Results for ACCT

In general terms, financial accounting is the measurement of economic activity for decision-making. Financial statements are a key product of this measurement process and an important component of firms financial reporting activities. In the past few years, financial accounting came to the forefront of the national consciousness as the stock market continued to decline amid faltering investor confidence. The crisis of confidence began with the revelation of accounting irregularities at some of the United States largest companies. However, the implications extended well beyond the effects of individual accounting or company failures: investors seemed to lose confidence in the integrity of the financial system as a whole. The capital markets, whose relative efficiency is based largely on the timely dissemination of relevant and reliable financial information, were at risk. Clearly, the importance of understanding accounting has never been so salient.nnnThe objective of this course is not to train you to become an accountant but rather to help you develop into an informed user of financial statement information. While financial statement users face a wide variety of decisions, they are often interested in understanding the implications of financial statement information for the future cash flows and earnings potential of a firm. We will focus on understanding the mapping between underlying economic events and financial statements, and on understanding how this mapping affects inferences about future profitability. Because annual reports are somewhat formidable, we will spend time familiarizing ourselves with how firms present the information for various accounts in the financial statements, including the footnotes. We also will discuss the role of the various institutions involved in the reporting process. By understanding the environment in which financial reporting takes place you will be in a better position to evaluate critically the disclosures made by firms in published financial statements.nnnThe following learning objectives will be emphasized: (1) familiarity with the transactions businesses engage in, (2) fluency in accounting terminology, (3) understanding the logical structure that maps transactions into accounting numbers, (4) understanding the rationale for various accounting methods, (5) understanding the process that generates accounting standards and the complexity of this task, (6) awareness of the judgment involved and the discretion allowed in choosing accounting methods, making estimates, and disclosing information in financial statements, and (7) familiarity with the various formats used for different disclosures.

Managerial accounting refers to the preparation and use of information for internal planning, control, coordination, and performance evaluation purposes. This orientation contrasts with financial accounting where the focus is on accounting disclosures for parties external to the firm.nnnThe majority of the course covers the vocabulary and mechanics of cost accounting, issues involved in the design of an internal accounting system, and the role of accounting in decisions concerning resource allocation and performance measurement. Included in this are discussions of capacity costs, inter-departmental allocations, and activity-based management in manufacturing and service environments. We will pay particular attention to the trade-offs embedded in the choice of internal accounting systems, as well ways in which to attenuate the problems created by these trade-offs.nnnThe second part of the course examines the process of evaluating the performance of individuals, business units and firms. We will study the optimal choice of performance metrics for incentive purposes and the rationale behind the balanced scorecard, as well as the importance of designing appropriate transfer prices for intrafirm transactions.

This course develops students' ability to read, understand, and use corporate financial statements. The course is oriented toward the user of financial accounting data (rather than the preparer) and emphasizes the reconstruction and interpretation of economic events from published accounting reports. The advanced sections are geared toward students with some familiarity in dealing with financial statements and allows for deeper coverage and discussion in class.

This core course provides a comprehensive introduction to the concepts and tools of managerial accounting. The first part of the course demonstrates how management can rely on internal accounting information to measure and manage the profitability of individual products and customers. As part of that analysis, we examine alternative costing methods and illustrate how the resulting cost information can be used for decision making.nnnThe second part of the course focuses on the role of the internal accounting system in evaluating managerial performance and in coordinating the activities among business units within the firm. Our focus here will be on performance metrics that enable effective decentralization by aligning the objectives of individual business units with the overall corporate goals.

A characteristic of business is the extensive use of accounting data. The financial accounting course has the general objective of developing students' understanding of the nature, scope, and limitations of accounting information. To achieve this objective the course attempts to: (1) develop students' understanding of the conceptual accounting framework, including the objectives of financial reporting, and (2) develop students' ability to understand and critically evaluate the financial disclosures made by corporations. An issue of particular interest will be the managerial incentive aspects of accounting information and disclosures.

