Undergraduate Courses
Course Descriptions
ACCT-UB-0001 - Principles of Financial Accounting
ACCT-UB-0003 - Financial Statement Analysis
ACCT-UB-0004 - Managerial Accounting
ACCT-UB-0021 - Financial Reporting and Disclosure
ACCT-UB-0022 - Business Acquisitions, Deferred Taxes, Translations, & Derivatives
ACCT-UB-0023 - Financial Modeling & Analysis
ACCT-UB-0030 Advanced Financial Analysis
ACCT-UB 44 Modeling Corporate Transactions
MSBS Courses
ACCT-GB.6331 - Advanced Managerial Accounting
ACCT-GB.6302 - Financial Reporting and Disclosure
ACCT-GB.6313 / ACCT.GB-3313 - Auditing
ACCT-UB.0049.01/ ACCT-GB.3149.30 Entertainment Accounting
ACCT-GB.3380/ ACCT.GB-6380 - Taxation of Individuals and Business Income
ACCT-UB.0033.01/ ACCT-GB.3310.30 - Forensic Accounting and Financial Statement Fraud
Course Descriptions
Principles of Financial Accounting
ACCT.UB-0001
4 credits. Fall and spring terms.
Prerequisites: One semester of coursework at NYU.
- This course is designed to teach students the accounting skills public companies use to measure and communicate their financial results. The focus is on understanding the accrual-based accounting rules and processes used to record business transactions and create financial accounting statements under the US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Emphasis is placed on analyzing and interpreting financial accounting statements so students develop the ability to evaluate the current condition of a business.
Financial Statement Analysis
ACCT.UB-0003
3 credits. Fall and spring terms.
Prerequisites: ACCT.UB-0001 Principles of Financial Accounting sophomore standing
-
The objective of this course is to understand how to read, interpret, and analyze financial statements. Throughout the course, we will use the financial statements of several real companies to illustrate concepts. The course is divided into three segments, as follows: First, we will develop the tools to analyze financial statements. We will study the interrelationships between financial statement line items and use ratio analysis to understand and compare firms. Second, we will learn how to understand and analyze accounting disclosures and use accounting disclosures to adjust financial ratios. Finally, we will use the analytical tools we have developed in conjunction with various information sources to forecast future earnings and value a firm using these forecasts.
Managerial Accounting
ACCT-UB-0004
4 credits. Fall and spring terms.
Prerequisites: ACCT.UB-0001 Principles of Financial Accounting and sophomore standing.
- This course explores the use of accounting information for internal planning, analysis, and decision-making with a focus on information generated by internal accounting systems. The main objective of the course is to equip students with the knowledge to prepare, understand, evaluate, and act upon the many financial and non-financial reports used in managing modern firms. This information is a key input into a wide range of analytical tools to support decisions: analyzing profitability of various products, managing product-line portfolios, setting prices, measuring and managing profitability of customers, making operational and strategic decisions, evaluating investments and investigating efficiency.
Financial Reporting and Disclosure
ACCT.UB-0021
3 credits.
Prerequisites: ACCT.UB-0003 Financial Statement Analysis and sophomore standing.
- This course is part of a sequence ideal for students who wish to pursue careers in investment banking, investment management, consulting, and public accounting. In addition to being a required course for students concentrating in accounting, it is highly recommended for those concentrating in finance, economics, marketing, and information systems. The course complements Financial Statement Analysis (ACCT-UB 3) by providing a more extensive analysis of financial statements and their underlying financial reporting rules. It uses tools learned in Financial Statement Analysis, such as ratio and accounting analysis, to discuss financial reporting principles, emphasizing the link between reporting principles and financial statements. Students learn how management uses financial reporting decisions to influence reported income and asset and liability values, and they gain the tools necessary to analyze the impact of alternative reporting decisions on financial statements.
Business Acquisitions, Deferred Taxes, Translations, & Derivatives
ACCT.UB-0022
3 credits. Crosslisted with B10.3330.
Prerequisites: ACCT.UB-0003 Financial Statement Analysis and junior standing. Not applicable to B.S.-M.S. Program.
- This course focuses on major issues in financial reporting; accounting for mergers and acquisitions, preparation of consolidated financial statements, related tax issues, translation of foreign currency financial statements, foreign currency transactions, and accounting for derivatives including their use in hedging transactions. This course is recommended for both accounting and finance majors.
Modeling Corporate Transactions
ACCT.UB-0044
- This course will help you build models of salient corporate events such as acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, public offerings, restructurings, bankruptcies, projects, and securitizations. It will also cover the necessary accounting details. It assumes that you have taken a course in Modeling Financial Statements. This course is highly relevant for bankers, equity investors, lenders, corporate finance professionals, and project financiers. First year and second year students can both take this course. Those who took it in their first year have told me that this course gave them a significant competitive edge during their interviews and summer internships. For details, please visit http://www.dangode.com/transactions/
Financial Modelling & Analysis
ACCT.UB-0023
3 credits. Not applicable to B.S.-M.S. Program.
