ACCTFIN 7017 - Financial Statement Analysis (M)

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2017

Financial Statement Analysis is essential for all individuals working in the business world. Understanding financial accounting information is critical for a wide range of business decision making. Being able to ask for and understand the appropriate financial information is particularly important for financial analysts and individuals seeking, or already in, management positions at all levels of organizations. Financial statement analysis is exciting and dynamic. It can be orientated in different ways to suit the needs of many individuals including investors, analysts, consultants, creditors, managers, directors, regulators and employees. This offering of Financial Statement Analysis has been specifically designed to meet the needs of individuals who have sufficient background in accounting and finance. The course forges a unique path in financial statement analysis that responds to the needs of modern day business analysts. In particular, it provides a framework for using financial statement data in a variety of business analysis and valuation context. The most important knowledge and skill for managers attempting to understand financial statement information, is a good knowledge of how important business transactions are accounted for, and how these transactions appear in the financial statements. It will be much harder for informed managers to be confused and mislead by `creative? financial reporting put before them by others. Accordingly, this course focuses on teaching managers and business analysts the skills to be able to understand the complexities of financial statements, and untangle important information that is not visible to the untrained eye. The pedagogy adopted for this course is deliberately designed to closely follow the set text, and the range of applied questions provided in the text. The reason for this approach is very simple: to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to understand financial reporting techniques and pitfalls requires a practice more than anything else. The set tutorials and assignments will engage you in tasks that are designed to provide you with this practice. It is very important that you do each and every one of the set work tasks to the best of your ability to obtain the most from the course.

  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code ACCTFIN 7017
    Course Financial Statement Analysis (M)
    Coordinating Unit Adelaide Business School
    Term Semester 2
    Level Postgraduate Coursework
    Location/s North Terrace Campus
    Units 3
    Contact Up to 3 hours per week
    Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y
    Prerequisites ACCTING 7019, CORPFIN 7005, COMMERCE 7033, ECON 7200
    Course Description Financial Statement Analysis is essential for all individuals working in the business world. Understanding financial accounting information is critical for a wide range of business decision making. Being able to ask for and understand the appropriate financial information is particularly important for financial analysts and individuals seeking, or already in, management positions at all levels of organizations.

    Financial statement analysis is exciting and dynamic. It can be orientated in different ways to suit the needs of many individuals including investors, analysts, consultants, creditors, managers, directors, regulators and employees. This offering of Financial Statement Analysis has been specifically designed to meet the needs of individuals who have sufficient background in accounting and finance. The course forges a unique path in financial statement analysis that responds to the needs of modern day business analysts. In particular, it provides a framework for using financial statement data in a variety of business analysis and valuation context.

    The most important knowledge and skill for managers attempting to understand financial statement information, is a good knowledge of how important business transactions are accounted for, and how these transactions appear in the financial statements. It will be much harder for informed managers to be confused and mislead by `creative? financial reporting put before them by others. Accordingly, this course focuses on teaching managers and business analysts the skills to be able to understand the complexities of financial statements, and untangle important information that is not visible to the untrained eye.

    The pedagogy adopted for this course is deliberately designed to closely follow the set text, and the range of applied questions provided in the text. The reason for this approach is very simple: to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to understand financial reporting techniques and pitfalls requires a practice more than anything else. The set tutorials and assignments will engage you in tasks that are designed to provide you with this practice. It is very important that you do each and every one of the set work tasks to the best of your ability to obtain the most from the course.
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Dr Belen Blanco

