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Academy Documents

Kindly access the Students' Policies & Forms by clicking on the button below. The following documents, among others, can be found there: Student Handbook, Student Code of Conduct, Students' Privacy Notice, Deferral, Suspension, and Cancellation Policy, Assignment Extension Policy, Re-Sit Policy, Complaints Procedure Policy, Equality Policy, and Student Disciplinary Policy.

Students' Policies & Forms

Sessions' Venue

All sessions will be held at 21 Academy's Training Centre in Naxxar - Rooms 1 and 2

21 Business Centre, No. 20., Triq in-Nutar Debono, Naxxar NXR 2525

Monday sessions 09:30 - 12:30hrs (compulsory signature)

Wednesday sessions 17:30 - 20:30hrs

Saturday sessions 09:00hrs - 17:00hrs

Lecture Schedule & Notes

Lecture notes will be available during the week following the respective lecture. Schedule dates are indicative and may change. All changes, if any, may be communicated via email, SMS or telephone calls.

Lecturer/s  

Christabel Debono

Lecture Summaries & Suggested Reading 

Lecture 1 - Phase 1: The The Accounting Cycle &Building the Statements

• Self-assessment, sitting 1

• Module Introduction: Explain the key objectives of financial management.
• The Accounting Environment: Basic accounting principles, concepts (Accruals, Going Concern), and the Accounting Equation.
• Bookkeeping Chronology Part 1: Identifying source documents and recording initial transactions in the Journals.
• Bookkeeping Chronology Part 2: Posting journal entries to the General Ledger (T-Accounts).

Core Reading List

• Atrill, P., (2019). Financial Management For Decision Makers. 9th ed. Pearson.
• Hussain, S. and Warner, S., (2017). Finance Book - Understand The Numbers Even If You’re Not A Finance Professional. FT Publishing International.

Supplementary Reading List

• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 1
• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 2
• Bauerle, J., (2018). Accounting Quickstart Guide. ClydeBank Media LLC
• Claydon, T., and Beardwell, J., (2017). Human Resource Management a Contemporary Approach, 8th ed. Pearson.

Lecture 2 - Phase 1: The Accounting Cycle & Building the Statements

• Closing the Ledgers: How to balance off T-Accounts at period end.
• The Trial Balance: Extracting balances from the T-Accounts to create the Trial Balance and ensuring Debits = Credits.

Core Reading List

• Atrill, P., (2019). Financial Management For Decision Makers. 9th ed. Pearson.
• Hussain, S. and Warner, S., (2017). Finance Book - Understand The Numbers Even If You’re Not A Finance Professional. FT Publishing International.

Supplementary Reading List

• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 1
• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 2
• Bauerle, J., (2018). Accounting Quickstart Guide. ClydeBank Media LLC
• Claydon, T., and Beardwell, J., (2017). Human Resource Management a Contemporary Approach, 8th ed. Pearson.

Lecture 3 - Phase 1: The Accounting Cycle & Building the Statements

• Period-End Adjustments: Basic overview of adjusting entries (e.g., depreciation, accruals) before drafting statements.
• Building the Income Statement: Taking revenue and expense accounts from the Trial Balance to compute Profit/Loss.
• Building the Balance Sheet: Taking the remaining asset, liability, and equity accounts from the Trial Balance to draft the Statement of Financial Position.
• Demonstrating how Net Income from the Income Statement flows into the Equity section of the Balance Sheet.

Core Reading List

• Atrill, P., (2019). Financial Management For Decision Makers. 9th ed. Pearson.
• Hussain, S. and Warner, S., (2017). Finance Book - Understand The Numbers Even If You’re Not A Finance Professional. FT Publishing International.

Supplementary Reading List

• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 1
• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 2
• Bauerle, J., (2018). Accounting Quickstart Guide. ClydeBank Media LLC
• Claydon, T., and Beardwell, J., (2017). Human Resource Management a Contemporary Approach, 8th ed. Pearson.

Lecture 4 - Phase 1: The Accounting Cycle & Building the Statements

• Cash Flows: Now that the Income Statement and Balance Sheet are understood, introducing the Cash Flow Statement.
• Cash Mechanics: How changes in Balance Sheet accounts dictate operating, investing, and financing cash flows.

Core Reading List

• Atrill, P., (2019). Financial Management For Decision Makers. 9th ed. Pearson.
• Hussain, S. and Warner, S., (2017). Finance Book - Understand The Numbers Even If You’re Not A Finance Professional. FT Publishing International.

Supplementary Reading List

• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 1
• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 2
• Bauerle, J., (2018). Accounting Quickstart Guide. ClydeBank Media LLC
• Claydon, T., and Beardwell, J., (2017). Human Resource Management a Contemporary Approach, 8th ed. Pearson.

Lecture 5 - Phase 2: Management, Funding, & Internal Decisions

• Sources of Finance: Exploring internal vs. external and short-term vs. long-term funding options.
• Bonds and Stocks: How they work, how they are recorded, and their impact on a business’s capital structure (linking back to the Balance Sheet).
• Management Accounts: Introduction to internal reporting versus the statutory financial accounting just covered.

Core Reading List

• Atrill, P., (2019). Financial Management For Decision Makers. 9th ed. Pearson.
• Hussain, S. and Warner, S., (2017). Finance Book - Understand The Numbers Even If You’re Not A Finance Professional. FT Publishing International.

