
This course introduces the use of accounting information to manage, measure, and improve the performance of a business enterprise or nonprofit corporation, and to make decisions about future operations. Emphasis is on managerial accounting concepts for external and internal analysis, reporting and decision-making. Upon completion, students should be able to analyze and interpret transactions relating to managerial concepts including product-costing systems.
Ruddlesden, D. Jerry

Dalton Jerry Ruddlesden received his A.A. from Ambassador College in Big Sandy, TX, his B.B.A. from Marshall University in Huntington WV and his M.B.A. from Devry University. Before attending Ambassador College, he graduated from Marshall University with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Accounting. At Ambassador his main area of focus was Theology, and he served on the Outreach Program and was a member of the Ambassador Choral. In 1989 he was hired into the work to serve as an accountant in the Caribbean Regional Office. In 1994 he began working for the Global/Living Church of God in the Finance Department and now is the Financial Controller for both Living Church of God and Living University, overseeing the accounting department and budgeting/cash flow forecasting. He is married to Susanne Ruddlesden who is a TV editor in the Tomorrow’s World studio and they have two children, Ana and Geoffrey.
The objective of ACCT 252 Managerial Accounting is to introduce students to the study of internal business decisions. Business owners and managers make decisions on a regular basis of products, service and even larger decisions concerning programs and product lines that effect the overall direction of the company and can mean the difference between success and failure on a wide-scale or individual departments. There are three broad objectives of the Management Accounting System:
- To provide information for costing out services, products and other objects of interest to Management.
- To provide information for planning, control and evaluation.
- To provide information for decision making.
Students taking Managerial Accounting will learn to prepare and interpret basic cost concepts and their application to internal decision making including Planning, Controlling and Decision Making. Students will also learn the basics of how costs flow to the Income statement. See below for detailed Class Schedule and chapters covered by this course.
Kimmel Paul, Jerry Weygandt and Donald Kieso. Managerial Accounting: Tools for Business Decision Making. 6th ed. USA: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2011. ISBN 9781118096895.
(This text is designed to be kept as a reference resource upon the conclusion of the course).
Additional readings will periodically come from church literature and other sources. The appropriate web links will be designated on the course web site. Be sure NOT to miss these readings as listed on the lesson pages of the course.
Course lectures will take the format of both video and audio. PowerPoint slides will accompany lectures and videos will also periodically be available for download with lectures. See the course website for details. LECTURE SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
Lesson |
Topics |
Assignments |
---|---|---|
1 | Introduction, Syllabus, Explain Assignments. CH 1 & 2 Job Order Costing |
Read CH 1 & 2 – Homework and Quiz, Post Intro Biography |
2 | CH 3 Process Costing | Read CH 3 – Homework and Quiz |
3 | CH 4 Activity Based Costing | Read CH 4 – Homework and Quiz |
4 | CH 5 Cost – Volume-Profit | Read CH 5 – Homework and Quiz |
5 | CH 7 Incremental Analysis | Read CH 7 – Homework and Quiz |
6 | CH 8 Pricing | Read CH 8 – Homework and Quiz |
7 | CH 9 Budgetary Planning | Read CH 9 – Homework and Quiz |
8 | CH 10 Budgetary Control | Read CH 10 – Homework and Quiz |
9 | Spring Recess | No Assignments |
10 | CH 13 Financial Statement Analysis | Read CH 13 – Homework and Quiz |
Mid Term | Mid Term Covering CH 1-5 | |
Final Exam | Final Exam Covering All Lessons |
- Submit assignments on or before the date due. No late or make-up assignments will be allowed accept for extreme circumstances (permission of instructor is necessary).
- Students will be responsible for the chapter readings that correspond with the class lecture. Be sure to read the chapter prior to logging in and completing the weekly assignment. Readings will correspond with in-class assignments and will help you be better informed. Completing the readings in advance will make the assignments make more sense to you!
- Icebreaker/Biography Forum Post: All students are required to post a brief biography to the forum by the first Friday of class. The assignment is worth 25 points. Along with the biography that addresses the following questions, post two reply/comment posts on the biographies of your classmates. Also, if you do not have a profile picture on Populi already, please send me an e-copy of a recent PHOTO of yourself, for your fellow classmates' (as well as my) benefit. You should send this photo via email to my email address at [email protected]. Make sure to put ACCT 251 PHOTO in the subject line. In your forum post, briefly answer the following questions (please limit your comments to 200 words):
a. Your name and the church area that you attend.
b. How long you have been part of/attending the church.
c. Why you are taking this particular course and what you hope to learn.
d. Whether or not you have taken any other Living University courses.
- 10 quizzes will be given throughout the course. There will be a quiz on each of the 10 units covered in class. Quizzes will be multiple choice, matching or short answer, and open book and notebook. Quizzes will address chapter readings, assignments, and lectures. Your quiz is due by 8pm in your time zone, on the last day of each unit, typically Sundays (however the last date is a Monday). Quizzes are worth 25 points (total=250). IMPORTANT NOTE: Although the quizzes are open book and notebook, you really need to “study” ahead of time for these assessments. If you study ahead of time by reviewing your notes and the chapters covered, it will greatly expedite your quiz time on task. If you do not study ahead of time, the quiz will end up taking a great deal of time. There should be NO discussion with classmates regarding the quizzes.
- Homework will be given for each unit covered and will be posted each week. It will be graded for completion 80% and accuracy 20%. Each unit will be worth 50 points (total =500). In order to learn the concepts, students must diligently keep up with the practice problems assigned for each unit.
- Mid-Term Exam. There will a Mid-Term exam covering chapters 1 -5. The Exam will be a proctored exam worth 100 points.
- Final Exam. There will a final exam at the end of the course covering cumulative topics and concepts from all lessons. The Exam will be a proctored exam worth 125 points.
SUMMARY OF COURSE REQUIREMENTS | POINT VALUE | Letter Grade | Total Points |
---|---|---|---|
Biography Forum Post | 25 | ||
10 quizzes (25 points each) | 250 | A | 900 points or above (90%) |
Homework (50 points each) | 500 | B | 800-899 points (80%) |
Mid Term | 100 | C | 700-799 points (70%) |
Final Exam | 125 | D | 600-699 points (60%) |
Total | 1000 | F | 599 points or below |