The course aims to develop the knowledge on foundation and interpretation of the financial statements in the perspective of national legislation and international accounting standards, considering general principles of foundation, classification and evaluation criteria and the techniques of financial statement analysis and interpretation. The aim of this course is to improve awareness on the process for identifying income and capital as a pivotal lever for companies’ management and a way to identify the conditions of income, financial and capital equilibrium.
The course also aims to improve the student’s skills necessary to face concrete problems related to the foundation and analysis of the financial statement.
At the end of the course the student must demonstrate the capability to take the main classification and evaluation choices as starting point to draft a financial statement; the ability to carry out a financial statement analysis (financial statement reclassification, indexes calculation and flows calculation); the capability to read, understand and interpret the analyzed financial statement. Accordingly, the various topics into the program are developed also by presenting exercises, business cases, and examples built on real situations.
Part I - Financial statement theory and the financial statement frameworks
1. Financial statement functions
2. Financial statement discipline in accordance with national law and international accounting standards
3. General principles of the financial statement
4. Financial statement structure and contents in accordance with national law and international accounting standards
5. New waves on corporate reporting - Towards Integrated Reporting
Part II – Evaluations on the financial statement contents in accordance with national law and international accounting standards
6. Assets evaluation
6.1 Property, plant and equipment
6.2 Intangible assets
6.3 Financial long-term assets, equity investments and other financial instruments
7. Evaluation of current assets
7.1. Inventories
7.2. Work in progress
7.3. Credits
8. Other assets
9. Evaluation of liabilities
Part III – Areas of employment of the financial statements: the financial statement analysis
10. Aims, potentialities and limits of the financial statement analysis
11. Areas of employment and techniques for the financial statement analysis
12. Reclassification technique
13. The indexes calculation technique
14. Flow calculation technique
Part IV - Introduction to the consolidated financial statement
Textbooks
A. Palma (edited by), Il bilancio di esercizio. Profili aziendali, giuridici e principi contabili, V ed., Giuffrè, Milano, 2016.
G. Brunetti, S. Corbella, L’interpretazione e l’analisi di bilancio, copisteria La Rapida, 2017.
R. Stacchezzini, C. Florio, Bilancio d’impresa. Esercizi svolti, Egea, Milano, 2018.
Lesson materials are available on the e-learning platform accessible by your personal credentials.
Teaching focuses on frontal lessons, exercises and applications, references to concrete cases, also inferred from large company financial statements.
Tutoring is provided to support the learning process during the course, that is carried out through supplementary student office based on small groups of students. Tutoring activities aim to review topics and exercises dealt with in the course.
| Author | Title | Publisher | Year | ISBN | Note |
| R. Stacchezzini, C. Florio | Bilancio d’impresa. Esercizi svolti | Egea | 2018 | ||
| Angelo Palma (a cura di) | Il bilancio di esercizio. Profili aziendali, giuridici e principi contabili (Edizione 5) (Edizione 5) | Giuffrè | 2016 | ||
| Giorgio Brunetti, Silvano Corbella | L’interpretazione e l’analisi di bilancio | Copisteria La Rapida | 2017 |
The exam consists of a written test with a score based on a 31-points (31/30 equals 30 with praise).
The test is composed by: i) multiple answer questions (mainly, but not exclusively, theoretical); ii) two open questions with a limited space for a synthetic answer; iii) a quantitative application. Multiple questions are designed to test the knowledge about the program, as well as the understanding of the technical language and the calculation skills in financial statement preparation and analysis. The exercise aims to verify the methodological application of the acquired knowledge in order to ascertain the student's specific knowledge and skills on the various operational aspects related to the financial statement preparation and analysis. Students pass the written test if they reach a total score of (at least) 18/31, with the due to have at least: i) at least 12/31 in multiple answers and in the open questions (maximum 24/31); ii) at least 3.5/31 in the exercise (maximum 7/31).
Students who pass the written test can then access an optional oral test. The oral examination may be requested by the student who has passed the written test if he or she is convinced that his/her preparation is not reflected in the results of the written test.
Furthermore, at the middle of the course, a partial interim test is proposed. This test is about one-third of the program and provides 12 points (out of 31 total that can be acquired in total by this exam). Those who pass the interim test achieving a score of at least of 6 points (6/12) will not have to study again the related first part of the program and therefore, in the final exam—just at the first session following the closing of the course—will answer only half of the multiple answer questions of this last test, and only one open questions, as well as the quantitative application exercise.
Students who passed—and not refuse—the interim test pass the final test if their second test score at least 6/12 points (maximum 12/31) on the multiple answers question as well as on the open question and 3.5 (maximum 7/31) on the quantitative applicative question. The final mark is the sum of the scores obtained in the interim and final tests.
Examination methods are not differentiated between attending and non-attending students.
