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Syllabus
33:010:458
Accounting Information Systems
Fall 2011
| MEMORANDUM |
Accounting
Information Systems Students
September 1, 2011
The syllabus for this course is attached to this
memorandum. It contains information about grading, homework,
examinations, and our course
philosophy and policies. A separate document
contains the timetable for the semester.
The syllabus
indicates Office Hours when we will set aside time
to deal with any questions or concerns you may
have. However, although we have a number of
scheduled commitments, we are usually in and around
the Rutgers Business School, either in New Brunswick or in
Newark, throughout the week
(except for Fridays, when we may be at Senate or other
meetings). If you have a quick question, feel free to drop
in at any time; if you have an issue that you feel will
require a more lengthy discussion or a considered response,
and you are not able to meet with us during the advertised Office Hours,
please feel free to make an appointment to see us at
some other mutually convenient time.
Your study of
Accounting Information Systems will encourage you
to integrate your existing knowledge of business
processes and accounting information, and to add
to them knowledge and skills relating to the
application of information technology. It will
begin at a very general level, but rapidly
proceed to the development of very specific
skills in building systems to provide valuable
information in support of business decision
making. Success in accounting requires
considerable knowledge, skill and dedication.
This course aims to provide you with the first
two ingredients - but you will need to supply the
third yourself. Since most students have had
limited exposure to AIS, there is a great deal of
new information to learn, and we believe it will
be essential to your success that you keep up to
date with the material on a regular basis. This
process can begin only with your effective
preparation before class. Our class time
will be devoted to consolidating your
understanding, providing a structured framework
for your knowledge, and working in groups. Much of the material
is conceptual in nature, and computer assignments and projects will be used to
help begin the process of converting the new
knowledge into practical skills. There will be a
significant amount of group work: this reflects
the work environment of the accountant in
practice, and is intended more to maximize
learning opportunities than to minimize
individual effort. You will find the ability to
work in teams a critical success factor for your
career in accounting, along with effective
communication skills.
The various
policies and procedures for the course will be
followed strictly and without exception. Chapter
quizzes and multiple choice questions are
designed to provide a focus for your reading from
the textbooks, and a vehicle for your own
assessment of how successfully you have studied a
Chapter. They are primarily learning aids, rather
than evaluation techniques. Every effort will be
made to grade homework, projects and examinations
promptly and accurately. Grades will be posted on Blackboard. In order to benefit
from your efforts, please be sure to check your
homework answers. Otherwise you will have made
most of the effort for only a fraction of the
potential benefit.
Although you are encouraged to
seek help from your classmates or from us if you encounter difficulties when you
are working homework problems, you should not
copy work that is to be submitted for grades from
others. This applies mainly to multiple choice
questions. Review and discussion questions will
be discussed in class.
Needless to say, examations are expected to be
the results of your own efforts alone.
Our goal is that
if you make the effort required to succeed in
this class, you will be well prepared for a
future career in accounting, and ready to face
the challenges of a rapidly changing business
environment. This will require hard work on all
sides. We are sure you will expect us to be
prepared for every class, and we intend to be. In
return, we expect you to be both present and
prepared. In addition, we expect you to participate in classroom
activities to the fullest extent possible given the number
of people present. Remembering and understanding the
material are both necessary; they will take time, and will
require regular study. It is most unlikely that
pre-examination cramming will be successful as a study
techniquour
We will be giving this course
our best effort throughout the
semester, and we need you to do the same if we are to achieve
our goal. We are looking forward to
working with you. Accounting Information Systems
play a vital role in supporting the effective
management of business enterprises, and you will
see that we take a serious view of the commitment
we will all need to make if the course is to be a
success. However, nothing in this memorandum is
meant to suggest that we should not enjoy our
semester together. Studying can be both rewarding
and fun in itself, but if you see opportunities
for adding fun to our class that we have missed, please do not
hesitate to draw them to our
attention. We wish you every success in studying AIS.