This course is designed to enhance students' understanding of current financial reporting issues through a detailed analysis and comparison of U.S. and International Financial Reporting Standards. The course will cover the development of accounting standards, implementation of these standards, and how to interpret output from these standards. The course highlights intermediate and advanced financial reporting topics including consolidation, foreign currency transactions, foreign currency translation, derivatives, hedging, leases, revenue recognition, variable interest entities, and equity compensation. The course also focuses on evaluating emerging financial reporting issues such as proposed financial reporting standards put forth by U.S. or international standard setting agencies. This course should help students better understand the environment governing financial reporting and how firms develop financial statement information within this environment.

This course aims to develop students' understanding of the relation between accounting numbers and underlying economic activity, and to develop students' ability to use accounting numbers in several decision contexts including evaluating profitability, forecasting future earnings and cash flows, selecting an appropriate financial reporting strategy, and assessing risk. Accordingly, the course will focus on several factors essential to this goal. These include understanding (1) the business environment a firm operates in, its contracting practices and their implications for what accounting principles are applied and what judgments are required; (2) the process that generates accounting numbers and its implications for the quality of those numbers for decision purposes; (3) approaches for assessing the sustainability and growth of a firm's revenues and earnings using financial statement information; and (4) approaches to evaluate earnings quality, the risk of earnings restatements, liquidity and solvency. This course should be of value to students who will be in senior positions within corporations and will determine financial reporting policies, as well as those outside corporations who will make investment or other decisions at least partially based on financial statement information.

This course is structured to develop students' ability to interpret and use financial accounting information in equity valuation contexts. The perspective taken is that of an outsider relying on publicly available financial information for investment purposes, and builds heavily on the residual income framework for equity valuation. The first half of the course covers financial statement analysis-based tools for assessing a firm's current financial performance and economic condition, including traditional ratio analysis and financial distress/bankruptcy prediction models. The second half of the course introduces the accounting-based valuation framework, and develops the link between financial statement analysis, forecasting and valuation. This portion of the course focuses on techniques for forecasting specific income statement and balance sheet items, the creation of pro-forma financial statements, and the implementation of several accounting-based valuation models. The capstone to the course is the completion of a comprehensive equity valuation project. In addition to learning basic financial statement analysis tools and accounting-based valuation theory, students benefits from applying these tools and theories in the context of weekly cases and the final project. The course is structured for students to gain a deeper understanding of the economic pressures behind the valuation process by drawing upon and synthesizing concepts from microeconomics, corporate finance, corporate strategy, statistics and accounting. The course will be of value to those students who, as either senior managers or outsiders, anticipate making investment or credit decisions at least partially based on financial statement information.

The course is designed to introduce students to the corporate governance and transparency issues faced by managers and investors in emerging economies, and the impact these problems have on firm valuation and capital market behavior. The goal of the class is to develop a framework for forecasting future earnings, cash flows and dividends and, ultimately, estimating firm value. The first half of the course will discuss the impact that weak legal, political and regulatory institutions have on financial reporting practices, corporate governance and capital market behavior, and develop an understanding of the incentives and institutional arrangements that exacerbate or mitigate these effects. The second half of the course will address the following question: how does an investor value an investment opportunity in an economy with weak institutions, such as poor corporate transparency, minimal protection of investor rights, a self-serving government and/or legal systems that fail to enforce contracts? The course will focus on understanding the risks, uncertainties and limitations investors face in each of these settings, and outlining the type of adjustments that should be made to firm valuations and underlying earnings, cash flow and dividend forecasts. Evidence from recent research on these topics will be presented and discussed throughout the course. The capstone to the class will be a final project. The final project will focus on the analysis of a specific emerging economy's capital market and institutional environment, conducted in the context of determining the investment potential (as a minority shareholder) of a publicly-traded firm in that market. This course will be of value to those students who expect to make investment-related decisions in emerging or developing economies. The course is designed to benefit both senior corporate managers and investment professionals.