Prerequisites: None
- Making educated decisions today by forecasting operating and financial performance is a critical exercise for owners, managers, consultants, investment bankers, creditors, equity and credit analysts, and investors such as private equity groups, hedge funds, institutional investors and individuals. The goal of this course is to instruct step-by-step how to build a comprehensive, multi-purpose projection model in Excel and subsequently interpret selective operating, credit and equity valuation data. Based on this information, you will learn how to (i) evaluate a company’s operating and financial performance, (ii) develop an appropriate capital structure by structuring debt and equity transactions which not only protect both the creditors and shareholders, but also create an appropriate risk and reward equilibrium, and (iii) formulate an educated investment opinion and propitiously time entry and exit trading points.
Advanced Financial Analysis
ACCT.UB-0030
-
This course provides an extensive treatment of financial statement analysis that goes beyond the basic course. The focus is on how to use a firm's financial statements for purposes of understanding the factors that determine equity value. Hence topics include the analysis of profitability,cash flows,concepts of growth, and the role of financial policies. The course also considers how one connects information in the current statements to forecast future outcomes. Special topics concern the role of analysts' earnings/sales forecasts and assessments of the existence of biases in financial statements. Most of the time is spent on actual cases and the extraction of related data to implement spread sheets. Students are expected to put in a considerable effort to become comfortable with a sophisticated body of knowledge. A solid understanding of financial accounting is a must. The course is essential for students who plan to pursue a career in investment banking and investment management.But it will also be of value for those who plan careers in accounting and financial management.
Advanced Managerial Accounting
ACCT-GB.6331
3 credits. Fall and spring terms.
Prerequisites:
- ACCT.UB-0004 Managerial Accounting
- Junior Standing
-
Focus is on decision making in single- and multiperiod environments where there are uncertainties and complex combinations of costs. Includes examples involving service and financial institutions. Highlights current practices in performance management and evaluation.
Financial Reporting and Disclosure
ACCT-GB.6302
3 credits. Fall and spring terms. Crosslisted with B10.2302
Prerequisites:
- ACCT.UB-0003 Financial Statement Analysis
- Junior Standing
- his course complements ACCT.UB-0003, Financial Statement Analysis, by a more extensive analysis of financial statements and the financial reporting rules underlying them. The course uses tools learned in Financial Statement Analysis, such as ratio and accounting analysis, to discuss financial reporting principles, emphasizing the link between the reporting principles and the financial statements. Students will learn how management uses financial reporting decisions to influence reported income and asset and liability values, and they will gain the tools necessary to analyze the impacts of alternative reporting decisions on financial statements.
- This course is part of a sequence that is ideal for students who wish to pursue careers in investment banking, investment management, consulting, as well as public accounting. In addition to being a required course for accounting majors, it is a highly recommended course for majors in finance, economics, marketing and information systems.
Auditing
ACCT-GB.6313 / ACCT.GB-3313
3 credits. Fall and spring terms. Crosslisted with ACCT.GB-3313
Prerequisites:
- ACCT.UB-0021 Financial Reporting and Analysis
An intensive study is made of fundamental concepts and principles underlying the examination of the financial statement by the independent public accountant. Auditing and reporting standards and the responsibilities assumed by the auditor in the attest function are analyzed within the broad framework of the code and principles of professional conduct.
Emphasis is placed on the evaluation of evidential matter and the system of internal control. Current literature is examined, including the publications of the AICPA Auditing Standards Board.
Entertainment Accounting
ACCT-UB.0049.01/ ACCT-GB.3149.30
3 credits. Fall and spring terms.
In this course, we will study various entertainment enterprises including movies, television, music, publishing, broadcasting, and social media. We will analyze and discuss in-depth how accounting for particular transactions impacts the financial results of these enterprises. We will spend time understanding how to mediums and distribution models are impacting media companies from a finance and accounting perspective. Accounting topics will include revenue recognition, goodwill and intangibles, amortization of negative costs associated with making movies, and royalties.
Taxation of Individuals and Business Income
ACCT-GB.3380 / ACCT.GB-6380
3 credits. Crosslisted with ACCT.GB-2302.
Prerequisites:
- ACCT.UB-0001 Principles of Financial Accounting
- Junior Standing
The purpose of this course is to develop, on a sound conceptual base, a basic understanding of federal income taxation to provide tools for a practical application to business and non-business situations. Includes such topics as capital asset and property transactions, business and personal deductions, depreciation, depletion, accounting methods and periods, retirement plans, tax credits and the alternative minimum tax system. While the emphasis is on business income of individuals, the course also provides an introduction to the taxation of corporations and partnerships. During the fall semester, the students are required to enter the annual tax tournament scheduled for late November. Students in the spring semester are required to complete a group take-home project similar to the tax tournament case study.
Forensic Accounting and Financial Statement Fraud
ACCT-UB.0033.01/ ACCT-GB.3310.30
Course Description:
The objective of the course is to impart a detailed understanding of forensic accounting with particular emphasis on the methodologies of financial statement fraud. The course is designed to demonstrate the various aspects of fraud, i.e., fraudulent financial reporting, identifying fraud schemes, including computer fraud and methods of concealment, as well as the analytical techniques in uncovering fraud and its prevention through effective internal control systems. The course also includes an analysis of the general techniques used in working in litigation support services. The course is of particular interest to the accounting profession, the world of finance and to business in general. The course content has also become of critical interest to regulators and lawmakers because of the notoriety of a series of financial scandals which have affected the entire business community.
For a full list of course offerings and syllabi, visit www.stern.nyu.edu/Academic/Syllabi.