This first week, you will also be selecting your topic for the term paper and submitting a short written assignment about the topic.

The term paper is an opportunity for you to explore in-depth an issue pertinent to the role of an accountant in your chosen area of interest. The objective of the term paper is to help you transfer the concepts and research techniques that you learned from the class and from your chosen area of interest in your MSAC degree program. Accordingly, you will be able to choose a topic in a broad area such as:

• Financial accounting and/or reporting
• Governmental accounting and/or reporting
• Nonprofit accounting and/or reporting
• Managerial accounting
• Auditing ? public
• Auditing ? internal
• Taxation
• Fraud
• Other topic from a course that you took in your MSAC program at DeVry/Keller

Although the topic areas are fairly open-ended, it is expected that each paper will have theoretical underpinnings, as well as practical implications. Suppose, for example, your interest is in auditing for fraud. An ideal paper would include not only a discussion of why frauds occur but also recommendations for a business or other entity to guard against frauds. Hence, a discussion of the internal control procedures and the role of internal and external auditors might be apt. In effect, both the ?why? and ?how? of establishing the appropriate procedures would need to be addressed.

I would like to choose Taxation.

Select your topic problem statement.Prepare a one-page summary (double-spaced) describing your topic proposal problem statement.

Term Paper Deliverables Grading Summary Week 1 2 3 4 Points 30 40 50 75 5 75 6 7 8 Total 75 200 100 645 Description Proposed Topic and Problem Statement List of References (5-to-8 using APA format) Final Problem Statement Draft - Review of Literature Section Draft - Analysis and Recommendations Section Draft - Summary and Conclusions Section Executive Summary and Final Paper Oral Presentation Deliverable Grading Rubrics WEEK 1: Proposed Topic Problem Statement Category Research Topic Points 20 Organization and Cohesiveness Editing 5 16.5 5 16.5 30 100 Total % 67 Description How pertinent is the research topic to the field of accounting? Is the problem presented one that is current and one that can be properly addressed with practical applications? Is the problem set forth appropriately? If needed, are transitions used between thoughts and topics? Have basic rules of grammar been followed? Are sentences properly formed and paragraphs used appropriately? Are spelling errors infrequent? A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements. WEEK 2: List of References Category Citations Editing Points 32 % 80 8 20 Description Has the minimum of five-to-eight reliable sources been listed on the draft of the reference page? Have the APA rules for formatting of references been followed? Total 40 100 A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements. WEEK 3: Final Problem Statement Category Problem Statement Points 30 % 60 Organization and Cohesiveness Editing 10 20 10 20 Total 50 100 Description How pertinent is the research topic to the field of accounting? Is the problem presented one that is current and one that can be properly addressed with practical applications? Is the problem set forth appropriately? If needed, are transitions used between thoughts and topics? Have basic rules of grammar been followed? Are sentences properly formed and paragraphs used appropriately? Are spelling errors infrequent? A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements. WEEK 4: Review of Literature (Draft) Category Research Points 22 % 29 Summarization 23 31 Editing 15 20 Citations 15 20 Total 75 100 Description How pertinent to the overall problem do the sources appear to be? Do most of the cited sources appear to be from appropriate sources such as peer reviewed journals, industry publications, or statutory provisions (on tax related research)? Have the sources been summarized appropriately (as compared to an over-reliance on quotations)? Is the paraphrasing apt? Have basic rules of grammar been followed? Are sentences properly formed and paragraphs used appropriately? Are spelling errors infrequent? Have five-to-eight reliable sources, at a minimum for this section, been listed on the reference page? Are citations used throughout this section of the paper? A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements. WEEK 5: Analysis and Recommendations Section (Draft) Category Analysis Recommendations Organization and Cohesiveness Editing Citations Total Points 23 % 31 23 31 7 9 15 20 7 9 75 100 Description Has the issue presented in the Problem Statement been adequately analyzed? Have ancillary issues and/or topics for further research been mentioned? Does this section of the paper represent original thought rather than a re-iteration of the views of others? Does the paper clearly set forth the issue(s) and the recommended courses of action? Are the suggestions practical? Is this section of the paper well-organized? Are transitions used between thoughts and topics? Have basic rules of grammar been followed? Are sentences properly formed and paragraphs used appropriately? Are spelling errors infrequent? Have the APA rules of formatting of references been followed for the sources of the numbers in the ratio analysis? Are the citations appropriate to the analysis and recommendations? A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements. WEEK 6: Summary and Conclusions Section (Draft) Category Summary Points 30 % 40 Conclusions 30 40 Editing 15 20 Total 75 100 Description Does the draft properly summarize both the literature review and the analysis? Do the conclusions appear to be consistent with the summary and the other earlier drafts of components of the paper? Have basic rules of grammar been followed? Are sentences properly formed and paragraphs used appropriately? Are spelling errors infrequent? A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements. WEEK 7: Executive Summary and Final Term Paper Category Points % Description Executive Summary 30 15 Introduction (including research topic and problem statements) 20 10 Review of Literature 10 5 Analysis 10 5 Recommendations 10 5 Summary 10 5 Conclusions 10 5 References 10 5 Documentation and Formatting 15 7.5 Organization and Cohesiveness 20 10 Editing 15 7.5 Has an executive summary of no more than one page been prepared and included as the first page of the body of the paper? Does the summary properly capture the reason for the paper, the conclusions reached, and calls for action? How pertinent is the research topic to the field of accounting? Is the problem presented one that is current and one that can be properly addressed with practical applications? How pertinent to the overall problem do the sources appear to be? Do most of the cited sources appear to be from appropriate sources such as peer reviewed journals, industry publications, or statutory provisions (on tax related research)? Have the sources been summarized appropriately as compared to an over-reliance on quotations? Is the paraphrasing apt? Has the issue presented in the Problem Statement been adequately analyzed? Have ancillary issues and/or topics for further research been mentioned? Does this section of the paper represent original thought rather than a re-iteration of the views of others? Does the paper clearly set forth the issue(s) and the recommended course of action? Are the suggestions practical? Does the draft properly summarize both the literature review and the analysis? Do the conclusions appear to be consistent with the summary and the other earlier drafts of components of the paper? Has the minimum of five-to-eight reliable sources been listed on the reference page? Are the references presented on a separate page with each reference entry properly formatted? Is the paper formatted per APA style? Is a cover page presented? Is there a header on each page? Is the paper well-organized? Is there an introduction? Are there appropriate headings for the various topics throughout the paper? Are transitions used between thoughts and topics? Have basic rules of grammar been followed? Are sentences properly formed and paragraphs used appropriately? Are spelling errors infrequent? Citations 20 10 Content 20 10 Total 200 Are citations used in appropriate sections of the paper to support aspects such as the existence of the problem and the attempts to solve the problem thus far? Are all of the cited sources listed in the Reference section? Does the body of the paper clearly set forth the issue and the recommended course of action? Are the suggestions practical? Is the conclusion well-stated? 100 ______________________________________________________________________________ _______ WEEK 8: Oral Presentation For guidelines and grading rubrics, see the W8_ACCT601_Presentation_Guidelines_and_Rubric (posted in Doc Sharing)