Elective Courses

elective Courses

Accountancy

Accounting for Mergers and Acquisitions, ACCT 70141

3 credits, Accountancy Elective

The course provides a study of accounting principles and problems related to financial reporting for mergers, acquisitions, consolidated enterprises, and foreign operations.

Sustainability: Accounting  and reporting, ACCT 70161

2 credits, Accountancy Elective

The scope of sustainability includes the environment, labor, community and product. This course examines a wide range of issues in these areas including current practices of sustainability evaluation and reporting. The greatest focus will be on the environment. Topics in this area include regulations, voluntary disclosures in corporate annual reports or free-standing reports, accounting for emissions trading schemes and end-of-life product disposal and the role of attestation services.

Accounting Fraud Examination, ACCT 70571

2 credits, Accountancy Elective

The course will focus heavily on frauds committed against the organization (occupational fraud) and frauds committed on behalf of the organization (financial statement fraud). Major recent financial statement frauds (e.g., Enron, Worldcom, Tyco) will be analyzed, corporate governance issues will be addressed, computerized data mining approaches will be investigated, and the nature and scope of accounting litigation support services will be studied.

Advanced Assurance Services, ACCT 70511

3 credits, Accountancy Elective/Required for Financial Reporting and Assurances Services Track

This course exposes students to the demand for, and the supply of, independent professional services that improve the quality of information for decision makers. Topics include markets, measurement, value, risk, communication and information search for assurance service engagements in electronic commerce, systems reliability, entity performance and health care, among others.

Analysis and Valuation Using Financial Statements, ACCT 70311

3 credits, Accountancy Elective/Required for Financial Reporting and Assurances Services Track

This course deals with the analysis of financial information (particularly firms' financial reports) and the use of this information in making decisions regarding investing in these firms. The primary focus will be on equity (stock) valuation, with some attention given to credit analysis and the valuation of debt. Methods to determine stock value using fundamental analysis will be examined in detail and applied in projects involving listed companies. Topics include a comparison of accounting and discounted cash flow approaches to valuation, methods of financial statement analysis, dealing with accounting issues, forecasting firms' futures, determining firms' price/earnings and market-to-book ratios, and the analysis of risk.

Business Law: Property & Negotiable Instruments, ACCT 70711

3 credits

Following a brief synthesis of the American legal system, Business Law Property and Negotiable Instruments reviews product liability and contract law, and then provides an in-depth study of commercial law, including the Uniform Commercial Code's Articles on Sales, Negotiable Instruments, Checks and Electronic Fund Transfers, Secured Transactions and Creditors Rights. Additional topics covered include bankruptcy law, real estate law, and business organizations, including the sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, and corporation. The course also includes an emphasis on Critical Thinking in the Law. 

Ethics in Accounting, ACCT 70751

3 credits, Accountancy Elective

The course is designed to raise students' level of awareness and ability to recognize ethical issues facing the accounting profession and accounting professionals. Course learning objectives include understanding key concepts, and improving students' skills of moral reasoning and ethical decision making.

Income Taxation International Individual, ACCT 70691

3 credits, Tax Elective

United States tax laws that apply to international individuals provide these taxpayers with advantages and disadvantages when compared to the typical U.S. citizen. This course will examine the advantages (e.g., treatment of exemptions, loss of deductions and/or credits) in the context of tax compliance, tax planning, and tax strategies for an international individual. Students enrolled in this course will participate in the Tax Assistance Program counseling for taxpayers, aiding them in the tax compliance process, or they will become involved in some other type of supervised field project involving foreign taxpayers.

Partnerships and Passive Activities, ACCT 70631

3 credits, Required for Tax Services Track 

Partnerships are the entity of choice in a variety of ventures. However, there are business situations in which the partnership form is the mandated choice. Using a "womb to tomb" approach, this course covers the life of a partnership from creation to termination. Its specific emphasis is on the federal income tax implications of a variety of activities (e.g., partnership operations, distributions and liquidations). In addition, segments of the course focus on foreign partners/partnerships, passive activities and tax shelters.

ACADEMIC Research in Accounting, (ARA) ACCT 70831

2 credits, Accountancy Elective

Academic Research in Accounting I introduces students to research method, illustrates a protocol to interpret research, and uses the protocol to probe in detail an issue important to accounting regulators. Following completion of the course, students will understand the role of science in accounting and how to interpret accounting research.