The course will examine the academic and professional controversies surrounding corporate governance and executive compensation. A basic framework will be developed to integrate the many important dimensions of corporate governance in the U.S. and international settings. The institutional features of corporate governance and executive compensation will be documented using the professional business and legal literatures. In addition, the scientific research in accounting, economics, finance, and organizational behavior will be used to provide insights into the measurement and consequences of observed corporate governance and executive compensation choices. After successfully finishing the course, a student should be able to (i) understand the debates about appropriate choices for corporate governance and executive compensation and (ii) critically evaluate the implications of academic and professional research studies on these controversial issues.

This course covers accounting and economic issues related to mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. In particular, we examine the financial reporting implications of corporate control changes (e.g., consolidation, the "purchase" and "acquisition" treatments, in-process-R&D), and the income tax implications of M&A transactions (e.g., taxable vs. non-taxable, "asset" vs. "stock", etc). We also examine corporate governance issues related to firms' decision to acquire or be acquired, the M&A regulatory environment (e.g., securities regulation, anti-trust), and other factors that potentially shape the structure of M&A transactions. nnnIn covering these issues, we will discuss both the theory and practice of mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. In addition to analyzing some specific M&A transactions (e.g., the AOL and Time Warner merger, Oracle's takeover of PeopleSoft), we will review related research in accounting, economic, and finance to gain a broader and more general perspective for the key takeaways. Class time would comprise mini lectures that introduce some of the more technical concepts, case discussions, and some guest speakers who can offer additional perspectives on these subject matters.nnnThe course is co-taught by Ron Kasznik (GSB) and Safra Catz (Oracle Corporation). Ms. Catz is President of Oracle and a member of its Board of Directors. She has led Oracle through more than 50 acquisitions in recent years (including PeopleSoft, Siebel, BEA, and Sun Microsystems). Prior to joining Oracle in 1999, Ms. Catz was Managing Director at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, a global investment bank (now part of Credit Suisse First Boston). Ms. Catz was appointed to the board of directors for HSBC Holdings plc in May 2008.

This course focuses on the economics of informational arbitrage in equity markets. Our underlying premise is that stock prices are not established by fiat; they are the result of a costly and risky arbitrage process. We will seek to better understand the economics of this process, and to assess its risks/rewards in various settings. nnnThe course will cover some of the basic tools of informational arbitrage in equity markets, including: equity valuation, cash flow analysis, quality of earnings assessment, short-selling mechanics, portfolio risk management, and hedge fund performance evaluation. Our overall goal is to improve student skills in assessing the relative attractiveness of: (a) individual companies, (b) equity portfolios, and (c) fund managers. nnnThis course is designed as an advanced elective. I expect it will be particularly useful to students interested in equity research, security analysis, financial consulting, and asset management. Students taking this class are expected to be well versed in core economic, accounting and finance skills. Material covered in a second Financial Modeling course, as well as in Accounting 312 (Evaluating Financial Statement Information) and Accounting 313 (Accounting-based Valuation) will come in handy, although none of these courses are required.

