This document provides an outline for an ACC 573 final exam guide, including various topics that may be covered on the exam such as calculating average tax rates, accounting for pensions, off-balance sheet financing, asset impairment, derivatives, and financial statement forecasts. It also includes discussion questions and assignment prompts on related topics such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, accounting quality, company valuation, and earnings-based versus free cash flow valuation methods.

1. ACC 573 Final Exam Guide
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1. To calculate a company's average tax rate an analyst would
2. The accumulated benefit obligation measures
3. The major difference between accounting for pensions and the
accounting for other postretirement benefits is that firms
4. Which of the following is not part of the balance sheet approach
when computing income tax expense?
5. The assessment of earnings quality is best accomplished through
the use of which one of the following?
6. Firm's choices and estimates within U.S. GAAP should be
determined by
7. The date on which a firm commits itself to a formal plan to
dispose of a segment is the
8. Which of the following statements does not apply to preventing
“garbage in, garbage out” when implementing a forecasting game plan
9. Nichols and Wahlen's 2004 study showed that superior forecasting
provides the potential to earn superior security returns. Nichols and
Wahlen's findings indicate

2. 10. Common-size financial statements recast each statement item as
11. Financial statement forecasts rely on additivity within financial
statements and articulation across financial statements. Given this
information sales growth forecasts will most likely affect growth in
12. Equity-based valuation models are based on all metrics except
13. If a firm has a market beta of 0.9, is subject to an income tax rate of
35 percent, has a risk-free rate of 6 percent, a market risk premium of 7
percent, and has a market value of debt to market value of equity ratio
of 60 percent, what does the market expect the firm to generate in
terms of equity returns using CAPM?
14. Equity valuation models based on dividends, cash flows, and
earnings have been the topic of many theoretical and empirical
research studies in recent years. All of the following are true regarding
these studies except:
15.
A disadvantage of the free cash flow valuation method i
16.
17.
Operating assets include all of the following except
18. The conceptual framework for free cash flows separates the
balance sheet equation into the following categories:

3. 19. If an analyst wants to value a potential investment in the net
operating assets of a division of another firm, the analyst should
discount the projected free cash flows at the
20. Residual income in a long-run steady-state growth period is
referred to as:
21. The two most popular discounted earnings models appear to be
22. Residual income is
23. The market price of a share of common equity reflects
24. Strictly speaking, the price-earnings ratio assumes that firm value is
the
25. Valuation using market multiples captures
26. Under the value-to-book model new projects will be abnormally
profitable only when
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ACC 573 Week 1 DQ 1
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4. Based on your review of the SEC reporting requirements as outlined in
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, assess the adequacy of the reporting
requirements for providing credible financial and operating information
for company stakeholders and potential investors, indicating any gaps
identified in the reporting. Provide support for your rationale.
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ACC 573 Week 1 DQ 2
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Assess how the GAAP and IFRS convergence project has impacted SEC
reporting requirements, predicting the long-term impact of the
convergence on reporting. Provide a rationale for your prediction.
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ACC 573 Week 2 DQ 1

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As a CFO of a publically traded company, suggest how you would create
an ethical environment to ensure account balances are correctly valued
and reported so that information is reliable for users. Provide support
for your rationale.
Assess the ethical requirements as outlined in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act,
indicating whether or not you believe the requirements are adequate
to ensure integrity in financial accounting and reporting activities.
Suggest improvements that may be needed while providing support for
your rationale.
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ACC 573 Week 2 DQ 2
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In today’s business environment where publicly traded companies feel
pressure to meet short-term earnings expectations, management may
be tempted to “manage earnings”. Assess how a financial statement

6. user may be able to detect managed earnings when reviewing the
firm’s balance sheet, income statement, and cash-flow statement.
Indicate how a potential investor might interpret these “red-flags”.
Provide support for your rationale.
Assess how the Sarbanes-Oxley Act addresses the concern of corporate
“managed earnings”, indicating whether or not you believe the
requirements within the Act are sufficient to minimize these concerns.
Provide support for your rationale.
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ACC 573 Week 3 Assignment 1 Financial Statement
Restatement and Ethics
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Write a two to three (2-3) page paper in which you:
Assess the factors that contributed to the financial statement
restatement, signifying the executive management team’s attitude
toward the restatement. Suggest how the restatement may have been
avoided during the initial reporting process.