Special Topics in Tax I: Personal Financial Planning, ACCT 70651

1 credit, Tax Elective

Personal Financial Planning is an intensive course consisting of a series of modules covering estate and gift planning, risk management, retirement planning, income tax planning, and investment planning. The objectives of this course are to enable the student to provide basic income tax and investment planning services, provide estate and gift planning services, recognize opportunities for practice development, evaluate insurance proposals in terms of their economic and tax implications, and analyze the economic and tax benefits of Social Security and of various retirement plans.

Special Topics in Tax II: Accounting Periods & Methods, ACCT 70661

1 credit, Tax Elective

As business transactions grow more complex and the pressure to collect tax revenue increases, the IRA is placing an intense focus on accelerating the recognition of taxable income and deferring the recognition of tax deductions. This course will review the historical development of tax accounting principles and how they are evolving in light of the complex business environment. Specific topics include the cash and accrual methods of tax accounting, tax rules governing the time value of money, and the taxation of inventories.

Special Topics in Tax III: Selected Tax Topics, ACCT 70671

1 credit, Tax Elective 

This course is intended to provide the student with an introduction into the tax rules applicable to selected tax topics in the areas of international taxation and tax practice and procedure. International tax topics covered will include the corporate foreign tax credit, the taxation of controlled foreign corporations, and the taxation of foreign branches of U. S. corporations. Tax practice and procedure topics covered will include the Internal Revenue Service examination process, the rules regarding the Internal Revenue Service statute of limitations, the applicability and calculation of various Internal Revenue Service penalties, and the calculation of Internal Revenue Service refund and deficiency interest.

Special Topics in Taxation IV – SALT, ACCT 70681

3 credits, Tax Elective 

This specialized taxation course focuses on various issues of state and local taxation. Topics covered include multi-state nexus issues, apportionment and allocation, and consolidated and unitary issues. Next, an overview of sales tax is provided with further focus on multi-state sales tax. Specific issues of state tax law are also covered, including internet/electronic commerce real property issues and person property taxation.

Tax Research, ACCT 70611

3 credits, Accountancy Elective/Required for Tax Services Track 

The overriding purpose of tax research is to find solutions to the tax problems of one's clients or employer. The researcher must find authority, evaluate the usefulness of that authority and apply the results of the research to a specific situation. This course will provide the student with a working knowledge of the successful tax practitioner's methodology applied to the solution of both routine and complex tax problems. The student will be able to determine and communicate ethically defensible solutions for most tax problems through independent research with minimal supervision. Topic areas to be covered include the tax research environment, primary sources of federal tax law, using secondary sources as research tools, and implementing the research tools.

Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders, ACCT 70621

3 credits, Accountancy Elective/Required for Tax Services Track 

For both tax and nontax reasons, the use of the corporate form of operating a business is growing in popularity in the United States. This course provides an in-depth study of federal income tax laws as they are applied to corporations and shareholders. Topics to be examined include definition of a corporation for tax purposes; the problems of forming a corporation, including the design of the corporation's capital structure; computation of the corporate tax liability for individual corporations and controlled groups of corporations; taxation of S corporations; penalty surtaxes (i.e., the personal holding company tax and the accumulated earnings tax) applicable to corporations; payment of non-liquidating distributions to the corporation's shareholders; tax consequences of liquidating the corporate entity and corporate reorganizations. Students will be required to complete both a Form 1120 and 1120S and, working in groups, write up solutions to tax research assignments and case studies.

Topics in Accounting Measurement & Disclosure, ACCT 70131

3 credits, Accountancy Elective/Required for Financial Reporting and Assurances Services Track 

This is an advanced financial reporting course with three primary objectives. The first objective is to provide students with a deeper understanding of financial accounting theory and the role of financial reporting in society. The second objective is to improve students' abilities to identify financial reporting issues, research the authoritative literature, and develop and present reasoned arguments supporting their recommended accounting treatment. The third objective of the course is to develop technical competence in current accounting issues generally not addressed at the undergraduate level (e.g. derivatives, securitization, special purpose entities, and the fair value option). We will work through all three objectives using both US standards (US GAAP) and International standards (IFRS).

