BUU44532 Financial Reporting and Analysis II

(5 ECTS) 

Lecturer:

Dr. Neil Dunne, Room 2.14, Trinity Business School

Email: nedunne@tcd.ie

Office Hours: By email appointment 

Pre-Requisite(s)

• BUU33531 - Financial Accounting I
• BUU33532 - Financial Accounting II
• BUU4453 - Financial Reporting and Analysis I

Available to Exchange students

Module Description

This module seeks to build on the financial reporting concepts and techniques introduced in BUU44531 Financial Reporting and Analysis I. It emphasizes the major elements of measurement, recognition and disclosure in contemporary financial reporting. Financial statements will be considered, analysed and interpreted across a variety of business scenarios. The module highlights the emergence of a global dimension to financial reporting through the adoption of international accounting standards. It also deals with selected complex standards, in particular those dealing with consolidated accounting, employee benefits, related parties, earnings per share, financial instruments and other financial reporting issues.

Learning and Teaching Approach

Classes will involve a mixture of lectures, discussions, examples and questions.  We will review scenarios, compare theory to real life and from the knowledge and skills you learn prepare financial statements based on international accounting standards. Question packs have been assigned for each topic, and students are encouraged to do these.  Accounting is an applied field and thus best approached by practicing the applications. 

Learning Outcomes

• Construct appropriate accounts relating to the measurement, recognition and disclosure of related parties, foreign transactions, and earnings per share.
• Explain and critique current technical, sustainability, and technological developments in financial reporting.
• Analyse financial reports deploying a range of analytical tools and make judgments and decisions based on this analysis.
• Prepare and interpret cash flow statements.
• Prepare consolidated financial statements to account for various business combinations scenarios.

Relation to Degree 

This module supports a number of the learning outcomes of the overall undergraduate programmes. Specifically, it enables students to:

• Identify, critically evaluate and synthesise the substantive theories, frameworks and models, both qualitative and quantitative, that are used in fields of enquiry related to business, management and the social sciences.
• Analyse and solve a variety of problems in the private and public sectors from a multi-disciplinary knowledge basis of theories, tools and techniques in business and the social sciences
• Communicate effectively in oral and written modes in professional and academic settings.
• Apply knowledge and understanding of the social and ethical dimensions of management and research in both the public and private sectors of society and to apply this knowledge effectively in management and research contexts.
• Work effectively as an individual and in teams.
• Demonstrate the ability to engage productively with a changing social, cultural and technological environment

Workload

Recommended Texts/Key Reading

Required core course textbook

• Melville (2022), International Financial Reporting, 8th edition. This is the same textbook as for BUU44531 Financial Reporting and Analysis I. The 7th edition of Melville is also fine to use.

General Supplemental Readings 

• Alexander et al (2023), International Financial Reporting & Analysis, 9^th Edition
• Elliott and Elliott (2022), Financial Accounting and Reporting, 20^th Edition
• Connolly (2023), International Financial Accounting and Reporting, 6^th Edition (Revised)
• Professional journals: Accountancy Ireland (Chartered Accountants Ireland)
• Useful websites for keeping up to date with current developments: com / ifac.org / Ethicsboard.org
• Podcasts: PwC IFRS Talks / Accountancy Ireland / ACCA

Students are expected to have read the relevant chapters and lecture notes (provided on Blackboard) before each class.

Assessment

Annual report project (30%): Groups (3-5 students) analyse a real-world accounting issue through the lens of the lecture material. Full details provided in due course. Submission in April 2025.

Final exam (70%): To be taken in May 2025.

Note on assessment of students allowed to sit a supplemental exam: Students who have failed the module and are invited to sit a supplemental exam will be examined by a written exam only. Previous CA (continuous assessment) will not be taken into account in such an examination.

Biographical Note

Dr Neil Dunne B.Comm, MSc Finance, FCA, PhD is an Assistant Professor in Accounting at Trinity Business School, and is also Programme Director for Trinity's Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting. An award-winning lecturer and researcher, Neil is a Chartered Accountant with many years' experience in both practice and industry. As a financial controller in industry, he was responsible for financing commercial assets valued at almost 1 billion euro. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University College Cork, a Master's degree in Finance from Trinity with first-class honours achieved, and a PhD from University College Dublin. Prior to joining Trinity, Neil held positions in two other educational institutions in Dublin for almost seven years. He has been involved in course and syllabus design for a range of institutions in Ireland and France. Teaching responsibilities in Trinity include undergraduate and postgraduate modules in financial reporting. Neil also engages extensively in thesis supervision within the School. Neil's research takes an interdisciplinary and critical approach to audit and financial reporting, and mobilizes concepts such as impression management, strategic framing, and the influence of institutional logics.  In connection with this, he has presented at a range of international conferences and doctoral seminars, and published in major international journals such as Accounting, Organizations and Society and Critical Perspectives on Accounting. Neil has also served as a judge at Chartered Accountants Ireland's Published Accounts Awards, and sits on ACCA’s University Steering Group.