The goal of this course is to help students develop the understanding of financial, managerial, and tax reports. Many at the forefront of accounting education have goals generally consistent with this course objective. For example, Dr. Jean Wyer, a former accounting professor told soon-to-be professors at an Accounting Doctoral Consortium to abandon debits and credits. To paraphrase Dr. Wyer:

"You should not be teaching debits and credits; they are a holdover from the past that were needed to balance entries and accounts before we had computers. Modern electronic information systems do not have T-accounts or journal entries, and students need only understand a lesson taught the first day of an algebra course to master bookkeeping concepts: Assets = Liabilities + Owners' Equity."

This course is an intensive introduction to the preparation and interpretation of financial information for investors (external users) and managers (internal users) and to the use of financial instruments to support system and project creation. The course adopts a decision-maker perspective on accounting and finance with the goal of helping students develop the understanding of financial, managerial, and tax reports.

Professor Plesko joined the University of Connecticut in 2005. His research focuses on corporate tax policy, the interactions of the finance and tax reporting systems, and the behavior of loss firms. His research has appeared in The Accounting Review, the Journal of Accounting and Economics, the Journal of Accounting Research, the National Tax Journal, and the Journal of the American Taxation Association. Plesko was the 2007 recipient of the School of Business's Research Excellence Award and was the recipient of the 2005 American Accounting Association/Deloitte Wildman Medal.