The course aims to provide students with a basic knowledge of the institutional characteristics of companies and the conceptual and methodological tools necessary to study this area, including their operational system, their processes and equilibrium conditions.

The course also aims to deepen students’ understanding of accounting and the accounting system, as well as their basic knowledge about the features and content financial reporting and financial statements: statement of financial position (balance sheet) and income statement (profit and loss statement).

The complete scheduling of the program (timetable) will be inserted on the Moodle Platform

Teaching PROGRAM

1. Economic activity and business activity
1.1 The nature of economic problems over time and space. Differences between economics, business administration and accounting
1.2 The business system and its relationship with the environment
1.3 Classes and types of companies
 
2. The business system
2.1 The business system and its subsystems: organizational, operations and management, asset and information systems
2.2 The institutional structure of a company: legal subjects and economic subjects
2.3 The organs of the economic governance and management of a company

3. The economic behavior of firms
3.1 Corporate decision-making
3.2 Objective and bounded rationality models
3.3 The decision-making structure
3.4 Organization and Personnel Management
3.5 Concept, configurations, and the qualitative and quantitative composition of capital
3.6 Working capital. Calculating total income. Operating income and the preservation of capital
3.7 Costs and revenues in the business system
3.8 Investments and financing needs.  Funding choices. Self-financing. The balance between economic and business risk.
3.9 Cost effectiveness and efficiency. Cost analysis. The "Break Even Point" analysis

4. The accounting and business information system; journal entry, original entry and posting entry
4.1 Accounting methods: the double-entry system applied to the income system. The accounting plan, accounting books and records.

4.2 The setting up of a company. The main accounting entries: credit and debit entries, personnel entries and pay-roll records, commercial entries (purchase and sales entries), surpluses and losses, etc.

4.3 Closing and opening entries
5. Financial statements in the Civil Law system
5.1 The functions carried out by financial statements
5.2 Structure and contents of financial statements

Students should demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the principles and concepts of business and economics, as well as quantitative business results.

Students should be familiar with and understand the general ledger and financial statements in accounting procedures.

Students should able to use the terminology, models and tools of Accounting and Business Administration.

Students should demonstrate familiarity with the basic patterns of firm behavior in the context of Business Administration

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

The teaching assistant’s sessions/tutorial sessions (held by Dr., Phd Sacchi Enrica) provide practical exercise to further develop the above concepts and skills Attendance is strongly recommended.  Additionally, for some lessons and tutorials firm case studies may be presented by business leaders and group work may be organized – again, attendance is strongly recommended.

Moreover an additional Seminar titled "Laboratorio di Contabilità" will be organised to practically deepen the following topic The accounting and business information system; journal entry, original entry and posting entry

Teaching

Course lectures; tutorials and seminars

Traditional class lectures divided in two main parts: Economia Aziendale  (business administration) (EA) and Contabilità  (accounting)(ES) 

Lectures relate to both the contents of the course entitled Economia Aziendale (EA) as well as those of the course entitled Contabilità (ES), and will offer in-depth coverage of the concepts necessary to prepare for the exams for both these courses.   

Furthermore students are advised to participate in the 2-credit Seminar entitled “Laboratorio di Contabilità” (Accounting Lab), which will take place each Spring semester; this will significantly assist their exam preparation.

 Finally students are advised that the instructor will furnish slides relative to the exam program for Economia Aziendale  as well as the parts entitled contabilità  (accounting) and bilancio (financial statements).  These can be downloaded directly from the instructor’s site.  Students are particularly asked to pay attention to the slide concerning financial statements, given that this part of the exam program makes exclusive reference to the Civil Code  (i.e. the Civil Law system, as opposed to the English Case Law system), and the ppt presentations/Slides.

The presentation materials used during lessons will also be provided for consultation and downloading by students (starting from the first semesters of the course); these will appear directly on the School of Economics site, and the instructor will provide students with a password that is connected with the relative course syllabus/instructor involved.

