This module aims to provide a good grounding in and an appreciation of the financial accounting essentials that any analyst, manager or business owner should possess. It also provides a base for further studies in the accounting and financial management arena.
A key aim is to show and understand how the financial transactions and activities of a business in a particular financial period are constructed, and how they depict the financial story of that period through the subsequent construction and publication of core financial statements: the Statement of Financial Position, the Income Statement, and the Cash Flow Statement.
Main topics of the module include:
- Financial frameworks for financial statements
- Conceptual underpinnings of financial reporting
- Issues in revenue recognition and expense determination
- Issues in valuation of assets and liabilities
- Construction of income and cash flow statements, and balance sheets
- Accounting for limited companies
- The Accounting Equation and double-entry bookkeeping
- The trial balance and adjustments
- Financial analysis through ratios
On successful completion of this module, you will be expected to be able to:
- Understand why it is important for commercial businesses, and in particular limited companies, to account for the financial value of transactions, events and activities.
- Understand the conceptual framework underpinning financial accounting systems.
- Identify and explore a range of selected issues and challenges within financial reporting.
- Be able to record the financial value of transactions, events and activities in financial accounting systems.
- Be able to construct key financial statements and recognise their strengths and weaknesses.
- Calculate and interpret financial ratios for a range of users of financial information.
There are two assessment components:
- Online open book test: 2 hours; weighted at 25%
- Coursework: up to 3,000 words; weighted at 75%