ACC41010 Financial Reporting (Mod)

Academic Year 2024/2025

“Given a sound knowledge of the basic components of a balance sheet and profit and loss account, anybody with a reasonably enquiring mind can learn a great deal about a company by studying its report and accounts and by comparing it with other companies”.

This module is oriented towards encouraging MBA participants to become informed users of financial statements.

Accounting is the language of business. It is the language used by companies in their financial statements (that are readily available on company websites). It is how companies communicate with their owners and the public. But to understand what companies are communicating, you need to understand this language. In other words, you need to understand accounting to make sense of the information.

During this module participants will be introduced to some fundamental accounting concepts and methods used in the preparation of financial statements, including accounting for financial transactions, and preparing financial statements. Participants will learn to understand how managerial estimations and judgements affect the information contained in financial statements. They will develop an ability to understand, evaluate and analyse the disclosures, both financial and non-financial, contained in financial statements, and identify key trends in financial performance and position. Finally, throughout the module participants will consider governance mechanisms intended to enhance the quality of financial reporting.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module participants should be able to:
• Prepare primary financial statements in a format suitable for publication.
• Understand and read such primary financial statements with an appreciation of the information and insights they provide. This will include being able to appreciate the impact of accounting standards and the exercise of managerial judgements and estimations on information presented in financial statements.
• Prepare an analysis of financial statements, identifying key trends in financial performance and position.
• Appreciate some theoretical and conceptual aspects of financial reporting and the regulatory and governance mechanisms that enhance the quality of financial information and some of the current debate surrounding such issues.

Indicative Module Content:

The module covers five topics as follows:
1. The Accounting Environment
2. Annual Report – Reading Non-Financial Statements
3. Annual Report – Preparing Financial Statements
4. Managerial Judgement and Estimation in Financial Statements
5. Interpreting Financial Statements

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

40
Specified Learning Activities

15
Autonomous Student Learning

70
Total

125
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Using a combination of lectures, cases, exercises and discussion, the module is designed to provide a participant-centered interactive learning experience. All participants are encouraged to engage in class discussion and debate to enhance the learning process for fellow participants and themselves. To facilitate the interactive learning experience, assigned pre-reading/preparation should, where possible, be completed in advance of the teaching sessions. Lectures will provide explanations and discussion of each topic on the module, illustrated by reference to annual reports of both Irish and international publicly listed companies as appropriate. As the module has a strong applied element, a problem-based learning approach is adopted with students required to engage with problem and simulated case material in class and in personal study time. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade

Not yet recorded.

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.