95-719 Accounting and Finance Foundations Course Syllabus

Instructor Office Hours by appointment

William Gogolak
Email: [email protected] Visit this link to book your appointment

Lecture
Section G4 Monday and Wednesday 1:25pm – 2:45pm – Hamburg Hall 1204

Teaching Assistants TA Office Hours

Sahil Krishnadas TBD
[email protected]

Rahul Goenka TBD

[email protected]

Course Description
The focus of this course is on the basics of reading and interpreting financial statements in for-profit
companies and financial evaluation of projects. These are critical skills for any manager. Owners
(shareholders) expect managers to operate their companies in a way that produces creates wealth. For
this reason, managers must know how their decisions affect the company's profits. This course provides
the background students will need to be successful in their careers.

Course Objectives
• This course endeavors to give students the skills to be effective managers. Upon completion of
this course, the student will be able to:
• Locate financial information to analyze companies
• Classify accounts in the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow
• Analyze a company's financial health using ratio analysis
• Calculate and interpret Discount Rate
• Calculate, interpret and apply Capital Budgeting techniques to determine financial viability of a
projects; use time value of money techniques to make decisions

Required Text
Corporate Finance (12th edition)

*Note: Other versions are fine; however, the page numbers will differ from assigned readings
Additional Resources
Investopedia.com has a lot of useful finance and accounting information that is relevant to the course.
Make sure for any calculations and ratios that we do during class, you need to use the formula from
class in your assignments, quizzes and exam. There are variations of formulas that will give you a
different answer and you will not get credit if you do not use the versions from class.

Lecture notes and in class material is posted and will be maintained on Canvas

Course Organization

Canvas
The course will utilize Canvas for all material needed. There is a weekly guide included that
covers materials and reading assignments for each class session along with due dates for
assignments and quizzes. Important class information will be communicated via Canvas through
announcements so please make sure to check frequently. (https://canvas.cmu.edu)

Reading Materials
Prior to each class there will be assigned reading and review questions from the required text which
willbe to your benefit to complete prior to lecture. Since this class is only 7 weeks, we have a lot of
materialto go through during that time. I will expect that you have read prior to lecture and will be
going over formulas and problems that you should have already seen in the reading material. If you
have questionsfrom the reading, please ask as I review that section during lecture so I can clarify any
topics that you may not understand.

Grading Summary

Assignment Total Points # of Assignments

Canvas Posts/Participation 10 points 5 posts
Quizzes 30 points 5 quizzes
Midterm Exam 30 points 1 exam
Individual Assignment 30 points 1 assignment
TOTAL POINTS 100 points 12

I will be using a standard grading scale based on the weighting above. I will not be rounding or curving
the grades so plan accordingly with submitting assignments and studying for quizzes/exams.

A+ 98.0-100% B+ 88.0-89.0% C+ 78.0-79.0% R 69.0% and below

A 94.0-98.0% B 84.0-87.0% C 74.0-77.0%
A- 90.0-93.0% B- 80.0-83.0% C- 70.0-73.0%

The TA’s and I will work quickly to return quizzes, assignments and exams via Canvas. If you have a
grading dispute, this must be communicated via first with the TA and then to the Professor. Must be
brought to TA’s attention within one week of receiving your grade.
Canvas Posts/Participation
Canvas Posts and class participation will be 10 points of your grade. There will be a total of 5 posts;
each post is worth 2 points. I will expect you to participate in class and it will benefit you to ask
questions. Each week the student must submit their response to the canvas post, we will discuss the
submissions during class on Wednesdays. Students must be present for this discussion.

There will be an attendance sheet that you will sign upon entering the classroom. Any false signatures
will result in a zero for the participation grade for the mini. You may miss 2 lectures regardless of the
reason. If you will miss class, as a courtesy feel free to email me, but this is not required. If you find
that you have extenuating circumstances requiring you tomiss more than 2 lectures, please come to
office hours to discuss so we can find a solution together.

We will be using Microsoft Excel as well as the files on Canvas during lecture. Prior to each lecture,
you should have the files available to you and have Excel open on your computer. I will work through
avariety of examples during class, and you will be expected to complete during lecture. I will not be
providing answers keys to any material covered during lecture, you are expected to take notes.

Quizzes
There will be weekly quizzes on due on Fridays during the course that will be 30 points of your grade.
There will be a total of 5 quizzes. Each quiz will have 18 questions each worth 1/3rd of a point. The
quiz will cover material from lectures during that week as well as assigned readings and practice
questions (material from prior weeks may be included as much of the course is cumulative). The
quizzes are to be done individuallyand you will be allowed to use any course material while you take
them. You will have 90 minutes for each quiz and questions will be given 1 at a time and you will not
be able to go back to prior questions. You will not all have the same questions on the quizzes. The
weekly quiz will open at 5pm on Thursdays and close at 11:59pm on Fridays. If you miss a quiz, you
will not be allowed to take it late and will forfeit those points.

Midterm Exam
There will be one midterm exam. The midterm exam will be worth 30 points of your grade. The exam
will have 30 questions each worth 1 point. The Midterm Exam must be taken on the scheduled exam
date during our class time unless prior permission is given only due to unusual circumstances. This
will be given via Canvas will include multiple choice, fill in the blank, true/false and matching
questions. Anything discussed in lecture, required reading or assignments is possible to be on the
exam.

