Syllabus for ACC-303

COST ACCOUNTING

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course explores the world of cost accounting. It reviews the nature and calculation of costs associated with delivering products and services. Students will gain experience with the fundamental analytical tools that are utilized for cost accounting and in assessing how cost information can be used to make managerial decisions.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

After completing this course, you should be able to:

Demonstrate how cost accounting integrates with other functions within the organization and how it provides information for decision making.
Utilize various types of cost systems within different types of organizations.
Apply fundamental cost accounting methods, processes, and calculations for planning and decision making purposes.
Evaluate how internal controls impact an organization.
Prepare a master budget and discuss the limitations of the budgetary process on the organization.
Evaluate cost accounting practices for pricing decisions.
Discuss the impact cost accounting information has on an organization in fulfilling its mission.
Review cost accounting information and devise relevant recommendations for decision making.
Analyze and apply quantitative methods to cost accounting issues.

COURSE MATERIALS

You will need the following materials to complete your coursework. Some course materials may be free, open source, or available from other providers. You can access free or open-source materials by clicking the links provided below or in the module details documents. To purchase course materials, please visit the University's textbook supplier.

Required Textbook

Michael R. Kinney and Cecily A. Raiborn, Cost Accounting: Foundations and Evolutions, 9th ed. (Thomson South-Western, 2013).

ISBN-13: 978-1-111-97172-4

COURSE STRUCTURE

Cost Accounting is a three-credit online course, consisting of six modules. Modules include learning objectives, study materials, and activities.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

For your formal work in the course, you are required to participate in six graded online discussion forums, complete six written assignments, and take two proctored online examinations—a midterm and a final. See below for more details.

Consult the Course Calendar for assignment due dates.

Promoting Originality

One or more of your course activities may utilize a tool designed to promote original work and evaluate your submissions for plagiarism. More information about this tool is available in this document.

Discussion Forums

In addition to an ungraded but required Introductions Forum in Module 1, Cost Accounting features six graded online discussions. Each module contains one of these discussion forums.

Communication among fellow students and with the mentor is a critical component of online learning. Participation in online discussions involves two distinct assignments: an initial response to a posted question (discussion thread) and at least two subsequent comments on classmates' responses.

Meaningful participation is relevant to the content, adds value, and advances the discussion. Comments such as "I agree" and "ditto" are not considered value-adding participation. Therefore, when you agree or disagree with a classmate, the reading, or your mentor, state and support your agreement or disagreement. You will be evaluated on the quality and quantity of your participation. Responses and comments should be properly proofread and edited, professional, and respectful.

Written Assignments

Cost Accounting requires you to submit a written assignment to your mentor for evaluation and grading in each module. The written assignments consist of managerial accounting problems taken from your textbook.

Take the time to familiarize yourself with the written assignment questions before you begin each module. Conversely, be sure to complete all relevant readings before answering the questions. Before you begin to write, you might find it helpful to outline your answers, listing points you wish to make and the examples that support your ideas.

Do not copy answers from the textbook. Creative thinking and your own wording are important aspects of an effective answer. When you have completed an assignment, proofread your answers for correct grammar, spelling, etc., and be certain you have answered the questions completely.

Prepare your written assignments using whatever word processing program you have on your computer. Include your name at the top of the paper, as well as the course name and code and the semester and year in which you are enrolled.

Before submitting your first assignment, check with your mentor to determine whether your word processing software is compatible with your mentor's software. If so, you can submit your work as you prepared it. If not, save your assignment as a rich-text (.rtf) file, using the Save As command of your software program. Rich text retains basic formatting and can be read by any other word processing program.

Examinations

You are required to take two proctored online examinations: a midterm exam and a final exam. Both exams require that you use the University's Online Proctor Service (OPS). Please refer to the "Examinations and Proctors" section of the Online Student Handbook (see General Information area of the course Web site) for further information about scheduling and taking online exams and for all exam policies and procedures. You are strongly advised to schedule your exam within the first week of the semester.

Midterm Examination

The midterm exam is worth 25% of your course grade. It is three hours long and covers all assigned material from Modules 1–3 of the course. The exam is closed book and consists of multiple-choice questions, short answer questions, and essay questions that require you to solve cost accounting problems and explain your answers. Partial credit is possible for the essay questions.

Note: You are permitted to use a calculator (scientific, graphing, or financial) but may not use a calculator on a phone, PDA, or any similar device.

Final Examination

The final exam is worth 25% of your course grade. It is three hours long and covers all assigned material from Modules 4–6 of the course. The exam is closed book and consists of multiple-choice questions, short answer questions, and essay questions that require you to solve cost accounting problems and explain your answers. Partial credit is possible for the essay questions.

Online exams are administered through the course Web site. Consult the Course Calendar for the official dates of exam weeks.

Note: You are permitted to use a calculator (scientific, graphing, or financial) but may not use a calculator on a phone, PDA, or any similar device.

Statement about Cheating

You are on your honor not to cheat during an exam. Cheating means:

Looking up any answer or part of an answer in an unauthorized textbook or on the Internet, or using any other source to find an answer.
Copying and pasting or, in any way copying responses or parts of responses from any other source into your exams. This includes but is not limited to copying and pasting from other documents or spreadsheets, whether written by yourself or anyone else.
Plagiarizing answers.
Asking anyone else to assist you by whatever means available while you take an exam.
Copying any part of an exam to share with other students.
Telling your mentor that you need another attempt at an exam because your connection to the Internet was interrupted when that is not true.

If there is evidence that you have cheated or plagiarized in an exam, the exam will be declared invalid, and you will fail the course.

GRADING AND EVALUATION

Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:

Discussion forums (6)—15%
Written assignments (6)—35%
Midterm exam (proctored online, Modules 1–3)—25%
Final exam (proctored online, Modules 4–6)—25%

All activities will receive a numerical grade of 0–100. You will receive a score of 0 for any work not submitted. Your final grade in the course will be a letter grade. Letter grade equivalents for numerical grades are as follows:

A	=	93–100	C+	=	78–79
A–	=	90–92	C	=	73–77
B+	=	88–89	C–	=	70–72
B	=	83–87	D	=	60–69
B–	=	80–82	F	=	Below 60

To receive credit for the course, you must earn a letter grade of C or better (for an area of study course) or D or better (for a course not in your area of study), based on the weighted average of all assigned course work (e.g., exams, assignments, discussion postings, etc.).

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

First Steps to Success

To succeed in this course, take the following first steps:

Read carefully the entire Syllabus, making sure that all aspects of the course are clear to you and that you have all the materials required for the course.

Take the time to read the entire Online Student Handbook. The Handbook answers many questions about how to proceed through the course, how to schedule exams, and how to get the most from your educational experience at Thomas Edison State University.

Arrange to take your examination(s) by following the instructions in this Syllabus and the Online Student Handbook.

Familiarize yourself with the learning management systems environment—how to navigate it and what the various course areas contain. If you know what to expect as you navigate the course, you can better pace yourself and complete the work on time.

If you are not familiar with Web-based learning be sure to review the processes for posting responses online and submitting assignments before class begins.

Study Tips

Consider the following study tips for success:

To stay on track throughout the course, begin each week by consulting the course Calendar. The Calendar provides an overview of the course and indicates due dates for submitting assignments, posting discussions, and scheduling and taking examinations.

Check Announcements regularly for new course information.

ACADEMIC POLICIES

To ensure success in all your academic endeavors and coursework at Thomas Edison State University, familiarize yourself with all administrative and academic policies including those related to academic integrity, course late submissions, course extensions, and grading policies.

For more, see: