The course aims to teach the students about financial statements’ aims and contents and how to interpret and use a financial statement. In particular, the course aims at promoting the following specific learning objectives: to know closing entries at the end of an accounting period; to know and understand purposes and users of companies’ financial statements; to know and understand financial statements structure and contents; to know and understand statutory regulations in force in Italy and the Italian accounting standards; to know techniques and tools needed to analyse and interpret companies’ financial statements; to know and analyse some important financial ratios.

The course also aims to convey the theoretical concepts and operational tools underlying non-financial corporate information. In particular, the theme of corporate social responsibility and sustainability, the regulatory references that, at a national, European and global level, regulate and incentivise the approach to sustainability, the tools and accountability models used by companies to account for and demand accountability for the economic, social and environmental responsibility inherent in the performance of their activities will be introduced.

• Closing entries
• General clause
• General principles (postulates) and valuation rules relating to specific balance sheet items
• Income Statement and Balance Sheet
• Notes to the accounts
• Cash flow Statement
• Classification of Income Statement and Balance Sheet
• Some key Financial ratios
• Stakeholders, corporate social responsibility and ESG sustainability reporting
• The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
• From the European Non-Financial Declaration (DNF) Directive to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting (CSRD) Directive
• Benefit companies and B-Corp
• Sustainability Report and Integrated Reporting 
• Gender balance 

Accounting and Business Administration - Module I

-  Knowledge and understanding: At the end of the course students should have acquired knowledge and understanding about purposes and importance of annual reports, general provisions and specific valuation rules, and techniques and tools to interpret companies’ annual reports. In particular students have to know Italian statutory regulation about the annual reports and the national accounting standards. Students must also have acquired the fundamental concepts behind sustainability, corporate social responsibility and sustainability reporting.

-  Applying knowledge and understanding: Students should be able to appropriately and flexibly apply their knowledge in order to correctely interpret an annual report.

-  Making judgements: Students should have the ability to integrate knowledge gained during the course and to handle complexity and formulate judgment independently about the the interpretation of an annual report. Students should also be able to autonomously evaluate company’s assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss.

-  Communication: Students should acquire clear and effective communication skills, thanks to a good command of the lexicon related to course topics.

- Lifelong learning skills: Students should have good learning skills and be able to independently deepen knowledge gained during the course and acquire new knowledge, skills and abilities about the interpretation of annual reports, through professional and job experiences. 

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

Attending students will benefit from support activities related to the innovative teaching methods described below.

Teaching

Classroom teaching combines traditional didactics (lectures) with innovative teaching practices (debate, cooperative learning, flipped classroom, problem-based learning, role-playing and learning by doing), combined with group work and case studies, with the aim of developing both basic and higher cognitive knowledge. In this way, through the direct confrontation with the teacher and the work in the classroom (Teaching Working Class), the aim is to stimulate learning through a more effective involvement of male and female students, in order to facilitate knowledge processes during teaching.

Innovative teaching methods

Debate, cooperative learning, flipped classroom, problem-based learning, role-playing and learning by doing.

Attendance

Attendance is not compulsory but highly reccomended.

Course books

Quagli A. (2023), Bilancio di esercizio e principi contabili, Undicesima edizione, G.Giappichelli Editore. Chapters 1 e 2.

Boesso G., Bozzolan S., Parbonetti A., 2023, Economia Aziendale. Modelli, misure, casi, McGrawHill Education, Milano. Chapter 6 (tranne paragrafo 6.6).

Tettamanzi Patrizia, Minutiello Valentina (a cura di) (2023) ESG: bilancio di sostenibilità e Integrated Reporting, Wolters Kluwer Italia, Milano. Chapters 7, 8, 9, 11.

Teaching material made available by the lecturer on the Moodle platform > blended.uniurb.it

Assessment

Oral examination with questions on at least three program topics. Questions may also require developing written solutions (accounting entries, exercises, formulas and their application).

Responses will be evaluated taking into account the following aspects:

• consistency between questions and answers; 
• level of knowledge about the concepts; 
• degree of articulation of the given answer; 
• degree of adequacy of explanations; 
• indication of appropriate examples;
• fluency in specific language.

For the purposes of assessment, the following will be particularly appreciated:

• the ability to argue and expound concepts without mnemonic repetition of the course books and PowerPoint slides;
• the ability to logically link the various concepts together;
• the knowledge of economic and business language.

The evaluation criteria and the scale of marks are as follows:

• less than 18/30: competence level insufficient. The student doesn’t reach the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”.
• 18-20: competence level sufficient. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”.
• 21-23: competence level satisfactory. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding” and in “applied knowledge and understanding”.
• 24-26: competence level good. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”, “applied knowledge and understanding” and “making judgments”.
• 27-29: competence level very good. In particular, the student attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”, “applied knowledge and understanding”, “making judgments” and “communication skills”.
• 30-30 with honours: competence level excellent. The student fully attains the learning results described in “knowledge and understanding”, “applied knowledge and understanding”, “making judgments” and “learning skills”.

The Business Administration and Accounting course is divided into two modules and has two separate exams: one exam for Module I and one exam for Module II. The Module II examination may only be taken after passing the Module I examination. The two examinations will result in a single final assessment, which will take into account both the Module I and the Module II evaluations.

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

Individual study of course books and teaching materials.

Attendance

For non-attending students, the same guidelines apply as for attending students

Course books

For non-attending students, the same guidelines apply as for attending students.

Assessment

For non-attending students, the same guidelines apply as 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.

The Business Administration and Accounting course is divided into two modules and has two separate exams: one exam for Module I and one exam for Module II. The Module II examination may only be taken after passing the Module I examination. The two examinations will result in a single final assessment, which will take into account both the Module I and the Module II evaluations.