ESADE Professor Joan Massons receives the Award for Academic Excellence

The Associació Catalana de Comptabilitat i Direcció (ACCID) has awarded the Academic Excellence Award to Joan Massons, ESADE professor and expert in finance. Presented on 6th June, the award comes as recognition of his professional career and contribution to the development of teaching and research in the field of finance.

Professor Massons is the second ESADE professor to receive the award for academic excellence, preceded eleven years ago by Josep Angrill Miravent, who was also honoured for his academic and teaching contributions to accounting.

The ACCID Award recognises academics or academic institutions whose publications, research, teaching innovations or excellence in teaching have contributed to the development of teaching and research in accounting. In previous years, the award has gone to personalities of the stature of Magí Pont Mestres and Ramon Adell, amongst others.

Future financial challenges
According to Professor Massons, the future of research in accounting and financial analysis in Spain will involve publishing new research that addresses the current shortcomings of the Spanish accounting system, which is no longer suitable for the current business reality.

"The income statement presented under the Spanish accounting system is deficient and contains conceptual errors. It does not address the dual classification between fixed and variable costs nor does it detect gross margins," said Professor Massons.

Another area that Professor Massons recommends future research to centre on is "how and when to avoid balance sheets presenting purchase values subject only to amortisation based on gross purchase value, but to present market values."

Professor Joan Massons has served as Director of the Department of Financial Management and Control at ESADE and is author of reference books including: Finanzas empresariales para profesionales del ámbito jurídico, Ediciones Deusto; Diagnóstico financiero de la pyme, Ediciones La Caixa de Pensions; Finanzas. Análisis y estrategia financiera; Análisis financiero en inflación; Finanzas prácticas, all three of which were published by Editorial Hispano Europea, SA; and Finanzas para profesionales de marketing y ventas, Ediciones Deusto-Planeta de Agostini.