MS in Accounting | Course Descriptions

This course focuses on four major issues in financial reporting; accounting for mergers and acquisitions, preparation of consolidated financial statements, the translation of foreign currency financial  statements  and foreign currency transactions, and  accounting  for derivatives including the use of derivatives in hedging transactions. This course is recommended for both accounting and finance majors.

This course focuses on decision making in single and multi-period environments where there are uncertainties and complex combinations of costs. It considers examples involving service and financial institutions and highlights current practices in performance management and evaluation.

An intensive study is made of fundamental concepts and principles underlying the examination of the financial statements 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.

Prerequisite: ACCT-GB.3380−Taxation of Individuals and Business Income
 
A detailed study of the tools and method s of tax research and their application to tax planning and resolution of controversy with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Students engage in independent study of recent legislative developments, new rulings, and current judicial decisions. Research findings are the basis of written reports and discussion. Provisions of the of the IRS Code involving assessment, collection, waivers, claims, civil and criminal penalties, statutes of limitation, and transferee liability are examined. Considers IRS conference and practice requirements. Also the "Taxpayer Bill of Rights" of the Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988.
 

This course uses tools learned in Financial Accounting and Reporting, such as ratio and accounting analysis, to discuss financial reporting principles, emphasizing the link between the reporting principles and the 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 impacts of alternative reporting decisions on financial statements. It is ideal for students who wish to pursue careers in investment banking, investment management, and consulting as well as public accounting. In addition to being a required course for the CPA-track, it is a highly recommended course for students in finance, economics, marketing, and information systems.

The objective of the course is to impart a detailed understanding of forensic accounting with particular emphasis on the methods to detect financial statement fraud. It 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.  It also includes an analysis of the general techniques used in working in litigation support services. It is of particular interest to accounting and finance professionals. The course content has also become of critical interest to regulators and lawmakers because of the notoriety of a series of recent financial scandals that have affected the entire business community. It reviews the new institutional structures that have been put in place recently by lawmakers and the accounting profession to deal with fraud and its prevention, i.e., the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and self-regulating measures adopted by the accounting profession.

This is a quantitative course introducing the fundamental principles of asset valuation within the framework of modern portfolio theory. The key analytical concepts are present value, option value, risk/diversification and arbitrage. These tools are used to value stocks, bonds, options, and other derivatives, with applications to the structure of financial markets, portfolio selection, and risk management.

Information technologies impact every aspect of accounting, including financial reporting, managerial accounting, auditing and tax. The storage of business assets and financial information has led to recent professional pronouncements requiring that accounting professionals understand the technology controls used to process and record this information. As information increasingly becomes digitalized, significant opportunities exist for accounting professionals and their firms to leverage technology tools to become more efficient in performing traditional services and open opportunities for new client services. The purpose of this course is to help students understand how to use and participate in the design of accounting information systems and how to audit these systems. The course will also help students learn how to assess and consider the impact of IT governance, risk, and compliance on accounting functions, focusing on how IT affects business process and controls as well as the impact on financial reporting. The course also enables students to understand issues and developments in IT Auditing so that as practitioners, they can properly determine how to assess accounting system controls to effectively address the adequacy of controls in audited systems or for those systems that they have management responsibility.

Prerequisite: ACCT-GB.2303−Financial Statement Analysis
 
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, as well as investors such as private equity groups, hedge funds, institutional investors, and individuals. Financial projections are rarely perfect as the future cannot be predicted, however this course endeavors to model several scenarios forecasted on historical and anticipated results to derive various conclusions. There are myriad variables that can be incorporated into projections, but the best financial model is always the one that is stable and robust, yet simple and easy to build, navigate, and audit. The goal of this course is to provide step-by-step instruction on 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, students learn how to evaluate a company’s operating and financial performance; how to 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 how to formulate an educated investment opinion.

The purpose of this interdisciplinary course is twofold: First, it is designed to build the student's awareness of the interplay among a society's laws, ethical norms, and markets. Second, through case analyses, it provides the student with a chance to exercise his or her own ethical judgment in business situations. The overall goal is to help the student to realize that ethical assumptions, choices, and conflicts are inherent in virtually all business decisions, and to develop a greater understanding of the manager's professional responsibilities. Essential topics include fiduciary responsibilities, product liability, ethical issues in the workplace (such as preferential hiring, sexual harassment, drug testing, or whistle blowing) and ethical conflicts in international business. Yet, by the instructor's selection of specific cases or readings, each section of the course will differ slightly in emphasis. Course instructors come from every department in the Stern School and reflect a broad range of interests and orientation.

