COURSE SYLLABUS
EUROPEAN CREDIT TRANSFER SYSTEM (ECTS) PILOT PROGRAMME
UNIVERSITIES IN ANDALUSIA, SPAIN
ACADEMIC YEAR: 2010/2011
DEGREES: Business Administration and Management (BAM) /
Double Degree in Law and Business Administration and Management (LBAM)
BASIC COURSE INFORMATION
COURSE: FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ANALYSIS (Contabilidad General y Analítica – Group in English)
CODE: 4083
STUDY PLAN: 1998
TYPE (core/obligatory/elective): Core
TOTAL CREDITS (LRU/ECTS): 9 THEORY CREDITS: 6
PRAXIS CREDITS: 3
YEAR: 4th
TERM(S): 1st and 2nd (Year-long)
LEVEL: 2nd Cycle
TEACHING TEAM INFORMATION
Course coordinator:
NAME: JESUS DAMIÁN LOPEZ MANJÓN
FACULTY/DEPARTMENT: Faculty of Business Administration / Department of Business Administration
ACADEMIC AREA: Financial Economics and Accounting
CATEGORY: Lecturer in Accounting
POD
GROUPS
CREDITS
TOTAL
Large Lecture Group
Regular Lecture Group
Seminar Group
OFFICE HOURS: Wednesday, from 9 to 13 h. and from 17 to 19 h.
OFFICE No.: 7.2.15
E-MAIL: jdlopman@upo.es
TEL.: (+34) 954349843
WEBPAGE: http://www.upo.es/dde/personal/jdlopman
Other Lecturers:
NAME: FRANCISCO JAVIER MARTÍN LOZANO
FACULTY/DEPARTMENT: Faculty of Business Administration / Department of Business Management
ACADEMIC AREA: Financial Economics and Accounting
CATEGORY: Associate Lecturer
POD
GROUPS
CREDITS
TOTAL
Large Lecture Group
Regular Lecture Group
Seminar Group
OFFICE HOURS: Tuesday and Thursday, from 18 to 20 h.
OFFICE No.: 14.2.38
E-MAIL: fjmarloz@upo.es
TEL.: (+34) 954348910
WEBPAGE: http://www.upo.es/dde/personal/fjmarloz
1
SPECIFIC COURSE INFORMATION
1. COURSE DESCRIPTION.
Accounting, analysis, consolidation and audit accountability (Official Gazette of Spain No. 173 for 21 July,
1998, on the description of the Official Study Plan of the Degree in Business Administration and Management
(BAM) at University Pablo de Olavide).
2. ACADEMIC CONTEXT.
2.1. PREREQUISITES:
No official prerequisites exist for this course, except for a level of English close to or over The University of
Cambridge First Certificate level or similar.
2.2. CONTEXT WITHIN THE DEGREE:
This obligatory course in Financial Statements Analysis is offered in the 4th Year of the Degree in Business
Administration and Management (BAM) / 4th Year of the Double Degree in Law, and Business Administration
and Management (LBAM) and is the last course in Financial Accounting in the present curriculum at the
University Pablo de Olavide. Students enrolled in Financial Statements Analysis will delve deeper into the
analysis of financial information provided by the Annual Report and complementary financial reports.
In the internationalized world where we live in, speaking and writing in English is an added value for any
professional, graduate or student. But focusing on our professional field of Economics, Finance and
Accounting, managing English might be considered a command. An executive in a Spanish company, when
talking on the phone or writing to another executive in a German company, speaks or writes in English. The
most important business press is written in English. In international meetings and conventions English will be
spoken. Within a multinational company or group, professionals must speak in English and the Financial and
Accounting Reporting must be done in English. There is no doubt that English is the business language. A
good amount of Business Administration Graduates will finally join multinational companies and work abroad.
Therefore undergraduate students, who decide to get their professional qualifications both in their own
language and also in English, will expand their professional working horizons. With this course in English, we
try to help these students to achieve such objective. It is not sufficient enough to have the general knowledge
of the language. It is necessary to know the specific business, financial and accounting expressions and
terminology for a graduate or professional to correctly communicate in English. In this regard, in addition to
the proper subject contents, an introductory chapter will be given to help the students become familiarized
with accounting and financial terminology to better follow the rest of the subject.
