Presentation

This course will present the activities of management and budget control for companies. It is arranged in blocks, and each chapter looks at the skills that the student will acquire when completing them, so they can check that they are assimilating the content correctly.

Finance includes all measurable aspects of business that are used by the managers and employees as well as the external recipients of the information to make their financial decisions, so basic knowledge of this is essential for any company worker or director.

The next block after the introduction presents financial and cost accounting. The former includes the company’s financial records, while the latter answers questions such as the cost of each product, which of these is the most profitable, or whether part of production should be outsourced, among others.

The third block sets out the most commonly used tools to analyze accounting information.

The financial planning block uses Excel so that the student can project future balance sheets and profit and loss accounts from basic hypotheses and current data.

The investment and financing block contains the tools commonly used to support business decisions in this area and which managers must use and be able to show that they use to prove their diligence in managing the business.

The last block contains the management control tools and the role of corporate finance in an ever more globalized environment.

Basic Competences

• CB6: Possess and understand knowledge that provides a basis or opportunity to be original in the development and / or application of ideas, often in a research context.
• CB7: That students know how to apply the knowledge acquired and their ability to solve problems in new or unfamiliar environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their area of study.
• CB8: That students are able to integrate knowledge and face the complexity of making judgments based on information that, being incomplete or limited, includes reflections on social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of their knowledge and judgments.
• CB9: That students know how to communicate their conclusions and the knowledge and the reasons behind them to specialized and non-specialized audiences in a clear and unambiguous way.
• CB10: That students have the learning skills that allow them to continue studying in a way that will be largely self-directed or autonomous.

General Competences

• CG1: Master and integrate techniques, instruments and management methods necessary for the development of their professional activity.
• CG2: Increase the knowledge of the management of companies and the different areas of management.
• CG4: That students know how to communicate their conclusions, present projects, results, plans, knowledge and the reasons behind them to specialized and non-specialized audiences in a clear and unambiguous way.
• CG5: That students are able to integrate their knowledge of various functional areas of the company with generally incomplete or limited information of the company environment to make decisions and solve problems in complex and multidisciplinary situations.

Specific Competences

• CS5: Know how to manage management indicators to make business decisions based on them.
• CS12: Understand the functional organization of the company. Interrelations between areas. Identify and understand the factors and dimensions that are part of the company at functional level and the characteristics of its administration system.
• CS13: Understand the impact of ICT in business management and the competitiveness of the company.
• CS14: Knowing the existence, applications and limitations of business information systems and their impact on decision making, competitiveness and speed of reaction.
• CS20: Ability to make business decisions based on the analysis and interpretation of the four fundamental financial statements of the company, Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss Account, Statement of Cash Flow and Statement of Net Assets and the main ratios and indicators of business and financial management.

Transversal Competences

• CT6: Communicate in an efficient, structured and orderly manner, the most relevant aspects of a Project.
• CT8: Facilitate the process of student integration to the professional business world.
• CT9: Provide students with learning skills that allow them to continue studying autonomously.

Block I: Accounting

Unit 1. Accounting as a decision-making tool

• Financial Accounting Debit and Credit
• Entering Income and Expenses into Accounts
• Closing Operations. Fast Closing
• Calculation of Accounting Profit/Loss
• Annual Accounts
• Solved excercises

Block II. Analysis of Financial Information

Unit 2. Analysis and Interpretation of the Balance Sheet and the Profit and Loss Statement. Ratios

• Vertical and horizontal analyses
• Profitability Ratios
• Solvency Ratios
• Liquidity Ratios. APP, AITP and ACP
• Z-Score
• Other ratios
• Solved excercises

Unit 3. Cost Accounting

• Expenditure, cost and payment
• Fixed and variable costs
• Direct and indirect costs
• Inventoriable costs and period costs
• Historical cost and standard cost
• Break-even point. Operating leverage
• Sub-activity costs
• Solved excercises

