1 ACC 703: Seminar in Accounting Theory Syllabus for Spring 2021 Instructor: Gregory P. Tapis, Ph.D., CISA, CPA, CMA, CFM, CFE Office: Glass Hall 444 Phone (Campus Office): 417.836.5678 Phone (Home Office)**: 417.319.7797 Email (preferred): [email protected] Please use ACC 703 as subject Office Hours: By Appointment. Please e-mail me to schedule an appointment. I will try and be as flexible as possible with meeting times and will be available throughout the day and during evenings. Class Meeting Time: Online*** Course Website: Blackboard *This syllabus and course schedule are subject to change. Any changes will be communicated to students via their MSU e-mail account. **I try my best to make myself as available as possible. I usually answer e-mails within 24 hours. Also, due to different student schedules, I provide my home office phone number. You are always welcome to reach me via phone with any questions. Please no phone calls to my home office after 10:00 PM Central Time. You are required to use your MSU e-mail address when communicating with me via e-mail. I will not answer e-mails from a non-MSU e-mail address since there is no way of me verifying the sender of the e-mail. This policy is for your privacy and protection. ***Note this is NOT a correspondence course. I am organizing the schedule as if we are meeting in person. Furthermore, I expect the same level of work and effort as if this class were meeting in person. Due to the course being online, it is easy to fall behind. I strongly urge you to stick to the schedule and if possible, work ahead. Prerequisite: Grade of "C" or better in ACC 653 or ACC 553; and grade of "C" or better in ACC 604 or ACC 504; and admitted to the MAcc Program. Course Description Critical evaluation and interpretation of accounting theory. Completion of a significant research project. Course Objectives The accounting profession has evolved from record-keeping, tax preparation, and auditing to requiring accountants (practicing in both public and private) to critically analyze complex topics having the potential for different interpretations. One reason for this is the voluminous amount of information available to accountants and business professionals. A second reason is the constant evolution of accounting standards. Expertise in accounting requires an understanding of GAAP, an understanding of a general area, and the ability to conduct applied professional research. Therefore, it is2 essential the professional accountant has the skills and tools to organize, edit, and critically evaluate information. This course will consist of three primary components: - An investigation into accounting theory and critical accounting topics - Analyzing cases to promote and enhance your ability to conduct applied accounting research, formulate a position, and effectively communicate your findings - Enhance your familiarity with current issues in accounting and the relevant skills expected of accountants Course Material (Required): Access to the FASB Codification (Instructions are provided on Blackboard) Course Material (Required): Access to IFRS (Instructions are provided on Blackboard) Additional Material (Required): Course Readings (Available on Blackboard) Additional Material (Recommended): Microsoft Excel 2019: Data Analysis and Business Modeling. ISBN: 9781509305889 Course Website: All grades, assignments, the syllabus, etc. will be posted to Blackboard. Course Plan for the Unexpected: Please refer to the Appendix of this syllabus to review the plans for how our course will proceed in the event changes need to be made due to COVID-19. How is my grade calculated? • Individual Case Assignments: You will be assigned three cases (the cases and their due dates are listed on the course schedule). Further instructions for these cases are provided on Blackboard. Note these are INDIVIDUAL assignments. Discussing these cases and working with non-students or other students (whether from Missouri State or another institution) is PROHIBITED. Any violation of this policy will result in a recommended sanction of XF. All assignments must be turned in via Blackboard and a hard copy in class. Failure to upload a case by the required time on Blackboard and turning in a hard copy in class is considered a late assignment. Late assignments will not be accepted under any circumstance and result in a grade of 0. Each case is worth 100 points for a total of 300 points. • Class Participation: Your participation is crucial to the success of this course. This class works best when you have read the assigned materials, completed any assignments, and are prepared to actively participate in class discussions. When this course meets face-to-face, we spend a considerable amount of class time in such discussions. We will conduct these discussions via discussion boards on Blackboard. Therefore, doing well in this course will require that you express and defend your thoughts, opinions, and/or positions as well as respectfully challenge the positions of others. One component of your participation grade will be my evaluation of your discussion board comments, which will be based on two criteria: o The quantity of your participation; and o The quality of your participation (relevance of your questions and insight into the questions of others)3 ▪ I want to emphasize that these discussion boards are NOT to be treated as busy work. Discussion boards will open at midnight Sunday and close at 11:59 PM Saturday. I expect interactions rather than just posting! I will also participate in these discussions. Replying to another’s comment with “I agree” results in no credit for that discussion board. You are expected to elaborate. For readings, you are expected to critique the authors. Do you agree with the authors? Why or why not? For cases, you are expected to discuss the solutions. Additionally, failure to participate in a discussion results in a deduction of 5 class participation points. Excessive “absences” (defined as missing five discussion boards) results in a class participation grade of 0. Class participation is worth 60 points. • All assignments for this course are INDIVIDUAL assignments unless instructed otherwise. Unauthorized collaboration with other students (at Missouri State or at another institution) will result in a