Accounting for Financial Instruments: A Guide to Valuation and Risk Management

Accounting for Financial Instruments is about the accounting and regulatory framework associated with the acquisition and disposal of financial instruments; how to determine their value; how to manage the risk connected with them; and ultimately compile a business valuation report.

Specifically, the book covers the following topics, amongst others: Accounting for Investments; Bills of exchange; Management of Financial Risks; Financial Analysis (including the Financial Analysis Report); Valuation of a business (including the Business Valuation Report) and Money laundering. Accounting for Financial Instruments fills a gap in the current literature for a comprehensive text that brings together relevant accounting concepts and valid regulatory framework, and related procedures regarding the management of financial instruments (investments), which are applicable in the modern business world.

Understanding financial risk management allows the reader to comprehend the importance of analysing a business concern. This is achieved by presenting an analytical framework to illustrate that an entity’s performance is greatly influenced by its external and internal environments. The analysis of the external environment examines factors that impact an entity’s operational activities, strategic choices, and influence its opportunities and risks. The analysis of the internal environment applies accounting ratio analysis to an entity’s financial statements to examine various elements, including liquidity, profitability, asset utilisation, investment, working capital management and capital structure.

The objective of the book is to provide a fundamental knowledge base for those who are interested in managing financial instruments (investments) or studying banking and finance or those who wish to make financial services, particularly banking and finance, their chosen career. Accounting for Financial Instruments is highly applicable to both professional accountants and auditors and students alike.

Emanuel Camilleri was the Director General (Strategy and Operations Support) at the Ministry of Finance, the Economy and Investment, Government of Malta. He has had a long career in the Australian defence industry public sector related to ICT and Operations Research applications, and has managed large projects related to accounting applications and Public Service reforms at the Inland Revenue and VAT Departments in Malta. He is a visiting senior lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy, University of Malta. In 2016 the Government of Malta) appointed Dr Camilleri as Chairman, Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools, which has the responsibility for the schools building and maintenance programme of Government’s Public Education sector with a major aim of introducing reforms related to accounting controls and project management.

Roxanne Camilleri is currently a senior auditor with a leading global accountancy firm, RSM. Previously, she held a position of senior auditor with Grant Thornton. Roxanne has conducted accounting audits of many types and sizes of entities both in the private and public sector in Malta and many other European countries for the last six years. Roxanne has a Bachelor of Science Degree (Honours) in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brooks University, UK and an Advanced Diploma in Accounting and Business from ACCA. Currently, she is undertaking the final ACCA study unit in Taxation Accounting. She is fluent in four languages; Maltese, English, French and Italian.