Attendance

Strongly Recommended

Course books

Please procure the following textbooks:

- M. Paoloni, P. Paoloni (2009), Introduzione e orientamento allo studio delle aziende, Giappichelli, Torino.
Paoloni Mauro, Celli Massimiliano (a cura di) (2012), Introduzione alla contabilità generale, CEDAM, Padova (il testo sostituisce la precedente edizione a cura di Paoloni Mauro)
With the exception of: (i.e. the following parts of the textbook are NOT included in the exam program and therefore  DO NOT need to be studied:  

 CAPITOLO X (CHAPTER 10) SCRITTURE DI GESTIONE:
10.1.4 (p. 206): ACQUISTI DI BENI E SERVIZI SUL MERCATO INTERNAZIONALE
10.3.3. (p.253): VENDITE SUL MERCATO INTERNAZIONALE
10.4.8. (p. 286): FACTORING
10.6.3. OPERAZIONI CON LE BANCHE
10.6.4 (p.324): PRESTITI OBBLIGAZIONARI
10.7. (p. 341): SCRITTURE RELATIVE AGLI INVESTIMENTI FINANZIARI
10.9.3  (p. 372): SCRITTURE RELATIVE ALLE IMPOSTE DIRETTE
CAPITOLO XIII: SCRITTURE RELATIVE ALLE VARIAZIONI DEI MEZZI PROPRI (PP. 488-495; paragrafi 13.4 e 13.5)
CAPITOLO XV: SCRITTURE DEI SISTEMI SUPPLEMENTARI: I CONTI D’ORDINE
 
Further reading and consultation texts for preparing the exam:
M. Paoloni (a cura di), Esercitazioni di Ragioneria e di Economia Aziendale, Quattroventi, Urbino (ultima edizione).

Assessment

Written and oral examination, on the same day (if this is compatible with the numbers of written exams in each exam session).

 The written examination (2 hours long) involves exercises, writing concerning accounting , and the response to open questions as well as multiple choice ones.It will include on average 7 or 8 exercises, based on subjects included within the Business Economics and Accounting program, both relating to the theoretical part and the application of Accounting.

 The oral examination (which only takes place after one has passed the written part) involves questions on the entire examination program.

The financial statements is subject only to oral examination.

WRITTEN TEST: Each of the 7/8 exercises is awarded a score for a total of 30/30 points. The exercises, depending on the various topics, involve different modes of conduct. Some exercises contain closed-ended questions (the student must indicate what the correct answers are). Other exercises are based on open responses and include a description of the content related to the subject. Some exercises involve carrying out accounting and bookkeeping, while others require a description of the nature of the accounts and the type of variation (economic or financial). Some exercises involve calculating ratios and margins.

The student must perform the exercises correctly and answer the closed question requests provided for in the written test; they have to respond in an articulate and detailed way to the oral questions that may concern the whole EA and ES program and the financial statements program.

The overall assessment of the student's level of preparation will be carried out taking into account the passing of the written test and the outcome of the oral test. For the written test, the total score obtained will be the sum of the score for each exercise. To gain access to the oral exam, students must have reached a score of 18/30. The oral test will last an average of 15/20 minutes and will cover up to 4 questions. The total evaluation will take into account the medium result of the written (passed) test and the oral dissertation.

In order to facilitate their preparation of the exam for this course, students can download and consult the material used during the lessons, organized in ppt presentations, from the Internet.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

Same (see the exam program above for attending students)

Course books

Same (see the exam program above for attending students)

Assessment

Same (see information for attending students)

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Students can request to receive a course bibliography  and take the exam  (written and oral) in English. 

 Students wishing to take exams in English should send an e-mail to the professor and must study the following material in English:
- Smith, Barry  (2010), Introductory Financial Accounting, McGraw-Hill (available through Ebrary) 

The student must show an understanding of the concepts and theories provided by the course; he must be able to identify and interpret the business problems in the start-up stage and during the lifecycle of the business.
The student must demonstrate that he/she can use the knowledge, methods, tools and concepts that allow the management of businesses, applying the logic of accounting and business administration.