The hardest cycle climb at TCC: A financial instruments case

Abstract

TCC AG is a fast-growing bicycle production company and is headed by an ambitious top management team that wants to reinforce the firm’s expansion strategy with a sophisticated financial funding scheme. However, combined with an income decline, the financing strategy unexpectedly poses an existential threat to TCC. Complex accounting questions arise including the likely breach of a financial covenant, the detailed contractual clauses of a prospectus and the execution of a debt-for-equity swap. The underlying accounting requirements cover the recognition, the measurement and the disclosures of non-derivative financial instruments according to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). To foster a holistic understanding of financial instruments, the educational resource further combines the accounting concepts with related corporate finance theory. With this integrative approach, the case intends to encourage students’ critical reflection upon the far-reaching economic consequences resulting from accounting decisions.