COURSE NUMBER: MBA 223.2

COURSE TITLE: Corporate Financial Reporting

UNITS OF CREDIT: 3 units

INSTRUCTOR: Maria E. Nondorf

E-MAIL ADDRESS: nondorf@haas.berkeley.edu

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Tuesday and Thursday, 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

PREREQUISITE(S): MBA 202

CLASS FORMAT: Each topic will be introduced using a lecture/discussion format. The material will be illustrated by reference to actual financial statements and by solving one or more basic problems. We will then use a combination of cases, articles, and more sophisticated problems to solidify your understanding of the concepts and to enhance your ability to analyze the relevant financial statement disclosures.

REQUIRED READINGS: Course reader (a textbook is supplemental [White, Sondhi, and Fried, Analysis and Use of Financial Statements, Third Edition, Wiley, 2003])

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Midterm (25%), group discussion problems (30%), final paper (25%), class participation (20%)

ABSTRACT OF COURSE’S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES: The objective of this course is to provide you with the skills to become a sophisticated reader and user of corporate financial statements. As such, the focus will be on understanding and analyzing the statements and supporting notes, rather than on preparing them. Given today’s economic environment, the power to understand complex transactions will be enhanced by your ability to analyze the accounting for these transactions. Through this course, you will be able to effectively utilize accounting data as an important source of information about a company and its business activities. The four general themes of the course are (1) Accounting Information and its Interaction with Economic Performance; (2) Accounting and the Scope of the Firm; (3) The Role of Accounting in Financing and Risk Management Decisions; and (4) Financial Reporting and Corporate Governance. Topics to be covered include the quality of earnings and earnings management, the accounting and reporting of mergers and acquisitions, off-balance sheet arrangements (including leases and pensions), derivatives and hedging, Sarbanes-Oxley, and stock options and other incentives.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Professor Nondorf joined the faculty at the Haas School of Business from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she received her Ph.D. in 2003. Her research focuses on the impact of accounting on the manner in which firms structure transactions, particularly corporate financing transactions such as mergers and acquisitions. Prior to receiving her Ph.D., Professor Nondorf was a senior manager in the Corporate Finance Transaction Services Group of PriceWaterhouseCoopers in New York, NY.