Instructor: Dr. Michael Impson

Office: BA 168K

Phone: Office: (940) 565-3050    Home: (940) 383-1229

FAX: (940) 565-4234                                                                             E-Mail: IMPSON@COBA.COBAF
 

You are welcome to phone me at home at any reasonable hour.

Office Hours: MW 11 -1:30, Tu 5:30 - 6:30 pm and by appointment.
 

Text: Essentials of Cash Management, 6^th edition by Masson and Wikoff. In addition, I will provide other class handout reading material.
 

Grading: Exam I, II, and III 100 points each

Class Projects 90 points total
 

I reserve the right to award additional points for outstanding class participation or outstanding responses to exam questions and to lower your grade for excessive absences. A grade higher than "C" cannot be earned if you have excessive absences. Please note that I expect thorough answers to essay questions and problems on exams. In answering essay questions you should not presume that the reader of your answer has specialized knowledge of the topic, so you must state all relevant background and qualifications. On problem solutions you must include interim steps, equations used, etc. The final answer surrounded by white space is unacceptable and will receive no credit. Remember the purpose of the question or problem is for you to convince me that you understand the material being addressed. I cannot assume that you know information that you do not include in your response. I will evaluate your answer solely on what I see on the exam. I will not assume that you knew omitted relevant information because you have been active in class discussions, etc.
 

Grade Scale: A 90% or greater D 60-69%

B 80-89% F less than 60%

C 70-79%
 

Course Objective: You will probably tire of hearing me say "The firm must survive the short run in order to reach the long run" this semester, but that does sum up our perspective for this course. Since it is impossible to completely separate short run from long run considerations, the course will cover both types of topics. However, the emphasis will be on liquidity of the firm in the short term. Our approach will be one of analysis, problem solving, and decision making in such a context. 

No Makeup Exams will be given. If you have taken both the first two regular exams, the final exam will not be comprehensive. If you miss one regular exam, I will raise the point value of the comprehensive final exam to account for the missed exam, no questions asked (e.g. if you miss Exam I, the Final Exam will be comprehensive and have 200 points possible). If you miss more than one regular exam, you must present an excuse approved by the dean's office (such as a physician's note or university approved excuse) in order to have the final exam point total increased; otherwise you will receive a zero for the missed exam. The only exception to this is absences to participate in official university sponsored activities that have been authorized in advance; in these cases you may request a makeup exam. 
 

If you have taken the first two regular exams, you may also choose to drop one of your regular exams and take a comprehensive final exam based on a 200 point total. There will be no other methods of accumulating points other than those listed above. (There will be no individual extra credit projects). The final exam will not be administered at any time other than that scheduled for the entire class except under very extreme circumstances (having plane reservations for a trip, etc. does not qualify).
 

Equation Sheet: You may use one side of an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet for listing equations to use during exams. The sheet must contain equations only, no graphs, no lists, no solved problems, no written statements, no accounting statements, etc. You must turn in the equation sheet with your exam.
 

Incompletes: The grade of incomplete is only to be used in very serious circumstances. I will not give a grade of incomplete to students who simply want to avoid the consequences of poor performance this semester
 

Class Attendance Any students missing more than six hours of class time will be excluded from any curving of the grades and may be subject to lowering of the final grade.
 

Calculator: A scientific calculator or a basic financial calculator will be required for study and exams.
 

Conduct in class: I will treat you with respect and I expect the same in return from you. 
 

Basic Knowledge of Accounting: It has been my observation from past classes that one of the major difficulties that students have with this course is lack of knowledge of basic accounting statements and their preparation. As a minimum, you should have completed the accounting requirements for this course with acceptable grades. I will begin the class assuming that you have such knowledge and it should become obvious to you very quickly whether or not you will be comfortable with the accounting aspects of the course. If you are not, you should act quickly to rectify the situation or drop the course.
 

Scantron Sheet: Most or all of the exams will have multiple choice sections that you will provide answers for on Scantron Form 882. I am not aware of any grading errors of a well marked sheet. If you fail to mark an answer, do not erase properly, mark the test correctly but the scantron wrong, etc. and the answer is marked wrong, I will not change your score by more that the value of one of the multiple choice questions once per semester because of any problem with the Scantron sheet.
 

Academic Misconduct (Cheating): Cheating in any form will result in an automatic grade of "F" in the course and the filing of a report of the student's actions with the Dean of Students and the Office of the Dean of the School of Business. Students who cheat take unfair advantage of their honest classmates. Since grades are to some degree determined by your relative ranking in the class, it would be to your advantage to report any instances of academic misconduct that you are aware of to me.
 

Students with Disabilities: The College of Business Administration complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act in making reasonable accommodation for qualified students with disability. If you have an established disability as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act and would like to request accommodation, please see me as soon as possible. My office hours and office number are shown on this syllabus.
 

Graduate Students: If you are a master's program student taking this course for graduate credit, an additional term project will be required. Please see me to discuss details.
 

Tentative Course Outline:
 

Topic *Chapters
 

Introduction and Overview Ch. 1 Essentials 

Role of Liquidity Management in the Firm Ch. 1 Handout

RI Model 

Equations of the Financial Statements

Financial Ratio Analysis Ch. 2 Essentials

Ch. 4 Handout

Exam 1
 

Cash Budget Ch. 8 Handout

Financial Forecasting Ch. 12 Essentials

The Payments System Ch. 4 Essentials

Cash Collection and Concentration Systems Ch. 6,7 Essentials

Cash Disbursement Systems, 

Accounts Payable Management Ch. 8 Essentials

Electronic Commerce Ch. 13 Essentials

Borrowing, Interest charges, Compensating Balances Ch. 10 Essentials

Managing the Bank Relationship Ch. 16 Essentials

International Cash Management Ch. 15 Essentials

Cash Balance Optimization Models *
 

Exam 2
 

Credit and Accounts Receivable Management Ch. 5 Essentials

Sustainable Growth Ch. 6 Handout

Cash Conversion Cycle Ch. 6 Handout

Cash Breakeven Analysis Ch. 6 Handout
 
 
 

Exam 3 or Comprehensive Final Exam
 

* All the topics discussed will not be in the text, you will need to rely on the lecture notes and other references for coverage.