1. INSTRUCTOR:
            Dr. John Butler
        OFFICE:
            448 Fisher Hall, Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University,
            Columbus, Ohio 43210
        OFFICE HOURS:
            Monday 5:30 - 6:30 and by appointment.
        OFFICE PHONE:
            (614) 688-8679
        E-MAIL:
      butlerj@cob.ohio-state.edu
         the subject of all messages must be AMIS 531

2. COURSE TEXTS:

1. Required text: Accounting Information Systems: A Business Process Approach, Jones and Rama, 2nd edition (not the same book as previous quarters)
2. This syllabus serves as an interactive entry point into all materials covered in this class. It WILL be updated frequently during the quarter, so check often for new links, notes, messages, and other related material.

Recent advances in computer and communication technology have sparked an information revolution that is radically transforming the way we do business and the very nature of work. Perhaps no where has the impact of information technology been more pronounced than on the accounting system and the accounting profession itself.

Accounting is generally concerned with the identification, collection, processing, analysis, interpretation and communication of economic information about an organization, and as such, there is considerable degree of affinity between the accounting and information systems fields. Accountants, as information specialists, must acquire a common body of knowledge relating to information systems if they are to succeed in today's increasingly competitive, computer laden and technologically driven business environment.

Accountants typically play four major roles with respect to information systems and their products: as users, evaluators, controllers, and builders. AMIS 531 is intended to help you play those roles effectively. It provides you with a comprehensive introduction to computers in business, particularly for accounting applications. The course is broad in its breadth and is oriented toward principles, concepts, and ideas rather than primarily toward the technical aspects of information systems. The objective of this course is to give you the "core" of systems knowledge (except for the topic of programming) which will help you:

1. understand the relationship between accounting information systems and other systems in the organization, within an overall information systems framework;
2. acquire the background knowledge and language necessary to communicate effectively with information systems professionals and participate in the design, development and evaluation of accounting information systems;
3. understand basic security and control issues as well as auditing considerations relating to computer-based accounting information systems; and acquire a working knowledge of basic spreadsheet and database concepts and tools, and become familiar with the World Wide Web and the Internet as business communication tools and platforms for electronic commerce.

	You are expected to have read carefully the assigned portion of the book prior to coming to class (and I encourage you to discuss it with friends); most of the class time will be devoted to the discussion of applications and extensions of the material in the book.
	You are expected to complete all assignments. Some assignments are to be completed in teams. In the case of group work submit only one report per group.  I will announce a date after which I will not answer questions about each assignment.  I will give you fair warning but this constraint will not be relaxed.
	You may work on assignments together (for example, discuss how to work a problem or rough out a solution), but every group must turn in work that is written up individually. Solutions to these problems may not be “copied” and “pasted” by multiple groups.  The purpose of the assignments is not to find a solution on the Internet or from students who took this class previously.  If you do find some useful information on the web or from another source it should be referenced!  Evidence of cheating in any form will be met with serious punishment including formal channels at the University level.

5. GRADING POLICY:

	Tentative allocation of points.  Depending on time available I may remove some assignments.  In the event that this happens, those points will simply be subtracted from the total available for the class. Midterm #1: 75 points Midterm #2: 75 points Cumululative Final: 125 points Access: 30 points Excel: 30 points Web Page: 10 points Participation 70 points At home exercises: up to 50 points
	No makeup quizzes will be given.  Quizzes cannot be taken early.  No late assignments will be accepted.  No electronic submissions will be accepted unless specially requested of all students.
	If an assignment is added or deleted, those points will simply be added or subtracted from the total.
	No extra credit will be given but at the end of the quarter all students will have the option to complete a final project worth 200 points.  Students pursuing this strategy will not be able to choose between which of the two grades is higher; they must accept the grade which includes the project.  In other words, they had better be good!

6. COMPUTER USUAGE:

In addition to the lecture discussions focusing on concepts and principles, you'll learn how to use two specific software packages: Excel and Access. Knowledge of both tools will serve you well as an accounting student and a business professional.  We are also going to discuss the Internet and you will get exposure to a variety of Internet-related services and tools. The course, as indicated above, has its own home page on the WWW. I will assume that you will check (at least twice a week) the page for course related information and assignments.

7. TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:

Week	Date	Topic	Readings	Class Notes	Assignments
1	Mar 28	Class Overview and Introduction to AIS	Chapter 1	chap1.ppt
	Mar 30	Business Processes and AIS data	Chapter 2	chap2.ppt Ch2 Exercise
2	Apr 4	Documenting Accounting Systems	Chapter 3	chap3.ppt Ch3 Exercise	Take Home #1
	Apr 6	Identifying Risks and Controls in Business Processes	Chapter 4	chap4.ppt Ch4 Exercise	Take Home #2
3	Apr 11	Understanding and Designing Accounting Data	Chapter 5	chap5.ppt Ch5 Exercise	Take Home #3
	Apr 13	Introduction to Access			Take Home #4
4	Apr 18	Midterm #1
	Apr 20	Understanding and Designing Queries and Reports	Chapter 6	chap6.ppt chap6.zip
5	Apr 25	Understanding and Designing Forms	Chapter 7	chap7.ppt
	Apr 27	Using Accounting Applications	Chapter 8	Ch6 Exercise Ch7 Exercise
6	May 2	Using Accounting Applications	Chapter 8	chap8.ppt Ch8 Exercise	Take Home #5
	May 4	Acquisition Cycle	Chapter 9	chap9.ppt	Take Home #6
7	May 9	Acquisition Cycle	Chapter 10	chap10.ppt Ch9 Exercise Ch10 Exercise	Access HW due
	May 11	Revenue Cycles	Chapter 11	chap11.ppt Ch11 Exercise	Take Home #7
8	May 16	Midterm # 2
	May 18	Using Technology to Enhance Business Processes	Chapter 12	chap12.ppt Ch12 Exercise
9	May 23	IT Governance and General Controls	Chapter 13	chap13.ppt Ch13 Exercise
	May 25	Introduction to Systems Development	Chapter 14	chap14.ppt Ch14 Exercise please bring exercises 12-13 also in case we have time
10	May 30	Memorial Day, No Classes
	June 1	Balanced Scorecard  read this paper		bring paper and  exercises from 12-14
	June 8	Cumulative Final Exam

8. ARRANGEMENTS FOR ASSIGNMENTS:

As indicated, some assignments may be completed in groups of students. The individual assignment will specify the group size; only one report is to be submitted per group. To prevent free-riding the group may be split at any time during the quarter, by written notification to the professor. Free-riding is further discouraged in that questions from the assignments will appear on the exams, and peer-evaluation will be solicited.

Note that some assignments might take more than a few hours to finish. You should submit the required material to your professor. The assignments are due at the beginning of the class session. No late assignments will be accepted - no exceptions.

9. MESSAGES:

4/10/05 -  Please re-read the Access assignment.  A significant number of you did not hand in what was requested making it extremely difficult to grade.  You can hand in an alternative assignment in class tomorrow (5/11) if you feel realize that you did not in fact follow the directions.  No, I will not tell you if what you handed in is OK; you need to decide that for yourselves.  No, I do not want a disk (or other storage media) with the database file on it.

3/29/05 -  Please bring a print out of  word doc posted above to class on 3/30
 

10. CONTACT INFO:

e-mail entire class, including Butler

e-mail entire class, excluding Butler