Unit 4. Relevant costs for decisions making

• Costs and Business Strategy
• Strategic aspects of costs
• Sunk costs
• Opportunity costs
• Common costs
• Differential costs
• Future cost
• Solved exercises

Unit 5. Cost System Design

• Full costing system
• Direct costing system
• Historic cost system
• Standard cost system
• ABC
• Solved exercises

Block IV. Financial planning and Budget Management

Unit 6. Budget management

• The need to budget
• Rigid and Flexible Budgets
• Deviation analysis
• Long-term planning
• Solved exercises

Unit 7. Financial Planning in Excel. The Budget

• Budgeting the Income Statement
• The Cash and Banks Budget
• Solved exercises

Unit 8. Financial Planning in Excel

• The Business Plan
• The most common errors in the Business Plan
• Solved exercises

Block V. Corporate Finance and Management Control

Unit 9. Management Control: Scorecard and the BSC

• Strategic Objectives and Operating objectives
• The Scorecard
• Scorecards as a tool for Coordinating Strategic and Operative Goals
• Management reports
• Solved exercises

The different tasks and activities programmed during the semester have been developed with the goal of adapting the learning process to the different capabilities, necessities and interests of the students.

The activities included in the subject are:

• Practical cases. Will provide the student with actual business situations that will need to analyse and, after that, make decisions, evaluate the consequences and alternatives. On the other hand, practical cases can be programmed in order that the student detects relevant situations, analyzes the complementary information, makes decisions in relation to the scenario that arises and proposes solutions or indicates how to improve the starting situation as final pedagogical objective.
  
  In the weekly program you can check when they start and when they should be submitted. On the other hand, in the virtual classroom you will find all the information necessary for its development.
  
• Participation in events. These are scheduled events, every week of the academic term, such as virtual sessions.
  

Download the program

These activities are combined with the following aspects:

• Personal Study
• Tutoring. he tutoring class can be implemented through different tools and means. During the course of the subject, the teacher-tutor plans the individual tutoring on specific days for the resolution of academic-oriented doubts through “Consultation sessions”. Supplementing these sessions, students have also available the “Ask your teacher” forum through which they can formulate questions and check the corresponding answers on general aspects of the subject. Due to the very nature of the media used, there are no fixed schedules for the students.
• Final exam presence-based or online modality

The hours dedicated to each activity are detailed as follows:

TRAINING ACTIVITIES	HOURS OF SUBJECT	% PRESENCE
Virtual sessions	15 hours	100%
Master classes	4 hours	0
Personal study of basic material	60 hours	0
Reading of complimentary material	32 hours	0
Realization of practical cases and self-evaluation tests	45 hours	0
Tutoring	16 hours	10
Collaborative work (forums and/or discussion groups)	7 hours	0
Final exam	1 hours	100%
Total	180 hours	-

You can personalize your study plan choosing the type of activity that best matches your profile. The tutor will advise you and help you elaborate your study plan. S/he will always be available to guide throughout the course.

Basic bibliography

The section Basic Bibliography is essential for the course. If any document (reading, article,…) is not available in the virtual classroom, you will have to find it by other means: UNIR bookshop, virtual library…

The necessary texts for the study of this subject have been elaborated by UNIR and are available in a digital format to consult, download or print inthe virtual classroom.

