At the end of the course, the participant should be able to:
A) Understand the meaning of the most relevant information contained in the most important summary documents produced by accounting: balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement;
B) Appreciate the differences and relationships between "income" and "cash flows" and the linkages between the two wealth flows to the related stocks.
C) Know the main postulates used in the production of accounting information for external reporting, drawing from this knowledge the ability to correctly interpret the information provided by financial statements;
D) Use financial statement data appropriately in order to gain a concise understanding of the financial position of the company and its level of economic performance.

There are no specific prerequisites

An extremely significant part of the information normally needed to manage any business is produced by its accounting system. Those who are about to make direct use of accounting data or to reprocess them appropriately in statistical terms to obtain summary information or to highlight the evolution of underlying economic and social phenomena must, evidently, understand the logic behind the formation of the data themselves and be familiar with the postulates and assumptions underlying the accounting representation process that is habitually carried out in businesses. If this were not the case, the risk of producing and disseminating distorted, inaccurate and/or misleading information would be extremely high.
For these reasons, the course aims to provide learners with the conceptual tools necessary to understand how basic accounting information is normally prepared and what may be the criteria for selecting and aggregating it that enable the production of information relevant to economic choices, especially with reference to different decision-making contexts. In the same vein, the course also aims to develop in participants the fundamental knowledge necessary for a non-superficial understanding of fundamental business balances, through the reading and analysis of financial statements and, more generally, of company reports having an accounting nature.
Compared to the course of the same name intended for students attending economic training courses, the approach that will be followed imposes a more superficial level of analysis (some topics will therefore be carried out with a lower level of detail), especially with reference to issues specific to industrial companies, but embraces some content not present in the parallel course syllabus, since it is believed that their understanding may facilitate, later on, the in-depth study of issues related to the financial statements of insurance companies. Thus, issues related to financial investments, bond issuance and some essential aspects of consolidated group financial statements are examined.

The teaching material consists, first of all, of a series of readings and miscellaneous materials (synoptic diagrams, exercises, texts of previous assignments, videos, etc.) prepared or selected by the lecturer and made freely available on the Moodle teaching aid platform.
In addition to the above material, the student is required to study the text "Financial Intelligence, Revised Edition: A Manager's Guide to Knowing What the Numbers Really Mean" by Karen Berman and Joe Knight (with the collaboration of John Case). The book, in English, introduces the basic concepts of accounting and explains the contents of financial statements in a simple and straightforward manner. Being aimed eminently at "practitioners" and having as its reference the American context there are, inevitably, some divergences from what will be explained in the classroom by the lecturer and affirmed in the teaching materials provided. Such diversities, far from constituting a problem for learning, represent, on the contrary, an opportunity for enrichment and allow comparison with different doctrinal positions. It must, however, be clear to the learner that should such differences be concretely encountered, the approach followed by the lecturer must be preferred in the conduct of the assessment tests. For those who are unable to attend class or can attend only partially, it is, in addition, required to study the volume: Anthony, Breitne, “Il bilancio. Misurazione e analisi della performance”, latest edition, Pearson. The clarifications made for the previous text also apply to this volume.

Although the main mode of content delivery remains traditional, techniques and tools aimed at fostering interaction with students will be used if possible.

Different teaching modes and learning techniques will, therefore, be used:
Face-to-face lectures
Videos addressing specific topics
Autonomous Learning
Incidents and Cases Analysis & Discussion

Attendance to all lectures is strongly recommended and active participation is encouraged. Students should prepare for class by reading the assigned materials, if any.

This is a core exam. Due to issues of schedule incompatibility with other courses, it has been moved, for those enrolled in statistics courses, to the second year. This should not, however, induce-for any reason-students not to give it adequate attention or to leave it as the last exam. In any case, the student should know that the timing of the tests and their correction will not, for any reason, be altered to take into account the bureaucratic deadlines associated with graduation. The Commission is also not interested in knowing how many exams the candidate undergoing the evaluation lacks to complete his or her study plan. Finally, it is not interested in receiving information regarding any transfer of candidates to another location, changes in career path or participation in calls and/or competitions for scholarships or other reasons. It does not, in fact, want, for any reason, to be influenced in its evaluation. Any attempt to do so will, therefore, be interpreted in the worst way.

The examination consists of a written test and a possible oral exam.
Students -whether attending or not- are entitled to take any written test scheduled in the current session (even possibly following a failed oral test). If you fail a written test you can, therefore, always take the one immediately following.
Written tests consist of exercises and questions of various types designed to test the learner's ability to
1. prepare and correctly interpret the fundamental statements of accounting, in their different structures and forms
2. solve some elementary computational and economic calculation problems, especially with reference to short-term decisions
3. know the basic logic of double-entry bookkeeping, so as to understand the economic, patrimonial and financial effects produced by the main business transactions
4. more generally demonstrate an adequate knowledge of all topics included in the syllabus.
The written test is passed by acquiring an overall grade of 18/30 or higher. If the grade so obtained is less than 24/30 the examination is considered completed and the corresponding grade is formally recorded. If the student declines the grade he/she must retake the written test.

This course explores topics closely related to one or more goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs)