ACT500: Managerial Accounting Credit Hours: 3

Contact Hours: This is a 3-credit course, offered in accelerated format. This means that 16 weeks of material is covered in 8 weeks. The exact number of hours per week that you can expect to spend on each course will vary based upon the weekly coursework, as well as your study style and preferences. You should plan to spend 10-25 hours per week in each course reading material, interacting on the discussion boards, writing papers, completing projects, and doing research.

Course Description and Outcomes

In ACT500, Managerial Accounting, students will learn how to use accounting concepts from a management perspective to make sound financial decisions that will enhance the strategic planning process of an organization. Analytical tools will become familiar to the student that can be applied to real-world situations in order to drive sales, reduce costs, and maximize profit. Students will become familiar with different types of analyses, ratios, costing, and budgeting. The course highlights what effective managers need in building a strong financial foundation so they can make decisions that will positively affect current and future operations of a business. The course will bring the basic framework of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) into one integrated process that will allow the student to understand why and how these principles are practiced today in both public and privately held entities. All of the major financial statements will be studied with students learning how they relate to one another and how collectively they can be used as management tools in decision making and driving profits. The course reviews and builds upon a student’s knowledge of basic math, basic accounting, spreadsheet, and word processing programs. Although accounting theory is learned, one important element of the course is learning the practical application of those theories. Course Learning Outcomes:

1. Describe the qualitative characteristics of accounting information and the supporting framework. 2. Prepare and analyze financial statements using vertical and horizontal analysis, liquidity, and

profitability ratios. 3. Identify cost classifications, cost allocation, cost objects, cost pools, and cost drivers 4. Identify cost behaviors, perform cost-volume-profit analysis and understand various 5. costing systems 6. Prepare a master budget 7. Evaluate cost centers, profit centers and investment centers and understand how a balanced scorecard

aligns performance with organizational goals. SAMPLE

8. Perform incremental analysis for outsourcing, segment profitability, and sales mix decisions 9. Perform capital investment evaluations including using net present value

Participation & Attendance

Prompt and consistent attendance in your online courses is essential for your success at CSU-Global Campus. Failure to verify your attendance within the first 7 days of this course may result in your withdrawal. If for some reason you would like to drop a course, please contact your advisor. Online classes have deadlines, assignments, and participation requirements just like on-campus classes. Budget your time carefully and keep an open line of communication with your instructor. If you are having technical problems, problems with your assignments, or other problems that are impeding your progress, let your instructor know as soon as possible.

Course Materials

Textbook Information is located in the CSU-Global Booklist on the Student Portal.

Course Schedule

Due Dates The Academic Week at CSU-Global begins on Monday and ends the following Sunday.

Discussion Boards: The original post must be completed by Thursday at 12 midnight MT and Peer Responses posted by Sunday 12 midnight MT. Late posts may not be awarded points.

Critical Thinking Activities: Assignments are due Sunday at 12 midnight MT.

Week # Readings Assignments

1

Chapter 1 in Managerial Accounting

Miller, P. B.W., & Bahnson, P. R. (2009, July 20). Implementing fair values: Overcoming ghosts and zombies. Accounting Today, 23(11), 18-19.

Discussion Board (25)

2 Chapters 2 & 3 in Managerial Accounting Discussion Board (25)

Critical Thinking (125)

3 Chapter 4, 5 & 8 in Managerial Accounting Discussion Board (25)

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4 Chapter 6 in Managerial Accounting Discussion Board (25)

Critical Thinking (100)

5 Chapter 7 in Managerial Accounting Discussion Board (25)

6 Chapter 9 in Managerial Accounting Discussion Board (25)

Critical Thinking (100)

7 Chapter 10 in Managerial Accounting Discussion Board (25)

Critical Thinking (125)

8 Chapter 14 in Managerial Accounting Discussion Board (25)

Portfolio Assignment (350)

Assignment Details

This course includes the following assignments/projects:

Week 2

Critical Thinking: Process Costing (125 points) Complete the questions following Process Costing: FIFO Costing Method.

Week 4

Critical Thinking: Breakeven Analysis (100 points) Prepare breakeven analysis and a C-V-P analysis planning future sales using the information below. (150 pts) Breakeven Analysis and Planning Future Sales Write Company has a maximum capacity of 200,000 units per year. Variable manufacturing costs are $12 per unit. Fixed overhead is $600,000 per year. Variable selling and administrative costs are $5 per unit, and fixed selling and administrative costs are $300,000 per year. The current sales price is $23 per unit. Required

1. What is the breakeven point in (a) sales units and (b) sales dollars? 2. How many units must Write Company sell to earn a profit of $240,000 per year? 3. A strike at one of the company's major suppliers has caused a shortage of materials, so the current year's

production and sales are limited to 160,000 units. To partially offset the effect of the reduced sales on profit, management is planning to reduce fixed costs to $841,000. Variable cost per unit is the same as last year. The company has already sold 30,000 units at the regular selling price of $23 per unit.

a. What amount of fixed costs was covered by the total contribution margin of the first 30,000 units sold?

b. What contribution margin per unit will be needed on the remaining 130,000 units to cover the remaining fixed costs and to earn a profit of $210,000 this year?

