University of Alicante

The Accounting and Finance Research Group has many years of experience in the analysis of financial information. This experience has resulted in the direction of hundreds of final degree and master's degree projects oriented precisely towards the analysis of the financial situation of companies, research articles published in journals of international impact, as well as a multitude of collaborations with various public and private organisations.

All this experience has allowed the development of data processing programmes with access to databases with all the information on annual accounts published by companies or sectorial comparison databases of the Bank of Spain and other organisations. The combination of the team's experience with the use of these programmes and the internal information provided by the company allows the production of reports and studies that would provide a plus in the management of its business.

Therefore, for all types of companies, the group can provide reports or studies that address issues such as those highlighted below:

• Analysis and recommendations for accounting to assist in the determination of costs incurred in the manufacture of products or provision of services.

• Analysis of the company's financial situation from the point of view of solvency, liquidity and profitability.

• Completion of the non-financial reporting statement that has become compulsory above a certain company size.

• Comparative analysis of the company against a group of competitors and/or sector of activity.

• Economic valuation reports on projects and/or companies beyond the accounting valuation of the net worth shown in their balance sheets.

MAIN ADVANTAGES OF THE TECHNOLOGY

In accordance with what was described in the previous section, the advantages that this type of report or study can bring to the company can be summarised as follows:

• Cost savings in relation to internal development thanks to the know-how of the research team and the economies of scale provided by the University of Alicante in accessing the necessary resources.

• More accurate, timely and useful reports thanks to the degree of specialisation achieved by the research team.

• Time saving in the company, which again translates into implicit cost savings by referring this type of report to the specialised team of the UA.

• Flexibility to adapt the design of the report to the specific needs of each company.

• Advice on the interpretation of the reports and recommendations based on their conclusions.

• Transfer of useful knowledge so that the bidirectional flow of knowledge of researchers and knowledge of entrepreneurs is translated into more efficient management.

INNOVATIVE ASPECTS

The aim is to focus attention beyond the periodic tax and labour information that companies usually have outsourced, to additionally and simply use business information to provide feedback to management and contribute to decision-making. This change of focus would be a very relevant intangible innovation that the research group would like to promote. Reports that might seem inaccessible to most SMEs could be produced quickly, efficiently and in a personalised way through this type of collaboration.

Currently, the research group would be available to adapt the use of the developed software and the programming of the work within approximately one month from the initial contact.

The reports and studies described in the introductory section can be developed and adapted to any company regardless of its sector of activity.

Technical assistance agreements are sought with companies interested in the type of reports offered. The profile sought would include any company with a need to prepare a statement of non-financial information or with the objective of refocusing the use of its internal information for its synthesis into useful reports for decision making.

The developed software and know-how belong to the University of Alicante and is available for the development of the studies.