The course will introduce a wide range of tools for improving business decisions. The accounting information
provided is not enough, in and of itself, to inform appropriate decision-making. Therefore it is logical that more
information will be required—or at least that the financial information be approached from different angles.
Financial Statements Analysis-also called Analytical Accounting- satisfies this need, as it aids the users of this
information to fine tune their decision-making processes.
Given the fact that, in this field, it is the practice of analysts that determines theory, attempts to separate
theory from practice in the classroom are largely unrealistic and unnecessary. Therefore, the course is
designed to present and describe the catalogue of tools available to analysts when making decisions or
preparing reports.
2.3. RECOMMENDATIONS:
We recommend that students be familiar with the fundamentals of Financial Accounting (specifically, with the
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mechanics of accounting) as well as know how to differentiate between different types of assets and equity.
This is crucial as financial accounting information is the starting point for annual report analysis.
3. APTITUDES.
3.1. GENERAL SKILLS:
•
•
•
•
•
Oral & written communication skills
Collaborative learning skills & participatory values
Logic & critical reasoning skills
Teamwork skills
IT & ICT skills
3.2. SPECIFIC SKILLS:
•
Cognitive (Know…):
- Know contents of a company’s Annual Reports.
- Understand how such reports are used in decision-making processes
- Identify accounting ratios, their information capacities and limitations
- Concept of profitability (on assets, on equity…)
- Concept of Solvency
- Concept of Liquidity
- Concept of Groups of companies
- Basic knowledge of Consolidation accounting standards
•
Procedural/Instrumental (Know how to...):
On completing this course, students should be able to :
- Know how to find financial and economic information of a company and industry or sector
- Know how to calculate accounting ratios
- Know how to assess an organization’s situation appropriately in terms of profitability, liquidity and
solvency using the information provided by the financial statements and ratios calculated.
- Know how to write reports which summarize this assessment in a way which aids decisionmaking, suggesting measures to be taken for improving situation
•
Attitudinal (Be...):
- Be rigorous & analytical-minded
- Be methodical
- Be ethical when working as an accountant and analyst
4. OBJECTIVES.
This course is based on the work of professional economists who interpret the economic/financial situation of
an organization in order to reach a series of goals. Thus, our objectives are to:
1) Go over the elements comprising the Annual Report, including sources of financial information;
2) Learn to analyze the information provided by Annual Reports accurately, and know how to differentiate
between relevant and irrelevant information in different contexts;
3) Use the appropriate tools to determine a firm’s situation in terms of the profitability, liquidity and
solvency;
4) Identify an organization’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of profitability, liquidity and solvency using
the tools mentioned above;
5) Prepare a report on any one of the three spheres mentioned above.
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DISTRIBUTION OF THE IN-CLASS LEARNING.
Large Lecture Group
No. of groups
1
No. of hours
12
No. of sessions
8
Regular Lecture Group
1
42
28
5. METHODOLOGY.
TOTAL NUMBER OF STUDENT LEARNING HOURS: 225
FIRST TERM: 110 learning hours
No. of Hours:
• General/background (Large Lecture Group): 4*1.5 = 6
• Practical/developmental knowledge-building (Regular Lecture Group): 14*1.5 = 21
• Guided academic activities/‘Theory-into-practice’ (Seminar Group): 2*1.5 = 3
• Specialised tutorials (attended/online):
A) Collective:
B) Individual:
• Individual autonomous learning: 75
A) Study of general/background notes and reading: 4*3 = 12
B) Study/preparation of practical/developmental material: 14*3 = 42
C) Individual/group work on guided academic activities: 14*1.5 = 21
• Other activities (visits, field trips, etc.):
• Exams & quizzes: 5
A) Written exams and/or quizzes: 5
B) Oral exams and/or quizzes (on individual autonomous learning):0
SECOND TERM: 115 learning hours
No. of Hours:
• General/background (Large Lecture Group): 4*1.5 = 6
• Practical/developmental knowledge-building (Regular Lecture Group): 14*1.5 = 21
• Guided academic activities/‘Theory-into-practice’ (Seminar Group): 2*1.5 = 3
• Specialised tutorials (attended/online):
A) Collective:
B) Individual:
• Individual autonomous learning: 75
A) Study of general/background notes and reading: 4*3 = 12
B) Study/preparation of practical/developmental material: 14*3 = 42
C) Individual/group work on guided academic activities: 14*1.5 = 21
• Other activities (visits, field trips, etc.):
• Exams & quizzes: 10
A) Written exams and/or quizzes: 10
B) Oral exams and/or quizzes (on individual autonomous learning):
