OVERVIEW

The course introduces the fundamental features of an economic organization, with specific reference to private firms. It focuses on the management operations and on the values arising from them, on the principles and the techniques of double-entry bookkeeping system, and on financial statements. The course is essential for students interested in working as corporate advisors and it is particularly useful for pursuing a broad range of professions dealing with commercial and business law.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The objective of the course is to provide students with no previous exposure to business administration and financial accounting with the fundamentals characterising the management of an economic organization. Specifically, the focus will be on private firms, with a special attention to the operations, the associated documents, and to their economic and financial effects. In this respect, the course teaches the principles and the main notions underpinning the double-entry bookkeeping system and the preparation of financial statements, in order to enable students to interpret the primary financial statements that summarize a firm's economic transactions.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The objective of the course is to provide students with the fundamentals characterising the management of an economic organization. The focus will be on private firms, with a special attention to their role in the economic system and the value dynamic characterising them. Specifically, the course aims at providing students with a complete picture of management operations, the associated documents, and to their economic and financial effects. In this respect, first the course teaches the principles and the main notions underpinning the double-entry bookkeeping system and illustrates the accounting documents. Then, it aims at financial statements’ preparation based on the Italian Civil Code and national GAAP, in order to enable students to interpret the primary financial statements that summarize a firm's economic transactions. Finally, the course aims to provide students with the some notions concerning the consolidated financial statements and international accounting standards (IAS-IFRS) used to prepare listed companies’ financial statements in Italy and, more generally, consolidated financial statements of listed companies across the European Union.

Students attending assiduously the lectures will be able at:

• Understanding and identifying the fundamentals characterising the management of the company, with specific reference to the value dynamic.
• Understanding, analysing and recording the management operations and their economic and financial effects through the double-entry bookkeeping system.
• Understanding and memorizing the principles informing the preparation of the financial statements based on the Italian Civil Code and national GAAP and those informing financial statements prepared in accordance with international standards, identifying the main differences between these two approaches.
• Applying theoretical notions to analyse the economic and financial effects deriving from management operations and to prepare simple financial statements.
• Developing autonomy in interpreting financial statements based on the Italian Civil Code and national GAAP.
• Developing communication skills and use an appropriate technical terminology, in order to communicate clearly with a wide range of interlocutors, including specialists.
• Developing learning skills enabling going further in updating knowledge and to further analyze autonomously issues related to the business field.

PREREQUISITES

Prerequisite to the course is the knowledge of the basic notions of commercial and business law (namely, the legal forms of companies and the main contracts).

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures (36 hours) including also business cases and exercises. The slides and all the materials will be uploaded each week on Aulaweb.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

• The firm and its function within the economic system. The dynamic of value creation.
• The management operations: financing, purchasing and investing, transforming, and selling outputs. The documents associated to operations.
• The economic and financial effects arising from operations and their recording through the double-entry bookkeeping system.
• Determination of assets, liabilities, equity and net income. The accrual principle.
• The principles underpinning informing the preparation of financial statements.
• The financial statements prepared in accordance with Italian Civil Code and national GAAP and their macro-areas.
• The evaluation criteria of the main items included in the financial statements.
• The financial statements of listed companies: notions on consolidated accounts and an overview of international accounting standards.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

The slides and additional materials used and discussed during the lectures will be uploaded on the Aulaweb platform. 

Selected chapters from the textbooks:

• P.M. Ferrando – M. Zuccardi Merli, Capitale e reddito nel funzionamento del sistema aziendale, Torino, Giappichelli, 2005.
• L. Marchi, Introduzione alla contabilità d’impresa, Torino, Giappichelli, 2017.
• A. Quagli, Bilancio d’esercizio e principi contabili, Torino, Giappichelli, 2017.

Both the materials uploaded on Aulaweb and the selected chapters from the textbooks have to be intended as compulsory, if not explicitly qualified as ‘optional’.

Selected chapters from the textbooks for students regularly attending the lectures (at least 80% of the lectures attended):

Ferrando – Zuccardi Merli (2005): Chapter I: par. 1 and par. 2; Chapter 2: par. 1 and par. 2; Chapter 3: da par. 1 a par. 8 (both included)

Marchi (2017):

Chapter I and Chapter II

Chapter III: the entire chapter, except from par. 3.1.2 to par. 3.2.1

Chapter IV: from par. 4.1 to par. 4.9 (both included)

Chapter V: paragraphs: 5.1, 5.2.1, 5.2.4, 5.3.1, 5.4, 5.5.1, 5.5.4, 5.6.1, 5.6.3

Chapter VI: 6.1, 6.2.2, 6.2.5, 6.2.6, 6.2.7, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5

Chapter VIII: paragraphs 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4.

Quagli (2017): Chapter I and Chapter II

Selected chapters from the textbooks for students that do not attend regularly the lectures:

Ferrando – Zuccardi Merli (2005): Chapter I and Chapter II; Chapter III: the entire chapter, except from par. 9.1 and par. 9.2

Marchi (2017):

Chapter I e Chapter II (entrambi da studiare per intero)

Chapter III: the entire chapter, except from par. 3.1.2 to par. 3.2.1

Chapter IV: from par. 4.1 to par. 4.9 (both included)

Chapter V: paragraphs: 5.1, 5.2.1, 5.2.4, 5.3.1, 5.4, 5.5.1, 5.5.4, 5.6.1, 5.6.3

Chapter VI: paragraphs: 6.1, 6.2.2, 6.2.5, 6.2.6, 6.2.7, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5

Chapter VII: paragraphs: 7.1, 7.2, 7.3.2, 7.4

Chapter VIII: paragraphs: 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4

Quagli (2017): Chapter I and Chapter II

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

COSTANZA DI FABIO (President)

PAOLA RAMASSA

LESSONS

LESSONS START

I semester from September 14th to December 4th 2020
II semester from February 15th to May 7th 2021

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The written exam will assess both theoretical and practical skills. During the course, students can attend two intermediate written tests. If these tests are both passed, they replace the written exam. Students that fail the first intermediate test cannot attend the second one and they have to attend the entire regular session, as well as students that fail the second intermediate test.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

There is a written assessment aimed at verifying the understanding of the key theoretical concepts and at testing the ability to record operations according to a double-entry system and to prepare financial statements through exercises.

Exam schedule