GRA 6225 Financial Statement Analysis

GRA 6225 Financial Statement Analysis

Course code: 
GRA 6225
Department: 
Accounting and Operations Management
Credits: 
6
Course coordinator: 
Ignacio Garcia de Olalla Lopez
Course name in Norwegian: 
Financial Statement Analysis
Product category: 
Master
Portfolio: 
Master of Accounting and Auditing
Semester: 
2021 Autumn
Active status: 
Active
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching language: 
English
Course type: 
One semester
Introduction

Financial statement analysis has proven to be useful in a wide range of business decisions. Equity analysts use it as a foundation for their projections of the earnings potential of a company.  Credit analysts use it as a tool to determine whether loans should be granted or extended.

The corporate annual report is the primary document in financial statement analysis.  We will examine where to find relevant information and what it indicates about the "health of the company". The course demonstrates how financial information can be used to evaluate a company's past performance and present circumstances as well as what might transpire in the future (forecasts).

Learning outcomes - Knowledge

The objective of this course is to enable the students to comprehend and critically evaluate the financial information included in corporate annual reports and other sources. The students will learn financial statement analysis from the point of view of the primary and everyday users of financial statements: company managers, lenders and stock analysts.

Learning outcomes - Skills

On successful completion of this module, the student will be able to comprehend and critically evaluate the financial information included in corporate annual reports and other sources. 

General Competence

This course adopts a user's perspective in reviewing accounting practices, procedures and disclosure requirements. We will not discuss the mechanics that the companies go through in preparing the information included in annual reports.  Instead, we will examine where to find the information and what it indicates about the performance of the company.

Course content
  • The Financial Statement Analysis Process
  • The Corporate Annual Report
  • The Financial Statement Analysis Report
  • Some Important Financial Statement Analysis Issues
  • Understanding the Income Statement, the Balance Sheet and the Cash Flow Statement
  • Financial Reporting Quality Analysis
  • Adjusting and Reorganizing Financial Statements
  • Financial Statement Analysis of Past Performance
  • Simple Forecasting
Teaching and learning activities

The course follows a theory-case structure. First, the relevant theoretical contents are presented, and then, the students are given exercises and cases which will be either solved in class, or the solution uploaded in the form of a video. Many of these exercises and cases require the use of Excel. 

Software tools
Software defined under the section "Teaching and learning activities".
Additional information

Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class.

All parts of the assessment must be passed in order to get a grade in the course.

Qualifications

All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have spesific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.

Covid-19 

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there may be deviations in teaching and learning activities as well as exams, compared with what is described in this course description.

Teaching 

Information about what is taught on campus and other digital forms will be presented with the lecture plan before the start of the course each semester.

Assessments
Assessments
Exam category: 
Submission
Form of assessment: 
Written submission
Weight: 
30
Grouping: 
Group (1 - 3)
Duration: 
2 Week(s)
Comment: 
Assignment (mid-term paper). The take-home exam has no resit spring 2022, only the school exam.
Exam code: 
GRA 62251
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Resit: 
Examination when next scheduled course
Exam category: 
Submission
Form of assessment: 
Written submission
Invigilation
Weight: 
70
Grouping: 
Individual
Support materials: 
  • BI-approved exam calculator
  • Simple calculator
  • Bilingual dictionary
Duration: 
3 Hour(s)
Comment: 
Written examination under supervision.
Exam code: 
GRA 62252
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Resit: 
Examination every semester
Type of Assessment: 
Ordinary examination
All exams must be passed to get a grade in this course.
Total weight: 
100
Sum workload: 
0

A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.