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Learning Outcomes

  • Page ID
    45744
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    The content, assignments, and assessments for Accounting for Managers are aligned to the following learning outcomes. A full list of course learning outcomes can be viewed here: Accounting For Managers

    Module 1: Manipulate numerical expressions involving fractions, decimals, and percents

    Make calculations with whole numbers of varying magnitude

    • Make calculations with whole numbers of varying magnitude
    • Round whole numbers to a determined place value
    • Use addition, substraction, multiplication, and division when evaluation whole number expressions

    Make calculations with proper fractions, improper fractions, and mixed numbers

    • Identify different types of fractions and convert between them
    • Use addition and subtraction when evaluating with fractions
    • Use multiplication and division when evaluating expressions with fractions

    Make calculations with decimals of varying magnitude

    • Use place value to define all digits of a decimal number
    • Use addition and subtraction when evaluating expressions with decimals
    • Use multiplication and division when evaluating expressions with decimals
    • Convert decimals to fractions and fractions to decimals

    Make calculations using percents or finding percents

    • Use ratios to solve simple word problems
    • Use percent to represent a given fraction or decimal
    • Evaluate expressions and word problems involving percents
    • Solve problems involving percent increase and decrease

    Module 2: Apply math skills to solve problems with a variable of unknown value

    Solve single and multi-step equations for a given variable

    • Define and identify variables
    • Use the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division properties to solve single-step equations
    • Solving multi-step equations with variables on both sides

    Write and solve equations from word problems

    • Translating simple word phases into math notation
    • Use a problem solving strategy to set up and solve word problems

    Solve equations for word problems that contain fractions, decimals, and percents

    • Use mathematical questions to solve mark-up problems
    • Use mathematical questions to solve discount problems
    • Calculate simple and compound interest
    • Solve any given formula for a specific variable

    Use tables and graphs to visually represent numerical data

    • Graph points on a coordinate plane
    • Recognize the trend of a graph
    • Calculate the rate of change using data points and graphical presentation
    • Compare and contrast graphical data to decipher information and make decisions

    Module 3: Identify the Major Principles of Accounting

    Describe the place of finance and accounting within a business

    • Discuss the roles of finance and accounting in a business
    • Summarize the background and sources of financial accounting standards
    • Demonstrate how ethics applies to the field of accounting

    Discuss the financial consequences of various organizational structures

    • Outline the variety of accounting roles internal and external to a business
    • Differentiate between functional and divisional organization
    • Describe the legal implications of a business’ organization on its accounting
    • Summarize the information provided in a corporation’s annual report

    Explore the fundamentals of accounting

    • Define the accounting entity and discuss the going concern concept
    • Identify the major underlying accounting principles of consistency, full disclosure, materiality, verifiability and conservatism
    • Explain the accounting concept

    Module 4: Describe the different types of business organizations and the financial statements they rely on

    Examine the elements of common financial statements

    • Define transactions
    • Solving the accounting equation
    • Identify general categories of accounts
    • Describe the double entry bookkeeping system
    • Explain how key financial statements are structured

    Discuss the bookkeeping process and the overall effects of transactions

    • Illustrate the expanded accounting equation
    • Define common bookkeeping terms and phrases
    • Construct bookkeeping journal entries based on given parameters
    • Analyze the relationships between key financial statements
    • Identify important information found on key financial statements

    Analyze data from financial statements

    • Describe how inventories are reported on balance sheets and income statements
    • Demonstrate how current assets are reported on the balance sheet
    • Show how noncurent assets are reported on the balance sheet
    • Describe the presentation of stockholder’s equity on the balance sheet and statement of owners’ equity
    • Discuss how expenses are reported on the income statement
    • Explain how expenses are reported on the income statement

    Explore how other financial components are accounted for and presented

    • Compute core financial ratios that communicate essential information
    • Calculate return on investment
    • Calculating return on equity
    • Analyze other key ratios to interpret financial statement data
    • Discuss the limitations of financial statements

    Module 5: Define managerial accounting, its key elements, and its role in a business

    Describe the difference between financial and managerial accounting

    • Compare and contrast financial and managerial accounting
    • Explain the key components of managerial accounting
    • Analyze the relationship between financial and managerial accounting and how they are compartmentalized within modern businesses

    Examine the various managerial accounting perspectives throughout an organization

    • Identify the roles/people in a business who take on managerial accounting decisions
    • Explain how accounting affects strategy development
    • Explain how accounting is tied to risk management planning
    • Explain how accounting decisions are influenced by both employee and leadership beliefs and needs

    Module 6: Predict fixed, mixed, and variable cost behaviors

    Classify costs to better understand the business expenses

    • Differentiate between product costs and period costs
    • Classify a variety of manufacturing costs
    • Define and give examples of fixed and variable costs
    • Describe the relevant range and its use in managerial accouning

    Summarize the key elements of mixed cost analysis

    • Define and outline examples of mixed costs in retail and manufacturing businesses
    • Define dependent variable and independent variable
    • Analyze mixed costs using the high-low method
    • Use the least-squares regression method to create a regression line on a graph of cost data

    Module 7: Compare and contrast job costing, process costing, activity costing for tracking business costs

    Discuss the importance of cost management

    • Describe the relationship between cost management and managerial accounting relating to the value chain
    • Differentiate between direct and indirect costs

    Examine the job order cost accounting system

    • Describe a situation in which job order costing is used
    • Calculate an overhead rate, manufacturing overhead, and unit costs
    • Explain the flow of costs in a job order costing system
    • Prepare a sample journal entry that records job order costs

    Examine the process cost accounting system

    • Compare and contrast job order and process costing
    • Explain the flow of costs in a process costing system
    • Calculate equivalent units of production and costs per equivalent unit using the weighted average and FIFO method
    • Prepare sample cost reconciliation journals for both the weighted average and FIFO methods
    • Discuss how to allocate service costs as operations costs using the direct and step-down methods

    Examine the benefits and limitations of both cost accounting methods

    • Describe situations in which activity-based absorption costing is used
    • Illustrate the difference between tradition costing and activity-based absorption costing

    Module 8: Use cost-volume-profit relationships to predict the effects of possible changes to those varriables

    Describe the key elements of cost-volume-profit analysis

    • List the factors associated with cost-volume-profit analysis
    • Outline the contribution margin model
    • Calculate net operating income using the profit equation
    • Compute the contribution margin ratio

    Illustrate the application of cost-volume-profit concepts

    • Explain why changes to key cost-volume-profit factors can significantly affect planning and decision making
    • Prepare a statement that shows a charge in fixed cost and sales volume
    • Prepare a statement that shows a charge in variable costs and sales volume
    • Prepare a statement that shows a change in fixed cost, selling price and sales volume
    • Prepare a statement that shows change in variable cost, fixed cost and sales volume

    Examine various methods of break-even analysis

    • Define the break-even point
    • Determine the break-even point using the equation method, the formula method, and in dollar sales and sales units
    • Define target profit analysis and use it to make sales volume calculations
    • Compute margin of safety
    • Analyze the break-even point data for a company that wants to adjust its sales mix

    Identify cost-volume-profit considerations for choosing a cost structure

    • Compare and contrast sample cost structures for company strengths and weakness
    • Describe operating leverage and use it to evaluate sample cost structures

    Module 9: Interpret all aspects of an operating budget

    Discuss the purpose of an master budget

    • Describe the advantages of budgeting to a business
    • Define responsibility accounting
    • Differentiate between alternative budget periods
    • Identify the benefits of self-imposed and participatory budgeting

    Illustrate the use of accounting data in a prepared master budget

    • Summarize the impact of the sales forecast on the master budget
    • Outline the sequence of components of the master budget
    • Create a production budget
    • Create a direct materials budget
    • Create a direct labor budget
    • Create a manufacturing overhead budget
    • Create an ending inventory budget
    • Create a selling and administrative budget
    • Create a cash budget
    • Create a budgeted income statement
    • Create a budgeted balance sheet

    Outline the effects of flexible budgeting on budgetary control

    • Describe the shortcomings of a statistic budget
    • Create a flexible budget report that shows sales, activity, labor, or cost variances
    • Create a flexible budget report that shows multiple cost drivers

