledging the source is also a form of overt plagiarism. Covert, or disguised, plagiarism occurs when taking someone else's research and passing it off as one's own (i.e., citing to sources without actually having read them). Citing to sources in a way implying that only a portion of your work comes from a certain source, when in actually more of it does, is also covert plagiarism.

Academic cheating increased dramatically since 1990. 75 percent of college students admit to some cheating. Thus, many colleges and universities are cracking down on dishonesty more vigorously. Consistent with this trend, San Diego State University does not tolerate academic dishonesty.

Given the preceding information and the desire to maintain the university's, students' and instructor's integrity and credibility, cheating or plagiarism in any form will not be tolerated. All homework and examinations will be checked for copying. Any violations will be reported to the appropriate campus authorities. In addition, the student will receive an "F" (i.e., a zero) on the assignment, examination, or for the entire course depending on circumstances.

*  See printed version of syllabus for footnotes and citations.  

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Chapter Examinations:

At the conclusion of every chapter a brief examination of approximately 10 multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank and short essay questions will be given. Past chapter examinations are available on the class web page. A sufficient supply of Scantron form 815-K should be purchased from the bookstore as soon as possible (as the bookstore may sell out). The forms will be needed for all chapter examinations.

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Midterm & Final Examinations:

There will be two midterm examinations and a comprehensive final. These examinations may include multiple choice, matching, fill-in-the-blank, and essay questions. The focus of the examinations will vary depending on the chapters tested. More detail about these examinations will be provided as they approach. The midterm examinations require a Scantron form 815-K, while the final examination requires a Scantron form 882-ES. The midterm and final examinations are non-disclosed. That means that the final can be reviewed, however, it must be returned and will be keep for one year (as required by university policy).

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Calculators

Calculators may be used for all homework and examinations. No calculators with sophisticated programmable memory can be used during examinations. Any questions regarding the acceptability of your calculator should be resolved well before an examination. Standard financial calculators are acceptable.

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Homework Assignments:

All homework and reading assignments should be completed by the beginning of class on the date shown on the syllabus. In an effort to encourage and reward hard work, all homework assignments will be collected. The assignments should be submitted neat and orderly, however all work must be shown. Therefore, if your work is particularly messy, you may transfer the information to another sheet (and turn in both sheets). There will also be a memorandum writing assignments. These writing assignments should be typed with 12-point font (Aerial, Courier, or Times Roman), double-spaced and have 1" margins. Students are expected to come to class prepared. Thus, students will be called on throughout the course to answer questions from the homework assignments. Frequently unprepared students may be penalized.

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Late Assignments:

All non-excused late assignments will be penalized 50% and must be turned in by the beginning of class one week from due date. Assignments more than one week late will not be accepted. Any late assignment accompanied by a doctor’s note excusing the student from class on the day due and submitted in a timely manner will be excused. In addition, excuses will be granted for justifiable reasons when asked for in advance of assignment’s due date.

Make-up Final, Midterm and Chapter Examinations

A make-up final or midterm examination is only allowed for emergency (non-predictable) medical reasons (i.e., pre-scheduled medical or dental appointments do not count). A note from a medical doctor excusing you from school on the examination day must accompany any request for a make-up examination. The make-up examinations vary drastically from regular examinations and include more essay and fill-in-the blank questions. There are no make-up chapter examinations. The two lowest chapter examination scores will, however, be excluded from grade calculations.

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The university’s official policy regarding adding and dropping will be strictly followed (including the granting of W’s). The last day to drop this course without a "W" being recorded on your transcript is September 11, 2000.

Grading:

Grades will be weighted as follows:

Letter grades will be assigned based on the percentage of total points by the range listed below:

The scale is subject to modification, however, any deviation will only increase students’ grades (e.g, a student with 83% will receive at least a "B"). The top 10% of the class will be guaranteed an "A." In addition, any student’s grade may be lowered or raised up to 5% based upon intangible factors (e.g., class participation and attitude) and tangible factors (e.g. attendance and timeliness) at the instructor’s sole discretion. Finally, NO EXTRA CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN, DO NOT ASK!

"The symbol ‘I’ (incomplete authorized) indicates that a portion of required coursework has not been completed and evaluated in the prescribed time period due to unforeseen, but justified, reasons and that there is still a possibility of earning credit. It is your responsibility to bring pertinent information to the instructor and to reach agreement on the means by which the remaining course requirements will be satisfied. . . . An incomplete shall not be assigned when the only way you could make up the work would be to attend a major portion of the class when it is next offered. . . . An incomplete must be made up within one calendar year immediately following the end of the term in which it was assigned. . . . An incomplete may not be made up after you have graduated." It must, however, be noted that the School of Accountancy strictly adheres to the above regulations and awards "I"s only for clearly unforeseeable serious and compelling reasons.

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