Valuation Litigation Support, ACCT 70581

2 credits, Accountancy Elective 

As a broad categorization, accountants and finance professionals provide two types of litigation support services: forensic accounting services and valuation services. The Accounting Fraud Examination course, Acct. 70571, focuses on forensic accounting services while Acct. 70581 focuses on valuation services. A variety of situations arise where experts are called on to provide a valuation suitable for use in a court of law. A partial list includes valuations related to minority shareholder disputes, private companies, specific asset valuations, estate tax disputes, valuation of assets in divorce situations, and intellectual property damage calculations. The focus of the course is on litigation that requires a valuation estimate. Most of the course will focus on analysis of actual valuation court cases. Several expert witness professionals will share their insights with students. The goals of the course are to broaden student valuation skills and to open their eyes to the exciting career opportunities available to valuation experts in litigation support.

DR-Accounting and reporting for governmental Entities, Nongovernmental and not-for-profit org, ACCT 76791

3 credits, Accountancy Elective 

Governmental entitires, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and not-for-profit (NFP) organizations encounter many special challenges. This course will focus on the unique accounting and reporting aspects faced by these organizations and enable participants to: understand the role budgets play in governmental entities, NGOS and NFP organizations; prepare and implement flexible budget; create a cash budget and understand its managerial use; explain the components and meaning of a balance sheet, activity statement, cash flow statement and statement of functional expenses; work with basic terminology and techniques of fund accounting; identify and report the federal income tax consequences of specific NFP activities.

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Finance

Land Conservation Financing, FIN 60711

 1 credit, Graduate Elective

This course covers the public and private financial mechanisms available to protect environmentally sensitive land and green space generally. Topics will include such alternative public financing mechanisms as traditional tax-subsidized programs, ballot initiatives, and finance programs, and private financing mechanisms such as use of tax crediting programs to attract low cost private capital. Public/private partnerships and sophisticated new development methods such as small growth and conservation development will be discussed. The course will meet for six two-hour sessions in the evening.

Economic Incentives in Contracts, FIN 70491

2 credit, Finance and Systems Elective

This is a graduate level course on financial contracts with an emphasis on investor protection. The main focus of this course will be on understanding underlying principles of contracts and develop skills to apply them to various corporate finance problems. We will explore how corruption, incentives, monitoring, discretion, limited liability, threshold behavior, hold up problem, and legal environments influence financial contracts. Applications include compensation contracts, free cash flow problem, financial crisis, bank lending, bankruptcy, corporate control, and spinoffs. Through these examples, students will hopefully walk away with the ability to recognize pitfalls that appear in daily business activities, and thereby become better managers or professionals in variety of business activities.

Investment Principles, FIN 70691

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

This course is an introduction to investments and is intended to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills within the context of investments. The course covers portfolio theory, asset pricing, bonds, stocks, market efficiency, and basic derivatives. The course is meant to introduce one-year MBAs to investments and to prepare them for other second year investments courses such as Fixed Income, Equity Valuation, Trading and Markets, Options, Futures, and AIM.

Credit and Liquidity Crisis of 2008: Lessons Learned, FIN 70851

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

This course will take a close look at the myriad factors that contributed to the collapse of the financial markets in September, 2008 and how various leaders reacted in an attempt to save the global economy and prevent another Great Depression. We will study and critique the key players (Paulson, Bernanke, Cox, Dimon, Fuld, Mack, Blankfein) and entities (Bear Stearns, Lehman, AIG, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, major U.S. commercial banks, the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve, the SEC, the ratings agencies) involved in the melt-down of the financial markets. This course will focus on who acted ethically and who behaved unethically before and during the crisis. What behaviors contributed to this calamity and how best to "regulate" (legislatively and morally) the financial services industry in the future in order to minimize the possibility of repeating this catastrophe will also be a key topic of this course.

Real Estate Development Process, FIN 60721

 2 credits, Graduate Elective

This is a first course in real estate development, designed to expose students to the practice of development from project inception to completion and subsequent real estate asset management. Course objectives include: 1) developing familiarity with institutional features of the real estate industry (legal and regulatory processes, real estate markets, financial markets, etc.); 2) exploring the practical problems of real estate development; and 3) exposing students to professionals from the development industry. The course will be taught jointly by Notre Dame faculty and real estate practitioners.

Behavioral Finance, FIN 70991

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

Behavioral finance is considered by many to be one of the most important emerging topics in finance. The purpose of this course is to provide an understanding of the behavioral biases that individuals exhibit and the effects of these biases on financial markets. Standard finance theory assumes that individuals such as investors or financial managers are rational expected utility maximizers. Behavioral finance argues that some financial phenomena can be better understood admitting that some investors are not fully rational and arbitrageurs have limits to how aggressively they could trade. A number of stock market anomalies will be presented and analyzed.

