By the end of the module, students should have developed an awareness of the literature relating to financial reporting theory; the problematic nature of accounting measurements and disclosures; corporate disclosure regulation; the market valuation implications of financial reporting; issues concerned with the reporting of assets/liabilities and the potential role of accounting information in social reporting and distribution of income. The utility of financial statements for markets, management and other stakeholders will be critically evaluated.
Module Aims
This module aims to help students achieve and demonstrate a critical understanding of major current issues in financial accounting and reporting.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
* Explain the reasons for competing perspectives on the role and nature of financial accounting and reporting.
* Appreciate the significance of accounting in shaping social relations.
* Appreciate the usefulness and limitation of theories informing financial reporting practice and research.
* Assess the usefulness and limitations of empirical studies which attempt to determine the factors which influence accounting policy choice.
* Explain the nature of and need for the regulation of accounting information.
* Evaluate the usefulness of accounting and financial information to a variety of stakeholders and society generally
Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
* Improve your written communication skills by writing essays.
* Improve your oral communication skills by engaging in class discussions and delivering oral presentations.
* Improve teamwork collaboration by preparing class presentations.
- Module Supervisor: John Malagila
The module critically examines a range of contemporary issues in management accounting such as activity based costing, strategic management accounting and other management accounting issues. The module critically evaluates contemporary approaches of management control theories to understand the current practices of management accounting locally and globally.
Module Aims
1. to provide students with wider understanding of management accounting by locating management accounting in socio-political, socio-economic and socio-cultural context;
2. to support and encourage education and learning, and foster the capacity for individual study;
3. to encourage and facilitate critical, analytical thinking as a foundation for subsequent academic study, employment and personal development;
4. to provide the necessary support to enable the successful completion of the degree;
5. to develop active learning and self-assessment skills
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
* understand the history and development of management accounting;
* demonstrate an understanding of contemporary developments in management accounting;
* understand the contribution of traditional and contemporary costing methodologies to internal reporting, decision-making and organisational control;
* understand the strengths and limitations of contemporary approaches to cost measurement, performance measurement and management controls;
* understand applications of management accounting in public sector;
* understand contemporary theoretical perspectives on management accounting and control.
Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
The module aims to develop a variety of personal transferable skills by encouraging students to:
* identify and distil key features covered by lectures, seminars and recommended readings;
* participate actively in seminars either by leading discussions or responding to issues raised by teaching staff or peers;
* discriminate between relevant and irrelevant information for the purposes of decision making;
* work effectively as a team member in the development of group preparation and presentation of seminar work;
* analyse data, apply judgement and solve problems;
* communicate effectively in writing by providing clear and concise word-processed essays;
* work under pressure and meet deadlines.
- Module Supervisor: Bedanand Upadhaya
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should:
* be able to engage in critical debate in the examination of traditional management control theory in different cultural, political, and socio-economic contexts;
* be able to understand management control practices operating in enterprises located in emerging and less developed countries;
* be able to understand management controls in public sector and local governments;
* be able to understand the current debate of privatisation and public sector reforms and their underlying assumptions implicating better accounting controls in privatized enterprises in LDCs and emerging countries.
- Module Supervisor: Shahzad Uddin
The purpose of this module is to provide students with a critical understanding of current issues in international financial reporting. The module commences with a comparative analysis of the development of national accounting systems. Next the role of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and its impact on financial reporting internationally will be examined in the context of perceived advantages and disadvantages of harmonisation and standardisation. Although the importance of the IASB is primarily seen in the context of capital markets, we will also consider the particular financial reporting needs of developing countries.
The module then considers several country studies, including examples of financial reporting taken from North America, Europe and Japan. Finally the module considers some specific issues related to comparative international financial analysis.
Learning Outcomes
After completing this module the student will be expected to be able to:
Identify and evaluate the factors which help to explain differences in the main types of financial reporting system in use internationally.
Critically evaluate the role of the IASB in promoting international harmonisation and standardisation of financial reporting.
Assess the benefits and costs associated with issues such as the increased harmonisation of financial statements.
- Module Supervisor: Pawan Adhikari
LEARNING OUTCOMES
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
* Critically assess the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to corporate governance theory.
* Assess the benefits and costs associated with increased corporate governance regulation.
* Identify the potential reasons for corporate governance failure.
- Module Supervisor: Azimjon Kuvandikov
Learning Outcomes
1. Examine how publicly available information can aid in analysing the performance of companies, and critically evaluate the limitations of financial performance measures.
2. Critically evaluate the use of ratios in decision making and decision models.
3. Critically evaluate the impact of financial reporting standards and corporate governance on the performance of companies.
4. Demonstrate a critical understanding of how creative accounting and manipulating the accounts can affect the reliability of the information provided in the financial statements.
5. Develop presentation skills and reflective analysis.
SKILLS FOR YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE (TRANSFERABLE SKILLS)
* Improve your data analytical skills by analysing the performance of a real-life company.
* Improve your written communication skills by preparing a business report, PowerPoint presentations and a poster presentation.
* Improve your oral communication skills by delivering oral class presentations.
* Improve teamwork collaboration by preparing class presentations and putting together a poster presentation.
- Module Supervisor: Fitra Cahaya
Module Aims
The module aims to provide students without a first degree in accounting or an accounting related subject with a sufficient grounding in management accounting and management control principles, investment appraisal and financial control principles, and market and managerial behaviours.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
• Critically reflect on issues related to accounting and financial/managerial decision making.
• Develop a critical understanding of short term decision making principles and techniques, such as incremental costing and cost volume profit analysis.
• Critically evaluate the role of budgeting and management control in organisations and discuss the conflicting implications of budgeting decisions.
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of how activities can form a basis for managerial decisions as opposed to traditional methods of costing.
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of how the management of working capital such as inventories, the accounts payable, accounts receivable as well as cash conversion cycle can form a basis for short term financial decision making.
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of whether long term investment and financing decisions should aim at maximising organisational profitability and owners’ wealth.
• Develop a critical understanding of financial and non-financial performance measurement and management control methods.
• Demonstrate an understanding of rational economic, interpretative and critical perspectives on accounting.
• Develop presentation skills, critical thinking, and reflective analysis.
Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
At the end of this module you should be able to demonstrate the following attributes:
• Research Skills and techniques- to be able to use the coursework to demonstrate the ability to analyse critically and evaluate one’s findings and those of others, summarize findings and write a report, use the coursework to advance their knowledge of how to find and collect relevant background information linked to the coursework.
• Enhance oral communication skills by using workshops and collaborative tasks to present information and ideas clearly and concisely, presents opinion and ideas in an open objective way.
• Critical thinking- to be able to rely on the lectures, to review different points of view or ideas and make objective judgement, and investigating all possible solutions to a problem by considering the pros and cons.
• Personal effectiveness- use the coursework to show initiative, work independently and be self-reliant, demonstrate the willingness and ability to learn and acquire knowledge.
- Module Supervisor: Jacob Agyemang