ACC315 INTERMEDIATE ACCOUNTING II

This course builds on accounting topics presented in Intermediate Accounting I to prepare students for a career in the accounting field. Topics in this course will address the proper accounting procedures for property, plant and equipment, investments, liabilities and contingencies, bonds and long-term notes, and leases. Upon completion of this course, students will have a substantial knowledge base in accounting methods, according to Generally-Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

This is a 3-credit course, requiring a minimum of 18 hours of course engagement each week in an 8-week term, or 9 hours per week in a 15-week term (refer to the Credit Hours Calculation Policy in the Student Handbook),  Course engagement includes such activities as discussions, reading, study time, and assignments.

This course requires additional purchased material that is not currently available through the bookstore. Your instructor will post further information on how to obtain these materials digitally on the first day of class.

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

1. Illustrate the proper allocation of costs for tangible and intangible assets.
2. Compare and contrast accounting for intangible and plant assets.
3. Apply appropriate accounting procedures to record the removal of plant assets from financial statements.
4. Analyze the impact of depreciation methods on financial statements.
5. Outline proper financial statement presentation of securities and investments.
6. Apply proper accounting treatment for short- and long-term liabilities, including leases, contingencies and estimated liabilities.
7. Analyze accounting issues and use proper accounting methods for long-term debt, interest expense, capital and operating leases, and proper recording of capitalization in financial statements.
8. Analyze the amount of inter-period tax allocation and identify permanent and temporary differences.
9. Construct recording and reporting requirements for post-retirement benefits.
10. Outline proper accounting procedures for cash and stock dividends and treasury stock transactions, and analyze the effect of each item on financial statements.
11. Analyze proper recording and reporting requirements for Earnings-Per-Share (EPS) and simple and complex capital structures.
12. Illustrate accounting procedures used to report accounting changes or errors and evaluate their effect on financial statements.

Click here to view the 8 week Term Schedules.

Click here to view the 15 week Term Schedules.

Weeks start on Monday,12:01 AM ET and end on Sunday, 11:59 PM ET, US.

Unless otherwise noted, all assigned items are due at the end of the module (by 11:59PM, Sunday).

Grade Ranges

A = 90-100%

B = 80-89%

C = 70-79%

D = 60-69%

F = below 60%

All papers in this course are subject to anti-plagiarism software.

Assignments (X7) - 30%

There are seven graded homework assignments in McGraw-Hill Connect in Modules 1-7 that will assess your understanding of the material covered in the applicable module. Prior to beginning each assignment, you should review the applicable chapter(s) from the textbook and the module's PowerPoint presentation. You should also review the Concept Overview Videos and the SmartBook 2.0 Assignments in Connect.  Reviewing these materials from the applicable module will enhance your knowledge of accounting and help you perform better on that assignment. These assignments are not time restricted and you may use your course resources (to include your textbook) to assist you in responding to the questions.  You will be given an unlimited number of attempts per question on each graded homework assignment. On each new homework attempt, you start over from the beginning.  You will be provided detailed feedback after each homework attempt.  Each module homework assignment will have a varying number of questions.  Each graded homework assignment will be graded on a scale of 100 points.

Quizzes (X7) - 15%

There are seven graded quizzes in McGraw-Hill Connect in Modules 1-7 that will assess your understanding of the material covered in the applicable module. Prior to beginning each quiz, you should review the applicable chapter(s) from the textbook and the module's PowerPoint presentation. You should also review the Concept Overview Videos and the SmartBook 2.0 Assignments in Connect.  Reviewing the materials from the applicable module will enhance your knowledge of accounting and help you perform better on that quiz.  Each quiz will have a varying number of questions to answer and you have one attempt at answering each question. Please be sure to answer all questions and save your answers as you work on the quiz. You may use your course resources (to include your textbook) to assist you in responding to the questions. You will have a maximum of one hour to complete each quiz except in Module 1, where you will have 30 minutes to complete that Quiz.  Quizzes are automatically graded in McGraw-Hill Connect and you will be immediately provided correct answers and detailed feedback upon completion of the quiz. Each quiz will be graded on a scale of 100 points.

Research Project - 20%

Your research project will comprise your analysis of your chosen topic. This project will be broken into parts that will be due at different points during the course (to include: Outline, Draft, and Final Project). You are required to complete all parts of the project. Your final research project should be submitted as a MS Word document, comprising 6-8 pages in length (not including title and reference pages, tables, and illustrations) and must follow APA guidelines. Your paper must be double spaced, use Times New Roman, 12-font, with one-inch margins. Be sure to properly cite and include all references used in your paper.

Final Examination - 15%

The final examination will assess your knowledge attained throughout the entire course, covering the materials from modules 1-8.  Prior to beginning this examination, you should review the covered chapters from the textbook and the modules' PowerPoint presentations. Reviewing these materials will enhance your knowledge of accounting and help you perform better on this examination. There is a Practice Final Examination in Connect which we highly recommend you to take before taking the Graded Final Examination.  Please be sure to answer all questions and save your answers. You may use your course resources (to include your textbook) to assist you in responding to the questions. You will have a maximum of three hours to complete the examination which will consist of 10 questions/problems, 1 from each Module and several from the last Module. The examination will be automatically graded by the assessment manager on a scale of 100 points

Online unproctored examinations will test you on what you have learned in the course. Your instructor has sole discretion, and only under exceptional circumstances, to reset an incomplete examination. To request a reset, you must contact your instructor. The final examination can be found via Connect Accounting.

