Accounting

This course provides students with an understanding of the primary financial statements used for internal and external business decision-making in start-up firms and large corporations. It emphasizes underlying accounting concepts captured in financial statements, while highlighting the interdependence among these statements. The course will cover analytical techniques, such as ratio analyses and sensitivity analyses to assess the impact of changes in strategy and outcomes on efficiency and effectiveness measures. It also describes the various users of internal and external financial statements, and the potential conflicts between these various stakeholders.

This course is intended to familiarize the student with the wide variety of ways in which accounting data are used by management as a tool for the attainment of predetermined organizational objectives. The emphasis of the course is on the application of accounting data, rather than on its preparation, and particular attention is given to the use of financial data both in controlling day-to-day activities and planning future operations. Principal topics include: master budgets, cost analysis and classification systems, cost-volume-profit analysis, standard cost accounting and an introduction to capital budgeting. This course will be offered in 2021-22, and in alternating years thereafter.