4
Seminars
4
6
4
6. TEACHING TECHNIQUES.
Academic Theory (General / Background): X
Presentations / Debates: X
Theory into Practice (practical / developmental): X Visits / Field Trip:
Specialized Tutorials: X
Required Reading
Quizzes:
Other: Occasionally, we will be joined by professional economists who will give guest lectures in Large
Lecture Group sessions.
COURSE DESIGN / RATIONALE:
The objective is to familiarize students with the practical, every-day use of the tools taught in this course. To
this end, we will turn to professional economists who—immersed in the activities we learn about in this
course—use these tools on a daily basis.
7. LEARNING MODULES.
PRELIMINARY MODULE— Introduction to English terminology in Financial Accounting and Reporting
MODULE 1 — ANALYTICAL ACCOUNTING: DEFINITION & CONTEXT
MODULE 2 — EQUITY & RATIO-BASED ANALYSIS
MODULE 3 — PROFITABILITY ANALYSIS
MODULE 4 — ANALYSIS OF SOLVENCY
MODULE 5 — LIQUIDITY ANALYSIS
MODULE 6 — ANALYSIS OF BUSINESS GROUPS
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
8.1. GENERAL READING:
Goxens, Mª A., Gay, J. Mª (1999). Análisis de Estados Contables, Prentice Hall, Madrid
Palepu K.G., Healy P.M., Bernard V.L. (2000). Business Analysis and Valuation. South-Western College Publishing
Palepu K.G., Healy P.M., Bernard V.L. (2004). Business Analysis and Valuation. Text and Cases. South-Western
College Publishing
Jiménez Cardoso et al. (2000). Análisis Financiero. Editorial Pirámide, Madrid
Stickney, C. P. y Brown, P. R. (1999). Financial Reporting and Statement Analysis. A Strategic Perspective. 4th
Edition. The Dryden Press, Harcourt Brace & Company, New York
8.2. SPECIFIC READING:
Amat, O. (2000). Análisis de Estados Financieros, Gestión 2000, Barcelona, Capítulos 1, 2, 4 y 5.
Archel Domech et al. (2008, 2ª ed. Actualizada con NPGC): Estados Contables. Elaboración, análisis e interpretación,
Ed. Pirámide
Fernández González, F.J. (Coord.) (2007). Nuevo Plan General Contable 205 supuestos prácticos, Ediciones Francis
Lefebvre, Madrid.
Haskins, Ferris,Selling (2000). International Financial Reporting Analysis. 2nd Edition. Chapter 4
5
Needles, B.E., Powers M., y Crosson, S.V. (2005). Financial & Managerial Accounting 2nd Edition. Houghton Mifflin
International, Boston (MA). Chapters 1-5, 13-14 and 28.
Wild, J. J., Subramanyam, K. R., Halsey, R. F. (2003). Financial Statement Analysis. Mc- Graw- Hill, Singapore.
Chapter 8.
9. ASSESSMENT & GRADING.
Students in this course will be assessed in two fundamental areas:
ƒ
General theory (Large Lecture Group sessions) & knowledge of material covered in KnowledgeBuilding Group sessions (Regular Lecture Group)
> Exams on Theory-based / praxis-based questions [70% of the final grade] .
ƒ
Guided Academic Activities (Seminars) carrying out group projects to be presented orally and/or
written in Seminar Group sessions throughout the course]
> Practical application of theoretical concepts in a real-world scenario [30% of the final grade]
Assessment / Grading Criteria:
The course, thus, is assessed in two parts:
1. General theory sessions (Large Lecture Group) & Practical/developmental knowledge-building
sessions (Regular Lecture Group) – (70% of the final grade)
The grade will depend on the scores obtained on exams taken at the end of each term. These exams
will consist of theoretical-practical questions on the material studied and practiced across the term.