Individual Assignments
There will be one individual assignment due at the end of the course. The assignment will be worth 30
points of your grade. The assignment will have 3 sections each worth 10 points. The three sections will
align to the following learning objectives: financial statements, foundations of value & financial health,
and project finance. You may work together by asking questions of other students to help you with
the assignment, however work is to be submitted individually and must be in your own words.
Assignments will be submitted via Gradescope. Late assignments will be reduced by 10% and you will
have a grace period of 12 hours to turn in the assignment.
Academic Integrity

All assignments that you are submitting should be in your own words, not classmates and not directly
taken from the book or online resources. You may work with classmates to discuss assignments and
askquestions, but the assignments are to be completed individually. I will be checking for plagiarism
amongst assignments. Cheating on assignments or exams will not be tolerated and will be
communicated to Your Program Director, The Associate Dean and The Dean of Student Affairs at the
University. If you are caught cheating, you will fail the course.
https://www.cmu.edu/policies/student-and-student-life/academic-integrity.html

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

If you have a disability and have an accommodations letter from the Disability Resources office, I
encourage you to discuss your accommodations and needs with me as early in the semester as
possible.I will work with you to ensure that accommodations are provided as appropriate. If you
suspect that youmay have a disability and would benefit from accommodations but are not yet
registered with the Officeof Disability Resources, I encourage you to contact them at
[email protected].

Student Wellness

Please make it a priority to take care of yourself during the semester. Focus on a healthy lifestyle to
help you achieve your goals and what you are hoping to accomplish during your time here. There are
avariety of resources available to ask for help. Don’t wait and get help if you feel that you need it.

If you or anyone you know experiences any academic stress, difficult life events, or feelings like
anxiety or depression, we strongly encourage you to seek support. Counseling and Psychological
Services (CaPS) is here to help: call 412-268-2922 and visit their website at
http://www.cmu.edu/counseling/. Consider reaching out to a friend, faculty or family member you
trust for help getting connected to the support that can help.

If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal or in danger of self-harm, call someone immediately,
day or night:
• CaPS: 412-268-2922
• Re:solve Crisis Network: 888-796-8226
• If the situation is life threatening
o On campus CMU Police: 412-268-2323
o Off campus: 911
Diversity

I plan to treat all of you with respect and I would ask the same in return. We are diverse in many ways,
and this diversity is fundamental to building and maintaining an equitable and inclusive campus
community. Diversity can refer to multiple ways that we identify ourselves, including but not limited to
race, color, national origin, language, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion,
creed, ancestry, belief, veteran status, or genetic information. Each of these diverse identities, along
with many others not mentioned here, shape the perspectives our students, faculty, and staff bring to
our campus. We, at CMU, will work to promote diversity, equity and inclusion not only because
diversityfuels excellence and innovation, but because we want to pursue justice. We acknowledge our
imperfections while we also fully commit to the work, inside and outside of our classrooms, of building
and sustaining a campus community that increasingly embraces these core values. Each of us is
responsible for creating a safer, more inclusive environment.

Unfortunately, incidents of bias or discrimination do occur, whether intentional or unintentional. They

contribute to creating an unwelcoming environment for individuals and groups at the university.
Therefore, the university encourages anyone who experiences or observes unfair or hostile treatment
on the basis of identity to speak out for justice and support, within the moment of the incident or
afterthe incident has passed. Anyone can share these experiences using the following resources:

Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion: [email protected], (412) 268-2150

Report-It online anonymous reporting platform: reportit.net username: tartans password: plaid

All reports will be documented and deliberated to determine if there should be any following actions.
Regardless of incident type, the university will use all shared experiences to transform our campus
climate to be more equitable and just.
The following is a tentative schedule for the course. Any changes will
be announced in class and through Canvas

Date Topic Area Lecture Topic Due Dates/ Readings

3/14/2022 Introduction Finance in a Nutshelll Chapter 1

3/16/2022 Accounting Statements General Ledger & Account Groupings No reading

3/21/2022 Accounting Statements Income Statements Chapter 2

3/23/2022 Accounting Statements Balance Sheet & Cash Flow Statements Chapter 2
3/23/2022 Assignment Participation #1 Due before class
3/25/2022 Assignment Quiz #1 Due at midnight

3/28/2022 Accounting Statements Reorganizing Statements for Management Reporting Chapter 3

3/30/2022 Financial Foundations Analyzing Historical Performance Chapter 3
3/30/2022 Assignment Participation #2 Due before class
4/01/2022 Assignment Quiz #2 Due at midnight

4/04/2022 Financial Foundations Time Value of Money Chapter 4

4/06/2022 Financial Foundations Time Value of Money Chapter 4
4/06/2022 Assignment Participation #3 Due before class
4/08/2022 Assignment Quiz #3 Due at midnight

4/11/2022 Financial Foundations Net Present Value Chapter 5

4/13/2022 Assignment Midterm Exam In class

4/18/2022 Financial Foundations Project Evaluation Chapter 6

4/20/2022 Financial Foundations Project Evaluation Chapter 6
4/20/2022 Assignment Participation #4 Due before class
4/22/2022 Assignment Quiz #4 Due at midnight

4/25/2022 Financial Health Capital Structure: Basic Concepts Chapter 16

4/27/2022 Financial Health Dividend and Other Payouts Chapter 19
4/27/2022 Assignment Participation #5 Due before class
4/29/2022 Assignment Quiz #5 Due at midnight

5/9/2022 Individual assignment – no class Due at midnight

Not in control of the instructor: If there are extenuation circumstances that result in the class moving to
a Remote environment via Zoom, this will be communicated via Canvas. Please make sure your
announcements are turned on sothat you do not miss any of this communication.