Yours sincerely
Peter R Gillett
Kevin C. Moffitt
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| Room:
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BE 213
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| Time: |
MW 1:40 - 3:00 / 3:20 - 4:40
/ 5:00 - 6:20 / 6:40 - 8:00 / 8:10 - 9:30
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| Instructors: |
Professor Peter R. Gillett
Professor Kevin C. Moffitt
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| Teaching Assistant: |
Roman Chychyla |
| Office: |
Dr. Gillett: Levin 231
Dr. Moffitt: Levin 253
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| Telephone: |
Dr. Gillett: 848-445-4765
Dr. Moffitt: 848-445-8350
Mr. Chychyla:
201-737-2628
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| Fax: |
732-445-3201
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| E-mails: |
Dr. Gillett:
gillett@business.rutgers.edu
Dr. Moffitt:
kevin.moffitt@rutgers.edu
Mr. Chychyla:
chychyla@pegasus.rutgers.edu
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| Office Hours: |
Dr. Gillett: MW 12:00 - 1:00; 3:00
- 3:20; 4:40 - 5:00; 6:20 - 6:40; or
at other times by appointment
Dr. Moffitt: MW 12:00 - 1:00; or
at other times by appointment
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| Texts: |
Accounting Information
Systems: A Database Approach. Murthy &
Groomer (Cybertext Publishing, 2011).
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Building Accounting Systems
Using Access 2010. Perry & Newmark.
(South-Western, 2012).
ISBN: 1-111-53099-8
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| Recommended: |
Wall Street Journal |
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| OBJECTIVES |
At the conclusion of
this course, students should have gained:
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an enhanced understanding of business
enterprises and business processes
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an awareness of the role of
information and accounting systems in business
management
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an understanding of traditional
accounting information systems and criticisms of
them
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an understanding of semantic modeling and event driven
accounting information systems
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an understanding of internal control over
financial reporting and information systems |
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familiarity with the
development, documentation, control and audit of
accounting information systems
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familiarity with the use of
database management software in developing modern
accounting information systems
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experience of working in groups
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an introduction to financial reporting using
XBRL |
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an introduction to
accounting software packages and Enterprise Resource
Planning systems.
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| BACKGROUND |
Students who have not taken
prior courses in computers and their
applications, or who do not have a basic
understanding of microcomputers and basic Internet technologies, may have to
spend additional time learning computer hardware
and software concepts, and familiarizing
themselves with the use of word processing and
other software. Students should expect classes to
be a mixture of lecture, discussion and
demonstration, and should anticipate the need to
develop personal skills during the semester in
addition to learning textbook material. Prior
preparation for class is expected. Attendance and
active participation are strongly encouraged.
Any students who
consider themselves disabled should communicate
directly with the Dean's Office early in the
semester so that the nature of their disability
and any necessary accommodations can be
determined.
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| GRADING |
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Total
Possible Points: |
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Chapter Quizzes (12 x 5 x 2) |
120
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Multiple Choice Questions (10 x
10) |
100
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XBRL Exercise |
30
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Group Project |
350
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Classroom Participation |
150
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Mid-Term Examination |
250
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Final Examination |
500
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TOTAL |
1500
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Murthy & Groomer contains 14 Chapter
Quizzes, and Perry & Newmark 12 sets of
Multiple Choice Questions. In each case, your
worst two scores (including 0 for a missed or late
item) will be dropped.
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| EXTRA CREDIT |
An optional extra credit project
will be worth 30 points. Students are invited to
document and summarize developments in business
computing and information systems reported in the
Wall Street Journal during the
year.
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| HOMEWORK AND ASSIGNMENTS |
All homework and
assignments are due at the beginning of the class period shown
on the attached schedule.
Group projects will be graded
based on the quality of the group's work product, as assessed by
me; individual grades for the group project, however, will also
take into account our
assessment of the effectiveness of the individual student's
participation in group activities, informed by evaluations
completed by all group members at the end of the semester.
Unless otherwise
determined by the instructor, solutions to
multiple choice questions must be submitted
electronically prior to the start of class, and
will be graded based on one point for each
correct solution. As all these assignments will
be discussed in class, late assignments will not
be graded.
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| PARTICIPATION
AND DECORUM |
Participation grades will be
assigned based on our assessment of how consistently and how
effectively you contribute to the learning
experiences of the class by your active
participation. Factors assessed will include, but
will not necessarily be limited to, demonstrated
preparation of assigned discussion questions,
posing or answering questions during class,
student-lead discussions, and postings to the Blackboard
Discussion Board. A pre-condition
of your participation, of course, will be your
physical presence in class.
