Module Directory

This module introduces key aspects of accounting and finance, and some of its main applications in contemporary management and decision making.

The central consideration of this module is that managers need to be aware of, and be able to critically evaluate, the informational outputs of accounting systems and financial management techniques, and how their application underpins managerial, financing and investment decisions, and contemporary issues of relevance to these techniques. This module also provides a foundation for the study of optional modules in accounting and/or finance.

The aims of this module are:

• To provide students with sufficient background understanding of accounting and finance principles and their role in the business decision-making process.


• To enable students to understand selected accounting and finance techniques, their application in organisations and contemporary issues related to these techniques.


• To support and encourage education and learning, and to foster the capacity for individual study.


• To cacilitate development of critical and analytical thinking for further academic study, employment and personal development.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Explain and apply the accounting principles and concepts underlying the preparation of financial statements, including notions of cash flow vs. accountingprofit and concepts of assets, liabilities, and equity.


2. Be conversant with the form and content of company financial statements (e.g., income statement, cash flow statement, statement of financial position).


3. Apply financial analysis techniques to make informed decisions/recommendations/projections and be aware of selected earnings management practices and controversies associated with meeting analysts’ earnings forecasts.


4. Gain clear conceptual understanding of managerial and cost accounting, cost elements and classification, cost behaviours and costing methods and short-term decision-making.


5. Evaluate investments employing standard criteria, such as Net Present Value, and,explain their shortcomings.


6. Evaluate investments while employing models that match risk and return as well as describe the conditions in which the models can be reliably deployed.


7. Describe the irreversibility and flexibility of capital investments and illustrate the use of real options.


8. Describe the ways of raising finance and discuss the factors to be considered when deciding on a suitable balance between debt and equity capital.

Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)

By the end of this module, the class activities and coursework will help students to develop the following transferable skills:

1. Ability to develop critical and practical problem-solving skills.


2. Ability to develop interpersonal communication skills through debate and team presentations in class.


3. Ability to identify relevant information from case evidence and financial reports.


4. Interprete accounting and financial information for decision-making

This module will be held over three consecutive weeks (Weeks 4, 5, and 6).

All sessions will be recorded and made available for later viewing and revision. Each session can contain a combination of lectures, workshops, and case-based discussion as well as group work and presentations.

The accounting sessions broadly provide the bases for reading, understanding and analysing accounting information (including the important assumptions underlying its preparation). The finance sessions explain the investment and the financing decision making processes within organisations and the use of accounting information and financial techniques to underpin such decisions.

Students are expected to prepare for each session, by undertaking the required readings, to enable them to actively engage with the session.