Getting Started

1
Getting Started

• Start Early
• Get Buy-In
• Anticipate obstacles / concerns
• Be able to articulate why necessary as well as
  what the plan can do for YOU!
• Agree on guiding principles

2
Mission Statement - Undergrad

• The mission of the BBA degree with an accounting
  major is to educate students in the broad
  concepts and principles governing accounting,
  auditing and taxation. The program will provide
  students with sufficient depth in internal and
  external accounting as well as strong analytical
  skills to prepare them for entry-level accounting
  positions in industry and government. It will
  also provide a background that will serve as the
  basis for continued graduate study in professions
  where an accounting background is useful or
  necessary.
• Specific program objectives
• Students graduating with a BBA degree will have
  sufficient education in accounting to provide
  them with career opportunities in industry and
  government. In addition, this education will
  serve as a springboard for students planning to
  attend graduate school. It will also be useful
  for students with a dual major who desire strong
  accounting skills but are not focusing primarily
  on accounting or auditing as their career.
• Students graduating with a BBA degree will have
  strong technical and analytical skills.
• Students graduating with a BBA degree will have
  strength in oral and written communication as
  well as a broad understanding of business.

3
Mission Statement - MAcc

• The mission/goal of the School of Accountings
  Masters of Accounting program is to facilitate
  the advancement of both the field of accounting
  and the accounting profession primarily through
  the education of the professions future leaders.
  This implies
• 1. an emphasis on accounting and economic
  concepts and theory and cognitive skills as well
  as currently relevant technical authority. Our
  focus is on developing a sound foundation for
  future leaders rather than training staff
  accountants. This requires the following
• Providing a broad-based business curriculum to
  ensure that students understand the economic
  phenomenon for which they are accounting
• A continuing emphasis on accounting concepts and
  professional standards and their application to
  unstructured situations
• The development of professional research skills
  that will allow students to address new and/or
  novel situations and
• Offering an opportunity for in-depth analysis by
  allowing students to focus on a specific
  dimension of accounting practice.
• 2. The development in students of an appreciation
  for the economic and social impact of accounting
  on individual users and society in general. This
  requires the following
• An understanding of the motives of the parties
  involved in the measurement, analysis,
  validation, and communication of financial and
  other information and their underlying ethical
  implications
• An appreciation for the process from which
  accounting rules and principles are derived
• 3. . An emphasis on the developing needs of the
  accounting profession and the constituencies it
  serves. This focus on the evolution of both the
  field and the profession requires the integration
  of discovery and application research into the
  curriculum.
• .4. Placing graduates in entry level positions
  in public accounting and accounting-related
  positions in industry.

4
The Plan - Undergrad

• Course-embedded or end-of-instruction measures
• Area faculty met to identify learning outcomes
  and measures
• Results presented to rest of faculty
• Will collect measures once per year (at
  discretion of faculty) and meet to discuss
• Revise program, goals, outcomes, measures as
  appropriate.

5
Measurement Issues

• Agreement within area faculty
• Choosing standards / expectations
• Test retest issues
• Potential interpretation of results
• Development of a grading rubric

6
Tax I Learning Objectives

• The undergraduate tax curriculum is designed to
  meet the needs of those interested in accounting
  careers in industry and government as well as to
  establish a foundation for those who will pursue
  graduate work in accounting and/or careers in
  public accounting. It is also designed to meet
  the needs of those in related fields for which
  accounting and tax knowledge will be relevant
  (e.g., finance, law). The primary learning
  objectives of the undergraduate tax curriculum
  are
• the ability to identify and understand various
  policy objectives underlying the tax law
• necessary to produce educated citizens who can
  participate in public policy discussions as well
  as to create a basis for understanding and
  applying the law to specific situations.
• the ability to identify potential tax issues in
  unstructured situations
• students should be able to apply their
  understanding of policy objectives and basic tax
  concepts to identify potential tax issues in new
  and/or unstructured situations. In practice,
  graduates must be able to identify situations in
  which additional research, or the consultation of
  a tax specialist, is warranted.
• the ability to conduct basic professional tax
  research
• as no class can cover all existing law, or
  predict changes in the law, the ability to
  independently find answers to questions is
  perhaps the most valuable learning objective of
  the curriculum.