Attendance
in class is expected. Student athletes on recognized Rutgers
University teams participating in inter-collegiate contests who
expect to miss class and/or examinations due to events that
conflict with class must inform me of the dates on which those
events will occur in writing by the end of the second week of
classes.
Although late arrival for class
cannot always be avoided, persistent lateness is a discourtesy
to me and to your fellow students, and will be penalized as part
of the class participation grade along with absence. It is our policy to teach with the
classroom doors closed; if you arrive late please
close the door again quietly and avoid disturbing
those of us who are already at work. You are
expected to behave in class in a manner
appropriate for professional accounting students.
Quality of
participation is more important than quantity;
too much is no better than too little; the
ability or intention to participate is not a
substitute for actually doing so. Be adventurous:
wrong answers will gain you nothing - but they
will not lose you points you have already gained!
Changing student mores and social conditions now
dictate that some rules for classroom decorum need to be spelled
out. You are expected to follow these:
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attend class |
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arrive on time |
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remain until the end |
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close the door - quietly - if you enter late |
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do not bring food or drinks to class |
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do not read newspapers or other non-class related
materials |
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do not complete crosswords or work on other puzzles |
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do not listen to radios, CDs, iPods or other entertainment devices |
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do not accept or make telephone calls |
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do not read or send text messages |
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turn off all cell phones, beepers, pagers, etc. |
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do not study for, or work on assignments for, other classes |
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do not check your email, browse the Internet, or conduct other business |
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do not engage in conversations between students other
than as part of designated class activities |
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be polite to each other and to me |
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behave appropriately as Rutgers students in a professional
school. |

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| EXAMINATIONS |
There will be a single
mid-term examination on the day shown on the timetable. There
will be no make-up for the mid-term examination. Graded
examinations will not be returned, but will be reviewed in class
and may be reviewed in Professor Gillett's office.
You must take
the Final Examination in order to pass the
course. The Final Examination will be
comprehensive, but some emphasis will be
placed on new material covered since the
mid-term.
A single make-up
examination will be given in January if necessary for
students unable to take the Final Examination
during its scheduled period due to documented
medical problems, participation in other
university-sanctioned activities, or required
religious observances.
Examinations
will be closed book, and calculators will be
neither required nor permitted. Examination
questions will be a mixture of multiple choice,
essay questions, and problems, and may cover any
material in assigned sections of the
textbooks or handouts (whether or not they
surfaced in class discussions), any matters
discussed in class (whether or not they are in
the textbook or handouts), and matters arising
from the computer assignments and projects.
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| ACADEMIC INTEGRITY |
University policy on academic
integrity will be strictly enforced; penalties
for cheating are severe. All suspected violations
will be pursued and maximum penalties may be
expected to be imposed. Academic dishonesty is
always unacceptable, and never more so than in a
professional school. The Rutgers University Interim Academic
Integrity Policy effective September 2, 2008 may be viewed at
http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/integrity.shtml. The
University Code of Student Conduct may be viewed at
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~polcomp/judaff/docs/UCSC.pdf.
Our Honor Code, which
suggests a higher set of standards to which RBS students adhere,
states:
“I pledge, on my honor, that I have neither received nor given
any unauthorized assistance on this examination (assignment).”
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| WITHDRAWAL POLICY |
The last day to withdraw from
this course with a "W" grade is October 26. Should you
choose to withdraw between the date of the mid-term examination
and October 26 a grade of WP will be assigned if your
total score at the time we receive formal
notification is at least 60% of the possible
points available; otherwise, a grade of WF will
be assigned. Late withdrawals will be given the
appropriate letter grade based on the actual
number of points accumulated at the time of
withdrawal.
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| UNIVERSITY
CLOSINGS |
The class will meet as scheduled
if the University is open. Should the University
close for any reason, any assignments due in class that
day will be accepted at the next class meeting,
but subsequent assignments will not automatically be postponed.
If the University is closed on a day that an
examination is scheduled, then the examination
will be deferred. If classes are
canceled by the university due to inclement weather, an
announcement will be made on radio station WCTC 1450 as well as
on other local area AM and FM stations. University wide closing
and class cancellation information is also available on the
recorded message system at the following number: 732-932-INFO
and also provided online at: campusstatus.rutgers.edu.
