AIS2001

MA320
Accounting Information Systems
Spring 2001

Professor: Theresa Hammond
Contact Information: Fulton 552A; 552-4525; theresa.hammond@bc.edu (the best way to contact me).
Office Hours: Tuesdays 3:30-4:30 and by appointment.
Required Texts:

Hollander, A., Denna, E., and Cherrington, J. O., Accounting, Information Technology, and Business Solutions 2^nd Edition, Irwin McGraw-Hill, 2000
Perry & Schneider, Building Accounting Systems Using Access 97 South-Western College Publishing, 1999. (Shared with a partner of your choice.)

The printed schedule is for overview purposes only and is subject to multiple updates. You are responsible for keeping track of changes at http://www2.bc.edu/~hammonth/.

Date	Topic	Assignment
1/16	Introduction The Changing Profession	If possible (and if you haven't already), download Realplayer on the system you will use for class assignments. http://www.real.com/player/ Look at graph in April 1999 Journal of Accountancy entitled "The Rise of IT." Read Hollander Chapter One.
1/23	Finding Information Visiting Speaker: Claire O’Leary, O’Neill Library Business Processes	Before coming to class, choose your ACCESS partner. Before coming to class, choose your Realplayer buddy/ies. You can form groups of any size. You just need to tell me where you will be completing assignments that require Realplayer. Hollander, Chapter 2 pp. 35-46 only. Answer Review Questions 3, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14. Project groups and group meeting times will be assigned. Hollander's p. 44 discusses tracking packages for Fedex and UPS. Track the following Fedex package and email me with the delivery details (time and place delivered, who signed by, etc.). Do not email me directly from the Fedex website, because I will not get your return address. Email me from your BC account.
1/30	Presentation Group Meetings Fulton 552A	ALL GROUPS: Turn in an outline of your presentation, list of sources, print out from your on-line bookseller, and homework assignment for your classmates. I might veto the homework assignment. Writing Assignment #1: Imagine that you work for a large professional services firm and your supervisor is confused about all the new acronyms in the field. He has asked you to explain the difference between ERPs and ASPs, and wants to know how that difference will affect your large corporate clients. List at least 5 sources. A good starting point might be: "ASPs: Changing Information Technology Delivery," by David Castellani, Strategic Finance March 2000, and "Off the Books: Accounting Costs can be Slashed by Tapping into the Web," by Elizabeth MacDonald, The Wall Street Journal November 15, 1999. Word limit: 300. If you did not choose a Realplayer and/or Access partner/group, you must do it by this date at 2:00 p.m. This assignment will be considered late, since it was due last week. If you are having trouble finding a partner, consider emailing all your classmates. You can simply "reply all" to one of my mass emails.
2/6	Presentations IBM Dell Microsoft Apple Cisco Oracle	Assignment from classmates During the presentations, I expect that each of you will have well-informed questions for your classmates based on the reading you have been assigned. I will "cold call" on students. "He took my question" will not be an acceptable response. Read Perry & Schneider Chapters One (optional) and Two, and do Exercises 1.13 and 1.14.
2/13	IT Presentations Lucent Adobe Ameritrade Yahoo Amazon	Assignment from classmates During the presentations, I expect that each of you will have well-informed questions for your classmates based on the reading you have been assigned. I will "cold call" on students. "He took my question" will not be an acceptable response.
2/20	IT Presentations eBay eToys Napster	Assignment from classmates During the presentations, I expect that each of you will have well-informed questions for your classmates based on the reading you have been assigned. I will "cold call" on students. "She took my question" will not be an acceptable response.
2/27	Midterm
3/13	Systems Documentation and Controls	Hollander Chapter 5. Answer Discussion Questions 1, 2, 6, and 10; Minicases 3, 4, and 5. Perry & Schneider: Read Chapter 3 and do exercises therein. Be prepared to discuss Discussion Questions #1 and 5. Turn in Exercise #6 (p. 156). Hollander, Chapter A pp. 399-408 only. Minicases 4 (part a) and 6. Writing Assignment #2: Find four or five articles on the ILOVEYOU, Melissa, and Chernobyl viruses and their impact on universities and other large institutions. Write a letter to the director of Information Technology at Boston College with recommendations on how to minimize such problems on campus. List your sources. Word Limit: 250.
3/20	Josh Moe NRMDesign Class Visit Pizza in Class Don't come late to class! Internal Controls	Perry & Schneider: Read Chapter 4 and do exercises therein. Turn in Exercise #3 (p. 221). Look at Hollander Chapter D Minicase 10. In June 1999, the Rite Aid drugstore chain was accused of selling past-due-date medicine and baby food. Research this event and be prepared to discuss how it could have been avoided.
3/27	Internal Controls Flowcharting	Be prepared to discuss the relationship between information technology and controls and the "Internet Busboy" story. npr.org Hollander Chapter D (Skip pp. 469-470). Discussion Question #8. Review earlier assignment: Hollander, Chapter A pp. 399-408 only. Minicases 4 (part a) and 6. Perry & Schneider: Read Chapter 6 and do exercises therein.
4/3	Revenue & Purchase Cycle	Hollander Chapter 6 pp. 229-249, and pp. 261-267. Hollander Chapter 7 pp. 293-316. Turn in Minicase Chapter 6, #5 parts a and b. Be ready to design Noe Valley Pet Company project
4/10	Virtual Class Be at a computer and "meet" at Jenzabar.com. Drop your writing assignment in my mailbox (Fulton 520) or my office (Fulton 552A) BEFORE 4:30 or it will be considered late.	Writing Assignment #3: Imagine you are a manager with a major auditing firm and you have just been assigned to audit the Massachusetts State Lottery. Write a memo to the six staff accountants who have been assigned to your audit, explaining in detail the problems with controls that have been found in the lottery in the past several years. List at least 4 sources. Good starting point: The Boston Globe July 16, 1999, p. A1 "Auditor sees ticket fraud at Lottery," by Brian MacQuarrie. Word limit: 300. Research and be prepared to discuss the major theft from the State of Massachusetts Treasury that was uncovered in the spring of 1999. What internal controls could have prevented or mitigated this theft? Good starting point: The Boston Globe February 25, 1999, "Mass. Check Policy Lacks Safeguards Used in Other States," by Peter Howe. Think about what would be included in a USEFUL report to the owners of the Noe Valley Pet Company. Everyone will be expected to make suggestions on how to use the database you developed this week.
4/17	Hang out & Chat Day Pizza	Class is completely optional; we'll just have pizza and hang out & chat.
4/24	Noe Valley Pet Company Project Due IT Updates Challenges and Opportunities	With your team, provide a brief, informal, oral update on relevant developments in your company during the semester. Hollander Chapter 9 (except 282-283). Read The Washington Post November 15, 2000, Wednesday, Pg. E01, "Accounting Firms, SEC Agree on Audit Rule; Compromise Expected To Avert Legal Face-Off" by Sandra Sugawara.
5/1	Privacy & Security	We'll discuss the email questions sent Thursday.