    Module 10: Identify problems using cost variance analysis

    Discuss the basic principles of cost variance analysis

    • Identify the four steps of simple cost variance analysis
    • Differentiate between favorable and unfavorable variances
    • Determine if a variance is significant

    Discuss different types of material variances

    • Analyze the variance between expected material cost and actual material costs
    • Analyze the variance between standard unit price and actual price of materials purchased
    • Analyze the variance between expected amount of materials purchased and the actual amount of materials purchased
    • Discuss strategies to limit and reduce material variances

    Discuss different types of labor variances

    • Estimate expected labor costs
    • Analyze the variance between expected labor cost and actual labor costs
    • Discuss strategies to limit and reduce labor variances

    Discuss the variable manufacturing overhead variances

    • Analyze the variance between expected variable manufacturing overhead cost and actual variable manufacturing overly costs
    • Analyze the variance between expected variable manufacturing overhead efficiency and actual variable manufacturing overhead efficiency
    • Discuss strategies to limit and reduce variable manufacturing overhead variances

    Module 11: Determine relevant revenues and costs for both short and long-term decision making

    Explore cost types that affect decision making

    • Define differential cost
    • Describe avoidable costs
    • Recognize sunk costs
    • Identify opportunity costs
    • Summarize the concept of different costs analyzed for different purposes

    Recognize relevant costs for common business decisions

    • Identify the data needed to support an add or drop decision
    • Identify the data needed to support a make or buy decision
    • Identify the data needed to support a special order decision

    Determine the profitability of making changes to a constrained resource

    • Described a constrained resource in retail business

    Module 12: Present a variety of managerial decisions based on differential analysis

    Discuss the process of managerial decision-making and the factors involved

    • Explain the process of differential analysis
    • Analyze qualitative factors that can also affect managerial decisions

    Analyze data to create reports and make business decisions

    • Create a report outlining the data to support a customer elimination decision
    • Create a report outlining the data to support an add or drop decision
    • Create a report outlining the data to support a make or buy decision
    • Create a report outlining the data to support a sell or process further decision
    • Create a report outlining the data to support a special order decision
    • Create a report outlining the data to support a cost-plus pricing or target costing decision

    Module 13: Analyze a statement of cash flows

    Discuss key financial principles needed to produce and analyze a statement of cashflows

    • Explain the nature of non-cash activities
    • Identify cash flows that result from operating activities
    • Identify cash flows that result from investing activites
    • Identify cash flows that result from financing activities

    Distinguish between the Direct and Indirect methods of preparing a statement of cash flow

    • Calculate cash flows from operating activities by the indirect method
    • Calculate cash flows from operating activities by the direct method

    Prepare a statement of cash flow and describe how it can be used to evaluate a business

    • Differentiate between net and gross cash flows
    • Prepare a statement of cash flow using that indirect method
    • Describe how cash flow factors can be used to improve or evaluate a business

    Module 14: Describe the financial and non-financial data that managers use to measure performance

    Identify common non-financial measures of performance and discuss their impact on an organization

    • Discuss non-financial components of the balanced scorecard
    • Describe what a performance report is

    Analyze an organization’s financial performance

    • Perform a trend analysis on a financial statement
    • Perform a common-size analysis on a financial statement
    • Perform a ratio analysis on a financial statement

    Evaluate an organization’s performance using financial and non-financial data

    • Evaluate a for-profit organization’s performance using financial and non-financial data
    • Evaluate a non-profit organization’s performance using financial and non-financial data

    Module 15: Explain how capital budgeting is used in decision making

    Discuss capital budgeting

    • Discuss the steps in the capital budgeting process
    • Identify situations that require capital budgeting decision making
    • Discuss the time value of money

    Differentiate between the different capital budget methods

    • Describe the pay-back method
    • Describe the internal rate of return method
    • Describe the net present value method
    • Describe the simple rate of return method

    Describe different ways to identify and measure potential risk of investments

    • Evaluate a party’s risk aversion when proposing investment opportunities

    Discuss different influences on making capital budgeting decisions

    • Analyze a possible replacement projects to determine if it should be implemented
    • Conduct a postaudit on an example case to determine if the expected results were achieved