47736 - Accounting

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to provide knowledge on accounting and more specifically on financial accounting, focusing on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), adopted by the European Union (EU) since 2005 and more than 130 countries in the world. The course gives an overview mainly of financial accounting and explores  the following topics:

§  Overview on Accounting: Financial Accounting, Social and Environmental Accounting, Managerial Accounting and Auditing.

§  Describes financial statements, explains how they are interrelated and summarizes key accounting concepts and principles.

§  Describes some of the basic analytical tools that allow financial statement users to make fundamental interpretations of a company's financial position and results of operations.

§  Describes the bookkeeping process and presents a powerful transaction analysis model.

§  Describes Financial Accounting with a detailed discussion of financial statement analysis.

§ Highlight the key differences between the IFRS, set by the IASB (International Accounting Standards Board), the US GAAP, set by the FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board), and the Italian Accounting Standards, set by the OCI (Organismo Italiano di Contabilità – Italian Accounting Board).

§  Introduce Social and Environmental Accounting referring to extended performance reporting such as sustainability reporting and related guidelines.

§  Introduce Managerial Accounting and how this is concerned with the use of economic and financial information to support the management decision-making process.

At the end of the course students will be able to understand financial statements and the fact that these are the product of the financial accounting process. They represent the means of communicating economic information about the organization to stakeholders who want to make decisions and inform judgments about the entity's financial position. Also, students will be able to understand some fundamental financial statement analysis concepts and tools. Furthermore, students will develop knowledge on non-financial information. To integrate the skills and knowledge on sustainable reporting, students examine and use the guidelines for sustainability reporting and its measures for guiding organizations to a more sustainable future, understanding their economic, environmental and social impacts (as well as related consequences). Finally students will be introduced to the concepts of Managerial Accounting. Management is the process of planning, organizing, and controlling an organization's activities to accomplish its goals. Managerial Accounting (sometimes indicated as Management Accounting) supports the management process.

 

Course contents

Week 1 – September 16^th – 17^th

Accounting in Action (Ch. 1)

The Recording Process (Ch. 2)

Week 2 – September 23^rd – 24^th

Overview on Accounting: Financial Accounting, Social and Environmental Accounting,

Managerial Accounting and Auditing.

1^st homework assigned

Week 3 – September 30^th – October 1^st

Adjusting the Accounts (Ch. 3)

Completing the Accounting Cycle (Ch. 4)

Week 4 – October 7^th – 8^th

Accounting for Merchandising Operations (Ch. 5)

Inventories (Ch. 6)

1^st homework due

Week 5 – October 14^th – 15^th

Accounting for Receivables (Ch. 8)

Plant Assets, Natural Resources, and Intangible Assets (Ch. 9)

1^st mid-term exam: last week of October 2015

Week 6 – November 4^th – 5^th

Liabilities (Ch. 10)

Corporations (Ch. 11)

Week 7 – November 11^th – 12^th

Statement of Cash Flows (Ch. 13)

Financial Statement Analysis (Ch. 14)

2^nd homework assigned

Week 8 – November 18^th – 19^th

IFRS, US GAAP, and Italian Accounting Standards: similarities and differences

Conceptual Framework

Week 9 – November 25^th – 26^th

Planning and Control Systems

Strategic Planning and Budgeting

2^nd homework due

Week 10 – December 2^nd – 3^rd

Cost Analysis

Cost Control

2^nd mid-term exam or Full Exam 1^st call: January 2016 (or eventually, December 2015)

Full Exam 2^nd call: February 2016

Full Exam 3^rd call: September 2016

Readings/Bibliography

TEXTBOOK

 

E-book (printable)

Financial Accounting , IFRS Edition, 2nd Edition

by Jerry J. Weygandt, Paul D. Kimmel, Donald E. Kieso

ISBN 978-1-118-50272-3

July 2012, ©2013

Wiley E-Text, 840 pages

 

OR

 

Hardcover

Financial Accounting , IFRS Edition, 2nd Edition

by Jerry J. Weygandt, Paul D. Kimmel, Donald E. Kieso

ISBN 978-1-118-28590-9

August 2012, ©2013

Hardcover, 840 pages

Teaching methods

The pedagogical approach is based on a combination of lectures, interactive classes, seminars, exercises, discussion questions and case studies. 

Exercises will be solved in class also with the support of a tutor (10 additional hours).

Attendance is highly recommended for all students and mandatory (80% of attendance) to have the opportunity to deliver two homework problems (same structure of the exam), which will be evaluated from 0 to 3 points each.

It is expected that students come to class ready to contribute to classroom discussions. Students are strongly encouraged to interact with the teacher, asking questions, making comments, and providing answers.

Assessment methods

The final mark will be calculated as the average mark of two mid-term exams. If one passes (min 18/30) the first mid-term in the middle of the course, one can take the second mid-term in January OR February.

If one fails the first mid-term, or passes the first mid-term but fails the second mid-term, one can take the full exam (January, February, and September).

Exams are written and include: 10 true/false statements, 10 multiple choice questions, 3 exercises, and 1 open question. Only calculators are permitted during the exams (no mobile phones, no other tools).

The average score of the two homework problems (both problems have to be delivered) will be added to the final mark of the exam.

Active class participation may be weighted in determining the final mark at the discretion of the professor.

Teaching tools

Student Companion Site (free access):

http://bcs.wiley.com/he-bcs/Books?action=index&itemId=1118285905&bcsId=7352

Further teaching materials, related to the topics that are not included in the textbook, will be published by the professor in AMS campus.

 

Links to further information

https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/mariateresa.speziale

Office hours

See the website of Maria Teresa Speziale