LAWS 2023 ‑ Legal Accounting

CREDIT HOURS: 2

This is a basic class in the business law area and is recommended for work in the corporate, taxation, and estate planning fields. It is not designed to produce accountants but rather to equip the lawyer to act effectively as a professional adviser to business and to be able to use principles of accounting and the services of accountants to enhance his/her effectiveness. The class is also an example of interdisciplinary study, considering areas where the law and accounting overlap. Even students who have been exposed to accounting in their college work should benefit from the class, the latter two-thirds of which is taught as a law class with an approach not duplicated elsewhere in either business school or law school. No mathematical knowledge beyond simple arithmetic is required. The class begins with a study of elementary principles of double-entry bookkeeping and financial statement presentation, concentrating more on the underlying principles than on detailed drill in procedure. Next comes an examination of the structure and functions of the accounting profession. The remainder of the class concentrates on a consideration of generally accepted accounting principles, their interrelationship with the law, and their relevance to the resolution of certain legal problems. This includes discussion of the attitudes of the courts to accounting concepts; financial statements, their uses and limitations; inventory valuation; valuation of tangible fixed assets; public utility rate regulations; treatment and valuation of goodwill; allocation of income taxes; and measurement of revenues and expenses.

Prerequisite(s): None.
Co-requisite(s): None.
Assessment Method: Final examination.
Restrictions: None.