ACTG 4160 Section Y 3.0: Advanced Financial Accounting
Course Outline
Winter 2015
Thursday(s), 2:30 to 5:30 p.m., beginning January 8th
Instructor

Faculty Secretary

Shanker Trivedi
Mary Rizzo
(416)736-5066
416-736-5066
S3447 Seymour Schulich Building
S344K Seymour Schulich Building strivedi@schulich.yorku.ca mrizzo@schulich.yorku.ca
Office hours: Wednesdays 2:30-3:30 and Thursdays 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Shanker Trivedi’s research interests are in financial accounting, the accounting profession, and tax. His teaching interests are in contemporary issues in accounting and in financial accounting.
He has taught at all levels; bachelors, masters, and doctoral. Shanker has published in journals such as Experimental Economics, and Accounting Organizations and Society, among others. He is also the co-author of the 6th and 7th editions of Advanced Financial Accounting.
Brief Description
The final course in the three-course financial accounting core, this course emphasizes accounting for inter-corporate investments and for international activities. The application of accounting principles to case situations in specialized industries and nonprofit organization is also stressed.
Prerequisite[s] / Co-requisite[s]
Note: Not available to exchange students visiting Schulich.
Prerequisite: SB/ACTG 3120 3.00

Contents

Course Learning Outcomes ........................................................................................................................... 2
Deliverables at a Glance................................................................................................................................ 2
Course Material............................................................................................................................................. 3
Student Preparation for Class and Class Participation: Expectations ........................................................... 3
Descriptions and Evaluation of Written Assignments/Projects/Class Contribution and Exam[s] ................ 5
General Academic Policies: Grading, Academic Honesty, Accommodations and Exams ............................. 7
Class-by-Class Syllabus & Quick Reference: Summary of Classes, Activities and Deliverables .................... 9

ACTG 4160Y p.2

Course Learning Outcomes
In this course we will focus on advanced topics in accounting. Specifically, we will cover three broad areas of accounting: i) intercorporate investments, business combinations and consolidations, ii) foreign currency transactions and operations, and iii) not-for-profits and public sector financial reporting. In addition, we will also briefly discuss the topics of interim reporting and segmental disclosures. By nature such topics are highly theoretical and technical.
This course is of primary interest to students who intend to pursue a career in professional accounting. Indeed, it is inconceivable how a student who has not taken advanced accounting can honestly claim to be an accounting major. In this course, we will aim to hone your ability to recognize and resolve recording and reporting highly technical accounting issues keeping in mind the preparers and many users of accounting. We will emphasize relevant theory which will help you exercise your professional judgement in unique situations and technical application of the current accounting rules for presenting these advanced accounting topics.
Deliverables at a Glance

The learning of advanced financial accounting occurs through both a conscientious preparation for course lectures and the active participation in classroom activities. Class lectures will consist of a review of key concepts as well as a variety of other learning activities.
In the table below, the impact of each task on your final grade for the course is indicated in the “% weight” column.

Assignment/Task
Written homework assignments Case write up
Class contribution
Midterm exam
Final exam

Quantity
5

%
Weight
2.5

Total
%
12.5

1
11
1
1

12.5
0.455