Module: Finance

Field: Financial markets and corporate finance

To provide the student with the knowledge, ability and skills required for the financial management of the firm and for business decision-making in a global environment.

Business Administration and Management

Strategy and the FP&A function

- Balanced scorecard

- Companies financials and annuals reports. Cash flow statement.

- Planning, budgeting and forecasting: financial modeling

- Reporting and dashboards

- Revenue and costs forecasting

- Operating expenditure and capital budgets

- FP&A in the organization

- Big data and FP&A

The specific and transversal skills that will be developed in this course help the student to acquire those established in the Business Administration Module. The list is included in the Verified Program of the Bachelor Degree in Business Administration and Management. Specifically, the following skills will be developed:

BASIC AND GENERAL SKILLS:

CB1. Students must show that they have acquired and understand the knowledge in the field of study that builds on general secondary education and is at a level that, while being based on advanced textbooks, also includes some aspects that come from the forefront of its field of study.

CB2. Students must know how to apply their knowledge to their job or career in a professional way, and they must own the skills that are exhibited by developing and defending arguments and by solving problems within their field of study.

CB3. Students must be able to collect and interpret relevant data (usually within their field of study) to express an opinion that is based on careful thoughts about relevant topics from a social, scientific or ethic perspective.

CB4. Students must be able to convey information, ideas, problems and solutions to specialists and non-specialists.

CB5. Students must develop the learning skills that are required to undertake further studies with a high degree of independence.

CG1. The student must show skills for abstract thinking, analysis and synthesis.

CG2. The student must show skills to apply knowledge in practical situations.

CG3. The student must show skills to plan and manage time.

CG4. The student must show knowledge and understanding of the fields of study and understanding of the job.

CG6. The student must show skills to communicate in a second language.

CG7. The student must show skills in the use of information and communication technologies.

CG8. The student must show skills to conduct research at a certain level.

CG9. The student must develop skills to learn independently.

CG10. The student must show skills to investigate, treat and analyze information from a variety of sources.

CG11. The student must show skills to be critical and self-critical.

CG12. The student must be able to adapt and react to new situations.

CG14. The student must have skills to identify, pose and solve problems.

CG15. The graduate must be able to make reasoned decisions.

CG16. The student must show skills for team work.

CG19. The student must show skills to communicate with experts from other fields.

CG20. The student must show appreciation of and respect for diversity and multiculturalism.

CG21. The student must have skills to work in an international context.

CG22. The student must show skills to work independently.

SPECIFIC SKILLS:

CE1. The student must be able to analyze and structure a problem of a company and to design a solution (e.g., entry in a market).

CE2. The student must be able to audit an organization and to design plans (e.g., tax law, investment, case studies).

CE3. The student must be able to define criteria according to which the company is defined and to link the results with the analysis of the environment to identify prospects (e.g., SWOT, internal and external value chain).

CE4. The graduate must be able to identify and use the appropriate software.

CE5. The graduate must have skills to design and implement information systems.

CE6. The student must be able to identify and use appropriate tools (e.g., market research, statistical analysis, comparison of ratios).

CE7. The student must be able to identify problems related to ethics and culture, and to understand their impact on business organizations.

CE9. To be able to identify the functional areas of an organization and their interrelation (e.g., production, marketing, finance, human resources).

CE10. The student must be able to identify the impact of micro and macroeconomic elements in business organizations (e.g., financial and monetary system, internal markets).

CE13. The graduate must understand the details of the roles of businesses, firms, geographical regions, size of firms, business sectors and to link them to basic theories and knowledge.

CE14. The student must understand existing and new technologies, and their impact on new markets.

CE18. Psychology principles must be understood and how these may impact the business organization (e.g., group work, team work, behavior study).

CE19. The student must understand and use accounting and financial tools (e.g., profit and loss account, balance sheet).

CE20. The student must be able to use tools for the analysis of the business environment (e.g., sector analysis, market analysis).

CT1. To be able to critically assess arguments and adapt the theory to the business reality.

CT2. To be able to analyse and craft well-grounded and structured conclusions and, in a more limited way, address unstructured problems from a set of given data and from data that need to be collected in advance.

CT3. Numerical skills; among others, the ability to manage financial data and other numerical data and apply statistical tools adequately.

CT4. Skills in the use of IT tools to acquire, analyse and communicate information (these skills include the use of Excel spreadsheets, text management software, standard statistical packages, financial databases, Internet and email).

CT5. Skills to communicate in English, including the ability to present quantitative and qualitative information along with its analysis, and with appropriate arguments and comments aimed at different target groups.

CT6. Teamwork experience developed in a natural way and other interpersonal skills, with the ability to present the outcomes of personal work orally and on paper.

CT7. Skills to understand the global process of decision-making and to search for strategic solutions.

Recommended reading:

• Amat Salas J.M. Planificación Financiera. (Eada Gestión Barcelona 1992).
• Cuervo García, A. Análisis y Planificación Financiera de la Empresa (Civitas, Madrid 1994).

Complementary reading:

• SUAREZ SUAREZ, A.S (2003) Decisiones optimas de Inversión y Financiación en la empresa. Pirámide. Madrid 20ª Edición.
• Muñiz L. (2009) Control Presupuestario. Planificación, elaboración y seguimiento del presupuesto (Profit Editorial)
• Amat Joan Mª (2013) Control 2.0. Una perspectiva del control de gestión menos financiera y más cualitativa (Profit Editorial)
• Alexander Jack (2018) Financial Planning & Analysis and Performance Management (Wiley)

A daily assessment method will be in place, so that the continued work of the student during the semester is assessed as well as the final exam of the course. Attendance to the course is compulsory; therefore, if the student does not reach at least 80% of attendance, the part of the mark attributable to the in-class assessment will not be taken into account. Regardless of this clarification, the continued attendance and the active participation of the student during the sessions will be assessed.

Assessment of the course will take place in the following way:

• Active participation in class, in the discussion and resolution of applied problems, in the group discussion of business cases, in the analysis and resolution of numerical problems, in the debates about applied readings and news from the financial press, in the seminars aimed at the application of contents, and in the oral presentation and defence of assignments and exercises, as well as in the development of the required mid-term activities/exams (which might take place randomly at the end of the lecture/seminar): 50%. Given that this consists of a continued in-class assessment, there is no option to resit.
• Final exam of the course: 50%. A minimum mark is required to pass the course. A resit exam will take place.

The assessment criteria will be the same in the final degree exams (convocatoria adelantada), for which the last mark obtained by the student in the in-class assessment part of the course will be considered.

• Preparation of cases/assignments/exercises, development of works (individually and in teams), and their discussion, oral presentation and defence in the applied seminars and compulsory tutorials.
• Mid-term activities of the course; these will be written and could be announced in advance or take place randomly without previous announcement.
• Final exam of the course, which will be written.

Continued preparation of the course during the semester, participating in all organised theoretical and applied activities, through daily work from the student. Therefore, attendance to the course is very much recommended.

The option to resit only applies to the final exam of the course, with a weight of 50% in the total mark.