    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes

    On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

    1. Ask and seek relevant information

    2. Analyse financial statement for business decision making

    3. Differentiate between factual and creative financial reporting
    University Graduate Attributes

    This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

    University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s)
    Deep discipline knowledge
    • informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies
    • acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1
    • accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)
    All
    Critical thinking and problem solving
    • steeped in research methods and rigor
    • based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development
    • demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment
    All
    Teamwork and communication skills
    • developed from, with, and via the SGDE
    • honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies
    • encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning
    All
    Career and leadership readiness
    • technology savvy
    • professional and, where relevant, fully accredited
    • forward thinking and well informed
    • tested and validated by work based experiences
    All
    Intercultural and ethical competency
    • adept at operating in other cultures
    • comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts
    • able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes
    • demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges
    All
    Self-awareness and emotional intelligence
    • a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal
    • open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers
    • able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate
    All
  • Learning Resources
    Required Resources
    Subramanyam, K. R. 2014. Financial Statements Analysis, 11th Edition, McGraw-Hill New York.
    Recommended Resources
    Palepu, K. G., Healy, P. M., Bernard, V. L., Wright, S., Bradbury, M., Lee, P. 2015. Business Analysis and valuation using financial statements: Text and cases. South Western, Cengage Learning.

    Robinson, T. R., Greuning, H., Henry E. And Broihahn, M. A. 2009. International Financial Statement Analyis, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

    Financial Reporting and Analysis, CFA Program Curriculum, Levels I and II.

    Additional reading materials will be provided in the course of the semester.
    Online Learning
    Please check your student email and MyUni as course-related announcements are communicated via email and also posted onto MyUni.
  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes

    In this course, we seek to create an interesting, challenging, relevant, and engaging education experience. To help achieve this objective we have a number of teaching aims:

    Create a climate of engagement, dialogue and ongoing feedback between students and lecturers regarding the content, teaching strategies, learning experiences and outcomes

    Cater for a variety of learning preferences and abilities by providing a range of learning activities and teaching methods

    Develop independent learning skills and create an environment that both provides structure and guidance as well as encouraging students to extend their learning



    Teaching strategies

    This course is a combination of formal lectures and tutorials (problem solving classes). The lectures are used to explain concepts and to give real life examples of situations in which these concepts are used. The tutorials are for problem-solving and discussion of issues raised in the lectures. All tutorial questions are from end of chapter exercises in Subramanyam and Wild. There is an expectation that students will engage in additional readings, as well as the required text. In all classes, students are encouraged to ask questions if there is material that they do not understand.


    TUTORIALS

    Tutorial classes will be held weekly commencing the second week of the semester and will run until week 13. Membership of tutorial classes is to be finalised by the end of the second week of semester. Students wishing to swap between tutorial classes after this time are required to present their case to the Lecturer-in-Charge, but should be aware that such a request may not be approved.

     Tutorials are an important component of your learning in this course. The communication skills developed in tutorials by regularly and actively participating in discussions are considered to be most important by the School and are highly regarded by employers and professional bodies.

    Workload

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    The University expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This means that you are expected to commit approximately 9 hours for a three-unit course or 13 hours for a four-unit course, of private study outside of your regular classes.

    Students in this course are expected to attend all lectures throughout the semester plus one tutorial class each week.
    Learning Activities Summary
    Lecture and Tutorial schedule

    TBA
  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary
    Assessment Task Weighting Learning Outcome
    Class Test* 30% All
    Group Assignment** 30% All
    Presentation 10% All
    Individual Assignment*** 30% All
    Total 100%

    *The class test will be held during lecture hours in week 8. It will cover lecture materials from Weeks 1 to 6 and the corresponding tutorials. It will be a closed book exam.

    **Detailed information on the group assignment and presentation is attached to this outline and will be discussed in class. A sample assignment will be placed on the subject website.

    *** The individual assignment will be held during lecture hours in week 12. It will cover lecture materials from Weeks 1 to 11 and the corresponding tutorials.


    Details of each assessment component will be discussed in class and posted onto the subject MyUni webpage.




    Assessment Related Requirements

    The following additional conditions apply:

    1. To gain a pass in this course, a mark of at least 50% must be obtained overall.
    2. Legible handwriting and the quality of English expression are considered to be integral parts of the assessment process. You may lose some marks in the examination due to poor handwriting.
    3. Students in this course are not permitted to take a dictionary (English or English-Foreign) into the examination.
    4. The use of non-programmable calculator is permitted in this course.
    Assessment Detail
    *The class test will be held during lecture hours in week 8. It will cover lecture materials from Weeks 1 to 6 and the corresponding tutorials. It will be a closed book exam.