The course addresses the U.S. federal income taxation of various financial instruments including fixed, variable, and contingent rate debt instruments and transactions in common stock-equity derivatives. The tax analysis will consider distinctions between the different components of the gross total return of these assets (income and capital gains and losses), and the costs to be deducted to obtain the net performance such as financial expenses and costs of acquisition of income. Tax issues connected with indebtedness including convertible debt, variable rate debt and contingent payment debt, equity including common and preferred stock and notional principal contracts such as swaps, options, forward contracts and credit derivatives will be discussed. The applicable rules and issues are presented through a combination of lectures and inclass problem solving, with the instructor introducing practical examples of financial instruments encountered in practice, whenever possible.

This course focuses on federal income tax law as it applies to individuals. Topics covered in this course include what constitutes income; what is deductible; the tax treatment of gains and losses; and which income items are taxed at preferential rates. Learning to read and apply the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury Regulations is an important focus of this course. Class discussion often will focus on the application of the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury Regulations, cases, and other sources of tax law to the factual situations in the problems in the casebook. Policies underlying the tax law will also be discussed.

This course examines federal income taxation as applied to flow-through business entities such as Subchapter S corporations, partnerships, Limited Liability Companies, trusts and estates. Also addressed will be gift taxes, tax planning issues, tax practice and ethics with emphasis on the unique factors involved in taxation of individuals and pass-through entities. Specific areas of taxation include filing requirements, filing status, exemptions, net operating losses, casualty losses, investment losses, hobby losses, alternative minimum tax, personal tax credits and compensation.

Prerequisite: ACCT-GB.3380−Taxation of Individuals and Business Income
 
A study of the income tax rules relating to the formation and operation of business corporations. This course includes such topics as the organization of the corporation, redemptions, liquidations, reorganizations, divisions, multiple corporations, corporate tax attributes and carryovers, state income taxation, and U.S. taxation of foreign source income. The emphasis is, however, on the tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions. Classroom discussions include problems and case studies. Students are assigned a group project requiring the solution of a case study in the area of corporate reorganizations and divisions.

Prerequisite: ACCT-GB.3380−Taxation of Individuals and Business Income
 
This is a conceptual as well as an applied course that is highly relevant to those pursuing careers in investment banking, corporate finance, and research, or to anyone who is going to have to deal with taxes in their careers. The course is not about detailed tax rules but how to think about taxes conceptually and how taxes affect management decisions and valuation. The concepts covered here apply internationally.

• Understand accounting and disclosures of taxes in financial statements. Deferred tax disclosures are particularly baffling to students. This course will provide an in-depth understanding of such disclosures.
• Understand how corporate structure affects taxes in order to understand the structuring of mergers, acquisitions, and buyouts. There are several modules and cases devoted to M&A transactions.
• Understand how to incorporate taxes into valuation and cost of capital computations
• Understand how taxes influence the design and marketing of tax-management products such as tax shelters
• Understand the design of compensation programs such as defined benefit pensions, defined contribution plans, stock options, restricted stock, stock appreciation rights, and deferred compensation to optimize taxes
• Understand taxation of alternative investment vehicles such as tax-exempt bonds, 401-K, single premium deferred annuity, Roth IRA, growth stocks vs. dividend paying stocks
• Understand how taxes influence location of businesses in multinational settings

Effective communication is now seen as an essential aspect of employability in any business setting. But in recent years, the specific communication tasks that new CPA accountants encounter early in their careers have become much more demanding. Young recruits can no longer remain in back-office cubicles crunching numbers. They must now be prepared to join with more senior members of a firm and interact with clients as well as take responsibility for important documents that will circulate internally or go out to clients. The activities and assignments in this new course will help staff-level accountants improve their ability to write industry-specific documents, compose effective messages to clients, develop the interpersonal skills to successfully participate in client interviews, probe and listen to obtain requisite information, and importantly, to engage comfortably and appropriately in all client interactions.