探寻会计数字背后的商业世界

Survey of Financial Acing Principles

Michael Thomas Paz

康奈尔大学酒店管理学院会计学专业教授

1)康奈尔大学Statler酒店顾问
2)美国会计协会（AAA）（全美最大的会计学术组织）会议特别审查委员
3)《会计审核》、《管理会计研究期刊》、《商业道德杂志》、《应用会计研究杂 志》、《康奈尔酒店季刊》特设审稿人
4)杰出博士生导师奖
5)曾获得毕马威会计事务所颁发的少数民族会计博士奖学金
6)曾在美国银行和 GE 公司工作，业内经验丰富

课题背景
你是否对通过信息识别、分析、解释和交流来实现金融公司的目标感兴趣？你是否能明白金融公司一大堆数字背后的秘 密？任何一个企业的成功，小到社区的便利商店，大到跨国公司，都离不开会计数字。会计数字不仅能够提供产品、服 务和客户等方面的成本信息，而且能够为管理者计划、控制和决策提供信息。

课题内容
本此课题为期八周，主要分为两部分，每个部分都会侧重于加深对财务会计数字以及相关原则的理解。四周将概述美国通用会计准则的内容，并对收入报表、资产负债表、现金流量表和股东权益表四种基本财务报表的解读和理解；后四周主要带领大家开展与会计主题相关的小组研究，以及对论文建构进行指导。

适合人群
 对会计、公司金融感兴趣的高中生，本科生
 修读会计、其他商科专业学生，以及未来希望在银行、证券、公司管理等相关岗位从业的学生
 具备统计学基础以及会计基本原理基础的学生优先

教授介绍

Michael Thomas Paz

康奈尔大学酒店管理学院会计学专业教授

1)康奈尔大学Statler酒店顾问
2)美国会计协会（AAA）（全美最大的会计学术组织）会议特别审查委员
3)《会计审核》、《管理会计研究期刊》、《商业道德杂志》、《应用会计研究杂 志》、《康奈尔酒店季刊》特设审稿人
4)杰出博士生导师奖
5)曾获得毕马威会计事务所颁发的少数民族会计博士奖学金
6)曾在美国银行和 GE 公司工作，业内经验丰富

任职学校
康奈尔大学 (Cornell University) 是一所位于美国纽约州伊萨卡的世界顶级私立研究型大学 ( 另有两所分校位于纽约市 和卡塔尔教育城 )，是著名的常春藤联盟成员。康奈尔大学是常春藤名校中唯一采用公私合营的办学模式，最初以农工 学院为特色而起家，其酒店管理学院、工业与劳工关系学院为全美首创。康奈尔大学的传统优势专业包括农业、兽医、 工科、劳工关系、文理、经济、建筑、教育、商科、传媒、以及酒店管理等。

课程安排与收获
• 8周在线小组科研（总课时78小时）
• 网申推荐信
• 学术评估报告
• 项目成绩单
• 论文成果

课纲

Survey of Financial Accounting Research Michael T. Paz, PhD, CMA

September 2020

Syllabus

Course Description: This eight-week course is divided into two distinct sections, each focused on broadening understanding of financial accounting principles. The first four weeks will provide students with an overview of generally accepted accounting principles in the United States as well as an understanding of the four basic financial statements and techniques for analyzing their content. The second four weeks will feature small-group work on research projects related to accounting topics, including instruction on conducting accounting research and structuring research papers.

Suggested Preparatory Courses: Principles of Financial Accounting, Statistical Research Methods

Course Schedule:

*Note – The course content for Weeks 5 through 8 will be customized for each group’s research topic and will focus on building an understanding of research in that specific area.

Textbook: Hermanson, Edwards, and Maher. 2011. Accounting Principles: A Business Perspective.

•      This textbook is published online and available for use free of charge. Students will receive a PDF copy of this textbook to facilitate reading assignments.

Reading Assignments:

Reading Assignments for Weeks 5 through 8 will be assigned separately for each research project

Grading:

Grades for this course will be based on the following criteria:

Reflections & Research Paper Synopses: Students will be expected to demonstrate their understanding of the assigned reading and lecture content each week. Students will be assigned questions for weeks 1 through 4 and required to submit a 2-page reflection which address these questions. At the beginning of class from Weeks 5 through 8, students will be asked to submit a short synopsis of each assigned paper (written in their own words) identifying the important results and information from the assigned reading for the week.

Research Paper: Students will be graded on the quality of their research paper. This includes not only content, but also organization and style (i.e. grammar, syntax, etc.). This paper is expected to be between 10 and 15 pages (double-spaced) and written in APA format. A rubric will be provided at the beginning of Week 6 to clarify expectations for the research paper.

Final Grade: Grades will be assigned as follows:

Research Proposal 1: Non-Financial Performance Measures

Research Question: For what purposes do companies report non-financial performance measures?

Project Overview: Non-financial performance measures refer to any measure reported by companies which consists primarily of non-financial information (e.g. number of customers, number of stores, etc.). Despite the general view that nonfinancial performance measures are leading indicators of financial performance, there is substantial variation among companies and industries as to what measures are reported. Students will read a series of research papers related to nonfinancial performance measures and their usefulness to external parties. They will learn to conduct an independent literature review to supplement the assigned readings. Students will also learn to effectively interpret and synthesize these readings into a coherent research paper. Finally, students will produce a research paper which addresses their research question.

Assigned Readings (PDF copies provided):

Students should use the first five weeks of the course to read and familiarize themselves with the full slate of assigned research papers. They should then re-read these papers in preparation for each week’s discussions. The papers are grouped by general topic in order to help facilitate an orderly composition of the research paper.

Deliverables:

Research Proposal 2: Customer-Base Concentration and Firm Performance

Research Question: What impact does increased customer-base concentration have on firm performance?

Project Overview: Companies increasingly derive a large portion of their revenues from a small group of large customers. There is significant disagreement as to the performance implications of customer-base concentration, as this phenomenon is called. There is mixed evidence suggesting both positive and negative performance impacts of customer-base concentration. Students will read a series of research papers related to customer-base concentrations and its performance implications for companies. They will learn to conduct an independent literature review to supplement the assigned readings. Students will also learn to effectively interpret and synthesize these readings into a coherent research paper. Finally, students will produce a research paper which addresses their research question.

Assigned Readings (PDF copies provided):

Students should use the first five weeks of the course to read and familiarize themselves with the full slate of assigned research papers. They should then re-read these papers in preparation for each week’s discussions. The papers are grouped by general topic in order to help facilitate an orderly composition of the research paper.

Deliverables:

Research Proposal 3: Earnings Management Research Question: How and why do managers “manage their earnings”?

Project Overview: Company performance is increasingly scrutinized by investors, creditors, and independent investment analysts. This scrutiny creates significant pressure for managers to perform well. A large body of research exists which explores how managers use their financial reporting discretion to “manage” their earnings in order to help improve performance reporting (though not necessarily real performance). Students will read a series of research papers related to earnings management and discuss both how and why managers manage their earnings. They will learn to conduct an independent literature review to supplement the assigned readings. Students will also learn to effectively interpret and synthesize these readings into a coherent research paper. Finally, students will produce a research paper which addresses their research question and provides support for their related hypotheses.

Assigned Readings (PDF copies provided):

Students should use the first five weeks of the course to read and familiarize themselves with the full slate of assigned research papers. They should then re-read these papers in preparation for each week’s discussions. The papers are grouped by general topic in order to help facilitate an orderly composition of the research paper.

Deliverables: