Financial Reporting & Analysis

Catalog description

This course is designed to develop students' ability to interpret and use financial accounting information in various investor-oriented decision contexts. The perspective taken is that of an outsider relying on publicly available financial information for performance evaluation and investment purposes, yet the concepts and tools can also be applied by management teams who need to understand whether and how the organization's activities are creating financial value. The first half of the course will cover traditional financial statement analysis-based frameworks for critically analyzing and assessing a firm's financial performance and current economic condition, such as the measurement of accounting rates of return, ratio analysis, analysis of working capital, and the assessment of liquidity, solvency, and bankruptcy risk. The second half of the course will explore specific topics and transactions encountered during an in-depth analysis of a company, including revenue recognition practices, leasing, pensions, deferred taxes, M&A, and stock-based compensation.