Students must have passed (with a minimum score of 5, on a 10-point scale) both exams in order for
scores to be averaged and pass the course.
End-of-term exams are eliminatory and the grade obtained will be valid through the final official July
exam period. There will be an official final Exam in July, in which the student will be given the chance
to independently sit the failed term exam or to sit for the whole course Exam, in case the student had
failed both terms exams, had not sat either or both of them or just for improving final grade.
September, December and extraordinary March exams will deal on total content on the course.
If the examination dates coincide with that of an exam of another lower year OBLIGATORY course of
the Degree, the student affected must communicate and prove the circumstance at least 15 days in
advance in order to be examined on a different date.
This component of the course assessment tries to focus on acquisition of cognitive skills mentioned on
point 3 of this Syllabus, as well as on getting the procedural skills related to accounting ratios
calculations and use of them to give opinion on an organization’s profitability, solvency and liquidity
situation.
2. Activities carried out in the Guided Academic Activities sessions (Seminar Group), or
assigned as Autonomous Learning - 30% of the final grade:
The teachings given in Seminar groups will be assessed taking into account students’ attendance to
seminars and oral and/or written requested presentations. This part of assessment will specially focus
on general and attitudinal skills stated in point 3 of this Syllabus-, such as oral & written
communication skills as well as on procedural skills related to searching and finding economic and
financial information of a company or a sector and writing reports which summarize the profitability,
liquidity and solvency assessment in a way which aids decision-making and suggesting measures to
be taken for improving situation
The grade obtained in July will be the only valid for the whole academic year 2010-2011.
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"Students who benefit from any of the different official student mobility programmes (Sócrates-Erasmus,
SICUE-Séneca, Atlanticus...) who study the course independently their student mobility contracts, may
recover, concerning the final grade of the course, the percentage considered in each case out of the 30%
related to Guided Academic Activities, through any sort of additional test/work to the official written course
examination (BAM Board Faculty Agreement, May, 22nd 2007). Students under this circumstance must
communicate it before October, 31st for the first term and before April, 30th for second term o annual courses.
The default of this communication within term must be endorsed by the corresponding Academic Coordinator
of their mobility contract".
Note: Title II. Chapter II. Article 12.2 and 14.3 of Normativa de Régimen Académico y de Evaluación del Alumnado (signed in the
Consejo de Gobierno of UPO in 18 July 2006): “When doing essays or other homework, plagiarism and the use of material that is
not original, included that obtained in the Internet, without having indicated explicitly the source of that information, and if that is the
case, without the permission of the author, such act can lead the student to fail the module, in addition to any other academic
penalisation brought about by such dishonest behaviour”. The Director of the Department responsible of that module, once informed
by the staff involved, the students affected and any other academic part required by the Direction of the Department, decide over
the possibility of opening up a formal expedient of penalisation.”
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10. WEEKLY COURSE SCHEDULE.