Week 5

Portfolio Milestone SAMPLE

The portfolio project is based on concepts learned in this module. You should begin the portfolio project during this module. Final Portfolio Project: Students will prepare a master budget for a manufacturing organization with given financial information. The project will include:

Executive Summary Sales Budget Production Budget Direct Materials Budget Direct Labor Budget Overhead Budget Selling and Administrative Expense Budget Cost of Goods Manufactured Budget Budget and Income Statement

Click HERE to view the full Portfolio Project Guidelines and case study details. Also, you may want to view the Portfolio Project Rubrics: Part One, Part Two to see how you will be evaluated.

Week 6

Critical Thinking: Understanding Practical Business and Organizational Research (100 Points)

Using the CSU-GC Library, locate two (2) research articles published within the last five (5) years. One article

should deal with measuring performance and one article should relate to incremental analysis.

Complete the Research Evaluation Tables and post completed tables (one for each scholarly article) to

the Discussion Board for others to observe.

Choose one of the two articles to write a one-to-two-page introduction to the article. Include the following

sections and include no opinions, judgments, or beliefs about the study. Only present the facts.

Topic – State the broad organizational or field of study topic and establish the overall context for the study.

Problem or Opportunity – Describe the problem or opportunity that the researcher was trying to address.

Purpose of the Study – Discuss the intent of the study and list any research questions or hypotheses that were

used.

Research Approach and Design – Describe the overall research approach and information that you find

related to the research design. Research design might include such things as the setting (field, laboratory, etc),

the type of data that was collected, the sample and sample selection, the way data was prepared, analyzed, or

presented, for example.

Audience – Identify the individual or groups that might be interested in the findings of the study.

Summary – Present the main points that you have covered in your paper; introduce no new information or

concepts.

Your paper should meet the following requirements:

Use academic writing style, clear and concise language, and well-developed paragraphs (minimum of three

sentences required to develop a paragraph)

o Ensure APA formatting standards

o Be 1-2 pages in length

Portfolio Milestone

SAMPLE

Click HERE to view the Portfolio Project Guidelines and case study details At this point you should have the sales forecast completed.

Week 7

Critical Thinking: Sales Mix Decision (125 points)

Click HERE for assignment details. Submit your Excel spreadsheet to the View/Complete link below. (150 pts)

Week 8

Portfolio Assignment (350 points)

Students are required to create comprehensive master budget for a fictitious company.

For project details, see the Portfolio Project Description, which can be accessed from the Week 8 Assignments page.

Course Policies

Course Grading 20% Discussion Participation 45% Critical Thinking Activities 35% Final Portfolio Paper

Grading Scale and Policies

A 95.0 – 100

A- 90.0 – 94.9

B+ 86.7 – 89.9

B 83.3 – 86.6

B- 80.0 – 83.2

C+ 75.0 – 79.9

C 70.0 – 74.9

D 60.0 – 69.9

F 59.9 or below

In-Classroom Policies For information on late work and Incomplete grade policies, please refer to our In-Classroom Student Policies and Guidelines or the Academic Catalog for comprehensive documentation of CSU-Global institutional policies. SAMPLE

Academic Integrity Students must assume responsibility for maintaining honesty in all work submitted for credit and in any other work designated by the instructor of the course. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty, plagiarism, reusing /re-purposing your own work (see CSU-Global Guide to Writing and APA Requirements for percentage of repurposed work that can be used in an assignment), unauthorized possession of academic materials, and unauthorized collaboration. The CSU-Global Library provides information on how students can avoid plagiarism by understanding what it is and how to use the Library and Internet resources. Citing Sources with APA Style All students are expected to follow the CSU-Global Guide to Writing and APA Requirements when citing in APA (based on the APA Style Manual, 6th edition) for all assignments. For details on CSU-Global APA style, please review the APA resources within the CSU-Global Library under the “APA Guide & Resources” link. A link to this document should also be provided within most assignment descriptions on your course’s Assignments page. Netiquette Respect the diversity of opinions among the instructor and classmates and engage with them in a courteous,

respectful, and professional manner. All posts and classroom communication must be conducted in accordance

with the student code of conduct. Think before you push the Send button. Did you say just what you meant?

How will the person on the other end read the words?

Maintain an environment free of harassment, stalking, threats, abuse, insults or humiliation toward the

instructor and classmates. This includes, but is not limited to, demeaning written or oral comments of an ethnic,

religious, age, disability, sexist (or sexual orientation), or racist nature; and the unwanted sexual advances or

intimidations by email, or on discussion boards and other postings within or connected to the online classroom.

If you have concerns about something that has been said, please let your instructor know.

SAMPLE