Course 2026-2027 a.y.

This course aims to provide you with the information set to properly assess investment opportunities using accounting publicly released information. The main topics covered in this course are:

• A refresh of basic accounting concepts and main tools.
• The Analysis of Financial Statements Earnings Quality analysis: determinants, economic consequences and proxy.
• Fraud and Bankruptcy detections and issues.
• Firms’ Forecasting.
• Firms’ valuation using the most common valuation techniques and focus on sustainable investments.
• Going Concern and material uncertainty.
• An overall understanding of role and responsibility of key players in the financial information field (analysts, investor relation managers, and so on).
   

•      Financial accounting process, preparation and dissemination of related information.
•      Accounting standard and firms' disclosure.
•      Financial Analysis using financial statements on key dimension such: Profitability, Liquidity and Solvency.
•      Financials Forecasting.
•      Bankruptcy and Fraud Detection.
•      Assessment of Accounting quality and its determinants and relevant measurement tools.
•      Firms Valuation main valuation techniques.
•      Interplay among information senders and receivers (e.g. Investor relation managers, analysts and investors).
   

Manage real cases and build, interpret and report on firms’ overall “quality”. At the end of the course, you will be able to implement an analysis of firms’ financial statements, assess its quality of earnings, deliver a firm valuation and, finally and potentially make an investment recommendation.

• Lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Practical Exercises
• Collaborative Works / Assignments

In addition to face-to-face lectures, the course includes guest speaker talks, practical exercises and in-class case analyses and discussions, as well as collaborative activities. In particular, students will take part in a role-playing exercise involving firm valuation and deal negotiation.

Attending students are all students that - at the same time:

i.    physically (i.e. in class) attend a set (10 out of 12) of lectures identified in YELLOW in the Detailed syllabus below.
ii.    Take part to ALL graded activities (i.e. In class test, Role playing, and similar).
Notice that missing any of above will result in a non-attending student assessment. No exceptions of any kind will be made or allowed. As non-attending students’ assessment does not prevent nor damage in any way the final grade.
The final grade of the course is determined as a sum of the following: a) In Class Test; b) Role Playing and c) Final Written Exam. The main objective of a), b) and c) is to foster continuous learning, get you exposed to practical examples and, last but not least, challenge yourself on team working, timing management and presentation and writing skills. Grade Weight %: In Class Test 25%; Role Playing 25%; Final Written Exam 50%; Total 100%.
 

Non-attending students: all students not falling in the above category will automatically be considered non-attending.
In such case the exam will be a final exam worth 100% of the grade. Additional materials to study (to replace missed assessments) will be highlighted during the course (around mid-October). The additional materials will be a defined set of research papers (3 to 5 papers). The structure of the Final Written Exam will be as follows:
PART A – as the Final written exam for attending students (50%)
PART B – additional part to complement the remaining 50%.
 

Book: Antonio Marra. (2026). Financial Analysis, Forecasting and Value McGraw-Hill.
Lecture notes: Lecture notes will be provided for all lectures, most of them fully aligned with the book content. Additional specific lecture notes will also be provided.
Additional readings (research papers) list uploaded on Blackboard.
Note: on a general basis, slides and additional readings will be uploaded on Blackboard, before class throughout the course.
 

Book: Antonio Marra. (2026). Financial Analysis, Forecasting and Value McGraw-Hill.
Lecture notes: Lecture notes will be provided for all lectures, most of them fully aligned with the book content. Additional specific lecture notes will also be provided.
Additional readings (research papers) list uploaded on Blackboard.
Note: on a general basis, slides and additional readings will be uploaded on Blackboard, before class throughout the course.

Additional materials to study (to replace missed assessments) will be highlighted during the course (around mid-October). The additional materials will be a defined set of research papers (3 to 5 papers).