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ACC410 Accounting for Management & Control

Simon School of Business, University of Rochester


COURSE MATERIALS
Accounting for Decision Making and Control, 7th ed. by Jerold Zimmerman
Required
I will distribute lecture notes at the beginning of class and post them to
Blackboard after class.
COURSE OVERVIEW
ACC 410 is geared towards understanding how to utilize the firms internal
accounting system to assist in decision making and how these systems are
used to control the actions of the firms employees. Most employers expect
leading MBAs to have a high aptitude for understanding and performing
financial analyses, including cost analyses. Pricing decisions require cost
analyses. Marketing and sales requires providing detailed cost proposals to
customers and thorough analyses of own-company versus competitor cost
structures. Investment banks and consulting firms sell their services to
clients, in part on the ability of their personnel to do careful, comprehensive
financial and cost analyses. The potential synergies created by mergers and
acquisitions are often the result of cost reductions, thus requiring an indepth understanding of the targets and acquirers cost structures to
accurately value the deal. And of course, managing and motivating people
in organizations requires developing appropriate methods to measure their
performance.
ACC 410 teaches you how to apply economicscoupled with the firms
accounting systemto make decisions and motivate people. We rely on the
underlying framework provided in managerial economics, STR 401, and
organizational economics, STR 403. Thus, a key objective of ACC 410 is to
integrate the material in the core courses and to apply what you have
already learned in these courses to solve real business problems.
ACC 410 is not a course about cost accounting. We do very little with
journal entries, detailed calculations of process costing, and alternative
computational methods of variances. Many of these cost accounting topics
are described at a conceptual level. Time constraints prevent a thorough
treatment of the more technical issues.
In ACC 410 we provide you with ample opportunities to develop your
analytic, problem-solving skills. But like most acquired skills, you can only
read so much about how to do it. You must also do it, that is, practice.
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Spend time each day working problems. The material in ACC 410 builds
upon key concepts covered in the first half of the course. Accounting is not
a difficult subject to master, but you need to keep up with the material.
Perhaps more so than other subjects, accounting is difficult to learn by
cramming. Ultimately, the goal is to expand your set of tools to make you a
better manager, not to merely read problems and solutions. Once you have
seen the solution, most problems appear easy. So dont read the solution
until after you have thought about how you would solve the problem.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
The most important requirements for this course are a thorough
preparation and analysis of the assigned problems and reading material and
active participation in the classroom.
Please turn off or put away all electronic devices during class. They
are distracting to others and disrupt the free interchange of ideas and class
discussion. Class notes will be distributed in class and can be used for note
taking.
Grading
Your grade will consist of three components: six problem assignments, a
midterm exam, and a final exam. The relative weighting of these
components are as follows:
6 Problem Assignments
20%
Midterm
30%
Final
50%
Total
100%
PROBLEM ASSIGNMENTS (20%)
The course syllabus lists two types of problems: Assigned Problems and
Additional Problems. Each student must submit six (6) of the eight (8)
Assigned Problems sets during the course. The six assignments are to be
conducted individually, not by study team. These six problem sets will be
graded. No extra credit will be awarded for submitting additional
problem sets. You are free to choose which six of the eight assigned
problem sets to hand in.
Problem assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day the
problems are listed on the syllabus. (Note: the first assignment for
Wednesday, March 28 is due at the beginning of class on Wednesday, March
28). I expect that all students will come to class prepared to discuss
the Assigned Problems.
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Grading. I do not expect each problem to be correct, only that you have
made an intelligent and determined effort to address the issues raised in
the problem. The assigned problem sets will be graded as either an S or
S-. An S- will be awarded if the problem set is missing a problem or if a
Best Effort was not made on each problem. Assignments received after
class starts will be graded an S-.
All problem assignments must be submitted in hard copy form. Electronic
submissions will NOT be accepted. Problems on the Syllabus denoted
Additional Problems will usually not be discussed in class. You can work
these problems on your own to enhance your analytic skills and to prepare
for the exams. Solutions to both Assigned Problems and Additional
Problems will be provided on the course website. A problem denoted "525" is in chapter 5 of the text, problem 25. A problem denoted C5-3 is Case
5-3 in chapter 5.
Some of the assignments we will use have been used in the past. By
registering for this course you are agreeing not to use any materials,
including solutions and lecture notes obtained from other individuals or
sources. Moreover, you are agreeing not to provide such materials to other
students in the future. Using and providing such material violates the Simon
School Honor Code and will be destructive to you and your colleagues
learning process. Again, all assignments should be done individually.
Sharing problem solutions is a violation of the Honor Code.
EXAMS (MIDTERM 30%, FINAL 50%)
Both exams are cumulative and based on all material in the text, class and
problem assignments up to the date of the exam. The midterm and final
exams are closed book and closed notes. You will need a small calculator for
each exam. For the final exam (ONLY), you are allowed to bring one
(double sided) page (8.5 11) of notes.
REGRADING POLICY
If you have questions regarding the grading of your midterm or final, submit
a memo (along with the original and unaltered exam) expressing your
concerns within three days from the day the graded exam is returned to
your folder. Please keep in mind that the entire exam will be regraded, so
your adjusted score can go up, down, or stay the same.
IN THE CLASSROOM
I will start each class by asking if there are any questions. This is an
excellent opportunity to spend a few minutes resolving any confusion. If you
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dont understand something, it is likely that others in the class are also
confused on the same topic.
I encourage active student participation in class. Most students typically
tend to underestimate
rather than over-estimate the worth of what they have to say. Please
note that there is no need to contribute in every class. Some of the best
contributors have been those who participated in only a handful of sessions.
Their contributions, however, were truly insightful and persuasive. The
issue is one of quality not quantity.
Class participation and attendance will be used in determining
borderline grades.

COURSE SCHEDULE
Lecture
date(s)

Chapter

Assigned
problems/case
s

Additional
problems

2-10, 2-26, 228,


2-34, 2-44

2-4, 2-14, 2-15,


2-19, 2-20, 2-29

5-11, 5-26, C52*, C5-3, C5-4

5-6, 5-16, 5-17,


5-18, 5-22

6-10, 6-15, 619,


6-20, 6-24

6-8, 6-11, 6-12,


6-14, 6-23

7-3, 7-14, 7-19,


7-27, C7-2

7-4, 7-6, 7-8, 718

3/26 ()

1.Introduction

3/28-4/2

2. Nature of Costs
4. Organizational
Architecture

4/4 -4/9

5. Divisional Performance
Evaluation

4/114/16

6. Budgeting

4/184/23

7. Cost Allocation: Theory

4/254/30
5/2-5/7

Midterm Exam (Chapters 1, 2, 5-7)

5/9-5/14

8. Cost Allocation:
Practices
9. Absorption Cost Systems

8-10, 8-11, 825,


8-27, 9-25, 9-27

8-2, 8-3, 8-28,


8-24, 9-3, 9-4,
9-8, 9-23

10. Criticisms: Incentives


to Overproduce
11. Criticisms: Inaccurate
Product Costs

9-28, 10-5, 1012,


11-9, 11-13

10-7, 10-9, C101,


11-12, 11-15

5/165/21

11. Criticisms: Inaccurate


Product Costs
12. Standard Costs: Direct
Labor and Materials

11-18, C11-2,
12-8, 12-15

11-19,
12-5, 12-12

5/235/30

12. Standard Costs: Direct


Labor and Materials
14. Management
Accounting

12-9, 12-18,
C12-1,
14-3, 14-4, 149,
14-13

12-10,
14-1, 14-10,1412

Final Exam TBA


*C Denotes Case in the text.

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