7. Explain the impact to the company’s stock price when the restatement
was released and to future earnings forecast, indicating whether or not
you believe the impact to the stock price was justified.
Evaluate the restatement in terms of management’s ethical violations
according to the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, providing
recommendations to management on how to avoid these problems in
the future. Provide support for your recommendations.
Use at least two (2) quality academic resources in this assignment.
Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic
resources.
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ACC 573 Week 3 DQ 1
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As part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, corporate officers are no longer able
to “pass the buck” of responsibility for ensuring adequate controls over
financial statements and reporting activities thus ensuring the accuracy
of financial statements. Assess the adequacy of the provisions
contained within the Act, indicating whether or not you believe

8. requirements will improve the accuracy of financial statements and
reporting. Provide support for your rationale.
Given the requirements contained in the Act for CEO and CFOs to
certify the adequacy of controls and financial statement accuracy,
evaluate your comfort level with this requirement should you become a
CFO of a publically traded company. Provide support for your rationale.
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ACC 573 Week 4 DQ 1
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Based on your review of the current requirements of the SEC and FASB,
assess the adequacy of the guidelines for ensuring the transparency of
off-balance-sheet transactions to investors, indicating where
improvements may still be needed. Provide support for your rationale.
As a CFO of a publically traded company, evaluate the pros and cons of
using off-balance-sheet financing, including a recommendation as to

9. whether or not you support using these types of arrangements. Provide
support for your recommendation.
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ACC 573 Week 4 DQ 2
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Based on the information found in the e-Activity, assess the key
differences between U.S. GAAP and IFRS reporting for the testing of
asset impairment and the requirement to write down the asset value.
Indicate whether or not you support the U.S. GAAP or IFRS approach.
Provide support for your position.
As an investor, recommend a strategy for evaluating long-lived asset
values contained on the balance sheet of a publically traded company
so as to minimize the risk to the investor. Provide support for your
strategy.
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ACC 573 Week 5 DQ 1

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Create an argument for the use of Fair Market Accounting as opposed
to historical cost. Provide support for your argument.
Evaluate the effectiveness of the accounting principle guidelines for
determining the market value of an asset, indicating improvements to
these guidelines. Provide support for your recommendations.
Create an argument for the use of Fair Market Accounting as opposed
to historical cost. Provide support for your argument.
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ACC 573 Week 5 DQ 2
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Assess the risks associated with derivatives instruments, indicating how
these risks may be minimized for a publically traded company. Provide
support for your rationale.

11. As an investor, assess the potential financial concerns to be raised
when reviewing the financial statements of a publically traded company
containing derivative instruments providing a recommendation for how
the concerns may be identified and addressed.
we have to get ACC 573 DQs tomorrow and ACC 575 all quizzes+ one
assignment
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ACC 573 Week 6 DQ 1
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The Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act was created with the intent of improving
the quality of accounting, reliability of financial statements to investors,
and providing oversight to accounting professionals through the
creation of a new federal agency, Public Accounting Company Oversight
Board (PACOB). Create an argument supporting whether SOX achieved
these goals, and whether financial data reported today is more
accurate and reliable than prior to the Act. Provide support for your
rationale.

12. Assess the impact to the Public Accounting Profession with the creation
of the PACOB and the inability of the profession to be self-regulated.
Indicate your level of support for the federal regulation of the
profession. Provide a rationale for your response.
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ACC 573 Week 6 DQ 2
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Assess the impact to public trust when a publically traded company
restates its financial data, indicating how negative impressions may be
minimized. Provide support for your rationale.
Evaluate the current trend of companies restating financial statements.
Indicate the key drivers of this trend. Predict the trend over the next
five years, providing support for your rationale.
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ACC 573 Week 7 Assignment 2 Accounting Quality

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Write a four to five (4-5) page paper in which you:
Assess the roles of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of
a public company for establishing an ethical environment that
generates quality accounting and reliable financial reporting for use by
shareholders and investors. Provide support for your assessment.
Recommend a strategy for a CEO to implement, leading to an ethical
environment that leads to high-quality accounting, reporting, and
forecasting. Provide support for your recommendation.
Suggest how corporate management can provide assurances to
investors that the performance forecast and expected earnings will be
realized, minimizing the volatility of the stock price. Provide support for
your suggestions.
Evaluate the consequences to a publically traded company when there
is a lack of quality within financial accounting and reporting, indicating
how these consequences may be minimized. Provide support for your
answer.
Assess the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act related to
accounting quality, indicating whether or not you believe the
requirements are sufficient to protect stockholders and potential
investors. Provide support for your position.