    **Detailed information on the group assignment and presentation is attached to this outline and will be discussed in class. A sample assignment will be placed on the subject website.

    *** The individual assignment will be held during lecture hours in week 12. It will cover lecture materials from Weeks 1 to 11 and the corresponding tutorials.

    Submission


    Notes on Assessment

    1. All set work including assignments and class test must be provided by the due date and must be genuine attempts, to complete the course.

    2. Legible hand-writing and the quality of English expression are considered to be integral parts of the assessment process. You may lose some marks in the class test and final examination because of poor hand-writing.

    3. Assessment marks prior to the final exam will be displayed on MyUni. Students are encouraged to check their marks and notify the lecturer-in-charge of any discrepancies. 


    Presentation of Assignments

    1. Please must retain a copy of all assignments submitted.

    2. Please attach an ‘Assignment Cover Sheet’, which is signed and dated by you before submission.

    3. All group assignments must be attached to a ‘Group Assignment Cover Sheet’, which must be signed and dated by all group members before submission. All team members are expected to contribute approximately equally to a group assignment.

    Lecturers can refuse to accept assignments, which do not have a signed acknowledgement of the University’s policy on plagiarism.


    Assignment Guidelines including Referencing Details

    A copy of the Postgraduate Programs: Communication Skills Guide will have been given to you at the beginning of your program. This guide will assist you structure your assignments. A copy of the guide can also be downloaded from

    http://www.adelaide.edu.au/professions/hub/downloads/Communication-Skills-Guide.pdf  

     
    This publication also provides guidelines on a range of other important communication skills including writing essays and management reports, making oral presentations etc.

    In preparing any written piece of assessment for your postgraduate studies it is important to draw on the relevant ‘literature’ to support critical analysis. Also essential is to reference the literature used. Correct referencing is important because it identifies the source of the ideas and arguments that you present, and sometimes the source of the actual words you use, and helps to avoid the problem of plagiarism. (Further information on plagiarism is provided later in this course outline.)

    The Harvard system is widely used in the Business School. Guidelines for the use of this style of referencing can be found in the Communication Skills Guide.

    Further assistance with referencing is available from the Faculty’s Learning Support Advisors. The contact details are provided on page 6 of the Communication Skills Guide.

     
    Late Assignment Submission

    Students are expected to submit their work by the due date to maintain a fair and equitable system. Extensions will generally only be given for medical or other serious reasons. All requests for extensions must be emailed to the lecturer in charge of the course before the due date. Each request will be assessed on its merits. 


    Return of Assignments

    Lecturer’s aim to mark and return assignments to students within two (2) weeks of the due date with written feedback. Students are responsible for collecting their marked assignments from the postgraduate hub. If assignments aren’t collected after two (2) weeks, it will be posted out to the students, only if the correct mailing addresses are on the assignments.

     
    Replacement/Additional Assessment (R/AA)
    Illness

    1. Anyone who cannot submit a major assignment/sit an examination due to illness must submit the appropriate University of Adelaide form.

    2. Normal doctor’s certificates alone do not have to be accepted.

    3. An application must be accompanied by the form downloaded from: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/student/exams/mod_arrange.html



    Compassionate Grounds

    For a replacement examination on compassionate grounds refer to: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/student/exams/mod_arrange.html

     
    Academic grounds

    To qualify for Academic supplementary Assessment students must achieve a total mark of at least 45%.

    Course Grading

    Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

    M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
    Grade Mark Description
    FNS   Fail No Submission
    F 1-49 Fail
    P 50-64 Pass
    C 65-74 Credit
    D 75-84 Distinction
    HD 85-100 High Distinction
    CN   Continuing
    NFE   No Formal Examination
    RP   Result Pending

    Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

    Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

    Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

  • Student Feedback

    The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

    SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

  • Student Support
  • Policies & Guidelines
  • Fraud Awareness

    Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.