30427 - BILANCIO - MODULO 2 / ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS - MODULE 2

There are no formal prerequisites to take Accounting 2 exam. You can pass Accounting 2 exam also without passing Accounting 1 exam in a precedent exam session. Please note/1. Accounting 2 is the second part of an exam divided in two (Accounting), so please consider since now that all the notions taught in Accounting 1 will be asked and will be needed to pass Accounting 2 exam. In short, although you can pass Accounting 2 before Accounting 1 exam, studying Accounting 1 is necessary to pass Accounting 2. Please note/2: Accounting 2 is not an intermediate exam. Although Accounting Module 1 and Accounting Module 2 will be merged into a single grade in the Degree Diploma (30425 which is the average of Accounting 1 and Accounting 2), please keep in mind that once Accounting 2 is passed, then the grade is registered in the academic career of the student and will never be deleted in the further years (according to the rules in force at the date of drafting this Syllabus).

Accounting is the language of business, an important means of communication among various business parties. Among others, financial accounting speaks mainly to external information users, such as investors and financial analysts, who make decisions for many different purposes using the accounting information revealed in financial statements. Accounting 2 (30427) is the second Module of two (Accounting Module 1 is 30426). Overall (30426 and 30427), the mission of the course is to provide students with all notions needed to work in the field of accounting. More in details, it consists in teaching how to prepare the full set of both separate and consolidated financial statements (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement) and all the accounts therein included, and how to interpret them according to the general F/S analysis methods. At the end of both courses 30426 and 30427, students should be able to manage, at a basic level, all the issues related to Financial Accounting. On the basis of all the above, the mission of this course is to complete the basic Accounting skills of the students, focusing on owners’ equity, investments, taxes, cash flow statement, consolidated financial statements and ratio analysis. At the end of both courses 30426 and 30427, students should be able to manage, at a basic level, all the issues related to Financial Accounting.

The content of the course, overall (30426 and 30427), can be summarized as follows:

• Understand the accounting methodology with reference to data gathering, processing, classification and recording using the "accounting equation" (A = L + SE) and then the double-entry accounting system.
• Understand the techniques at the basis of financial reporting preparation (preparation of journal entries on the basis of the accrual principle, going concern principle,...). 
• Understand the adjusting entries and identify the areas which are particularly subject to managerial discretion.
• Correctly evaluate the main financial statement items, according to law and to accounting principles:

  • Accounting for revenues and receivables.

  • Accounting for inventories.

  • Accounting for non-current tangible and intangible assets.

  • Accounting for liabilities and bonds.

  • Accounting for owners'equity.

  • accounting for investments in other corporations

• Compute and account for income taxes.

• Prepare a cash flow statement.

• Reclassify the F/S items according to different methodologies.

• Analyze F/S with ratios.

• Prepare consolidated financial statements.

The course makes reference, where necessary, to International Financial Reporting Standards (IAS/IFRS) and to the main differences compared to US GAAP:

• Accounting Module 1 30426 covers topics under items 1 to 4 of the above list (up to bonds).
• Accounting Module 2 30427 covers topics under 4 (cont'd from owners'equity) to 9 of the above list.

• Summarize and illustrate the theoretical tools needed to evaluate the following main financial statement items, according to law and to accounting principles:
  • Owners'equity.
  • Investments in other corporations.
  • Explain the process required to compute income taxes.
  • Reproduce a set of F/S reclassified according to the EU Directives taxonomy.
  • Define the categories where to classify a change in cash in the cash flow statement.
  • Illustrate the schemes of F/S reclassification for ratio analysis purposes.
  • Describe the main ratios used to analyze F/S (measures of performance, liquidity and solvency).
  • Recognize whether there is or not a "control" as a prerequisite to prepare consolidated F/S.
  • Summarize the meaning of the consolidation adjustments when preparing the consolidated financial statement.

• Understanding the firms’ key performance indicators.

• Analyze, evaluate, calculate and prepare the journal entries related to the following financial statement items, according to law and to accounting principles:
  • Owners'equity.
  • Investments in other corporations.
  • Calculate income taxes and prepare the relevant journal entries.
  • Compose the cash flow statement.
  • Reclassify the items according to the commonly-used F/S reclassification schemes for ratio analysis purposes.
  • Elaborate a F/S analysis (measures of performance, liquidity and solvency).
  • Prepare consolidated financial statement.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Online lectures
• Exercises (exercises, database, software etc.)
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Interactive class activities (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)

• Accounting Module 2 - 30427 is an "intermediate" course, hence - although the learning experience is based on face-to-face lectures - more interaction (cases discussion with students) is scheduled and expected thoughout the course.
• Lessons are interactive, as accounting is a very practical course: real-life cases are presented during teaching, with the goal of linking the explanation to the “real world of business and accounts”.
• After each set of lectures regarding a certain topic, review sessions are discussed in class: the goal of the review session consists in showing the students how to approach the preparation of journal entries and all other tasks concerning Accounting.
• To actively participate to review sessions, students need to use their communication and interpersonal skills.
• Additional materials (exercises, slides, et cetera) useful to get trained for the exam are posted on Bboard.

The final grade of the course, which is registered in the students’career, is determined as the average of the exams 30426 and 30427 grade.