Complementary bibliography

• Amat, O. (2000). Análisis económico-financiero. Ediciones Gestión.
• Brealey, R., Marcus, A. y Myers, S. (2007). Principios de Finanzas corporativas (5º ed.). Madrid: Mc Graw Hill.
• Cañibano, L. (2001). Contabilidad. Análisis contable de la realidad económica. Madrid: Pirámide.
• Domínguez, J.A. et al. (1980). El Subsistema de inversión y financiación de la empresa. Madrid: Pirámide.
• Koontz, H., Weihrich, H. y O’Donnell, C. (1986). Administración (8ª ed.). Madrid: McGraw Hill.
• Martínez, J. (1996). Contabilidad y Fiscalidad. Madrid: Santillana Profesional.
• Muñoz, Á. (2017). Análisis de estados financieros. Madrid: Ediciones Académicas.
• Pérez, J. I. (1997). Project Finance. Madrid: Ediciones 2010.
• Sáez, Á. (2001). Contabilidad General (5ª ed.). Madrid: McGraw-Hill.
• Somoza, A. (2018). Análisis de estados financieros consolidados. Madrid: Ediciones Pirámide.
• Suárez, A. S. (2013). Decisiones óptimas de inversión y financiación en la empresa. Madrid: Pirámide.

The evaluation system is based on the following numerical chart:

0 - 4, 9	Suspenso	(SS)
5,0 - 6,9	Aprobado	(AP)
7,0 - 8,9	Notable	(NT)
9,0 - 10	Sobresaliente	(SB)

The grade is made up of two components:

The exam is done at the end of the four-month period and is compulsory final exam either in presence- based or online modality. It comprises the 60% of the final grade and so that the grade obtained in this exam is added to the final grade it is obligatory to PASS it.

The continuous evaluation comprises the 40% of the final grade. This 40% of the final grade consists of the grades obtained in the different training activities carried out during the four-month period.

EVALUATION SYSTEM	WEIGHTING min - max
Student participation (sessions, forums)	0% - 40%
Study cases	0% - 40%
Self-evaluation test	0% - 40%
Final exam	60% - 60%

Juan Pedro Asencio Flores

Academic background: Ph.D. in Economics (cum laude) at the University of Seville. Master of Science in Management Information Systems (MSMIS) at Universidad de Cadiz. MBA at UNED (National Distance Education University). Executive Program in Financial Planner at IEB (Instituto de Estudios Bursátiles). He is a member of the European Financial Planning Association EFPA and the Instituto Español de Analistas Financieros IEAF.

Professional experience: Since 2016 he works as an international private banker in the USA. Prior this he has worked as a private banker in Spain for nine years. Also, since 2016 he works as a lecturer for Universidad International de la Rioja UNIR in its MBA, IMBA and Financial Controlling Master.

Reasearch lines: Finance, Applied Economics, Blockchain technologies.

Studying online means you can organize your study as you wish, as long as you meet the due dates of the different assignments (activities, tasks and tests). In order to help you, we propose the following steps:

1. From our online platform you will have access to each of the subjects you are enrolled. Apart from this, you can access to the Aula de información general. In this section, you have available all the documents on how to use the different tools included in the virtual classroom, how a subject is organized in UNIR. Remember that you will also have the possibility to organize your study plan with the tutor.
   
2. Do not forget to check the weekly program. You will see which part of the content of the course you have to work on every week and when you should start preparing the case.
3. After knowing your work for the week, go to Units in your virtual classroom. There, you will have access to the study material (theory and practice) from the unit you need to study throughout the week.
   
4. Begin with the reading of the Key ideas of the unit, they constitute the content of the unit and the basic material of study. Check also the In deep section which contains supplementary material.
   
5. Take time to complete the Practical Practical Cases and Test. In the subject Program we will detail when you can develop them.
   
6. We strongly recommend to take part in the events of the course (On-site virtual classes). To know the exact date for each one of these events you must visit the communication media on the Virtual Classroom. Your teacher and your tutor will inform of the subjects news.
   

Please, take into account the following tips…

• Whatever you study plan is, go often to the virtual classroom so that you are always up to date about the course and you are in contact with your teacher and your tutor.
  
• Remember you are not alone: send an email to your tutor if you have any doubt. If you attend the online classes, you can also ask your teacher about the contents of the unit. Also, you can always write your doubts and questions about the contents in the Forum of each subject (Ask the teacher).
• And, remember, you are studying online: your effort and perseverance are the key element to obtain good results. Don’t leave everything to the last minute!!!