Financial Analysis

Financial acumen is an important skill for managers in the complex local and global business environment. The unit takes a multidisciplinary approach to develop advanced analytical, planning and decision making skills. This unit proposes a theoretical framework for effective and efficient use of financial statement information for business analysis. It identifies and evaluates: financial statements, business strategies, financial data, and growth of the business. This framework is then applied to a variety of complex decision making contexts including security analysis, credit analysis, merger and acquisition analysis, and management communications analysis.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. Adapt an analytical framework to interpret, prepare, and communicate of financial reports which evaluate past performance and future prospects for sustainable value creation;
2. Interpret and communicate relevant, reliable and comprehensible performance information on external and internal factors critical to sustainable value creation (such as financial and non-financial key performance indicators (KPIs));
3. Critically review the elements that shape value creation and triple bottom-line performance (including competitive environment, strategy, structure and value-creating activities) and translate them to disciplinary and professional practice;
4. Critically reflect as part of a team on the broad range of elements that frame corporate values; and,
5. Participate in an academic community through reflective and critical engagement in academic texts and understanding of principles of academic integrity.