WEEK
Theory-intoGeneral
practice /
Theory/Background
(Large Lecture
KnowledgeGroup)
building (Regular
No. of hours
Lecture Group)
No. of hours
Guided Academic
Activities
(Seminar/Discussion
Group)
No. of hours
Visits &
Excursions
No. of hours
Specialized
Tutorials
No. of hours
Required
Reading
Assessment
No. of hours
Exams
No. of hours
Topics / Praxis
1st Term
1st Week (SEPT 28- OCT 4)
2nd Week ( OCT 5-OCT 11)
3rd Week (OCT 12- OCT 18)
4th Week (OCT 19- OCT 25)
5th Week(OCT 26- NOV 1)
6th Week (NOV 2- NOV 8)
7th Week (NOV 9 – NOV15)
8th Week (NOV 16- NOV 22)
9th Week (NOV 23- NOV29)
10th Week (NOV 30- DIC 6)
11th Week (DIC 7- DIC 13)
12th Week (DIC 14- DIC 20)
13th Week (jan 11 - jan17)
14th Week (jan18 - ja24)
15th Week
Final Assessment
Total
1.5
1.5
1.5
1.5
3
1.5
1.5
3
1.5
1.5
Preliminary Module
Preliminary Module
Preliminary Module
Module 1
Module 1
Module 1
Module 2
Module 1-2
Module 3
Module 3
Module 3
Module 3
Module 3
Module1-2-3
3
1.5
1.5
3
1.5
1.5
3
5
8
21
6
5
8
Modules 1-3
WEEK
General
Theory-intoTheory/Background
practice /
(Large Lecture
KnowledgeGroup)
building (Regular
No. of hours
Lecture Group)
No. of hours
Guided Academic
Activities
(Seminar/Discussion
Group)
No. of hours
Visits &
Excursions
No. of hours
Specialized
Tutorials
No. of hours
Required
Reading
Assessment
No. of hours
Exams
No. of hours
Topics / Praxis
2nd Term
1st Week
2nd Week
3rd Week
4th Week
5th Week
6th Week
7th Week
8th Week
9th Week
10th Week
11th Week
12th Week
13th Week
14th Week
15th Week
Final Assessment
Total
1.5
1.5
1.5
3
1.5
3
Module 4
Module 4
Module 5
Module 5
3
1.5
1.5
3
1.5
1.5
3
3
Module4
Module 5
Module 5
3
10
8
21
6
10
9
Module 5
Module 6
Module 6
Module 6
Modules 1-6
11. COURSE TOPICS.
PRELIMINARY— Introduction to English terminology in Financial Accounting and Reporting
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
INTRODUCING ACCOUNTING
FINANCIAL RECORDING
FINANCIAL REPORTING: THE ANNUAL REPORT
THE INCOME STATEMENT
THE BALANCE SHEET
OTHER COMPLEMENTARY STATEMENTS
OTHER FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC TERMINOLOGY
READING TEXTS
PRACTICAL CASE ON ACCCOUNTING
TARGET SKILLS: The objective of this module will be to develop cognitive skills related to specific business,
financial and accounting expressions in English in order to help the students become familiarized with
accounting and financial terminology to better follow the course in English, and procedural/instrumental skill as
to record operations through a practical case to refresh knowledge on financial accounting recording and
elaborating Annual Reports, studied by the students in first cycle of the Degree in Spanish.
MODULE 1 — ANALYTICAL ACCOUNTING: DEFINITION & CONTEXT
•
•
•
•
•
•
INTRODUCTION: DEFINITION & OBJECTIVES OF ANALYTICAL ACCOUNTING
IMPACT OF BUSINESS ACTIVITIES ON ANALYTICAL ACCOUNTING
ESSENTIAL DOCUMENTS FOR ANALYTICAL ACCOUNTING: The Annual Report
The Balance Sheet (or statement of financial position).
The Income Statement (or statement of Profits & Losses).
The (accompanying) Notes
The Cash-Flow Statement
The Statement of Changes in Equity
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: SOURCES OF DATA
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: CRITICAL ANALYSIS
CONCLUSIONS
TARGET SKILLS: The objective of this module will be to develop the general skills for the course and
procedural skills such as reading and writing reports and those related to content of a company’s Annual
Report and searching and finding economic and financial information of a company and its industry or sector.
MODULE 2 — BALANCE SHEET & RATIO-BASED ANALYSIS
•
•
•
•
•
INTRODUCTION: SOLVENCY & PROFITABILITY
BALANCE SHEET (Assets, Equity & Liabilities) ANALYSIS
RATIO-BASED ANALYSIS
INTERPRETATION & LIMITATIONS OF FINANCIAL RATIOS
Comparisons with ratios from previous periods
Comparisons with ratios from other firms
Critiques of ratios
CONCLUSIONS
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TARGET SKILLS: The objective of this module will be to develop the general skills for the course and
specifically cognitive and procedural/instrumental skills such as first approaching concepts of profitability,
solvency and liquidity, and getting to know the information capacities and limitations of ratios and how to
calculate them.
