INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING COURSE SYLLABUS X 423.4
Reg# V7471
University of California Los Angeles Extension Summer Quarter, 2011
Monday (except for 2 holidays), June 20-September 6, 6:30-9:30 2333 School of Public Affairs Building
Instructor: Dewey Norton, MBA, CMA e-mail: deweynorton@ucla.edu Catalogue Description
Designed for students of accounting and international business professionals who are working for public accounting firms, corporations and other enterprises engaged in international business, as well as governmental institutions and international organizations, this course covers a broad range of accounting challenges faced by multinational enterprises as well as ways different countries perceive and interpret certain accounting topics and the rationale for how to deal with them. Instruction includes case studies which illustrate the specific day to day accounting issues that are encountered in international business operations. Course Description
This is perhaps the area of accounting where the most significant changes are occurring and these are going at a rapid pace, so there will be class discussion of relevant current events along with presentation of course material.
In this course, students will examine the accounting principles of several
countries, international accounting reporting standards (IFRS), foreign currency translation, global auditing standards, international financial statement analysis, managerial planning and control, financial risk management, international taxation and transfer pricing. Students will become knowledgeable about a number of international financial reporting standards through both of the
textbooks and lectures. They will do this through a combination of studying the best textbook in international accounting, homework problems presented to the class, participation in class discussions and weekly quizzes.
Course Goals and Objectives:
International trade is growing rapidly due to free trade agreements, capital markets are integrated on an international basis (as some noticed in the global financial crisis that began in 2008). Corporations face unprecedented
opportunities and threats from these developments, so most must adopt business strategies from an international perspective.
This course provides students with a guided tour of the most important topics of international accounting. It provides students with important tools necessary to
think about international accounting and address the three broad areas of multinational corporate accounting: measurement, disclosure and audit.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will have tools necessary to make informed decisions across a broad range of accounting challenges faced by multinational enterprises. Also, student will learn the ways different countries perceive and interpret certain accounting topics and how to deal with these. Case studies will illustrate specific day-to-day complexities of accounting issues that are encountered in international business operations.
Students are encouraged to use the UCLA Blackboard to pose questions, share your thoughts and take advantage of postings from the instructor.
Expected Outcomes
Refer to Choi and Meek, pp. 19-22. Course Requirements
Read the textbook Attend classes
Prepare homework problems and present solutions to the class Participate in class discussions
Complete quizzes Course Evaluation Grading System:
Weekly quizzes: 60% - at the end of each class except week 1 there will be a quiz on the chapter discussed in the class. Students will be responsible for the material presented in the relevant textbook chapter and understanding the material presented in class. The material for weeks 1 and 2 will be covered in 2 quizzes in week 2. Many questions will be related to questions at the end of textbook chapters. Quizzes will be closed book. A student’s single lowest grade on all the quizzes will be ignored in the final grade. Students may miss up to 2 quizzes. Beyond this limit, a score of 60% will be recorded for missed quizzes. There are no makeup quizzes.
Class presentations: 30% - each student will present to the class their analysis of textbook exercises. A copy of these must be submitted to the instructor in
advance of the class. The grade on this will be weighted 50% for accuracy of the written submission and 50% for the quality of the presentation to the class.
Class participation: 10% - to earn credit for this, a student must actively contribute to class discussions.
Grades will be computed at the end of the course as follows: A: a score within 10% of the highest grade in the class B: a score within 11-20% of the highest grade in the class C a score within 21-30% of the highest grade in the class, etc.
Although quizzes may not all have the same number of questions, they all count equally in the determination of the final grade. The 2 quizzes given in week 2 will each count separately as 1 quiz.
Textbook:
Frederick D. S. Choi, Carol Ann Frost, and Gary K. Meek, International Accounting, Seventh Edition, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2010.
International Accounting Course outline Week/chapter/quiz
1 June 20 Introduction 2 June 27
Development and Classification Quizzes 1-2
3 July 5
Comparative Accounting: Europe Quiz 3
4 July 11
Comparative Accounting: The Americas and Asia Quiz 4
5 July 18
Reporting and Disclosure Quiz 5
6 July 25
Foreign Currency Translation Quiz 6
7 August 1
Financial Reporting and Changing Prices Quiz 7
8 August 8
Global Accounting and Auditing Standards Quiz 8
9 August 15
International Financial Statement Analysis Quiz 9
10 August 22
Managerial Planning & Control Quiz 10
11 August 29
Financial Risk Management Quiz 11
12 September 6?
International Taxation and Transfer Pricing Quiz 12
Bibliography
These publications are available free on the websites of these organizations, except FERF:
IASB, International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities, pp. 230.
IASB, International Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities, Basis for conclusions, pp. 53.
IASB, Illustrative Financial Statements Presentation and Disclosure Checklist, International Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities, pp. 65. COSO, Strengthening Enterprise Risk Management for Strategic Advantage, pp. 24.
FERF, A Top-Down Approach to Risk Management and Internal Control: Having a Business-Process Focus Tied to Business Planning, pp. 19.
FERF, IFRS and Privately-Held Companies, pp. 27. Recommended reading:
The instructor has posted on the course Blackboard site, a number of the most interesting and relevant articles from magazines and newspapers that are
available free on the Internet. Students are strongly encouraged to read some of these every week that is related to the topics being covered at the time.
There are accounting journals referenced at the end of each chapter, and international accounting articles found on the Internet on sites like
news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn (users may add their own section to the latter such as international accounting), Bloomberg.com, The Wall Street
Journal, The New York Times, The Economist, and The Financial Times.
Recommended Journal Titles
Accountancy Age: accountancyage.com/ CFO: cfo.com/magazine/
Financial Executive:
financialexecutives.org/eweb/dynamicpage.aspx?webcode=mag_issue_current& gclid=CInq8-WGlacCFQUSbAodCy-cbw
Journal of Accountancy:
Strategic Finance: journalofaccountancy.com The Accounting Review:
aaapubs.aip.org/dbt/dbt.jsp?KEY=ACRVAS&Volume=LASTVOL&Issue=LASTISS Recommended Website Readings
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations: coso.org Financial Accounting Standards Board: fasb.org/home Financial Executives International: FEI.org
International Accounting Standards Board: iasb.org/Home.htm International Financial Reporting Standards: ifrs.com
Explanation of Euro currency: wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro
International Accounting Standards Board, IFRS for SMEs Training Modules, London: International Accounting Standards Board, 2010.