7
Tax I Learning Objectives

• 4. to achieve an understanding of the tax
  consequences of common business and investment
  transactions
• -familiarity with the tax consequences of the
  most common transactions reinforces the
  understanding of policy objectives and their
  application and facilitates the ability to apply
  them to new and/or unfamiliar situations.
  Familiarity with common and recurring
  transactions also allows the new professional to
  function more efficiently and to more effectively
  participate in management discussions.
• 5. the ability to meaningfully incorporate tax
  considerations in business and investment
  decisions
• -given the expectation that many of our
  undergraduate students will take positions in
  management, they must understand and be able to
  incorporate the tax consequences of transactions
  in the decision-making process. Those who pursue
  careers as tax consultants will face similar
  demands.
• 6. the ability to compare and contrast the tax
  and financial reporting treatment of common
  business transactions
• -as future members of management responsible for
  reporting financial result to shareholders, and
  as financial professionals in general, graduates
  must understand the financial reporting of taxes
  as well as be able to differentiate between the
  tax and financial reporting treatment of common
  transactions.
• 7. an appreciation of the ethical issues related
  to tax compliance and planning
• -as students will ultimately be involved in
  decisions that affect multiple constituencies,
  often with competing goals, and that involve
  multiple sources of ambiguity, they must be able
  to recognize potential sources of ethical
  dilemmas, assess their roles and responsibilities
  in addressing such dilemmas, and evaluate the
  consequences of their actions within, and with
  respect to, a larger framework.

8
Common Bus/Invest Trans

• Q4a. C During the current year, Cap Corp. had
  ordinary income from operations of 30,000, net
  long-term capital gains of 10,000, and net
  short-term capital losses of 15,000. What is
  Caps taxable income for the year?
• a. 25,000 b. 27,000 c.30,000
• d. 40,000 e. None of the above.

9
Common Bus/Invest Trans

• Q4d. _C_ X Corp exchanged an office building
  (FMV 1,000,000 tax AB 20,000) for another
  office building (FMV 1,000,000 tax AB to prior
  owner 500,000). Which of the following is true?
• A. X will recognize a gain of 0 and have an
  adjusted basis in their new building of
  1,000,000.
• B. X will recognize a gain of 980,000 and have
  an adjusted basis in their new building of
  1,000,000.
• C. X will recognize a gain of 0 and have an
  adjusted basis in their new building of 20,000.
• D. X will recognize a gain of 980,000 and have an
  adjusted basis in their new building of 500,000.
• E. None of the above

10
Taxes and Business Decisions

• Q5a. (T/F) F The primary goal of tax
  planning is to minimize a taxpayer's tax payments
  to the government.

11
Taxes and Business Decisions

• Q5d. Despite all of the details in the tax law,
  most tax planning strategies are designed to use
  at least one of a small handful of
  tools/objectives. What are those
  tools/objectives? Give an example, discussed in
  class, of each.
• (2 pts) Shifting income across time (i.e.,
  accelerating deductions or deferring income)
• (1 pt) e.g., accelerated depreciation, Sec. 179,
  the use of tax deferred transactions (e.g.,
  LKEs)
• Changing the rate at which income is taxed
• (2 pts) changing nature of income/deductions
• (1 pt) e.g., capital gains vs. ordinary income
  (e.g. Sec. 1231, 1244,),
• use of tax-favored activities (e.g., payment in
  fringe benefits)
• (2 pts) shifting income across taxpayers
• (1 pt) e.g., making deductible dist from corp to
  avoid double taxation, gifting property to those
  in lower brackets alimony arrangements
• (1 pt) Shifting income across jurisdictions
• E.g., setting up sub in a foreign jurisdiction

12
Compare/Contrast Tax GAAP

• Q6. __C___ At the end of Y Corps first year of
  operations, it reports warranty expense of
  400,000 and an allowance for warranties of
  100,000 in its financial statements. How much
  can Y deduct for warranty expense for tax
  purposes?
• a. 0 b. 100,000 c. 300,000 d. 400,000
• e. none of the above

13
Compare/Contrast Tax GAAP

• Q4e. The accrual method is an acceptable method
  of accounting for tax purposes. How do the rules
  for accrual basis accounting for tax differ from
  those used under GAAP? Give three specific
  examples. (Note dont list specific revenues
  that are not taxable, or expenditures that are
  not deductible, but examples of differences in
  the underlying methods.)
• (5 points) Unearned income, recorded as a
  liability for GAAP, may be taxable even though it
  has not been earned since the taxpayer has the
  ability to pay the tax.
• (3 points) The all events and economic
  performance tests must be met before an expense
  is deductible for tax purposes, making allowances
  used in GAAP to match expenses with the periods
  they benefit (e.g., allowances for bad debts)
  inapplicable for tax purposes.
• (2 pts) anything else (e.g., MACRS vs.
  depreciation ability to pay vs. income
  treatment of related party transactions, etc.)

14
MAcc Comp Exam

• Mandated by Grad College
• Required to
• identify issue,
• explain mgts incentives/concerns,
• locate and apply prof guidance,
• list potential solutions and identify one best,
  and
• provide journal entries (initially intended to
  help us interpret their responses)

15
What Next?

• Officially close the loop this summer
• Continue evaluating mission and goals,
• Including overarching goals for undergrad program
• Continue to develop and refine measures.
• Go through first review this summer
• Consider end-of-instruction assessment

16
Comments / Suggestions
17
Developing the Plan

• Revisit Mission Stmt
• Program specific (i.e., Undergrad v grad)?
• Separation of duties
• Learning outcomes v inputs v other
• Identifying Outcomes and Measures
• Course v program level