If you use your web browser to navigate away from an examination while you are taking it, you may be locked out.

Be sure to allow yourself sufficient uninterrupted time to complete each online examination, and plan your time carefully so as to have finished well before the deadline. In waiting until the last possible moment, you run the risk that some unforeseen problem might prevent you from completing the examination.

Participation in Weekly Online Discussions - 20%

A series of discussion questions will be posted during the course.

By registering for a web-based course, you have made a commitment to participate regularly with your instructor and other students in online discussions. You will be expected to use online course tools (Discussions and Chat rooms) to interact with your peers and work collaboratively to improve your understanding of underlying course ideas and issues.

One of the Discussions each week allows you the opportunity to ask questions about any topics being covered that week during the course.  Pay particular attention to this Discussion, as it is a good idea to see what questions your classmates are asking and your Instructor’s answers to those questions to reinforce your learning of the course materials.

To lessen the risk of losing your work, do not write major discussions directly into a discussion posting. Instead, compose and check your work in other software (such as Microsoft Word) and then use the Create Thread button and copy and paste your text into the new posting.

STUDENT PARTICIPATION

Weekly course participation is required. Please see the Student Participation Policy for more details. 

INSTRUCTOR PARTICIPATION

Your instructor will:

• Post a welcome message during the first 24 hours of the course.
• Schedule real time office hours through Canvas tools and/or by individual appointment.
• Communicate with you through the Canvas communication tools, including internal course messaging.
• Respond to student communications within two business days.
• Log into the course to review and participate at least three different days a week in 15-week courses, or four different days a week in 8-week courses.
• Provide you with formative feedback midway through the course based on work submitted to that point.
• Grade all formative assignments within 7 business days in 15-week courses and 4 business days in 8-week courses, and will grade final summative work within 5 business days after the end of the term.

LATE COURSE WORK POLICY

This policy governs the acceptance and grading of late work (including assignments, quizzes and exams, and discussion posts) in Excelsior University courses.  The intention of the policy is to promote consistency and academic rigor in Excelsior University courses, while also providing faculty with the flexibility to respond to students experiencing extenuating circumstances.  

a) Students are expected to submit work for Excelsior University courses by the due date stipulated in the course.    

 b) Students who are unable to submit course work by the due date because of an extenuating circumstance should contact their instructor prior to the due date to request an extension for the work.  If it is not possible to contact the instructor prior to the due date, they should do as soon after the due date as possible.   

Extenuating circumstances include, but are not limited to, the following:  

• an illness or injury 
• a death of a family member or significant other 
• a significant change in employment or military status 
• a trauma in the student’s life 
• technical issues 
• a natural disaster (see Policy 153) 
• other significant unplanned events 

c) Instructors have the discretion to offer an extension or to accept late course work without penalty based on their assessment of a student’s circumstances.  Documentation of extenuating circumstances may be required. 

 d) Unless otherwise stipulated in the instructions or grading rubric, the following penalties will apply to late course work that has not been granted an extension by the instructor:  

• Course work submitted less than a week (seven calendar days) after the due date will be subject to a 10% penalty (10 points out of 100); 
• Course work submitted more than a week after the due date will receive a zero. 

e) Discussion posts will receive a zero after the due date for the discussion without prior permission from the instructor.  

f) Course work submitted after the final day of the term will receive a zero unless an official course extension has been granted. (See Policy 133: Courses and Examinations Extension Policy).  

g) At the discretion of the provost, the university may waive the requirements in this policy for students experiencing a disaster or emergency.  See Policy 153: Assistance to Students in Disaster and Emergency Areas. 

h) Students may appeal the decision of their instructor by contacting the school offering the course.  Contact information for each of the schools is located below. 

• School of Undergraduate Studies: [email protected] 
• School of Graduate Studies: [email protected]  
• School of Nursing: [email protected]

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Cheating and Plagiarism

Academic Integrity is a valued part of your education, and the university expects you to submit work that is your own. Intentional plagiarism, and online cheating, including the purchasing of papers or sharing course materials, examinations or quizzes with outside vendors/websites in an unauthorized manner is a serious offense.  To ensure the high standards of the university are upheld, all work will be processed through anti-plagiarism software available in the course.  Please see the policy on Academic Integrity for more details. We want you to be successful! If you need assistance in writing a paper or studying, please contact your course instructor or advisor.

Copyright Protections

In addition, you should be aware that content in Excelsior University courses is owned by the University or third parties and is typically subject to some form of copyright protection. Therefore, these materials may only be used by you for educational purposes as part of your participation in Excelsior University courses.  It is your responsibility to properly use the information and materials in each course.

GENERAL POLICIES

You are responsible for being familiar with all the policies that are related to your activity in this course. Complete information on Excelsior University policies can be found in your course or by visiting Excelsior University Policies.

Technology Requirements

Please be sure to review System Requirements and Required Software. This is especially important if you are taking a course that contains any interactive components, such as games and simulations. 

Accessibility

Accessibility statements for each technology utilized within a course can be found on this Technology Accessibility page.  If you have questions on the accessibility of technologies, contact Accessibility Services.

Privacy on External Websites

In some courses, the use of applications or certain websites may require providing personal information. Click each link to view the application’s privacy statement.