MODULE 3 — PROFITABILITY ANALYSIS
•
RETURN ON ASSETS (ROA)
ROA vs. Other Financial Yield evaluation methods
Interpreting ROA. Disaggregation of ROA
•
•
•
•
•
PROFITABILITY
FINANCIAL LEVERAGE
STOCKHOLDER’S PROFITABILITY
OTHER TYPES OF MEASURING ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE: FOCUS ON EBITDA
CONCLUSIONS
TARGET SKILLS: The objective of this module will be to develop the general skills for the course and
specifically cognitive skills related to financial and economic profitability, and procedural/instrumental skills
such as calculation of ratios and writing reports on assessing the profitability of a company through analyzing
the calculated ratios in order to aid decision-making or measures-taking to improve profitability situation.
MODULE 4 — ANALYSIS OF SOLVENCY
•
•
•
•
•
•
RISK ANALYSIS
THE IMPORTANCE OF CAPITAL STRUCTURE
LONG-TERM SOLVENCY RATIOS
OTHER SOLVENCY INDICATORS
MODELS FOR PREDICTING BUSINESS CRISIS (INSOLVENCY/BANKRUPTCY)
BANK INDUSTRY RISK: FOCUS ON THE BASEL CAPITAL ACCORD CRITERIA
TARGET SKILLS: The objective of this module will be to develop the general skills for the course and
specifically cognitive skills related to solvency, and procedural/instrumental skills such as calculation of ratios
and writing reports on assessing the solvency situation of a company through analyzing the calculated ratios to
aid decision-making or measures-taking to improve solvency situation.
MODULE 5 — LIQUIDITY ANALYSIS
•
•
•
•
•
•
SHORT TERM RISK ANALYSIS. SHORT TERM RATIOS
ADJUSTED CURRENT RATIO
APPLYING THE STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
PRODUCT CYCLE : AVERAGE FINANCING PERIOD
DETERMINING THE NEEDED WORKING CAPITAL BASIC FINNCING RATIO
CASH FLOW STATEMENT
TARGET SKILLS: The objective of this module will be to develop the general skills for the course and
specifically cognitive skills related to liquidity, and procedural/instrumental skills such as calculation of ratios
and writing reports on assessing the liquidity situation of a company through analyzing the calculated ratios to
aid decision-making or measures-taking to improve liquidity situation.
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MODULE 6 — THE NEW SPANISH GENERAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS
•
•
•
•
•
•
IAS-IFRS & THE NEW GENERAL SPANISH ACCOUNTING STANDARDS
STRUCTURE OF THE NEW GENERAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS AND CHART OF ACCOUNTS
KEY NEW ELEMENTS (NOVELTIES) IN THE ACCOUNTING STANDRDS
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS IN THE NEW ACCOUNTING STANDARDS
HOW THE PLAN AFFECTS FINANCIAL ANALYSIS: IMPACT ON THE CALCULATION &
INTERPRETATION OF FUNDAMENTAL RATIOS
THE PROBLEM WITH ANALYZING STATEMENTS FROM DIFFERENT NORMATIVE ENVIRONMENTS
TARGET SKILLS: The objective of this module will be to develop the general skills for the course and
specifically cognitive skills related to the content of an entity’s Annual Report according to the new Spanish
Accounting Standards.
12. ON-GOING ASSESSMENT & FOLLOW-UP.
1) Course Photo Card
All students enrolled in this course are required to complete a course photo card (digital format). The form
should be downloaded from the course Website, properly filled out, and sent to the professor in charge of their
group before October 31st 2010.
2) Office Hours
The teacher—in compliance with Spanish educational rules LOU and LAU and university policy—has a set
schedule for office hours and tutorials. Office hours for a given term will be available in the Business
Management Department office.
3) e-Learning Tools: WebCT/Blackboard
The use of e-learning tools like WebCT/Blackboard both facilitates learning and enhances communication and
collaboration among teachers and students. The objective is for students to have access to course material via
WebCT, as well as in the campus copy center. In order access online material, students should sign up for the
service and request a username and password which will come with a university email account. Additional
features students may wish to take advantage of include internal email lists and discussion forums where news
relating to the course, practice problems, etc., as well as online homework assignments will be posted.
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