LAW550
Accounting for Lawyers
(Sprysak)
Prerequisite courses: None
Prerequisite for: None
Instructor(s): Chris Sprysak
Course credit: 3
Method of presentation: Lecture
METHOD OF EVALUATION
Unit Quizzes 10%
Assignment 40%
Open Book Final Examination 50%
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The overall objective of this course is to provide law students with some basic accounting theory, practical knowledge, and skills that will be helpful to them in their legal practice.
The course will begin with a brief overview of the various types of accounting, the accounting profession (including how accountants are regulated and when/how an accountant may be helpful to a lawyer's practice), and fundamental accounting principles/standards. It will then become very practical and hands-on, as students will learn how to:
Determine whether a particular activity or event should be recorded in an accounting system;
Record financial transactions using the double-entry accounting system and utilize their developing professional judgment to appropriately/strategically reflect the underlying financial activity/event in the financial accounts; and
Create financial statements.
In the course of building this solid foundation in the basics of financial accounting, we will briefly consider when and how businesses/organizations may strategically design their accounting entries and use their financial statements to tell (or hide) a particular “story” about their general financial health and/or activities. Where possible, we will discuss real-life examples.
The second major component of this course will be to consider how a law practice properly accounts for its activities. While this will include the application of the general accounting knowledge and skills developed up to this point, it will also include (in detail) the specialized legal requirements and professional rules associated with operating trust accounts. Like the previous component, this will involve both theory and hands-on learning/problems. As part of this component, we will also consider what internal controls a law firm should implement to (a) reduce the potential for inappropriate behaviour by lawyers, staff, and clients, and (b) discover inappropriate behaviour that has already occurred.
The final major component of the course will be to learn the basics of reading, understanding, and analyzing financial statements as well as the associated assurance report provided by a Chartered Professional Accountant (if provided).
SPECIAL COMMENTS
No prior knowledge or experience in accounting, business, economics, mathematics, etc. is required to take and excel in this course. Indeed, this course is primarily intended for law students without a background in accounting.
Description updated 2023-24. Please contact the instructor for any specific questions you may have related to this particular course section.
REQUIRED TEXTS (IF ANY):
No texts are required.