HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE

SYLLABUS – ACNT 1303 CRN 31541

Introduction to Accounting

(Spring 2008, Tuesday’s and Thursday’s 9:30 - 11:00 am)

 

Workforce Dean:                  Dr. Arnold Goldberg

Department Chair:                Dr. Marina Grau

 

Course Description:

This course covers analyzing, classifying, and recording transactions in a manual and computerized environment.  Emphasis is placed on understanding the complete accounting cycle and preparing financial statements, bank reconciliations, and payroll.  Coverage also includes the fundamental principles of double-entry bookkeeping, financial statements, trial balances, worksheets, special journals, adjusting entries and closing entries.

 

Course Goals:

The primary purpose of this course is to provide a hands-on approach to the study of accounting.  Both manual and computerized accounting practices are studied.

 

Instructor Information:

 

Instructor: 

Mel McQueary

Office Location:

Town & Country

Office Hours:

Tuesday and Thursday by appointment

Phone #:

713-304-7461 (cell)

Email:  

mel.mcqueary@sbcglobal.net

 

Textbook and Related Material (Required):

 

Text:     College Accounting Chapters1-14 (with Study Guide and Working Papers).

by John Wild, Vernon Richardson, Ken Shaw.  New York, NY; McGraw-Hill, 2008.

 

 

 


Evaluation and Requirements:

Students are expected to read all assigned chapters, complete and submit all assignments on due dates, and attend all classes.  The nature of the course is such that perfect attendance is essential for mastery of the course content.  A missed class can never be duplicated.

 

Accounting is best learned through doing.  Therefore, there are always homework assignments to do.  This will require a considerable commitment of time and effort from you.  Typically, the successful student in college can count on 3 hours of independent study for every hour in the classroom. 

 

Your final grade for this course will be based on how well you do in meeting the evaluation requirements listed on your assignment schedule and applying the grading scale which is listed below.

 

Students with Disabilities:

Any student with a documented disability (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the Disabilities Services Office at the respective college at the beginning of each semester.  Faculty is authorized to provide only the accommodations requested by the Disability Support Services Office.

 

Academic Honesty:

Students are responsible for conducting themselves with honor and integrity in fulfilling course requirements.  Penalties and/or disciplinary proceedings may be initiated against a student accused of scholastic dishonesty.  “Scholarly dishonesty” includes, but is not limited to, cheating on a test, plagiarism, and collusion.  Anyone caught cheating will earn an “F” for the course.

 

 

 

Class Attendance:

Students are expected to attend class regularly.   Students are responsible for materials covered during their absences, and it is the student’s responsibility to consult with the instructor for any make-up assignments.  Although it is the responsibility of the student for non-attendance, the instructor has full authority to drop a student for excessive absences.  A student may be dropped from any course for excessive absences after the student has accumulated absences of 12.5% of the hours of instruction.  For example, in a 3 credit hour lecture class meeting 3 hours per week, a student may be dropped after 6 hours of absence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drops and Withdrawals:

It is the responsibility of each student to officially drop or withdraw from a course.  Failure to officially withdraw may result in the student receiving a grade of F in the course.  Procedures for withdrawing from a class are found in the Student Handbook.  The instructor no longer has the authority to withdraw a student at the end of the semester, thus the student will receive an F if the student does not withdraw and stops attending class.

 

International Students: Receiving a W in a course may affect the status of your student visa.  Once a W is given for the course, it will not be changed to an F because of visa considerations.

 

New Policy: Students who repeat a course three or more times will face significant tuition/fee increases at HCC and other Texas public colleges and universities.  Please seek tutoring or other assistance prior to considering course withdrawal.

 

Evaluation Requirements:

 

3 Sectional Exams (Drop one)

200 points

Final examination

100 points

Peachtree Project

  50 points

Homework

  50 points

Total   

400 points

 

Grading Scale:

 

90 - 100%       =

A

(360 to 400 points)

80 -   89%       =

B

(320 to 359 points)

70 -   79%       =

C

(280 to 319 points)

60 -   69%       =

D

(240 to 279 points)

BELOW 60%  =

F

(    0 to 239 points)

 

Examinations:

There will be a total of three sectional examinations (there will be no make-up examinations).  The two highest grades received on these exams will be used to compute the student’s final grade for the course.  The lowest score will be dropped.  If a student misses an exam, that becomes the dropped exam. However, you may make special arrangements with me to take an exam early.

 

 

 

 

 

Incompletes:

The grade of “I” (incomplete) is conditional and at the discretion of each instructor.  If you receive an “I,” you must arrange with your instructor to complete the course work by the end of the following term (excluding Summer).  After the deadline, the “I” becomes an “F.”

 

 

HCCS Website:

Our website is: www.hccs.edu

 

Instructor Website:

From the HCCS homepage, choose Southwest College, choose “The Learning Web,” choose Faculty, type in your instructor’s name. Your instructor will have a copy of the syllabus and other pertinent information for you.

 

The navigation to the class Website is http://www.hccs.edu/OnLine/ then select the Southwest College.  If you do not have a logon ID, create one the first time that you login.  Then login with you created user ID and password and click on the “Add Course” button, then filter by Accounting and self register in the 1303 A Mel McQueary course by clicking on the pencil next to the course.

