UMass Boston

Course Overview

Description

This course focuses on the effective analysis of financial statements while integrating the concepts and principles learned in previous accounting courses. It teaches students how to make informed business decisions by reading, analyzing, and interpreting accounting information disclosed in financial reports. Contemporary and engaging business cases are used to highlight the analytical skills used in financial statement analysis with emphasis on the assessment of a company's profitability and risk. We also cover cost of capital estimation and firm valuation by discussing various valuation models. In addition to the data analytics assignments in the textbook, we incorporate data visualization and analytics into our course by utilizing Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS) Classroom tools to help students interact with financial data and analyze/interpret data visualizations. Students are expected to understand the relevant toolsets of data analytics as well as their application in financial statement analysis and firm valuation.