Undergraduate Course: Accounting for Business 1 (ACCN08012)
Course Outline
School | Business School |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
Summary | This course provides an introduction to accounting and finance for managers. The course examines the basic principles and underlying concepts and ways in which accounting statements and financial information can be used to improve the quality of decision making. |
Course description |
This course is primarily intended for students who are required, or choose, to study accounting as part of a non-accounting degree. There is a particular emphasis on understanding accounting information and financial management through providing an introduction to those analytical tools necessary to understand the financial management of an organisation and the interrelationship between accounting data, financing requirements and decision making.
It begins by putting the key accounting and finance concepts in context before exploring financial and management accounting principles and practices and how these relate to corporate decision making. It will introduce students to the nature and presentation of financial statements and how these can be used to report financial performance before exploring how accounting approaches can be used for business analysis and budgeting. Finally, it introduces capital budgeting investment decisions and how firms are financed and manage their working capital.
The study programme will involve a combination of lectures, where accounting and finance principles and concepts are introduced, often illustrated with real-world examples, and tutorials where students have the opportunity to explore these in greater depth.
Outline Content
- Measuring and reporting financial position
- Measuring and reporting financial performance
- Measuring and reporting cash flows
- Annual reports of limited liability entities
- Analysing and interpreting financial statements
- Financing a business
- Managing working capital
- Cost structure and cost-volume-profit analysis
- Budgeting
- Making capital investment decisions
Lectures will introduce each new topic and slides for the following week will be available on Learn. The tutorials supplement the material covered in lectures. These consist of groups of around 14 students, who meet weekly with a tutor. The tutorials can involve exercises which develop your computational skills, and seminars, in which you will discuss and debate relevant reading material and case studies which may involve role play discussion. The tutor is an important link with the class work. He/she is there to help you in your learning. Working through practical exercises is an essential part of learning accounting. Certain lectures are structured as workshop sessions where the class will be involved in solving a series of practical exercises.
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Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites | None |
High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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Academic year 2023/24, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 400 |
Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 30,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 9,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Revision Session Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
152 )
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Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
70 %,
Coursework
30 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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Additional Information (Assessment) |
Class tests (best 3 of 4 to count) 30%
Examination 70% |
Feedback |
During the course a range of informal methods of providing assessment feedback to students will be used. This type of work will not contribute to your mark for the course but is designed to help you assess your progress and allow you to take action as necessary. Examples of these modes of assessment include::
- self-assessment by working through examples and comparing answers with solutions
- tutorial assignments, tutor feedback and comparing answers with solutions
- online multiple choice end of chapter revision tests
- progress tests/quizzes conducted during tutorials
- practising the sample exam questions and comparing with the solutions
Students are expected to be self-motivated to make the most effective use of these informal assessment tools.
Generic feedback on your coursework, together with individual marks, will be available on Learn 15 working days from the submission date.
Your examination marks will be posted on Learn (together with generic feedback and examination statistics) as soon as possible after the Boards of Examiners' meeting (normally early-mid June). During the summer months (i.e. mid/end June - end August), you may come to the Business School Undergraduate Reception (outside Room 1.11, Business School, 29 Buccleuch Place) to look at your examination scripts. Note that you will not be able to remove any examination scripts from the UG Office as they may be required by the Board of Examiners.
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Exam Information |
Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | | 2:00 | | Resit Exam Diet (August) | | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand and evaluate the roles of accounting information and financial management in helping managers make decisions in organisations
- Discuss how budgets and cost accounting can promote planning, control and performance
- Review financial statements and evaluate the performance of a firm's operations and capital
- Relate accounting to the broader context of the strategic and operational considerations of the firm
- Apply analytical skills in solving defined problems
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Reading List
Accounting and Finance for Non-Specialists by Atrill (11th ed.) |
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Knowledge and Understanding
After completing this course, students should be able to:
Demonstrate a thorough knowledge and understanding of contemporary organisational disciplines; comprehend the role of business within the contemporary world; and critically evaluate and synthesise primary and secondary research and sources of evidence in order to make, and present, well informed and transparent organisation-related decisions, which have a positive global impact.
Identify, define and analyse theoretical and applied business and management problems, and develop approaches, informed by an understanding of appropriate quantitative and/or qualitative techniques, to explore and solve them responsibly.
Communication, ICT, and Numeracy Skills
After completing this course, students should be able to:
Convey meaning and message through a wide range of communication tools, including digital technology and social media; to understand how to use these tools to communicate in ways that sustain positive and responsible relationships.
Critically evaluate and present digital and other sources, research methods, data and information; discern their limitations, accuracy, validity, reliability and suitability; and apply responsibly in a wide variety of organisational contexts. |
Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
Course organiser | Ms Deirdre Ruddy
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Tellisa Cannon
Tel: (0131 6)51 3758
Email: |
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