Knowledge and understanding: this course focuses on Financial Accounting, the process of collecting, processing and reporting financial information. At the end of the course students will be able to understand the concepts of financial performance and financial position, their measurements, and how they are reported to the various users of financial information.
Applying knowledge and understanding: making students capable of reading and understanding financial statements, with an emphasis on the use of financial information in the decision-making process.
Making judgements: learning how to perform a basic assessment of a firm’s profitability, solvency, and liquidity.
Communication skills: using Accounting technical terms correctly, in order to describe the effects of different transactions on a firm’s financial statements.
Learning skills: allowing students to understand more complex topics taught in other courses, and to better appreciate the financial consequences of management decisions.

None. Accounting is a prerequisite for all management courses.

This course aims to develop a thorough understanding of the basic concepts concerning the nature of the firm. The focus is on information that is most useful to external and internal decision-making. Therefore, the function of financial accounting as the primary source of information about economic entities will be highlighted. As a result, the students will be introduced to the financial accounting conceptual framework. The course emphasizes the construction of the basic financial accounting statements - the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement - as well as their interpretation.

Reading material is available on the course page on Moodle. For exercises:
De Rosa, B. “Applicazioni della logica contabile”, Vol. I e Vol. II, Edizioni Goliardiche, Trieste, 2022.
Further reading:
Fanni M., Cossar L., “Il metodo contabile”, Carocci, 1998
(Even if the book is not up to date with the current financial reporting regulatory environment, the main concepts that it explains are still valid. Essential for students who cannot attend classes).
Other textbooks suggested for students who cannot attend classes (you are kindly requested to contact the lecturer before beginning studying for this exam):
Anthony, Breitner, “Il bilancio. Misurazione e analisi della performance”, Pearson, 2009
Anthony, Hawkins, Merchant, Macrì, “Il bilancio. Analisi economiche per le decisioni e la comunicazione della performance”,

The main contents of the course are: Accounting and the Business Environment The main accounting concepts: assets, liabilities, and equity. The basic accounting equation. Measuring and reporting financial performance. Revenues and expenses and their connection with assets and liabilities. Stockholder’s deficit and its solutions. The valuation process: rational range of valuation, hidden reserves, watered-down equity. Business ethics and financial fraud. The bookkeeping method: recording Business Transactions The three properties of double-entry bookkeeping. The Adjusting Process Completing the Accounting Cycle Merchandising Operations Receivables Plant Assets and Intangibles Current Liabilities, Payroll, and Long-Term Liabilities Paid-In Capital and Retained Earnings Preparing the income statement using the “Total output” format and the “cost of goods sold format” Production for internal use: own work capitalized, products reused, distributed. Assessing a firm’s profitability, liquidity, and solvency.

Lectures, interactive whiteboard, instant polls, and case discussions.

A written and an optional oral exam, regarding all the topics of the course. The written exam comprises exercises on the preparation of the financial statements, double-entry bookkeeping journal entries, exercises on cost-volume-profit analysis and short-term business decisions, and other exercises similar to those illustrated during the course. The written exam can have a preliminary section, focused on the course’s basic concepts, also in form of a PC quiz. Failure to pass this section of the exam determines the failure of the entire exam.
Students not taking the oral exams will be assigned the grade achieved in the written exam, with a maximum grade of 26/30. In order to attain a final grade greater than 26/30, an oral exam is necessary. The oral exam is optional, and it is reserved to students whose grade in the written test is at least equal to 24.
The final grade will be determined by the grades acquired in both the written and the (optional) oral exam. This means that the final grade could be greater or lower than the grade acquired in the written test, depending on the outcome of the oral exam. The oral exam must be taken in the same session of the written exam. Failure to pass either the written or the oral portions of the exam determines the failure of the entire Accounting exam, and the necessity to retake the written portion of the examination.
Additional information on the rules regarding the exam is available on the course page on moodle2.