Applied Investment Management, FIN 70641

6 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

This course provides an opportunity for students to blend the theory of investments with the practical demands of hands-on investment management. Hands-on management of a real portfolio achieves the practical objectives. Periodically, guest speakers who are security analysts and/or portfolio managers are invited to share practical insights on the investment management process.

Bond Issue Process, FIN 70451

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

This course will go through the same process major corporations use in issuing debt in the public markets, either U.S., European, or global. We will work with a major investment bank in the process and the class will interact directly or via conference phone on a weekly basis with the bank to execute the debt issuance. This will include developing the financing strategy, looking at various alternatives in the market, negotiating standard documentation, and executing a swap as part of the process. Most semesters, this will be a "mock" issue, but on occasion, the class will work on a real time financing to be undertaken by the university.

Commercial Banking, FIN 70331

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

This course is designed to give an overview of commercial banking, particularly from the perspective of the commercial banker. After an overview of where commercial banks fit into the financial services industry and how they are regulated, we then take a look at their performance. You'll also learn about how banks fund themselves, including regulatory issues regarding the capital. We then spend significant time on a bank's leading function, looking at various types of borrowers; loan structures; collateral arrangements; the leading decision process and documentation; and how a bank monitors its loan portfolio. Then we'll look at the products and services banks market, and how they market them, including international banking and the role banks play to meet their customers' offshore needs. Finally, you'll learn about relationships management: how banks prospect for customers and how they nurture and build existing client relationships. We look at large, multinational banks, as well as regional and local banks. Several bankers will be guest speakers to cover certain topics from their day-to-day perspective. By the end of the semester, you should have gained an insight into commercial banking and the integral role banks play in the financial functioning of our economy and with their individual customers.

Corporate Restructuring Mergers and Acquisitions, FIN 70401

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

The objective of this course is to facilitate understanding of corporate merger and acquisition activity, restructurings, and corporate governance. This includes exploring the theory and evidence regarding these topics, the motives for these transactions, the sources of value-added, and managerial incentives to engage in or resist these activities. In this class, you will learn how to apply discounted cash flow and other techniques for valuation purposes. Case projects and valuation assignments will be used to apply financial theory and valuation techniques in real-world situations. Classroom discussion of current M&A related activities will be used to reinforce key concepts. The structure of the class is a combined lecture/class discussion format with a great deal of emphasis on active learning. We will rely heavily upon case studies of past events and news articles of current events to illustrate how financial theory can be applied in an actual business environment.

Equity Valuation, FIN 70611

3 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

This course covers the theory and practice of the valuation of securities - both stocks and bonds. The emphasis is on actual industries and companies. The equity analysis involves aggregate market analysis, industry analysis, and company analysis. The analysis of bonds involves credit analysis related to bond ratings and predicting insolvency and the analysis of interest rates.

Funding New Ventures, FIN 70521

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

This course examines financing the startup of a new venture. The course includes bootstrapping, and the characteristics and merits of financing with equity and debt, venture capital, and angels. Students learn how to prepare a financial plan, including projecting sales and capital expenditures, designing pro-forma income statements, balance sheets, and sources and applications of funds statements.

Financing the Corporation, FIN 70431

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

This course will focus primarily on how corporations raise money in various ways to meet their funding needs, both short- and long-term. The first portion will look at domestic, U.S. dollar funding mechanisms and the second portion will cover funding in foreign currencies. The course will cover private and public debt markets, the Eurobond market, and how multinationals use derivatives to manage their required international financing.

Fixed Income Securities, FIN 70651

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

This course deals with an understanding of U.S. and global bond markets and traditional and evolving bond instruments, including bond structures with embedded options. Topics considered include the techniques for valuing bonds, the term structure of interest rates (e.g., asset-backed securities and mortgage-backed bonds), active and passive bond portfolio management strategies, and the benchmarks used to evaluate bond portfolio performance.

Futures Markets, FIN 70631

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

This course examines futures markets, serving as an introduction to the dynamic world of derivatives. The goal is to provide rigorous applied training that prepares students for employment with firms where derivatives are either of primary importance (e.g., investment banks, trading firms) or secondary importance (e.g., corporations having interest rate or foreign exchange rate exposure that requires hedging). Topics include fundamental pricing relations and models (e.g., the cost of carry model), trading strategies for individuals and corporations (e.g., cash and carry trades, program trading, and portfolio insurance), and risk management. Although both financial and commodity derivatives are discussed, the course emphasizes financial derivatives for which the underlying assets are stocks, bonds, or foreign exchange.