14. Use at least five (5) quality academic resources in this assignment.
Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic
resources.
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ACC 573 Week 7 DQ 1
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Assess the financial performance forecasting process, identifying the
assumptions made that are most likely to cause a gap between the
forecast and actual performance. Indicate how these gaps may be
minimized. Provide support for your rationale.
Create an argument supporting the value of forecasting to an
organization. Provide support for your argument
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ACC 573 Week 7 DQ 2
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Assess the market and shareholder behaviors when a publically traded
company makes the decision not to pay dividends to its shareholders,
suggesting how management should react to these behaviors. Provide
support for your rationale.
Evaluate the factors that an investor may consider when deciding
whether or not to invest in a company with a policy of non-dividend
payments. Indicate whether or not you believe this a prudent choice for
some investors. Provide support for your rationale.
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ACC 573 Week 8 DQ 1
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Create an argument that use of the present value free cash-flow
method has a more beneficial economic meaning than earnings-based
methods. Provide support for your argument.

16. Assess the challenges related to using the present value of the free
cash-flow valuation method in practice, suggesting how each of these
challenges may be overcome. Provide support for your rationale.
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ACC 573 Week 8 DQ 2
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Assess how the free cash-flow method can be used when a company is
profitable yet the cash-flow values are expected to be negative over the
next five years, indicating the likely impact on the valuation. Provide
support for your rationale.
Assess which cash-flow variables are the most sensitive to change and
the likely impact on a firm’s valuation. Provide support for your answer.
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ACC 573 Week 9 DQ 1
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Create an argument supporting that using the earnings-based valuation
method yields the most accurate results. Provide support for your
argument.
Assess the challenges related to using the earnings-based valuation
method in practice, suggesting how each of these challenges may be
overcome. Provide support for your rationale
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ACC 573 Week 9 DQ 2
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Evaluate the likely impact on a firm’s valuation when using U.S. GAAP
versus IFRS accounting methods, indicating which accounting standards
you believe may yield a more favorable result. Provide support for your
position.

18. Determine how a firm’s valuation using the earnings-based valuation
method would be impacted when using aggressive versus conservative
accounting. Provide evidence supporting your conclusion.
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ACC 573 Week 10 Assignment 3 Company Valuation (Facebook
IPO)
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Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you:
Evaluate the valuation and method used to determine the Initial Public
Offering value of Facebook stock, indicating any miscalculations in the
valuation that may have mislead potential investors and how these
errors may have been minimized. Provide support for your response.
Assess the performance of the stock within the first year of the public
offering, indicating the drivers of the performance and the resulting
impact to the company performance.
Suggest an alternative method of valuation for the company valuation
indicated and how it may have yielded a different value and the
potential resulting impact to investor decision. Provide support for your
rationale.

19. Assess the role of the Chief Executive Officer in relationship to the stock
performance, suggesting what the person in that role may have done
differently to positively influence the performance of the stock and
value to investors. Provide support for your suggestions.
Evaluate the risk / reward position to an investor when purchasing
stock during an initial public offering, indicating under what
circumstances you would advise an investor to do so.
Predict the stock price of Facebook over the next five years, indicating
the key drivers of the performance and the resulting impact to the
stock price. Provide support for your prediction.
Use at least five (5) quality academic resources in this assignment.
Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic
resources.
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ACC 573 Week 10 DQ 1
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• Create an argument supporting that using the market-based
valuation method yields the most accurate results. Provide support for
your argument.

20. • Assess the challenges related to using the market-based
valuation method in practice, suggesting how each of these challenges
may be overcome. Provide support for your rationale.
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