BA 427 - Assurance and Attestation Services
Winter 2006

[Schedule]

Course Administration

Instructor: Professor Dennis Caplan Office: 218 Bexell

Phone: 737-2727 Email: capland@bus.oregonstate.edu

Class Hours:

Section 1: MWF 10:00 – 11:10 Bexell 417

Section 2: MWF 12:00 – 1:10 Bexell 417

Office Hours: Tuesday 10:30 – 11:30

Wednesday 3:00 – 4:00

Thursday 10:30 – 11:30

And by appointment

Course Objectives: After successfully completing this course, students will be able to

- systematize the responsibilities of company management, the audit committee, the internal audit function, and the company’s public accountants with respect to corporate governance, internal controls, and external financial reporting;

- articulate how the public accounting profession is shaped by its regulatory, self-regulatory, business and legal environments;

- frame the various elements of the planning, testing and reporting phases of an audit in the context of the overall audit objective and engagement risk assessment;

- document an accounting system, denoting key controls and control weaknesses;

- estimate audit population errors using statistical and nonstatistical sampling techniques, and deduce the effect of these sampling results on the audit;

- map from a set of facts about a company and its financial statement audit to the appropriate audit opinion on those statements;

- research whether a set of facts about an audit is consistent with Generally Accepted Auditing Standards;

- elucidate on the causes, methods, signs and consequences of corporate financial statement fraud;

- converse knowledgeably on the meaning and significance of professional ethics in the public accounting and internal auditing professions;

- opine on the significance and recent historical development of the independence-in-appearance standard in the public accounting profession.

Course prerequisites: BA 319 (External Reporting II), with a grade of C or better, is an enforced prerequisite. Students must be reasonably proficient at expressing themselves in writing.

Course materials: The following materials are required for this course:

1. Gleim’s CPA Review: Auditing, 2006 Edition, by Irvin N. Gleim and William A. Hillison. This book is available from the bookstore and from the publisher’s website: www.gleim.com.

2. There is a required Course Packet containing articles and other readings, available from the OSU Bookstore.

Additional required readings will be available on the web and/or distributed in class.

Course format: The course is four credit hours, and convenes in three 70-minute meetings weekly, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Class time will consist primarily of lectures, discussions, exercises, and outside speakers.

Course requirements: Your course grade will be based on the following components:

Component	Points	Dates
Exam 1	30	January 26
Exam 2	40	February 16
Exam 3	40	March 9
Quizzes, case discussions, and class participation	30	Various
Final exam (this exam is cumulative)	60	during finals week
Total points	200

Exams during the term: There will be three exams during the term. The format of these exams will vary, and the format of each exam will be announced in class approximately one week prior to the date of the exam. Some exams might be comprehensive. Some exams might be closed-book while others might be open-book. If you become aware of a conflict that might cause you to miss an exam, you should inform me immediately, and no later than the end of the first week of the term.

Quizzes, case discussions, and other types of class participation: You should receive full credit, or nearly full credit, on this portion of your grade if you attend class regularly, come to class prepared, and participate during in-class activities. No opportunity will be provided to make up for missed points from this part of your grade that arise because you miss class; for any reason whatsoever.

Final exam: The final exam will be held during finals week, and will be comprehensive. If you become aware of a conflict that might cause you to miss the final exam, you should inform me immediately.

Extra credit: Opportunities for extra credit may be provided in connection with one or more of the exams.

Homework: Homework is self-study and self-graded, and generally will not constitute a formal part of your grade.

Blackboard: Grades will be posted to Blackboard throughout the term. Please do not send me email via the communications link in Blackboard. Email correspondence should be sent to capland@bus.oregonstate.edu.

Calculation of Overall Grade: Your course grade will be determined by comparing your total points and your class rank against the following criteria, beginning at the top and proceeding down the list, until your total points or class rank satisfy the cutoff:

If you rank in the top 10% of the class, or earn at least 186 points overall, you will receive an A.

If you rank in the top 15% of the class, or earn at least 180 points overall, you will receive an A-.

If you rank in the top 25% of the class, or earn at least 174 points overall, you will receive a B+.

If you rank in the top 50% of the class, or earn at least 166 points overall, you will receive a B.

If you rank in the top 55% of the class, or earn at least 160 points overall, you will receive a B-.

If you rank in the top 65% of the class, or earn at least 154 points overall, you will receive a C+.

If you rank in the top 80% of the class, or earn at least 146 points overall, you will receive a C.

If you fail to receive a C or better, but earn at least 140 points overall, you will receive a C-.

If you fail to receive a C- or better, but earn at least 120 points overall, you will receive a D. Grades of D+ and D- will not be assigned. Students who earn less than 120 points overall can expect to fail the course.

Class rank will be determined as the percentage of students with your score or higher, divided by the total number of students registered for the course at the end of the term. This ranking will be determined for both winter 2007 sections of BA427 combined, unless there are material differences in the distribution of scores between sections, in which case the ranking will be section-specific. Note that this grading system guarantees that at least half of the class will receive a grade of B or better, at least 80% of the class will receive a grade of C or better, and it places no upper limit on the overall class GPA.

At my discretion, I may consider class participation and other subjective course-related factors when assigning grades to students whose overall score is just below 140 or 120.

If you have any questions about any aspect of the grading, please speak with me as soon as possible.

Students with disabilities: Accommodations are collaborative efforts between students, faculty and Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD). Students with accommodations approved through SSD are responsible for contacting the faculty member in charge of the course prior to or during the first week of the term to discuss accommodations. Students who believe they are eligible for accommodations but who have not yet obtained approval through SSD should contact SSD immediately at 737-4098.

Academic Integrity: I define academic dishonesty in this class as (1) plagiarism; (2) offering or receiving help on an exam or quiz; or (3) otherwise compromising or attempting to compromise the integrity of an exam or quiz. All cases of suspected academic dishonesty are handled in strict accordance with University policy, which can be viewed at the following University web address: http://oregonstate.edu/admin/stucon/achon.htm.

Tips for success: Plan on spending about eight hours weekly on this course, outside of class. There are extensive reading assignments in this course. Do not procrastinate with these assignments: read the material before class. Be an active learner in class, and participate in class discussions.