Investments, FIN 70671

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

This course follows the second MBA core finance course, which covers the traditional investment topics of portfolio theory, the Capital Asset Pricing Model, and market efficiency. This course builds on that background by focusing primarily on the major different types of investments such as stocks, bonds, and options. For each investment type, the course covers terminology, mechanics, pricing, uses, and risk analysis. In addition, it covers how secondary markets work to facilitate trading securities.

Mergers and Acquisitions Practicum, FIN70411

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

The objective of this course is to understand various aspects of the corporate acquisition market, including sources of acquisition synergies, valuation and pricing of acquisition targets, takeover defenses, the roles of management incentives and compensation, financing methods, the roles of insider and institutional shareholders, and regulations and taxes.

Multinational Financial Management, FIN 70501

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

Multinational corporations are the instruments for the globalization that is fundamentally changing the economic and political structure of our world. This course focuses on the corporate decision maker, his or her analysis of the multinational environment, anticipation of the firm's financial interaction with that environment, and the use of decision models to select among resource allocation alternatives. Topics include exchange exposure and hedging, multinational acquisitions, capital budgeting, and global financing.

Options Markets, FIN 70621

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

This course examines options markets, serving as an introduction to the dynamic world of derivatives. The goal is to provide rigorous applied training that prepares students for employment with firms where derivatives are either of primary importance (e.g., investment banks, trading firms) or secondary importance (e.g., corporations having interest rate or foreign exchange rate exposure that requires hedging). Topics include fundamental pricing relations and models (e.g., the Black-Scholes and binomial models), trading strategies for individuals and corporations (e.g., covered calls, protective puts, spreads, etc.), and risk management. Although both financial and commodity derivatives are discussed, the course emphasizes financial derivatives for which the underlying assets are stocks, bonds, or foreign exchange. 

Real Estate Finance, FIN 70811

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

This course provides an overview of real estate markets and the analysis used to support financial decision-making.  The course will cover (1) residential housing and mortgage products, including securitized residential debt; (2) the commercial property market and the techniques used to value and finance investments; (3) the securitized commercial debt (CMBS and CDO) and equity vehicles (REITs) for real estate.  Outside speakers will provide insight into current market conditions and market practices.   Class discussion will include discussion and analysis of current real estate market events.

Real Estate Finance & Capital Markets, FIN 70721

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

This course considers such topics as the contractual features and underwriting requirements of residential and commercial first mortgages; credit risk, duration and convexity characteristics of mortgages; construction debt, alternative lending markets, private equity markets and deal structures; mortgage secondary markets including the GSEs and "private-label" securitization; introduction to real estate securities structuring; portfolio theory and the cost of real estate capital.

Real Estate Fundamentals, FIN 70701

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

An introduction to the principles and practices of real estate. Topics to be covered shall include land use patterns and regulation, real estate finance, valuation, real estate law, brokerage and transfers, urban economics, and real estate development.  

Real Estate Valuation and Income Property Investments, FIN 70711

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

Techniques of real estate valuation used by appraisers and other real estate professionals with emphasis on quantitative market-based methods; the use of and relationships between market comparable, direct capitalization, and discounted cash flow valuation methods; income property analysis including the effects of financial leverage and taxes; pro forma construction, analysis, and software tools; market analysis case studies are considered.  

Real Estate Finance and Capital Markets, FIN 70721

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

This course considers such topics as the contractual features and underwriting requirements of residential and commercial first mortgages; credit risk, duration and convexity characteristics of mortgages; construction debt, alternative lending markets, private equity markets and deal structures; mortgage secondary markets including the GSEs and "private-label" securitization; introduction to real estate securities structuring; portfolio theory and the cost of real estate capital.   

Trading and Markets, FIN 70681

2 credits, Finance and Systems Elective

This course examines the general nature of organized trading by examining how bid and offer prices are determined, how market rules evolve, and what markets should be built. While markets for products and services are discussed, the focus is on the trading of financial securities. Existing centralized equity exchanges face competition from new alternative trading systems made possible by today's information technology. This course also examines the impact and implications of this dynamic.