IA137-3-FY-CO:
Business Essentials: Accounting, Finance and Marketing

The details
2024/25
Essex Pathways
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Foundation/Year Zero: Level 3
Current
Thursday 03 October 2024
Friday 27 June 2025
30
12 September 2024

 

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

 

(none)

Key module for

BSC N401 Accounting (Including Foundation Year),
BSC NN43 Accounting and Finance (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N391 Banking and Finance (Including Foundation Year),
BBA N104 Business Administration (Including Foundation Year),
BBA N104CO Business Administration (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N201 Business Management (Including Foundation Year),
BA L102 Economics (Including Foundation Year),
BSC L103 Economics (Including Foundation Year),
BSC LL14 Economics and Politics (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N301 Finance (Including Foundation Year),
BA L118 Financial Economics (Including Foundation Year),
BSC L117 Financial Economics (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N124 International Business and Entrepreneurship (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N124CO International Business and Entrepreneurship (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N2N5 Marketing Management (Including Foundation Year),
BA L190 Management Economics (Including Foundation Year),
BSC L191 Management Economics (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N505 Marketing (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N505CO Marketing (Including Foundation Year),
BA LX14 Financial Economics and Accounting (Including Foundation Year),
BSC LG04 Economics with Data Science (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N347 Finance and Management (Including Foundation Year),
BA LX10 Business Economics (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N358 International Business and Finance (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N358CO International Business and Finance (Including Foundation Year),
BA R113 Economics with Language Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N114 Business Administration and Supply Chain Management (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N114CO Business Administration and Supply Chain Management (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N263 Business and Human Resource Management (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N133 Business and Analytics (including Foundation Year),
BSC N133CO Business and Analytics (including Foundation Year)

Module description

The module aims to provide students with a basic understanding of essential elements of Financial Accounting, Corporate Finance and Marketing. The module assumes no prior knowledge and begins with how to start a business. It covers accounting as an information system and this is followed by corporate finance which focuses on how to raise, manage and invest business resources. The module finishes with a very important part of running a business, marketing, where students will learn how to identify, anticipate and satisfy customer needs. The syllabus will cover financial statement preparation, ratio analysis, short-term finance, financing strategies, investment appraisal, market research, branding, advertising and social media marketing, as well as the critical core of social marketing.

Module aims

The aims of this module are:



  • To introduce preparation of income statement, statement of changes in equity and statement of financial position, including how to calculate and interpret accounting ratios using annual reports.

  • To provide students with an understanding of the difference between long-term and short-term finance for organisations, including understanding of investment appraisal techniques.

  • To provide a comprehensive understanding of marketing theories and practices, emphasising the complexity and multifaceted nature of marketing within historical and contemporary contexts.

  • To highlight the societal relevance and ethical considerations of marketing, fostering the development of critical analysis, problem-solving, and communication skills through theoretical and practical application.

  • To prepare students for future study in marketing, accounting, and finance courses.

Module learning outcomes

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



  1. Demonstrate income statement, statement of changes in equity and statement of financial position preparation.

  2. Evaluate financial performance of corporation using ratio analysis.

  3. Demonstrate understanding of the difference between long-term and short-term finance for organisations, including understanding of investment appraisal techniques.

  4. Apply and relate principles and concepts to the foundational theories and approaches of marketing, demonstrating an understanding of its activities within an ethical framework.

  5. Effectively analyse information, enabling informed decision-making in addressing case studies and problems related to marketing.

  6. Develop critical thinking and judgment skills, along with the capacity to communicate effectively through written means in the context of marketing analysis and interpretation.


Skills for your professional life (Transferable Skills)


By the end of this module, you will have been offered opportunities:



  • To improve your financial literacy and numeracy skills.

  • To improve your commercial awareness by familiarising with the current developments in accounting, finance and marketing.

  • To enhance your communication skills in class discussions.

  • To enhance teamwork skills by working in small groups during seminars.

  • To develop basic research skills.

  • To develop a growth mind set, your personal plan of setting targets and time management to undertake coursework.

Module information

Syllabus


Accounting and Finance Topics



  • Introduction to Accounting and starting a company. Income / expenditure / assets / liabilities / equity explanation and accounting equation. Income statement.

  • Statement of financial position

  • Accounting ratios 1

  • Accounting ratios 2 and annual reports

  • Depreciation, accruals and prepayments

  • Introduction to Finance; corporate vs investments, functions

  • Long-term finance; debt and equity

  • Short-term capital; working capital

  • Financing strategies

  • Capital/financial markets

  • Investment appraisal


Marketing Topics



  • Strategic Market Planning

  • Market Research

  • Understanding Consumer and Business Market

  • Segmentation, Target Marketing, and Positioning

  • Branding and Advertising

  • The Critical Role of Social Marketing

Learning and teaching methods

Teaching and learning on Essex Pathways modules offers students the ability to develop the foundation knowledge, skills, and competences to study at undergraduate level, through a curriculum that is purposely designed to provide an exceptional learning experience. All teaching, learning and assessment materials will be available via Moodle in a consistent and user-friendly manner.

This module is delivered by 4 hours of teaching per week over 22 weeks.

Each week’s instruction consists of:

  • One 2-hour lecture
  • One 2-hour class.

Lectures: will introduce several of the units from the relevant textbooks and other readings and identify the key points of the subjects under discussion.

Classes: students will be given the opportunity to discuss any issues relating to the module material and will work individually and in groups on a range of class exercises.

Learning support

Summarised lecture material is provided using PowerPoint presentations, which are available on Moodle. Students will be given exam-type questions and relevant articles to work on in classes and all such work will be given feedback.

Discussion and debate on relevant topics will be encouraged. Solutions to tests and past exam papers and marketing projects will also be discussed in class. Module Leaders can also be contacted by e-mail or during academic support hours, which are published on the Moodle site.

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
Coursework   IA137 - In-person, Open Book (restricted) MyLab Accounting Test - 15/11/24    30% 
Coursework   IA137 - Marketing Project  08/05/2025  40% 
Coursework   IA137 - In-person, Open Book (restricted) MyLab Finance Test - 07/02/25  09/05/2025  30% 

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
100% 0%

Reassessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Maja Pulic, email: maja.pulic@essex.ac.uk.
Mr Haji Yakubu, email: hyakubu@essex.ac.uk.
Helen Hearn (hhearn@essex.ac.uk)

 

Availability
No
No
No

External examiner

Miss Jan O'Driscoll
University of Chester
Dean of Lifelong Learning and Director of Foundation Years
Resources
Available via Moodle
Of 76 hours, 72 (94.7%) hours available to students:
2 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
2 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.

 

Further information
Essex Pathways

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