Undergraduate Course: The Accounting Profession (ACCN10027)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course is designed to offer historical and contemporary insights to issues such as: the problematic organisation of the accountancy profession; the power of accountancy firms; the changing scope of professional work; shifting boundaries with other professions; the accountancy profession in the global economy; exclusion from the profession on the basis of class, gender and race; diversity and equality; threats to accounting professionalism; and challenges to professional ethics. |
| Course description |
The aim of the module is to provide final year students in accounting with critical insights to the profession they may enter or are likely to engage with during their careers. The course looks beyond the technical knowledge and skills acquired in earlier accounting courses to focus on the individuals who apply that knowledge and skill as members of professional organisations working in accountancy firms, industry and the public sector. The inclusion of subjects such as ethical decision making adds a vocationally relevant dimension to the module.
Syllabus
Introduction to professions and the accounting profession
The professionalisation of accounting
Recruitment, socialisation and professional identity
Gender and the accounting profession
Race, ethnicity and the accounting profession
Professional work and jurisdictions
Accounting firms
Professional ethics
Commercialisation, globalisation and professionalism
Review - Deprofessionalisation or new professionalism
Student Learning Experience
The course is based on weekly two-hour sessions which will comprise a combination of lectures and group presentations on assigned topics. Lecture material will be distributed for each session. Students are expected to undertake additional self-study using recommended reading material.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Course equivalents to Advanced Financial Accounting (ACCN10008); Management Accounting Applications (ACCN10010); Auditing (ACCN10009) |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Describe and discuss critically the principal theories which seek to explain and interpret professionalisation projects.
- Relate and discuss the structure and development of the accountancy profession in the UK and globally, including the power of the multinational accounting firms and assess the impact of commercialisation on accounting professionalism.
- Understand and critically discuss the importance of recruitment and socialisation processes to the construction of the professional accountant.
- Understand and critically discuss the significance of class, gender and race as barriers to recruitment and career building in the accountancy profession.
- Analyse critically the changing patterns of professional work and professional ethics in accountancy and interfaces with other professions.
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Reading List
| There is no textbook for the course. A reading list for each session will be provided at the start of the course and will mainly comprise articles from academic journals which are available from e-journals, along with books and documents from the websites of organisations such as the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), and the Professional Oversight Board. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Intellectual Skills:
- Identification and utilisation of relevant information
- Analysis of qualitative data
- Critical evaluation and interpretation of information
- Synthesising and communicating findings
- Problem identification and solving
Discipline Specific (including practical) Skills:
Critical awareness of:
- Behaviour of accountants, accounting firms and professional organisations
- Composition and application of accountancy practice
- Contexts in which professional work is conducted
- Threats and opportunities facing the accounting profession.
- Ethical decision making
- Nature of accounting professionalism
- Inter-professional boundaries
Transferable Skills:
- Independent learning skills
- Interpersonal communication skills
- Organisation skills
- Research skills
- Analytical skills
- Synthesising skills
- Written and oral communication skills |
| Keywords | TAP |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Stephen Walker
Tel: (0131 6)51 5543
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Jen Wood
Tel: (0131 6)50 8335
Email: |
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