ACCT 473-FINANCIAL STATEMENT AUDITING
LEVENTHAL SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTING
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
SPRING 2006
Sec.
Time
Location
14135D
10:00-11:50 am TTH
HOH 303
14136D
12:00-1:50 am TTH
HOH 303
14137D
2:00-3:50 pm F
THH 102

I. GENERAL INFORMATION
Faculty: Professor Chrislynn Freed, CPA
Office Location: ACC 229
Office Hours: MW 12:15-2:15PM; TTH 2-3:00 PM
Office Phone: (213) 740-4867
Email Address: cfreed@marshall.usc.edu
USC Emergencies: (213) 740-4321
USC Emergency Information Line: (213) 740-9233
USC Information: (213) 740-2311 and 91.5 KUSC FM Radio
Course Prerequisites: ACCT 371b, 373
Co-Requisites: None
Required Materials: 1) Custom Published Text and Cases
2) Course Documents Posted on Blackboard
3) The CPA Journal: http://www.nysscpa.org/cpaj.htm
4) AICPA Codification of Statements on Auditing Standards: http://www.aicpa.org/members/div/auditstd/Authoritative_AICPA_Audit_and_Attest_Standards.htm
5) PCAOB Auditing Standards http://www.pcaob.org Quasi required materials: Daily readings of The Wall Street Journal and subscription to a business periodical, e.g. Journal of Accountancy, Fortune or Business Week. II. COURSE OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION
Audit issues will be discussed from the perspectives of management and other users of the financial statements, as well as, the external auditor. I have five broad objectives for this course:
i) To instill a desire for you to become true professionals, able to appreciate the value of integrity and ethical behavior, and the critical role of auditing in our economy. ii) To teach you how to think effectively and apply critical thinking to real-world problems involving risk. iii) To prepare you for professional careers in either corporate accounting, internal audit, business assurance, or information systems by understanding the environment in which the auditor operates in by presenting the types of conditions, events and confrontations that will be encountered. iv) To continue to develop your effective communication skills. These skills are essential to your professional development.
v) Finally, I hope to share my enthusiasm and excitement for the audit profession. Our profession is continually evolving and developing. Our training allows us to make career choices that we may never have dreamed. The learning never stops, nor does the opportunities.
III. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
Your overall grade in this course will be determined by your performance in the following:

Component
Points
Class attendance and participation
Homework assignments (individual)
Homework assignments (group)
Midterm
ACL project
Final Exam
75
75
75
80
20
125 Total
450

Your total points will be converted into a letter grade based on a single curve applied to both of my ACCT 473 sections and will meet the grading guidelines of the School of Accounting, which currently require the class average to approximate 3.15 (see attached). Please note that the grade of W is allowed only if a student withdraws by approved date (Monday, April 10th). The grade of IN is reserved for highly unusual cases where the student is unable to complete a single item of the course requirements. See the attached policies for further information.

After each test, homework assignment or case is returned, you will have one week to challenge your grade in writing. After this time, grades on homework and cases become final.

The professor reserves the right to make an adjustment when needed to ascertain a more “fair” distribution of grades based on perceived effort of the class relative to the results obtained.

Class preparation, attendance and participation:
Advanced preparation for class is expected. This includes reading assigned material, and completing assigned cases and problems. Much of class time will involve you contributing to discussion in class. Therefore it is expected that you will attend every class and scheduled labs. I will distribute a daily attendance sheet for