The course continues the study started in AFM 291 with emphasis on liabilities and shareholders’ equity sections of the balance sheet.  Additional topics include earnings per share, income taxes, pensions, leases, changes in accounting principals, and cash flow statements, among others.  While some emphasis is placed on analysis, interpretation, and use of accounting data for investing, credit, and management decisions, the reporting function of accounting to external users (investors and creditors) will be stressed.  This will not only entail the study of current financial reporting and disclosure requirements, but will include controversial and emerging practices.

 

In this course, students need to develop and demonstrate both financial accounting knowledge and critical thinking and communication skills.  Specifically, students are expected to:

• Learn and evaluate current financial accounting rules underlying the measurement and communication of economic data.
• Understand complex financial events and their effect on financial statements, cash flows, and accounting-based contracts.
• Read and critically evaluate financial statements.
• Develop critical thinking skills by completing research tasks, group learning and interactions, and communication tasks (oral and written).  Critical thinking is a rational response to questions that cannot be answered definitively and for which all the relevant information may not be available.  Critical thinking is an investigation whose purpose is to (1) analyze a problem, (2) arrive at a conclusion that integrates all available information, and (3) justify the conclusion convincingly to others.