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Alverno College Management Accounting Major
MGA275 - New Enterprise Accounting Issues

Course Description

This course in the first in a series of four integrated accounting courses that you will complete as part of your management accounting major. These integrated accounting courses are designed in response to a set of questions that define the business environment/context issues and discipline expertise needed by a professional accountant to be an effective part of the management team at a particular stage of the business's growth and development.

These questions are:

• What are the business/management issues facing the organization at this stage of its development?
• What business strategies are unique to this stage of organizational development and how they impact decision-making?
• How does the global marketplace affect the organization at this point in time?
• What ethical/valuing issues face the organization at this stage of development?
• What accounting information is needed to support and/or influence decision making and strategy?
• How do traditional and contemporary/emerging accounting approaches support and/or influence decision-making?
• How can technology support information needs?

To respond to these questions in this course, you will use your critical thinking and problem solving abilities to address a variety of accounting and financial management issues that face a new start-up. These include using accounting information for strategic planning, supporting decisions and performance measurement; and understanding the regulatory environment in which the company operates.

Management Accounting Major and Course Outcomes

The following management accounting major outcomes focus all of your coursework in accounting and reflect the integration of the advanced levels of analysis, problem solving, valuing and social interaction. At the conclusion of this course, you will be able to:

• integrate principles from accounting and management theory with liberal arts learning to interpret and analyze business situations and to effectively communicate with others in a variety of contexts by:
  • Implementing a balanced scorecard approach to organizational performance measurement and evaluation.
    
    
• Use accounting frameworks to initiate and implement problem solving and process improvement in organizational contexts by:
  • Using cost behavior concepts to analyze operating costs to identify their impact on planning, decision making and financial reporting.
  • Applying cost behavior concepts and cost-volume-profit analysis to influence and support strategic and operating decisions facing a new business.
  • Using planning and budgeting processes to support strategic and operating decisions that reflect a variety of stakeholder concerns and perspectives.
  • Using income tax principles and regulations to address basic income tax accounting issues facing a small business.
  • Identifying, critically evaluating and selecting appropriate working capital management strategies to respond to a variety of stakeholder needs.
    
    
• Use management theory to interact effectively in professional contexts that require leadership of groups or other types of interpersonal interactions by:
  • Using interpersonal and task oriented models to work effectively with others to address accounting issues.
    
    
• Respond to management and accounting issues in a manner consistent with personal and professional codes of conduct by:
  • Identifying the relationship between generally accepted accounting principles and a professional code of conduct to address planning and earnings management issues.
  • Critically reading the regulatory and operating environment to ensure compliance with laws and GAAP to promote organizational social responsibility.
  • Drawing upon and reinforcing your valuing and social interaction abilities as you engage in independent and collaborative problem solving.