Supplementary Reading List

• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 1
• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 2
• Bauerle, J., (2018). Accounting Quickstart Guide. ClydeBank Media LLC
• Claydon, T., and Beardwell, J., (2017). Human Resource Management a Contemporary Approach, 8th ed. Pearson.

Lecture 6 -Phase 2: Management, Funding, & Internal Decisions

Following this session students will learn to:

• Decision Making: Differentiating between the accounting information required for short-term and long-term decision-making.
• Application: How financial managers apply all the statements learned so far to make better-informed internal decisions.

Core Reading List

• Atrill, P., (2019). Financial Management For Decision Makers. 9th ed. Pearson.
• Hussain, S. and Warner, S., (2017). Finance Book - Understand The Numbers Even If You’re Not A Finance Professional. FT Publishing International.

Supplementary Reading List

• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 1
• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 2
• Bauerle, J., (2018). Accounting Quickstart Guide. ClydeBank Media LLC
• Claydon, T., and Beardwell, J., (2017). Human Resource Management a Contemporary Approach, 8th ed. Pearson.

Lecture 7 - Phase 3: Financial Analysis & Interpretation

Following this session students will learn to:

• Ratio Analysis Fundamentals: Setting up the framework to compute key financial ratios from the finished statements.
• Profitability & Liquidity: Calculating margins, ROCE, current ratio, and quick ratio.
• Efficiency & Solvency: Calculating inventory turnover, receivables days, and gearing (debt-to-equity).
• Practical Workshop: Calculating a full set of ratios from a provided Annual Report.

Core Reading List

• Atrill, P., (2019). Financial Management For Decision Makers. 9th ed. Pearson.
• Hussain, S. and Warner, S., (2017). Finance Book - Understand The Numbers Even If You’re Not A Finance Professional. FT Publishing International.

Supplementary Reading List

• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 1
• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 2
• Bauerle, J., (2018). Accounting Quickstart Guide. ClydeBank Media LLC
• Claydon, T., and Beardwell, J., (2017). Human Resource Management a Contemporary Approach, 8th ed. Pearson.

Lecture 8 -Phase 3: Financial Analysis & Interpretation /TS1

• Interpreting the Data: Moving beyond calculation. What do these ratios actually mean in the real world?
• Comparative Analysis: Using ratios to compare and contrast financial strength among different companies (cross-sectional) and across time (time-series).
• Assignment & Presentation Briefing.
• Self-Assessment

Core Reading List

• Induction Session 03 slides
• All of the 1 to 7 sessions slides

Lecture 9 -  Tutorial Session 02

During this session students will:

• Discuss the contents of the presentation being prepared for the Group Presentation
• Discuss the Assignments being drafted as part of the assessment method

Core Reading List

• Induction Session 03 slides
• All of the 1 to 7 sessions slides

Lecture 10 - Assessments

During this session students will:

• Receive the scored self-assessment
• Deliver the group presentations and answer to questions from both students and tutor
• Go through the last assignment issues, if any.

Methods of Assessment

Self Assessment 15% of final score - Students will be expected to sit for a multiple-choice test during the module's first lecture on 10 April 2026. Students will be handed out with the test sheet and their answers during session 8 on the 6 May 2026 and will be asked to correct their own submission.

Group Presentation 20% of final score

Reflective Notes 10% of final score

1 Assignment 55% of final score

Assignment

You are required to choose one of the three questions available in the Assignment Submission Form made available by clicking the button below. The assignment must be submitted no later than Thursday, 28 May 2026 at 23:59 hrs, along with the Assignment Submission Form. Please ensure that you indicate the question you have addressed on the Assignment Submission Form.

Assignment Submission Form

For guidance on how to plan, draft, and submit your assignment, please refer to the 21 Academy presentation on Writing and Submitting Your Assignment by clicking the button below.

Writing and Submitting Your Assignment

We are also providing the 21 Academy's Assignments Rubric for your reference. This rubric is a performance-based assessment tool that tutors will use for grading, and it will help you understand the requirements of the assignment and how it will be assessed.

Assignments Rubric

Group Presentation

You will be asked to design and deliver a group presentation about a business you plan to create together. This will be the same group you worked together with in class. The presentation should be delivered in 20 minutes and each member of the group should deliver part of the presentation. The presentation will be delivered on Saturday, 16 May 2026, between 09.00 and 13.00 hrs.

Presentation Submission Form

Please find the links, mentioned in the presentation submission form, to access the respective group's annual reports below:

A Presentation Rubric is being made available for your guidance below. This is a performance-based assessment tool. Tutors will use the rubric to assist them to allocate scoring, while it allows students to understand what is required in the presentation and how your presentation will be graded.

Presentation Rubric

Your presentation should also be submitted in PDF format on Turnitin by not later than 24 hours before it is being delivered. Do not scan the presentation but convert/save it directly to PDF. One group member must send a copy of the group presentation in .PPTX format to [email protected] by the submission deadline and include the group number.

Note that the submitted presentations will be scanned for plagiarism.

Reflective Notes

Each student should submit Reflective Notes about their experience during the preparatory phase of the Group Presentation.

From here, you can download 21 Academy's Reflective Notes template in

Word Format or PDF Format

In any case, the document has to be submitted to the academy through Turnitin no later than the day before the presentation is meant to be delivered in class. The Reflective Notes have to be submitted to the academy through Turnitin by not later than Friday, 15 May, 2026, at 23.59 hrs.

If you need information on how to write and keep your reflective notes for your involvement in the group work to prepare the presentation, please refer to the Induction Presentation 03.