If you are seeking a high-level career in accountancy, finance, banking, insurance, the public sector, or general management, this course will equip you with the skills you need.
The course team has excellent relations with local employers and national accounting bodies which is reflected in their support of the course through annual students prizes and guest presentations.
You will gain significant exemptions from the exams, including nine from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), nine from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and four from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). The industrial placement year is recognised by CIMA and ACCA as one of the three years of postgraduate experience required for formal certification.
The Finance and Accounting degree course is designed to meet the needs of both students seeking a high level career in financial or business management and of employers seeking a high calibre of business graduate.
It provides you with a thorough understanding of finance and accounting within the wider context of business and management andprepares you for employment in a wide variety of managerial careers.
This course secures significant exemptions from the examinations of the UK professional accountancy bodies and allows you to opt to undertake an industrial placement during your third year.
The second year begins to focus more explicitly on accounting related subjects such as financial and management accounting, statistical analysis and financial systems, as well as covering general themes such as company law, the economic environment and organisational behaviour.
Quantitative and Statistical Analysis
You will continue the work begun in the first year, developing your understanding of the fundamentals of statistical reasoning necessary to deal with numerical information in a sensible way. You will learn to illustrate in the statistical context the general scientific method for a structured approach to the analysis of problems and be introduced to techniques that are useful as tools for decision-making.
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Company Law
You will build upon your prior legal knowledge and skills acquired in previous modules that will enable you to acquire a sound knowledge of the legal framework relating to companies and their management. You will develop your capability to apply legal principles in the solution of business and management problems arising in a corporate context, and learn how to inculcate an appreciation of the impact of policy and the wider business context on corporate legal developments.
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Financial Accounting
You will develop your knowledge and understanding of advanced financial accounting concepts and principles and learn how to apply your understanding by preparing and interpreting financial reports both in a UK and international context, you will also develop your knowledge and understanding of the external audit process.
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Organisational Behaviour
This module will provide you with a wide-ranging analysis and understanding of the behaviour of people at work and give you an understanding of the dynamics of work organisations through an interdisciplinary behavioural sciences approach – drawing especially on the theories, concepts and methodologies of psychology and sociology – which views people and their attitudes, perceptions, learning capacities and goals, as well as the tensions and conflicts, as being of major importance. You will gain knowledge to help you understand the skills and activities that go with creating effective, productive and flexible work organisations.
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Regulatory and Economic Environment
You will gain an understanding of the business and economic environment for commercial organisations with particular emphasis on the shareholder reporting framework of accounting standards anddiscuss the differing influences on the development of financial reporting historically and internationally, and the context within which the financial reporting framework operates. You will also consider the international regulations for the published accounts of commercial organisations.
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Financial and Management Information Systems
You will develop your knowledge of costing and financial management systems and learn to select, describe and apply a variety of alternative costing techniques and management accounting techniques. You will also develop your understanding of computer hardware and software in an accounting environment, including audit, and financial modeling. On completion of this course you will be able to select, describe and apply a variety of operations management techniques.
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Year Three
Your final year covers advanced financial and management accounting and you will learn how to take financially based business decisions.
Compulsory modules
Business Finance
Efficient financial management requires the existence of some standard objective or goal by which performance may be judged, the objective being maximisation of shareholder wealth. You will gain a thorough understanding of the role of the financial manager within a company and also the external financial environment in which businesses operate. You will be introduced to the concept of risk management in business organisations and examine the investment, financing and asset management decisions of a business and their related risk/return tradeoffs. You will also learn the theory and practice of mergers and takeovers.
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Business Decision Taking
You will be introduced to the discipline of the analysis and design of information systems from a managerial rather than a technical perspective. You will get an insight into the problems besetting the process of creating and developing systems for control and reporting within a business environment, introducing you to the principal tools used and the major strategies adopted by organisations in their endeavours to adapt to an increasingly uncertain environment. You will gain an understanding of the open systems and perspectives of organisation theory, and to facilitate theoretical as well as practical insights into the discipline. You will gain advanced level of experience of an appropriate package, for example Microsoft Access/Excel, working in groups to develop an application program in order that theoretical aspects might be exemplified and better understood in relation to theory.
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Management Accounting (for Control)
You will explore the nature and role of management accounting in the 21st century and be equipped with a variety of approaches and techniques in the application of management accounting. You will learn to examine and evaluate the validity and limitations of particular management accounting approaches or techniques within the context of their application.
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Advanced Financial Accounting and Accounting Theory
You will develop your knowledge and understanding of financial accounting concepts and principles and extend your ability to prepare, analyse, evaluate and report on company financial statements in a UK and international context.
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Optional modules
Two modules must be taken – choose one from each of the groups.
One from:
Advanced Financial Accounting and Accounting Theory
You will develop your knowledge and understanding of financial accounting concepts and principles and extend your ability to prepare, analyse, evaluate and report on company financial statements in a UK and international context.
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International Finance
You will learn to examine critically the rationale for international trade and investment gain an understanding of the operations of foreign exchange markets and their significance to business. You will develop knowledge of and an ability to evaluate risk management in an international context and appreciate the history of foreign exchange markets and international finance within the context of finance and economic theory.
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And one from:
Audit Framework
You will develop your knowledge and understanding of the audit process and its application in the context of the external regulatory framework which includes planning and risk assessment, evaluating internal controls, audit evidence, and a review of the financial statements. You will also develop knowledge and understanding of the role of internal audit in providing assurance of the risk management and control framework of the organisation. You will gain an understanding of the nature, purpose and scope of assurance engagements, including the statutory audit, its regulatory environment, and professional ethics relating to audit and assurance. You will learn to develop your knowledge of internal audit, including the scope of internal audit as well as the differences between internal audit and external audit and develop your knowledge of reporting, including statutory audit reports, management reports, and internal audit reports.
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Or
Financial Economics
You will gain an understanding of the workings of financial markets and institutions and an insight into the basic principles of financial theory, focusing on the asset choice decision and the determination of asset prices.
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