Sample BA 251 (Principles of Accounting) Prof. Julius
Class Dates Reading Assignments* Main Topic
Sept. 3 & 5 (W&F) Introduction. Ch. 1 (p. 2-30). Financial statements; GAAP
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Sept. 8, 10, & 12 Ch. 2 (p. 104-132) Journal, ledger, trial balance
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Sept. 15, 17, & 19 Finish chapter 2; review for exam
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Sept. 22, 24, & 26 TEST #1 (Chapters 1-2)
Ch. 3 (p. 156-181B, 209-213M). Adjusting and closing entries
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Sept. 29, Oct. 1 & 3 Finish chapter 3.
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Oct. 6, 8, & 10 Ch. 4 (p. 224-246M, 55-64) Classif. fin. stmts; annual report
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Oct. 13 & 15 (M&W) Ch. 5 (p. 280-282, 283B-284, 285B-290M,
295B-299, 307-308). Merchandise accounting
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Oct. 20, 22, & 24 Unfinished business & review for test.
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Oct. 27, 29, & 31 TEST #2 (Ch. 3-5 plus annual reports)
Ch. 7 (p. 384-399T). Cash and receivables
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Nov. 3, 5, & 7 Ch. 6 (p. 332-335M, 337M-349T). Inventory
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Nov. 10, 12, & 14 Ch. 9 (p. 462-466M, 468M-478, 481-485M, 486B-491). Plant assets
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Nov. 17, 19, & 21 Finish chapter 9 & review for test.
TEST #3 (Ch. 6, 7, & 9)
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Nov. 24 (M) Ch. 11 (p. 566-573T, 576B-590M). Corporations I
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Dec. 1, 3, & 5 Finish chapter 11.
Ch. 12 (p. 610-613B, 622-623T, 626M-633.) Corporations II
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Dec. 8, 10, & 12 Finish chapter 12.
Ch. 10 (p. 512-515T, 522B-528). Bonds Payable
Unfinished business & review for final exam.
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Dec. 15 (10:30 a.m. -- 12:30 p.m.) FINAL EXAM (comprehensive)
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*T = Top / M = Middle / B = Bottom
STATEMENT OF ACCOMMODATIONS: California Lutheran University is committed to providing
reasonable accommodations to students with various documented disabilities (physical, learning, or
psychological). If you are a student requesting accommodations for this course, please contact
your professor at the beginning of the quarter and register with the Coordinator for Students with
Disabilities (Pearson Library, Center for Academic Resources, Ext. 3260) for the facilitation and
verification of need. Faculty will work closely together with you and your coordinator to provide
necessary accommodations.
Course Details
th
REQUIRED TEXT: Financial Accounting (9 ed.), by Needles & Powers
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Study guide to accompany text, by Needles & Julius
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOME #1: Field-specific knowledge. By the end of the course, you
should be able to prepare and use the single- and multi-step income statements, the classified
balance sheet, and the statement of retained earnings. You should have a good understanding of
the limitations of those financial statements, as well as the generally accepted accounting
principles (GAAP) applied to prepare them. You should also be able to analyze basic
transactions, in terms of double-entry bookkeeping, and process them through all the steps in the
accounting cycle. Finally, you should have a detailed working knowledge of the basic balance-
sheet accounts, from current assets to stockholders’ equity accounts.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOME #2: Critical thinking. Aside from analyzing accounting data and
applying a variety of accounting methods, you will learn the logic of double-entry bookkeeping
(debits and credits). Your written exams will test your understanding and application of the
following: (1) basic background and knowledge of the tested topics, (2) accounting terminology,
(3) accounting theory and concepts, (4) double-entry bookkeeping, (5) calculations, (6) financial-
statement presentation/account classification and valuation, and (7) the impact of certain
accounting events on the financial statements. The format of the exams will be a combination of
“aided-recall” questions (true-false, multiple-choice, matching, etc.) and “unaided-recall”
questions (short-answer, fill-in-the-blank, schedule/statement preparation, etc.), similar in
structure and level of difficulty as those contained in the study guide.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOME #3: Ethical and professional judgment. Although one’s ability to
exercise ethical judgment is limited in this first course in accounting, you will learn the difference
between fair financial reporting (i.e., within GAAP) and fraudulent financial reporting. Moreover,
you will learn that within the parameters of fair financial reporting, certain practices are more
ethically upright than others.
ASSIGNMENTS: The last page of this syllabus lists the written assignments from the textbook that
will be required (“E” stands for Exercise, “SE” stands for Short Exercise, and “P” stands for
Problem). All will be covered, and an occasional one will be collected. At the end of each class,
you will learn which ones will be due for the following class. Unless you are given specific
accounting paper for an assignment, you may use any paper to complete the assignment.
Additional in-class assignments will also be given.
GRADING: The lowest of the four exams will count 10%. The other three count 30% each.
Collected homework, attendance, and class participation will count in borderline situations.
A = 93%, A- = 90%, B+ = 87%, B = 83%, B- = 80%, C+ = 77%, C = 73%, C- = 70%, etc.
MAKEUP-EXAM POLICY: No makeups will be given for the three midterms, the only exception
being a school-related conflict, such as an athletic competition or a field trip for another class—if
this is the case, please let your instructor know of the conflict well in advance. If a student
presents a documentable excuse of a true emergency by the exam date (best by e-mail), and it is
deemed legitimate by your instructor, then the final shall count 30% more than it ordinarily would
to make up for the missed midterm. If no legitimate (or a tardy) excuse is presented, a grade of
zero will be recorded. Dates and content of all midterms are approximate and subject to change!
PHONE/VOICE MAIL: (805) 493-3363 E-MAIL: julius@callutheran.edu OFFICE: Peters 201
OFFICE HOURS: MWF: 12:30-1:30 p.m. / M&F: 10:30-11:00 a.m.
Principles of Accounting Homework Assignments (Needles 9th ed.)
Chapter 1
P1 (Account classification)
P4, pt. 1 (Prep. of 3 fin. stmts.)
Chapter 2
E13 (Effects of errors on T/B)
P2 (Debits and credits)
P7, pt. 1 (Journal entries)
Practice problem (TBA, handout)
Chapter 3
E6 (Expired insur. adj. entries)
E8 (Accrued salaries adj. entr.)
E12 (Misc. adjusting entries)
E13 (Unearned revenue adj. entr.)
P5, pt. 1 (Misc. adjusting entries)
Supplement to Chapter 3
E1 (Closing entries)
Practice problem (TBA, handout)
Chapter 4
E4 (GAAP identification)
E5 (Classified bal. sheet ques.)
E7 (Multistep inc. stmt. ques.)
Chapter 5
E6 (Sales discounts)
E11 (Inc. stmt. preparation)
P4, pt. 1 (Merch. entries)
Chapter 6
E5 (Inventory errors)
E7 (Inventory methods)
Chapter 7
E7 (Bad debts: % of sales method)
E8 (Bad debts: aging method)
E13 (Interest computations)
P5, pt. 1&3 (Bank reconciliation)
Chapter 9
SE9 (Depletion calc.)
E6 (Cap. vs. rev. expenditures)
E10 (Depreciation methods)
E13 (Disposal of assets)
Chapter 10
Class handout problems
Chapter 11
E5 (Common vs. preferred)
E12 (Issuance of stock)
E14 (Treas. stk: Disregard 6/30)
P7, pt. 1-2 (Dividend calculations)
Chapter 12
E10 (Cash & stock dividends)
E11 (Stock splits)
P2 (Corp. income statement)