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Syllabus
33:010:458
Accounting Information Systems
Fall 1997
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MEMORANDUM
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Accounting
Information Systems Students
September 3, 1997
The syllabus for this course is attached to
this memorandum. It contains information about
grading, homework, examinations, and my course
philosophy and policies. A separate document
contains the timetable for the semester.
The syllabus
indicates Office Hours when I will set aside time
to deal with any questions or concerns you may
have. However, although I have a number of
scheduled commitments, I am usually in and around
the School of Business throughout the week
(except for Fridays and some Tuesdays, when I
expect to be in Newark). 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 me during the
advertised Office Hours, please feel free to make
an appointment to see me 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 I 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, and providing a structured
framework for your knowledge. 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.
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
anonymously on my Web Site. 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 me 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, and your group projects
will form the basis for group presentations.
Needless to say, examinations are expected to be
the results of your own efforts alone.
My 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. I am sure you will expect me to be
prepared for every class, and I intend to be. In
return, I expect you to be both present and
prepared. In addition, I 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 technique.
I will be giving
this course my best effort throughout the
semester, and I need you to do the same if I am
to achieve my goal. I am 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 I 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 I have missed,
please do not hesitate to draw them to my
attention. I wish you every success in studying
AIS.
Yours sincerely
Peter R Gillett
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| Room:
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BE 213 / BE 213 / BE 213 / BE
219
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| Time: |
MW 1.10 - 2.30 / 2.50 - 4.10 /
4.30 - 5.50 / 7.40 - 9.00
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| Instructor: |
Professor Peter R. Gillett
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| Office: |
Levin 231
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| Telephone: |
(732) 445 4765
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| Fax: |
(732) 445 3201
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| E-mail: |
gillett@everest.rutgers.edu |
| Office Hours: |
MW 10.30 - 12.00, 7.00 - 7.30 or
at other times by appointment
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| Texts: |
Accounting Information
Systems: A Database Approach. Murthy &
Groomer (Cybertext Publishing, 1997).
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Building Accounting Systems:
A Transaction Cycle Approach. Perry &
Schneider. (South-Western, 1998).
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| Recommended: |
The Internet Guide for
Accountants. Kogan, Sudit & Vasarhelyi.
(Prentice Hall, 1998).
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Wall Street Journal
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OBJECTIVES
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At the conclusion of
this course, students should have gained:
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an enhanced understanding of
organizations 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 event driven
accounting 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 opportunity to practice
presentation skills
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exposure to a widely-used
accounting software package.
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BACKGROUND
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Students who have not taken
prior courses in computers and their
applications, or who do not have a basic
understanding of microcomputers, 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.
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GRADING
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Total
Possible Points:
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Chapter Quizzes (13 x 10) |
130
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Multiple Choice Questions (10 x
10) |
100
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PEACHTREE Project |
50
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Group Presentations |
120
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Group Project |
200
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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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EXTRA CREDIT
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An optional extra credit project
will be worth 40 points. Students are invited to
document and summarize developments in business
computing and information systems reported in the
Wall Street Journal and elsewhere during the
year.
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HOMEWORK AND ASSIGNMENTS
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All homework and assignments are
due at the beginning of the class period shown on
the attached schedule.
Group projects
will form the basis of in-class group
presentations; each group will make one such
presentation during the course of the semester;
each group member must participate in the
presentation and must prepare visual aids.
Members of other groups are expected to debate
the solutions with the presenters.
Unless otherwise
determined by the instructor, solutions to
multiple choice questions must be turned in on
the Scantron forms provided at the time, 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.
Participation
grades will be assigned based on my 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 Bulletin Board
and the Listserve. A pre-condition of your
participation, of course, will be your physical
presence in class. 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!
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EXAMINATIONS
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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 may be reviewed in my office,
together with solutions.
You must take
the Final Examination in order to pass the
course. The Final Examination will be
comprehensive, but greater emphasis will be
placed on new material covered since the
mid-term.
A single make-up
examination will be given 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
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University policy on academic
integrity will be strictly enforced. 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.
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WITHDRAWAL POLICY
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The last day to withdraw from
this course with a "W" grade is October
27. Should you choose to withdraw between October
20 and October 27 (i.e., after the mid-term
examination) a grade of WP will be assigned if
your total score at the time I 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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INCLEMENT WEATHER
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The class will meet as scheduled
if the University is open. Should the University
close for any reason, any assignments due that
day will be accepted at the next class meeting,
but subsequent assignments will not be postponed.
If the University is closed on a day that an
examination is scheduled, then the examination
will be deferred until the next class meeting.
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ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
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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.
Dr. Gillett has
taught courses on Managerial Information Systems,
Accounting Information Systems, Auditing and
Advanced Auditing. He is a member of the
Editorial Board of Auditing: A Journal of
Practice and Theory, in which he has also
published. In addition to numerous articles in
professional journals in the UK, he has recently
contributed a chapter on audit judgment to a
monograph on Auditing Practice, Research and
Education published by the AICPA. He is a Fellow
of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in
England and Wales, and of the Institute of
Management; in addition, he is a Member of the
British Computer Society and of the Institute for
the Management of Information Systems.
Dr. Gillett's
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.
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