This Bass seminar is designed to develop students' ability to interpret and use financial accounting information in credit and equity valuation contexts. The course will focus on valuing the securities of companies undergoing significant changes as a result of litigation, restructuring, regulatory changes, mergers, spin-offs or significant industry shifts. Throughout the course, students will (1) enrich their understanding of how alternative economic, legal, political and regulatory outcomes affect the value of various components of a company's capital structure and (2) develop their ability to apply financial statement analysis to assess the likelihood and valuation implications of the events of interest. nnnEvent-driven investing follows the life cycle of companies as they revamp their corporate structures in response to economic and regulatory environments. For example, in rising economic periods companies may undertake acquisitions or spin off divisions to enhance shareholder value. During adverse environments, bankruptcy and reorganizations often reshape the capital structure by offering opportunities to create value through the restructuring process. During economic transitions, debt and equity investors may make significantly different assessments of the quality of a company's earnings, its assets, and its likelihood to meet its debt obligations. To assess the probability of corporate events, investors must make judgments about the quality of a company's earnings and assets and understand how accounting policies may influence management's representations. Investors must also interpret how accounting policies function at various points in a firm's life cycle, influencing the quality of earnings for firms differently in different economic environments. nnnIn the first half of the course, we will develop the course framework, and apply it to illustrative cases. Companies featured in the cases include Tyco, AIG, PG&E and Fannie Mae. Students will interpret information from companies' public financial disclosures to assess the likelihood of different events or outcomes. The course will also feature readings on current accounting standards, articles from the popular press, publicly available financial statement information, and guest speakers with in-depth knowledge of investing strategies vis a vis the case companies. nnnThe latter half of the course will be devoted to project work, with students working in teams to develop an event-driven investing strategy. The aim is to allow students to conduct independent research on a company, industry, economic context, or financial reporting environment of particular interest. Students will develop their investment idea, articulate their sense of the possible outcomes for the components of the firm's capital structure, and explain how they have assessed the likelihood and valuation consequences of those outcomes. At the conclusion of the course, students will present their strategies to the class and a panel of expert judges.

Need approval from sponsoring faculty member and GSB Registrar.

This seminar teaches students about trading strategies that have been shown to systematically beat the stock market over an extended period of time. All the strategies use accounting information as a basis for fundamental analysis. The course will start with a discussion of efficient markets and basic valuation theory before moving on to present a variety of trading strategies whose success has been documented in the academic and practitioner literatures. Students will be expected to: (1) make one small presentation (most likely as a part of a group) summarizing the findings of a paper; and (2) attend all five classes. Grades will be pass/fail.

This course is aimed at doctoral students in accounting and neighboring fields including economics, finance, political economics and operations management. The course seeks to provide an introduction to the role of accounting information in (i) measuring firm performance, (ii) projecting profitability and firm value for external constituents, (iii) and motivating and controlling the firm's management. nn nnThe main topics covered in this course include:nn1. Accrual Accounting and Profitability Measurementnn2. Accounting-based Equity Valuationnn3. Accounting Conservatismnn4. Performance Measurement and Managerial IncentivesnnnThe primary objective of the course is to introduce students to current research paradigms on these topics and to identify promising avenues for future research. The course readings include recent theoretical and empirical papers.

MARKET EFFICIENCY AND INFORMATIONAL ARBITRAGE: This doctoral-level course covers recent research on the role of informational arbitrage in asset pricing. The organizing theme is the informational efficiency of markets. Since the mid-1960s, the dominant academic view is that security prices are almost entirely rational or efficiently set. In recent years, this view has been challenged along several dimensions. We review this evidence and reflect on its implications for future research.nnnThe course is interdisciplinary in nature. Most of the readings in the first half derive from finance and economics (market efficiency, limits to arbitrage, and behavioral finance); most of the readings in the second half derive from the accounting literature (equity valuation, earnings management, and analyst behavior). Our overall goal is not only to review existing research, but also to stimulate new work in this area.

This course examines a range of modeling paradigms that are becoming increasingly accepted in management and accounting. Common to these models is that they employ methods from information economics including screening, incomplete contracting, signaling and voluntary disclosure. The methodological tools reviewed in this course are then applied to a variety of topics including capital budgeting, internal pricing, supplier relations, financial reporting, earnings management and financial analysts.

The purpose of this PhD seminar is to facilitate your conception and execution of substantive individual research in financial reporting. It provides a vehicle for supplementing and integrating your knowledge of basic research tools and methods, as well as an exposure to the dimensions of contemporary research in the field of accounting. The focus of the research we will discuss in this seminar is on global financial reporting. Such research encompasses studies dealing with contemporary financial reporting issues as well as research addressing issues relating to the globalization of financial reporting. Because these issues are also of concern to financial reporting standard setters, we will discuss whether and how the research we study informs standard setting debates. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor.