All students are graded on an online, comprehensive exam (there are no partial exams), which is based on a mix of open questions, closed questions and exercises, which aims to assess the student’s learning level of the theoretical notions and the main concepts, methods and tools shared in the course. Final grade is rounded (please see also below).

The exam is on a 31-point basis. Nevertheless, during the semester students can get (up to) 8 points by carrying out two quizzes via Blackboard, which will be deployed on specific dates. These (up to) 8 points are substitutive of some exercises of the exam.

Please, find hereinafter further details about the assessment and grading methods. Please note: additional further information and details will be provided timely on Blackboard.

          I.          WRITTEN ONLINE EXAM

Students must register to seat for the exam.

At the end of the term, all students have a written online exam, given through Blackboard and will use the software Respondus Monitor.

The exam is graded on a 31,00 points basis. The exam, broadly, may be divided into two sections:

First section: closed-ended questions (Multiple Choice and “fill in the blank” or other types of closed-ended questions) which is worth approx. 10-14 points aimed at assessing the knowledge and understanding of the students, as follows:

• Ability to summarize and illustrate the theoretical tools needed to evaluate:

-        Owners'equity.

-        Investments in other corporations.

• Ability to explain how income taxes are computed.
• Understanding of the categories where to classify a change in cash in the cash flow statement.
• Knowledge of the schemes of F/S reclassification for ratio analysis purposes.
• Ability to describe the main ratios used to analyze F/S (measures of performance, liquidity and solvency).
• Ability to recognize whether there is or not a "control" as a prerequisite to prepare consolidated F/S.
• Ability to summarize the meaning of the consolidation adjustments when preparing the consolidated financial statement.

Second section: open-ended questions (journal entries or other types of open-ended questions, id est exercises) which is worth approx. 17-21 points aimed at assessing the application of the knowledge and understanding of the students, as follows:

• Ability to analyze, evaluate, calculate and prepare the journal entries related to the following financial statement items, according to law and to accounting principles:

-        Owners'equity.

-        Investments in other corporations.

• Ability to calculate income taxes and prepare the relevant journal entries.
• Ability to compose the cash flow statement.
• Ability to reclassify the items according to the commonly-used F/S reclassification schemes for ratio analysis purposes.
• Ability to elaborate a F/S analysis (measures of performance, liquidity and solvency).
• Ability to prepare consolidated financial statement.

       II.          BONUS QUIZZES

During the course, 2 short quizzes are given to the students via BlackBoard. These tests consist of either closed-ended and open-ended questions. They approximately last 10-15 minutes and their main goal is to foster continuous assessment.

The quizzes do not require the use of Respondus Monitor.

Each of the two quizzes is graded between 0,00 and 4,00 points and at end of the course, points of the two quizzes are added up. Hence, a student can achieve up to 8,00 points as “bonus quizzes”.

Such (up to) 8,00 “bonus points” give the students the following: on the date of the exam, they are allowed TO SKIP some exercises (chosen by the instructors and clearly identified in the exam) which are automatically graded with the points scored in the quizzes.

In other words, these points are not “in addition to” the grade of the exam, but rather these points are “SUBSTITUTIVE” of exercises in the exam which are weighed 8 points.

In light of the above, all students who are happy with their grade achieved in the “bonus quizzes” have an exam on 23 point basis, as they automatically get a certain, predefined number of “bonus points” in the dedicated exercises.

Otherwise, whether a student is unhappy with the points achieved in the “bonus quizzes”, he/she is allowed to make all the exercises in the exam. The grade of the exam exercises overrides the points scored in the Bonus Quizzes.

But remember:

·        the exam lasts the same time both for those who are happy with the quizzes points and for those who are unhappy with the quizzes points;

·        partial grading won’t be activated for Bonus Quizzes questions, so for example if you have a 3-points question, and you have three “true or false”, and you answer correct to two over three, you are getting zero points anyway.

In short, the main advantages of the quizzes are:

·        More time to take the exam

·        A part of the grade is assigned in advance

In any possible scenario (absence, failure, withdraw) occurring in one exam session, the “bonus quizzes” is still valid and still may be used in the subsequent sessions of the academic year (February 2022).

After February 2022 the bonus quizzes is no longer valid.

Please note. Following is a clarification about roundings. When adding up the points of the quizzes with the points scored in the exam, the grade of the quiz stays as it is, with only the final grade of the exam 30427 being rounded, and then rounded again with 30426 to make an only grade 30425 in the academic career (please read paragraph “PREREQUISITES” above).

So for example if a student obtains an overall score on the quizzes of 6.5 out of 8, and the points of the exam are 20.25 out of 23, the final grade of the exam is 6.5 + 20.25 = 26.75 which is then rounded to 27 as final grade of Accounting 2 (30427).

If in the first semester the same student took 28 in Accounting 1 (30426), then the final total grade in the career of the student will be [(27+28)/2] = 27.50 which is rounded as 28 under the course code 30425 “Accounting”.

The course material is exclusively represented by:

• Financial Accounting, International Edition, Libby, Libby, Hodge. McGraw-Hill, 2018 (10th edition).
• C. GALIMBERTI, A. MARRA, A. PRENCIPE, Consolidation: Preparing and understanding consolidated financial statements under IFRS, McGrawHill Education, 2013.
• Slides - provided through Bboard.

The course materials (e.g., hands outs and teaching notes) are regularly downloadable from Bboard platform. Teachers make the materials available throughout the course.