Goals

Encourage intellectual curiosity and lifelong learning.
Develop understanding of business processes and controls.
Introduce germane information technology companies and issues.
Increase your familiarity with useful information sources.
Augment your ability to identify relevant data.
Enhance communication skills.
Promote professional behavior and responsibility.

Grading:

Participation: 10%
Writing Assignments: 10%
IT Presentation: 10%
Pet Company Project: 5%
Midterm 25%
Final 30%
ACCESS Assignments and other Homework 10%

Participation
The more you contribute to the course, the more useful it will be to yourself and the other members of the class. Your participation grade will be based on the quality and quantity (not quantity and quality) of your participation during all class periods. Absences and tardiness will affect your grade negatively.

Writing Assignments
There are several writing assignments due this semester. They are designed both to enhance your understanding of the subject matter and to provide opportunities to practice business-style communication. Each writing assignment must include a list of sources. Grades will be based on both content and style. Because concision is one of the most highly valued attributes of good business communication, each writing assignment includes a word limit. A one-point penalty will be imposed for every five words in excess of the limit. Because timeliness is another critical component of career success, late assignments will be penalized 10% per calendar day.

Presentation
Early in the semester you will be assigned to teams. Each team will choose a company that plays a dominant role in the Information Technology arena. Companies include IBM, Apple, Microsoft, Dell, Cisco Systems, eBay, eToys, AOL/Time Warner, Napster, Yahoo!, Red Hat/Linux, Ameritrade, Adobe Systems, and Amazon.com. Presentations should provide an overview of the company useful to your classmates. Questions that should be addressed in the presentation include:

Why is this company important? (What does it do?)
How does it affect the accounting profession?
Who are its competitors?
Who are its auditors? Did the company get a "clean" audit opinion last year?
How has the company performed recently? (Both financial statements and stock performance.)
How has the company adapted to recent changes in its business environment?
What makes it unique?
What are some recent significant events in the company?
What was the most recent year-end closing stock price for the company?

The presentations should not exceed fifteen minutes, plus five to seven minutes for questions. You must use presentation software such as Microsoft Powerpoint, but you are limited to six substantive slides. (Cover sheets and "jokes" not included in the six.) You must also visit a relevant website as part of your presentation.

You should use many (minimum=20) sources for your presentation, which must include: a book on the company (if one is available), an article from an accounting journal, and a web page. The book should be purchased from an on-line bookseller. You must also choose an article that would make a suitable reading assignment for your classmates. This article must be available on-line.

On January 23 your team must turn in an initial division of duties and your first meeting time. An outline of your presentation, a printout of the on-line bookseller’s description of the book you’re reading (when possible), a list of sources you are using, and the citation for the article you assign to your classmates are due on January 30.

On your presentation day, provide an Executive Summary of the company to each of your classmates. You must give me the opportunity to pre-screen these summaries at least one week before your presentation.

Noe Valley Pet Company Project
This ACCESS project analyzes results for a pet store in San Francisco. It will be designed by the class itself.

Midterm and Final
The majority of test questions will require short essays (with word limits!). Both tests will cover the readings, class discussions, and presentations. The Midterm will be given during class, and the final will be given at the University-scheduled time. Make-up examinations will be given only under extraordinary circumstances and with prior approval.

Homework
As described on the course schedule, you have several homework assignments, and additional assignments based on current events will be added throughout the semester. These assignments include Microsoft Access database manipulation using the Perry and Schneider book. You may do the Access homework in pairs (of your choice) or by yourself. No late homework will be accepted.