Financial Accounting and Financial Statement Analysis

Introduction

Every year, more than 380,000 Norwegian enterprises prepare official annual financial statements that tell the story of the business's financial performance and value creation. To interpret this information correctly, insight into how earnings and financial position are measured is required. This course provides you with that insight and takes you through the entire process – from the bookkeeping of individual transactions to the analysis and critical evaluation of the finalized financial statements.

The course is structured around four main pillars that collectively prepare you for professional practice:

Social Responsibility of Accounting and Sustainability
You will learn why accounting information is central to decision-making for individuals, businesses, and authorities, and the role accounting plays in society's welfare development. The course also provides insight into why financial information must increasingly be supplemented with non-financial information (sustainability reporting) to provide a holistic picture of how enterprises affect, and are affected by, the environment and society.

Accounting Systems and Bookkeeping
You will receive a thorough introduction to the fundamental techniques enterprises use to systematize financial information. Here, you will learn how transactions are recorded in a reliable manner that satisfies both regulatory requirements and the business's own information needs.

Measurement and Regulations
The course covers the legal framework for measuring the period's revenues, expenses, assets, and liabilities. The main emphasis is placed on the measurement rules within "Generally Accepted Accounting Principles" (NGAAP), which are used by most Norwegian enterprises. Simultaneously, an introduction is given to key differences from International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the consequences these may have for key accounting figures.

Financial Statement Analysis and Critical Thinking In the final section, you will learn to analyze and process accounting information to assess a company's profitability, liquidity, and solvency. Particular emphasis is placed on critical thinking and understanding how accounting figures are influenced by the choice of methods and professional judgment, and how they are used as a basis for decision-making.

Through a combination of theory and practical problem-solving, you will develop the skills needed to systematize and analyze the finances of both small and large enterprises – whether you intend to use this competence as an individual or in a professional context.

Course content

• The content and function of financial accounting, and key user groups
• Regulation of bookkeeping obligations and the duty to disclose financial and non-financial information
• The accounting equation and the relationship between the balance sheet, the income statement, and the cash flow statement
• Principles and workflows for recording (bookkeeping) transactions
• Accruals and period-end closing of the accounts
• Measurement rules for the most common types of assets and liabilities
• Cash flow statements
• Financial statement analysis

Disclaimer

This is an excerpt from the complete course description for the course. If you are an active student at BI, you can find the complete course descriptions with information on eg. learning goals, learning process, curriculum and exam at portal.bi.no. We reserve the right to make changes to this description.