This course introduces procedures and practices in the accounting cycle, following generally accepted accounting principles. Topics also include preparation and analysis of financial statements, as well as an introduction to investing decisions. Fall and spring.

Introduction to the principles and tools used in managerial accounting, with a focus on standard costs, variances, profit planning, and capital budgeting. Introduction to technology used in preparing and analyzing financial information. Fall and spring.

Writing skills necessary for producing effective business correspondence in multiple modes and forms, reports, and other written documents in professional contexts. Verbal communication skills necessary to deliver successful presentations in professional contexts. Fall and spring.

Supervised reading or research at the lower-division level. Permission of department chair required. Consult department for applicability towards major requirements. Not available to first-year students.

The financial analyst intern for the JBF fund is a good way to see if this type of career is interesting to you. You will go to the same class and observe juniors and seniors who do the actual investing in the fund. Your responsibility will be to help them with analysis and begin to understand the fund and the datasets used in the analysis and investment in the Johnnie-Bennie Fund. Due to the nature of the changing investment recommendations over time, this course may be repeated once for credit. (Maximum 2 total credits). Students who have taken ACFN 381 are not eligible to enroll in ACFN 281.

This course is the foundation course in Finance and the prerequisite for all other Finance courses. Topics covered include the time value of money, the financial markets, the concepts of risk and valuation, the types of financing and their relative mix, financial leverage, the cost of capital, and the criteria for evaluating the attractiveness of investment opportunities. Fall and spring.

This course involves using technology to prepare robust financial models in order to make complex financial decisions for businesses. The course has a focus on how to analyze real-world information and present it in a professional manner. Topics covered will include financial forecasting, capital budgeting, the cost of capital, capital structure, and entity and business valuations.

The primary focus of this course is the concepts of Modern Portfolio Theory. Through efficient diversification, it is possible to minimize the risk consequences of investing and maximize return. Topics covered will include models of capital market equilibrium, the concepts of risk and return in the fixed income and equity markets, and an introduction to technical analysis and behavioral finance. Fall. 

This course introduces the fundamental theories in financial management. It is the prerequisite for Advanced Corporate Finance. Topics covered time value of money, capital budgeting decision making, cost of capital, risk analysis and real options, capital structure, financial forecasting, and corporate valuation. Spring only.

This course examines the international dimensions of Finance. The course builds on the principles of Finance discussed in ACFN 310 and provides a conceptual framework for the key financial decisions of a multinational. Topics covered will include the balance of payments, the determination of exchange rates, forecasting future exchange rates, methods of hedging exchange rate risk, the international financial markets, the cost of capital for a multinational, multinational capital budgeting, and international cash management. Spring.

Principles and procedures underlying the preparation of financial statements under U.S. GAAP. Time value of money concepts and their application to financial statements. Accounting issues related to the recognition and valuation of cash, receivables, investments, current liabilities, and long-term liabilities. Valuation of the elements in a corporation's stockholders' equity. Computation of earnings per share in simple and complex capital structures. Statement of Cash Flows preparation and evaluation. Financial statement analysis. Fall and spring.

Financial reporting preparation requirements and disclosures under U.S. GAAP. Recognition and valuation of inventories, intangible assets, and property, plant and equipment. Accounting issues related to revenue recognition. Accounting for leases, income taxes, changes in accounting estimates and principles, and error analysis and correction. Overview of pension plan financial statements. Fall and spring.

Principles of accounting and reporting for governmental units and not-for-profit institutions and organizations. Spring, every other year.

This course further studies the recording, communicating, and interpretation of cost information for controlling routine operations and long-range planning in order to make informed management decisions. Topics explore job order and process costing, standard costs and variances, variable costing, flexible budgets, capital budgeting, cost analysis for special purposes, and performance measurement. Cases are used to study applications of topics. Spring.

Law and the judicial process in commerce. Legal regulation of business and its relationships to society. Principles and issues in contract law, sales and commercial transactions, torts and product liability, agency and employment law, banking, negotiable instruments, and other topics of contemporary interest to those preparing for a career in business. Fall.

Accounting for equity method investments, business combinations and consolidated statements, segment and interim reporting, foreign currency translation and transactions, and other topics. Fall and spring.

Information systems analysis, design, implementation and control, including the ability to analyze data in a variety of programs commonly used in the business community and the controls required to ensure accuracy and reliability of system data. Fall.

An overview of federal income taxation of individuals and businesses. Accounting issues related to income taxes. Fall and spring.

Advanced topics related to Federal income taxation of individuals. Topics include taxation of self-employed individuals, capital gains and rental properties, as well as advanced issues related to income, deductions and credits. Fall.

Advanced tax topics relating to businesses, with a focus on tax policy. Computation of tax, tax accruals, tax considerations on the formation and operation of domestic and multinational businesses. Spring.

Research tax issues related to individuals and businesses and learn how to communicate such research. Working and negotiating with the Internal Revenue Service. Preparation of letters and memoranda to clients and the Internal Revenue Service. Spring, every other year.

Understanding of occupational fraud, including asset misappropriation and corruption; how occupational fraud is committed and actions that can be taken to deter and detect occupational fraud. Process to investigate fraud allegations.

Theory and practice of financial statement auditing. Focus on the nature of auditing, standards, reporting, the audit environment, risk assessment and planning, controls, audit testing, sample evaluation, and ethics. Fall and Spring.

This course is designed to enhance students' understanding of financial derivatives including options, futures, forwards, and swaps, and their use in the fields of investments and corporate financial management. Every other year.

This course is designed to expand upon the knowledge and understanding of the basic concepts learned in Investments (ACFN 315). Students will learn several valuation methodologies related to prospective companies and other assets for investment purposes. Additionally, students will learn asset analysis methodologies within the context of a portfolio of assets. This course will cover analyses of stocks, fixed-income securities, derivatives, and other types of assets as may be required. Offered every other year.

In this topics course, students will study themes which may vary each time the course is offered and will focus in depth on one or more of the traditional areas of finance or may consider topics outside the areas covered in other finance courses. Subject matter may include ethical and regulatory issues. This course covers contemporary issues not covered in depth in other finance courses. Offered every other year.

This course discusses advanced topics in financial management. The course develops a deeper understanding of fundamental theories introduced in ACFN 310 and ACFN 318 and apply theories to solve corporate finance problems.Offered every other year.

This course explains and analyzes the main financial challenges that companies face in an international context. Globalization, or the increasing economic integration of goods, services, and financial markets at the international level, represents both opportunities and threats for governments and enterprises. This course provides discussions of some of the main challenges of international financial transactions. It is divided into two sections. In the first section, the students will be familiarized with exchange rate determination, balance of payments, the international monetary system, the European Monetary System, and the parity conditions in real markets and financial markets. In the second section, they will examine the different derivatives for hedging (options, forwards, futures, and swaps), and exposure measurement (translation, transaction, and economic exposure). Course activities are based on worksheets with exercises related to each topic studied in class and current articles and videos from business newspapers and magazines to be discussed on a daily basis and motivate class participation.

Supervised reading or research at the upper-division level. Permission of department chair and completion and/or concurrent registration of 12 credits within the department required. Consult department for applicability towards major requirements. Not available to first-year students.

This course is the first of a 2-semester course series (2-credits each). Enrollment is by application and interview only. You must receive permission from the instructor(s) in order to enroll in ACFN 381, and enrollment in ACFN 382 will be automatic the following semester unless you are removed by the instructor for poor performance in ACFN 381. You must be able to attend an 80-minute class one evening per week for two consecutive semesters (fall, then spring, or spring, then fall). The focus of this course is gaining practical, hands-on investment management. This course is designed to cover the fundamental techniques of investments and portfolio management with significant attention to developing financial modeling skills. The student managers will use many different valuation techniques including comparable valuations and transactional analysis. In addition, the student managers will cover macro-economic analysis, investment policy statements, industry analysis and specific company analysis to develop the skills needed to manage the portfolio. The course will prepare students for a career in the investment/corporate finance field along with providing an opportunity to learn many of the subjects included on the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam. The course will provide students with practical experience in portfolio management from the overall development of an Investment Policy Statement to in-depth analysis of financial statements to individual stock valuation and portfolio management. This class is responsible for managing a portion of the endowment(s) of the schools and is, therefore, subject to the policies and restrictions for the endowment. The class will inherit a portfolio of stocks from the students enrolled in the course from the previous semester. The student managers will manage the portfolio and make all buy and sell decisions in the portfolio to fulfill the objectives for the client (CSB & SJU Boards of Trustees). The Johnnie/Bennie Fund’s portfolio performance will be tracked by the class and reported to the Chief Financial Officer(s) or their designee(s), monthly. The student managers will prepare a review and present results to their client, the Common Board of Trustees, or designated representatives, at the end of the academic year. The student managers are required to prepare an Annual Report and hold an Annual Meeting for all interested constituents of the Johnnie/Bennie Fund at the end of each academic year.

This course is the second of 2-semester course series (2-credits each). Enrollment is by application and interview only. You must receive permission from the instructor(s) in order to enroll in ACFN 381, and enrollment in ACFN 382 will be automatic the following semester unless you are removed by the instructor for poor performance in ACFN 381. You must be able to attend an 80-minute class one evening per week for two consecutive semesters (fall, then spring, or spring, then fall). The focus of this course is gaining practical, hands-on investment management. This course is designed to cover the fundamental techniques of investments and portfolio management with significant attention to developing financial modeling skills. The student managers will use many different valuation techniques including comparable valuations and transactional analysis. In addition, the student managers will cover macro-economic analysis, investment policy statements, industry analysis and specific company analysis to develop the skills needed to manage the portfolio. The course will prepare students for a career in the investment/corporate finance field along with providing an opportunity to learn many of the subjects included on the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam. The course will provide students with practical experience in portfolio management from the overall development of an Investment Policy Statement to in-depth analysis of financial statements to individual stock valuation and portfolio management. This class is responsible for managing a portion of the endowment(s) of the schools and is, therefore, subject to the policies and restrictions for the endowment. The class will inherit a portfolio of stocks from the students enrolled in the course from the previous semester. The student managers will manage the portfolio and make all buy and sell decisions in the portfolio to fulfill the objectives for the client (CSB & SJU Boards of Trustees). The Johnnie/Bennie Fund’s portfolio performance will be tracked by the class and reported to the Chief Financial Officer(s) or their designee(s), monthly. The student managers will prepare a review and present results to their client, the Common Board of Trustees, or designated representatives, at the end of the academic year. The student managers are required to prepare an Annual Report and hold an Annual Meeting for all interested constituents of the Johnnie/Bennie Fund at the end of each academic year.

This course integrates accounting and finance knowledge gained throughout the finance concentration. This is a case-based course where students perform research in various areas of finance, prepare individual and group projects and presentations, and develop solutions to business issues. Spring.

This course integrates knowledge gained throughout the accounting major. Students perform accounting, auditing and tax research and study; prepare individual and group projects and presentations; and conduct a research project which is presented to the department. Spring.

Practical off-campus experience with a solid academic component for seniors directed by officers of employing firms or institutions.