Financial Statement Analysis II

The syllabus of the course:

• A critical evaluation of theoretical frameworks concerning corporate reporting and their real-life applications
• The economic (i.e., capital market) and broader social implications of numerical, discursive, and visual components of corporate reports
• Creative accounting manoeuvres and their economic and social implications – can we trust numbers?
• Financial statement analysis and sustainability – are we in the era of the ‘enlightened’ investor?
• The most recent corporate reporting innovations
• Valuation techniques and their applications for the quantification of social and environmental capital – how do we quantify more intangible sources of value?
• The notion of six capitals and its implications for value creation over time
• The notion of double materiality 

The course aims to provide students with knowledge and a critical understanding of the most recent financial reporting innovations, along with their wide-ranging economic and social implications. The course will focus on the inherent subjectivity in the preparation and interpretation of financial statements and its impact on the decision usefulness of the information provided.

In presence

Students will be expected to demonstrate how the theoretical frameworks learned during the course can be applied to better understand the mechanisms of financial analysis and investment decisions.

In addition to attending classes, students will be required to prepare and give presentations on relevant topics and engage in group discussions. 

Students will have opportunities to develop transferable skills in teamwork and leadership, as well as critical thinking and analytical engagement with complex, subject-specific material.

• Oral group presentation (20%)
• Written closed-book exam (80%)