The course will consist of three set of topics. The first part of the class will examine a set of applied econometric topics that are useful in empirical accounting research. Each of these topics will be illustrated using contemporary examples from accounting, economics, and finance. The second part of the class will cover some of the basic theoretical work in moral hazard agency models and various extensions to this type of research. The final part of the course will discuss the empirical literature on corporate governance and executive compensation. The course will be taught in a seminar style and students will be required to develop a series of research projects on the topics covered in the class.

This course is offered for students requiring specialized training in an area not covered by existing courses. To register, a student must obtain permission from the faculty member who is willing to supervise the reading.

This course is elected as soon as a student is ready to begin research for the dissertation, usually shortly after admission to candidacy. To register, a student must obtain permission from the faculty member who is willing to supervise the research.

This course gives you perspective on key accounting concepts and role of accounting in markets and firms. You will learn the structure of financial statements, including balance sheets and income statements, and the accrual basis of accounting. In addition, you will cover the role of accounting numbers in providing information to investors and managers. Finally, you will assess the value created by a business or business segment, and the distinction between economic and accounting profitability.

The course is designed to introduce students to the corporate governance and transparency issues faced by managers and investors in emerging economies, and the impact these problems have on firm valuation and capital market behavior. The goal of the class is to develop a framework for forecasting future earnings, cash flows and dividends and estimating firm values in these countries. The first half of the course will discuss the impact that weak legal, political and regulatory institutions have on financial reporting practices, corporate governance and capital market behavior, and develop an understanding of the incentives and institutional arrangements that exacerbate or mitigate these effects. The second half of the course will address the following question: how does an investor value an investment opportunity in an economy with weak institutions, such as poor corporate transparency, minimal protection of investor rights, a self-serving government and/or legal systems that fail to enforce contracts? The course will focus on understanding the risks, uncertainties and limitations investors face in each of these settings, and outlining the type of adjustments that should be made to firm valuations and underlying earnings, cash flow and dividend forecasts. Evidence from recent research on these topics will be presented and discussed throughout the course, with special emphasis placed on China. The capstone to the class will be a final project. The final project will focus on the analysis of a specific emerging economy's capital market and institutional environment, conducted in the context of determining the investment potential (as a minority shareholder) of a publicly-traded firm in that market. This course will be of value to those students who expect to make investment-related decisions in emerging or developing economies (such as China, India and Russia, among others). The course is designed to benefit both senior corporate managers and investment professionals.

This course will focus on a variety of financial issues related to mergers and acquisitions. In particular, we will cover some of the financial statement implications of corporate control changes (e.g., consolidations, in-process-R&D, etc.), the effects of income taxes (e.g., taxable and non-taxable mergers), and other financial considerations. We will also examine some of the corporate governance issues associated with firms' decisions to acquire or be acquired, with particular emphasis on managerial incentives.nnnIn covering these issues, we would discuss not only specific M&A transactions (e.g., the merger of AOL and Time Warner, Oracle's acquisition of PeopleSoft) but also review some of the academic accounting and finance literature to gain a more general perspective for some of the key takeaways. Class time would comprise some mini lectures to introduce some of the technical issues, case discussions, and perhaps a couple of guest speakers who could offer additional perspectives on the subject matter.

This course is designed to develop students' ability to interpret and use financial accounting information in credit and equity valuation contexts. The course will focus on valuing the securities of companies undergoing significant changes as a result of litigation, restructuring, regulatory changes, mergers, spin-offs or significant industry shifts. Throughout the course, students will apply financial statement analysis and accounting based valuation models to assess the effects of these events on the various parts of a company's capital structure. The course will be of value to those students who anticipate making investment decisions using financial statement information.