29412 - Business Performance Control

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to provide the knowledge necessary to carry out an analysis of a company’s economic and financial profile and to support planning and control activities through appropriate informational and decision-making tools.
At the end of the course, the student will be able to:
(a) conduct an economic, financial, and asset analysis of a company;
(b) measure the cost of the production factors employed and of specific cost objects;
(c) use cost information to support the preparation of the financial statements and to facilitate the decision-making process;
(d) prepare corporate budgets and analyze the causes of variances between actual results and planned objectives;
(e) use economic-financial and cost performance measures to support the corporate planning and control process.

Course contents

Part One – FRANCO VISANI

• Cost classification

• Cost–volume–profit analysis

• Product cost and cost center accounting

• Costs for decision-making: direct costing and differential analysis

• Activity-based costing

Part Two – FEDERICA BANDINI

• Planning and control systems in different types of companies

• The control environment: organization, information system, and corporate culture

• The process of assigning responsibilities and the classification of responsibility centers

• Performance measurement: defining the system of accounting and non-accounting indicators

• The budgeting system: definition, characteristics, and functions

• Operating budget and cash budget: theory and exercises

• The link between the budgeting system, incentives, and the performance measurement system for both operational units and individuals

Readings/Bibliography

FIRST PART

• Strumenti per l’analisi dei costi. Volume I Fondamenti di Cost Accounting. Author: Lino Cinquini. Publisher: Giappichelli.
  Link [https://www.giappichelli.it/strumenti-per-l-analisi-dei-costi]

SECOND PART

• E. Gazzoni, Programmazione e controllo nel non profit, 2004 or 2017 edition
  FOR FURTHER READING ON PLANNING AND CONTROL: Anna Maria Carli, Programmazione e controllo, McGraw Education, 2019

Teaching methods

Lectures

Assessment methods

Written Exam
Grading scale and description:

• Sufficient preparation and analytical skills, expressed in a generally correct language: 18–22

• Adequate technical preparation, fair analytical skills, even if not particularly articulated, expressed in correct language: 23–26

• In-depth knowledge of the topics covered in the course, good analytical and critical skills, mastery of specific terminology: 27–29

• Very in-depth knowledge of the topics covered in the course, strong critical and cross-disciplinary analytical skills, mastery of specific terminology: 30–30L (cum laude)

Office hours

See the website of Franco Visani

See the website of Federica Bandini