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| ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS |
Peter R. Gillett is an Associate
Professor in the Department of Accounting and
Information Systems of the Faculty of Management
at Rutgers. He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in
Mathematics and Philosophy from the University of
Oxford, and a Ph. D. in Business from the
University of Kansas, where he was the Ronald G.
Harper Doctoral Fellow in the School of Business,
and held the Ernst & Young Doctoral
Fellowship in the Ernst & Young Center for
Auditing Research and Advanced Technology.
Prior to joining Kansas, he spent from 1975 to
1992 in professional practice as an auditor, EDP auditor, and
management consultant. After nine years with Price Waterhouse
in London, he joined Grant Thornton's National office as
National Computer Audit Partner, and subsequently assumed
roles as Partner in charge of Advanced Audit Techniques, and
European Director of Audit Methods. He is a Fellow of the
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, a
Member of the British Computer Society, a Member of the
Institute for the Management of Information Systems, and a
Fellow of the Institute of Management. In addition, he belongs
to the American Accounting Association, where he has been
active in the Auditing and Artificial Intelligence/ Emerging
Technologies sections, and to the American Statistical
Association.
Dr. Gillett has taught courses on Managerial Information
Systems, Accounting Information Systems, Auditing, Advanced
Auditing, Expert Systems, Internet Technologies and Electronic
Business, Social Science Research Methods, and Current Topics
in Accounting Research.
He is a member of the Editorial Board of several academic
journals, including Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, in which he has also
published. He has published in a number of other academic
journals, including the International
Journal of Approximate Reasoning, and the Annals
of Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence. In addition to
numerous articles in professional journals in the U.K., he has
contributed a chapter on audit judgment to a monograph on Auditing
Practice, Research and Education published by the AICPA,
and to a recent book on Belief
Functions in Business Decisions.
His
dissertation "A Comparative Study of Audit
Evidence and Audit Planning Models Using
Uncertain Reasoning" won the 1997
Outstanding Dissertation Award at the University
of Kansas. His current research is studying the
use of uncertain reasoning techniques in audit
planning models, the representation of
causality in auditing using event spaces, and the foundations of
subjective probability and lower and upper previsions. He is
also working with former Ph.D. students on research involving Corporate
Transparency, and Accountability, Reputation Costs and
Opportunistic Auditor Behavior.
Dr. Gillett is the Faculty Secretary of the Rutgers
Business School - Newark and New Brunswick, serves on the
University Senate and the Senate Executive Committee, chairs the
University Structure and Governance Committee, and is
the Faculty Advisor to the Rutgers University Glee Club and the
Rutgers University Kirkpatrick Choir. Previously, he was the Academic
Director of the Prudential Business Ethics Center at Rutgers. He also
sings with the Rutgers University Kirkpatrick Choir, as well as the Riverside Choral
Society in Manhattan, and was inducted as an Honorary Member of the
Rutgers University Glee Club in 2008. Professor Gillett was the
Beta Alpha Psi Professor of the Year for 2009, and in April 2011
won the Rutgers Business Governing Association's Most
Challenging Course and Best Accounting Information Systems
Professor awards. |

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Kevin C. Moffitt graduated from The University of Arizona with a
Ph.D. in Management Information Systems and a minor in
Computational Linguistics. His research interests include
forensic accounting, fraudulent financial reporting, and
automated deception detection.
Dr. Moffitt's goal as a
professor is to create an applied learning environment that
includes hands-on experiences, relevant homework assignments,
and meaningful projects. As a rule of thumb, students should
come out of this class with a skill or project experience that
impresses job interviewers. As students apply course concepts
and see results from projects, homework and tests they feel a
sense of accomplishment, their self-efficacy grows, and they have a
stronger desire to continue learning. To promote hands-on experience
students will participate in a project that mirrors a real-world scenario.
Projects are the culminating learning experience for students
and their successful completion proves to the professor and to
the student that they have mastered the topic without
equivocation. |
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NOTE
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| You are strongly
advised not to print the whole of the on-line textbook at one
time, as materials may change during the course of the semester.
It makes more sense to print individual chapters to bring with
you to class.
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