Financial accounting is the fundamental language used to express the economic realities of complex financial scenarios including mergers & acquisitions (M&A) and corporate divestitures. Understanding this language is crucial for converting financial statement data into decision enhancing information, and expressing strategic business plans and investment ideas in a powerful and convincing way. The course is designed to develop sophisticated users of financial accounting information and will benefit any student who desires to increase his or her ability to understand and profitably exploit financial information. The class format involves a mixture of lecture and class discussion.