OVERVIEW

The Management Control course focuses on financial statements analysis (including the preparation and interpretation of the Cash flow statement) and management accounting (specifically costing methods and budgetary control) 

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course focuses on financial statements analysis (including the preparation and
interpretation of the statement of cash flows) and management accounting, with
particular regard to costing methods and budgetary control.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The Management Control course intends to examine the use of accounting information for internal planning and control purposes. Specifically, it aims at completing the basic accounting skills of the students, focusing on cash flow statement, financial statement analysis, cost accounting and budgetary control.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and comprehension: At the end of the course, students will be able to:

• interpret the balance sheet and the income statement;
• prepare and interpret the cash flow statement;
• understand costs' behaviour and applying costing methods for planning, controlling and decision making processes;
• identify relevant information for decision making purposes to produce financial analyses for a range of decisions;
• prepare and interpret budgets for planning and control purposes.

Ability to apply knowledge: At the end of the course, students will be able to:

• prepare and interpret the cash flow statement;
• interpret various measures of performance, liquidity and solvency;
• evaluate the best option in decision making through cost accounting methods;
• design a budget process and carry out variance analysis.

Critical judgment: Students will be able to apply the acquired knowledge using their own judgment and critical reasoning, both theoretically and practically.

Learning capability: Students will develop appropriate learning capabilities that will support their independent learning of other subject in business administration, accounting and management, especially in their future job positions.

TEACHING METHODS

The course entails:

• face-to-face lectures aiming at providing an overview of planning and control concepts and the functioning of the management accounting;
• tutorials to apply specific knowledge in practice.

In the learning activities, students may be supported by digital apps that allow for self-assessment.

It is available on Aulaweb.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

• Cash flow statement preparation and interpretation
• Financial statement analysis
• Cost definition and cost classification
• Break-even analysis
• Direct costing and Full costing
• Budget, standard costing systems and variance analysis
• Reporting system

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Selected chapters from the textbooks:

Sostero U., Ferrarese P., Mancin M., Marcon C., L'analisi economico-finanziaria di bilancio, Giuffrè Editore, III edizione, 2018
Chiucchi M.S., Iacoviello G., Paolini A. (a cura di), Controllo di gestione, Giappichelli Editore, 2021

A list of the chapters that are covered in the final exam is provided at the beginning of the semester on Aulaweb. Additional materials are uploaded on Aulaweb at the beginning of and during the semester.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

FEDERICO FONTANA (President)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Second semester

Class schedule

MANAGEMENT CONTROL A

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The final exam is a written assignment that is identical for attending and non-attending students.

On the regular exam dates, the written exam entails two parts:

• a theoretical part (open questions, multiple choice questions)
• a practical part (problem solving, calculations)

In the winter and summer exam periods, if a student has seriously failed the written exam, he/she will be allowed to sit again at the exam on the second next available exam date.

During the semester when the course is offered, the final written exam can be replaced by two intermediate written tests. The calendar, the details and the contents of such intermediate tests will be lodged on Aulaweb during the same semester.

If the all the intermediate tests are failed or not undertaken, to pass the course, the students must sit at the whole written exam during the regular exam period.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The written exam aims at verifying the understanding of the key theoretical concepts and at testing the ability to solve business problems related to financial statement analysis and management accounting through exercises.

If the pandemic situation makes the above assessment methods impossible, indications will be given via the Aulaweb page of the course.

Exam schedule