Topics in Accounting

BA 429/529

Spring 2005

Professor: Roger Graham Office: 204 Bexell Hall

E-mail: roger.graham@bus.oregonstate.edu Phone: 737-4028

Office Hours: 2:00 - 3:00 Thursday

Text: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002: Impacting the Accounting Profession, Beasley and Elder, Pearson, Prentice Hall 2005

Course Description: BA 429, Topics in Accounting, is a seminar addressing topics relevant to accounting and finance professionals. Seminars are directed by accounting and finance executives. Topics vary and are selected to be relevant to accounting students who are close to graduation. Topics for Spring 2005 include (1) the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and (2) investor relations. Classes are held on Thursday evenings to facilitate the schedules of the executives. Students enrolled in BA 429 are expected to be actively engaged in the subjects and be willing to participate in discussions about the topics presented during the class. Because BA 429/529 will be a seminar it is limited to an enrollment no greater than 25 students.

Class periods will be structured so that approximately one half of the class is dedicated to the presentation and discussion of material and approximately one-half of the class is dedicated to group projects. Group projects can be any application of the materials presented in the class including analysis of cases and problem solving situations. Each group will prepare a short presentation at the end of the class period.

Learning Objectives: Upon completion of BA 429 students will

1. understand the history, key points, and consequences of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,

2. understand the regulation of investor relations, and

3. understand the role of the accounting – finance professional in investor relations.

Course Requirements: Course requirements include attendance, prior preparation for and participation in class discussions, and two written assignments. The weighting on the course requirements follows.

	Points
Attendance	20
Participation in Class Discussions	20
Sarbanes Oxley Written Assignment	35
Investor Relations Written Assignment	25
Total	100

Grading: Grades will be assigned based on your total points earned during the term: A’s 90-100 points, B’s 80-89 points, C’s 70-79 points, D’s 60-69, and F’s below 60 points.

Written Assignments: The objective of the written assignments is to demonstrate comprehension of the materials presented in the class through research and application, analysis and synthesis of the topics. Assignments should be concise, well-written, grammatically correct, and free of misspellings. Each of the two written assignments should be no more than ten pages and not less than 5 pages of double-spaced typed text, including exhibits, with appropriate headings. Margins should be no less than one inch and the font size 12.

It is extremely important to me that you correctly reference any or all ideas or passages in your write-up that are not your own original work. This means that any portion of a passage that you take from another source must be in quotes with an appropriate citation. Grades will be adjusted for any plagiarism.

"to steal and pass off as one's own (the ideas or words of another), to present as one's own an idea or product derived from an existing source" Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Springfield, MA

Similarly, a separate reference section should be used for any (and only) works cited in the text of your write-up. The reference section as well as cites within the text should follow professional accounting guidelines. See an appropriate source for examples of proper citations. Only complete original sources (not abstracts) can be used as references. Textbooks, which are largely derived from other sources, are not appropriate as references. Your reference section should be on a separate page.

Tentative Schedule

Weeks	Dates	Topics	Facilitators
1-6	March 31 April 7 April 14 April 21 April 28 May 5	The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002	Russell D. Price, CPA Controller eBG Operations Finance Intel Corporation George Graves, Partner KPMG Written Assignment due May 5th
7	May 12	Financial Reporting	Financial Reporting Conference @ CH2M Hill Alumni Center: 9-4
8	May 19	Investor Relations	Scott Hildebrandt, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Planar Systems Stewart Clark, Director, Investor Relations, Planar Systems Written Assignment due May 26th
9	May 26	International Accounting Standards	Professor Graham
10	June 2	Current topics at the FASB	Professor Graham