Registry

Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2012 - 2013
Please note that this information is subject to change.

Module Title	Financial Statement Analysis
Module Code	AC580
School	DCUBS
Online Module Resources
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	5
Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

Description

The aim of this module is give students the skills to read and interpret the financial statements of a company and to recognise the benefits and limitations of financial statements. Areas covered includes an overview of the regulatory and conceptual framework underlying financial statements; an understanding of key international accounting standards, company's accounting policies and narrative report content; key appraisal techniques including ratio analysis; creative accounting. The course will also concentrate on accounting for financial instruments and fair value

Learning Outcomes

1. Explain the prescribed accounting treatment required under International Accounting Standards for all of the significant items within a companys financial statements, including hedge accounting, financial instruments, plant, property, equipment.
2. Assess the impact on a companys financial position of using different accounting methods, valuations and policies
3. Analyse the financial health of a company from the perspective of investors, lenders and other users, using horizontal analysis, trend analysis, ratio analysis and corporate failure prediction models.
4. Evaluate the limitations of financial statements and be able to detect practices of creative accounting
5. Describe the regulatory framework underpinning financial statements and critically evaluate its adequacy.
6. Discuss topical issues in accounting, such as harmonisation, regulation

Workload	Full-time hours per semester
*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Lecture	24	Class lectures
Tutorial	9	Class Tutorial
Independent learning	42	No Description
Group work	20	Preparation of Group Project
Examination	30	Preparation for final examination
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Introduction to Financial Statements.
Introduction to the contents of financial statements, definitions, standard layout,purpose, dual aspect convention. Accounting treatment of balance sheet and income statement items in accordance with international accounting standards. Cashflow analysis and preparation of Cash-flow from Balance Sheet. Principles of consolidation/group accounting.

Theoretical Context.
Demand for and supply of financial information, users and usefulness of financial information , other sources of financial information, regulatory framework, conceptual framework, balancing the requirement for regulation and its impact, international harmonisation, narrative reporting, role of the audit report.

Financial statement analysis and interpretation.
New and traditional approaches to financial statement analysis, Fundamental Analysis - cross sector and time series. Extensive and practical use of ratios analysis to assess financial performance and position of company from perspective of all users, including use of case study. Examination of Earning per Share (EPS) as a measure of performance, calculation of EPS/fully diluted EPS, use of multivariant analysis and corporate failure prediction tools..

Creative Accounting.
Assessing the quality of earnings, earnings management, the motivation and causes of creative accounting, detection methods ,case study analysis.

Alternative and supplementary Valuation Techniques.
Use of Forecasting, purpose, benefits and limitations. Other analysis tools including EVA and SVA.

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment	0%	Examination Weight	100%

Course Work Breakdown
Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date

Reassessment Requirement
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; 1 = A resit is available for all components of the module 2 = No resit is available for 100% continuous assessment module 3 = No resit is available for the continuous assessment component
This module is category 1

Indicative Reading List

Philip O'Regan: 2006, Financial Information Analysis, 2nd edition, Wiley,
Atrill McLaney.: 2008, Financial Accounting for decision makers, Fifth Edition, (PrenticeHall,
Elliot and Elliot: 2008, Financial Accounting, Reporting and Analysis International Edition, 2nd, Prentice Hall,
Ciaran Walsh: 2005, Key management ratios, 4th, Prentice hall,

Other Resources

None

Array

Programme or List of Programmes

IFPFCM

Pre-Masters Intl. Foundation Programme

MFCM

MSc in Finance

PBSSA

PG Exchange(Business School)

PBSSAO

PG Study Abroad(Business School)