 

There are notes from the text materials and etc. in this course shell.  You can email other students in the class or me and you can post discussions for all to participate in.  I prefer that you use discussions for any class related information.  The email section is for personal information such as turning in assignments and requesting grade information.

 

 

Tutoring/Lab Hours:

This will be posted in The Learning Web during the second week of the semester.

 

Assignment Schedule:

An assignment schedule is attached to this syllabus.  This schedule will be followed throughout this course.  Any modifications to this schedule will be announced in class.

 

SCANS – Secretary’s Commission for Achieving Necessary Skills:

Detailed SCANS information on this course is available from your instructor.  For additional information about SCANS, go to:  wdr.doleta.gov/SCANS/teaching

 

 


 

ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE

           ACNT 1303 - Introduction to Accounting I

 

Week

Date

Chapter

Topic

Homework Assignment

1

1/15

 

Pass out syllabus and discuss class

 

1

1/17, 1/22, 1/24 & 1/29

1

 

2

Introduction to Accounting

 

Accounting for Business Transactions

 

Ex 1, 3, 4

 

Ex 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Pr 1A, 2A, 6A

2

1/31 & 2/5

3

Applying Double-Entry Accounting

Ex 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Pr 1A, 2A, 4A; BTN 3

3

2/7 & 2/12

4

Preparing the General Journal & General Ledger

Ex 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Pr 1A, 3A, 5A; BTN 3

4

2/14

5

Adjusting Accounts & Preparing Financial Statements

Ex 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Pr 1A, 2A

5

 

2/19 & 2/21

6

Closing Process & Financial Statements

Review for Exam #1

Ex 1, 2, 3, 4,5, 6, 7

Pr 1A, 4A; BTN 3

6

2/26, 2/28 & 3/4

 

Exam #1 – (Chapters 1 – 6)

 

Homework Due

7

3/6 & 3/18

7

Fraud, Ethics & Controls

Ex 1, 2, 5

Pr 1A, 2A; BTN 2

Begin Peachtree assignment

8

3/20 & 3/25

8

Cash & Controls

Ex 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Pr 3A, 5A; BTN 3

9

3/27

9

Employee Earnings, Deductions & Payroll

Ex 1, 4, 5, 7

Pr 1A, 3A; 4A

10

 

4/1& 4/3

10

Employer Payroll Tax Reporting

Ex 1, 2, 4, 5

Pr 3A, 4A, 5A; BTN 2

Peachtree assignment due

11

4/8, 4/10 & 4/15

 

Exam #2 (Chapters 7 – 10)

 

Homework Due

12

4/17 & 4/22

11

Merchandise Sales & Accounts Receivable

Ex 1, 3, 5, 6

Pr 1A, 2A, 4A

13

4/24 & 4/29

12

Merchandise Purchases & Accounts Payable

Ex 2, 3, 6, 7, 8

Pr 2A, 3A, 4A

14

5/1

13

 

Accrual Accounting Overview

 

Ex 1, 3, 4, 5

Pr 1A, 2A, 3A

 

5/1

14

Financial Statements & the Accounting Cycle

Ex 1, 2, 3, 4, 6

Pr 1A, 2A, 3A

15

5/6 11:00 am

 

Exam #3 (Chapters 11 – 14)

 

Homework Due

15

1/15 & 1/17

 

Final Exam Review

 

16

1/22, 1/24 & 1/29

 

FINAL (Chapters 1 – 14)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SCANS – Secretary’s Commission for Achieving Necessary Skills

The Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) from the U.S. Department of Labor was asked to examine the demands of the workplace and whether our students are capable of meeting those demands.  Specifically, the Commission was directed to advise the Secretary on the level of skills required to enter employment.  In carrying out this charge, the Commission was asked to do the following:

 

 

SCANS research verifies that what we call workplace know-how defines effective job performance today.  This know-how has two elements:  competencies and a foundation.   This report identifies five competencies and a three-part foundation of skills and personal qualities that lie at the heart of job performance.  These eight requirements are essential preparation for all students, whether they go directly to work or plan further education.  Thus, the competencies and the foundation should be taught and understood in an integrated fashion that reflects the workplace contexts in which they are applied.

 

Workplace Competencies

Foundation Skills

 

Resources: allocating time, money, materials, space, staff

 

Interpersonal Skills: working on teams, teaching others, serving customers, leading, negotiating, and working well with people from culturally diverse backgrounds

 

Information: acquiring and evaluating data, organizing and maintaining files, interpreting and communicating, and using computers to process information

 

Systems: understanding social, organizational, and technological systems, monitoring and correcting performances, and designing or improving systems

 

Technology: selecting equipment and tools, applying technology to specific tasks, and maintaining and troubleshooting technologies

 

 

Basic Skills: reading, writing, arithmetic and mathematics, speaking and listening

 

Thinking Skills: thinking creatively, making decisions, solving problems, seeing things in the minds eye, knowing how to learn, and reasoning

 

Personal Qualities: individual responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management and integrity

 

SCANS workplace competencies and foundation skills have been integrated into Introduction to Accounting, and are exhibited in the SCANS schedule.