CORPORATE REPORTING

The course contributes to the educational objectives of the Master’s Degree Programme, which aims at providing students with advanced knowledge on financial and management accounting, corporate finance and risk management.
This course aims at discussing the evolution of Corporate Reporting along time and, more specifically, it covers the scope and objectives and the contents of Corporate Report, the expectations connected to it and the stakeholders. Starting from Annual Report and going through the principles of reporting, the course tackles the evolution of reporting regarding contents, issue and processes. The main objective of accounting is to provide relevant information to market participants. To reach this purpose, Corporate Reporting needs to evolve according to the business environment in which companies operate.

1 KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
- know the objectives and the principles of corporate reporting;
- know principles, value relevance, reporting process and limitations of Annual Reports;
- know principles, value relevance, reporting process and limitations of Sustainability Reports;
- know principles, value relevance, reporting process and limitations of Integrated Reports;
2 APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
- identify the disclosure needs that corporate reporting is supposed to address, given the specific characteristics of the company;
- know how to apply Integrated Report principles in order to supply information to users;
- know how to identify the main challenges in the reporting process.
3 MAKING JUDGEMENTS
- know how to frame hypotheses concerning corporate reporting efficacy.

To follow the course, it is necessary to have already learnt the basic concepts of financial statements analysis and cost accounting.

1. Why and how to communicate companies performance. Principles of reporting
2. From Annual Reports to Sustainability Reports
3. Sustainability Reports: the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework.
4. Materiality and comparability of non financial information
5. Integrated Reporting: the antecedents and origins
6. Integrated Reporting: the six capitals
7. Performance measures in Integrated Reporting
8. Examples of integrated reporting
9. EU Directive 2014/95/EU on Non Financial Reporting
10. EU Directive on Corporate Sustainability Reporting
11. The three pillars of corporate reporting: corporate governance, audit and supervision
12. Assurance and credibility of Corporate Sustainability Reporting
13. Corporate Reporting: effects on capital markets
14. Corporate Reporting and SMEs
15. Corporate Reporting Dialogue, IFAC and EU: towards a new standard setter

- Chiara Mio (ed) Integrated reporting. A new accounting disclosure, Palgrave 2016
- The following documents available at the links:
Accountancy Europe, "Audit Facts", https://www.accountancyeurope.eu/wp-content/uploads/211122-Audit-FAQ-Accountancy-Europe.pdf
Accountancy Europe, "New directive takes EU corporate sustainability reporting to the next level", https://www.accountancyeurope.eu/reporting-transparency/new-directive-takes-eu-corporate-sustainability-reporting-to-the-next-level/
European Commission, "Corporate sustainability reporting", https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/company-reporting-and-auditing/company-reporting/corporate-sustainability-reporting_en
Barth et al (2016), "The Economic Consequences Associated with Integrated Report Quality: Early Evidence from a Mandatory Setting", https://www.en.iuc.bwl.uni-muenchen.de/arw/paper_arw-marybarth_09_05_16.pdf

The exam includes presentation during classes (30%), project works (30%) and oral exam (40%).

The concepts will be disclosed using real case studies; there will be also some managers and guest speakers attending and contributing to the lectures. A site visit will be organized, even if not mandatory. When possible, project works are encouraged

English

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion
Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments

Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support
services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with
mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

written and oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Circular economy, innovation, work" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development