BE102-4-AU-CO:
Introduction to Accounting I

The details
2023/24
Essex Business School
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 4
Current
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 15 December 2023
15
09 June 2023

 

Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)

 

BE103, BE110, BE111, BE120, BE132, BE142

Key module for

BSC N400 Accounting,
BSC N401 Accounting (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N402 Accounting (Including Year Abroad),
BSC N404 Accounting (Including Placement Year),
BSC N420 Accounting and Finance,
BSC N422 Accounting and Finance (Including Placement Year),
BSC NN43 Accounting and Finance (Including Foundation Year),
BSC NNK3 Accounting and Finance (Including Year Abroad),
MACCN440 Accounting and Finance,
MACCN441 Accounting and Finance (Including Placement Year),
MACCN442 Accounting and Finance (Including Year Abroad),
BSC NN24 Accounting and Management,
BSC NN27 Accounting and Management (Including Placement Year),
BSC NN42 Accounting and Management (Including Foundation Year),
BSC NNK2 Accounting and Management (Including Year Abroad),
BSC N4L1 Accounting with Economics (Including Foundation Year),
BSC NKL1 Accounting with Economics (Including Year Abroad),
BSC NL41 Accounting with Economics,
BSC NL44 Accounting with Economics (Including Placement Year),
BSC N390 Banking and Finance,
BSC N391 Banking and Finance (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N392 Banking and Finance (Including Placement Year),
BSC NH90 Banking and Finance (Including Year Abroad),
BSC N200 Business Management,
BSC N201 Business Management (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N202 Business Management (Including Year Abroad),
BSC N204 Business Management (Including Placement Year),
BA NR19 Business Management and Modern Languages,
BA N1R9 Business Management with a Modern Language,
BSC N300 Finance,
BSC N301 Finance (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N302 Finance (Including Year Abroad),
BSC N304 Finance (Including Placement Year),
BSC N2N5 Management and Marketing (Including Foundation Year),
BSC NN25 Management and Marketing,
BSC NN2M Management and Marketing (Including Placement Year),
BSC NNF5 Management and Marketing (Including Year Abroad),
BA L147 Financial Economics and Accounting (Including Placement Year),
BA L148 Financial Economics and Accounting,
BA L149 Financial Economics and Accounting (Including Year Abroad),
BA LX14 Financial Economics and Accounting (Including Foundation Year),
BA N19R Business Management and Language Studies,
BSC N344 Finance and Management,
BSC N345 Finance and Management (Including Year Abroad),
BSC N346 Finance and Management (Including Placement Year),
BSC N347 Finance and Management (Including Foundation Year),
MMANNN35 Marketing and Management,
MMANNN36 Marketing and Management (Including Placement Year),
MMANNN37 Marketing and Management (Including Year Abroad),
BSC N260 Business and Human Resource Management,
BSC N261 Business and Human Resource Management (including Placement Year),
BSC N262 Business and Human Resource Management (including Year Abroad),
BSC N263 Business and Human Resource Management (including Foundation Year),
BA N29RCO Business Management with Language Studies

Module description

The aim of this module is to introduce students to financial accounting and to some basic principles and techniques to analyse and interpret financial statements. Although the module is intended as an introduction for students majoring in accounting it should also be of benefit to other students who wish to gain some insight into the practices of accounting.

Module aims

The aim of this module is to introduce to the students the basic understanding of financial accounting, key elements of financial statements and the interpretation of financial statements

Module learning outcomes

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



  1. Describe the nature, uses and purposes of financial accounting, and outline the role and limitations of financial reporting in providing useful information to decision-makers.

  2. Understand the nature and contents of annual reports.

  3. Understand and explain qualitative characteristics of accounting information and its importance in ensuring the usefulness of financial statements.

  4. Understand the elements of income statement and balance sheet and construct both financial statements for a company using a trial balance.

  5. Explain the difference between cash and profit and understand the elements of cash flow statement.

  6. Analyse financial statements using financial ratios and explain the limitations of techniques of analysis.


Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)


The module is designed to provide students with a set of transferable skills which will be applicable in their professional life. Specifically, the module seeks to support students to develop the following skills:



  1. Analytical Domain.

  2. Academic and Cognitive Skills.

  3. Synthesis and bringing together concepts and ideas (A1).

  4. Data Analysis Skills.

  5. Analysing quantitative data (D1).

  6. Analysing financial data (D3).

  7. Personal Effectiveness Domain.

  8. Soft Skills.

  9. Teamwork (S1).

  10. Showing leadership (S2).

  11. Communication Skills.

  12. Writing a business report (C1).

  13. Professional Practice Domain.

  14. Technology Skills.

  15. Core IT skills (word, excel, PowerPoint, outlook) (T1).

Module information

The module will commence with a discussion of the nature and role of accounting and will consider who uses accounting information and for what purposes. The module will then discuss the contents of annual reports, especially the narrative sections, and the qualitative characteristics of accounting information. After this, the module will be concerned with key elements and the format of financial statements. The objective of this part of the module is to enable students to prepare company financial statements using trial balance. The module will also include discussions of the techniques that can be used to analyse and interpret financial statements.

Learning and teaching methods

This module will be delivered via:

  • One 2-hour lecture per week.
  • One 1-hour class per week
  • Online voluntary support class per fortnight.
  • Homework questions and practice tests will be available on MyLab online platform throughout the term.

Lectures

The purpose is twofold: first, to discuss and outline the appropriate analytical concepts and their ramifications and, second, to stimulate students' interest and direct their reading. It is very important that students complete all the readings immediately after each lecture because these are an integral part of the course.

Classes

The purpose is to demonstrate that they can apply analytical concepts and general principles to particular problems. These problems, which are a mixture of technical exercises and discussion topics, must be prepared in advance of the designated class. Students should note that it may not be possible to cover the answers to all questions in class but it is expected that students will attempt all the questions set.

Voluntary Support Class

The purpose is to provide academic support and answer students' questions.

MyLab Homework Questions

The purpose is to strengthen students' understandings of the lecture contents and prepare for the in-class tests and final exam, both will also be run on MyLab.

Bibliography*

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam Description Deadline Coursework weighting
Written Exam  BE102 TEST    30% 
Exam  Main exam: Remote, Open Book, 120 minutes during January 
Exam  Reassessment Main exam: Remote, Open Book, 120 minutes during September (Reassessment Period) 

Exam format definitions

  • Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
  • In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework Exam
30% 70%

Reassessment

Coursework Exam
0% 100%
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Abdullahi Ishola, email: a.ishola@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Abdullahi Ishola & Dr Roman Fitra Cahaya
ebsugcol@essex.ac.uk

 

Availability
No
Yes
No

External examiner

No external examiner information available for this module.
Resources
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.

 

Further information
Essex Business School

* Please note: due to differing publication schedules, items marked with an asterisk (*) base their information upon the previous academic year.

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