Accounting and Finance for Non-Specialists

Module overview

The module is designed to provide an introduction to financial accounting, corporate finance and financial management of organisations. This module is intended for students from any academic discipline who have an interest in accounting and finance as an adjunct to their principle area of study. This module is not available to Students taking Modules: MANG1001 Financial Accounting 1, MANG1002 Management Accounting 1 or MANG1004 Introduction to Accounting and Financial Control.

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

appraise the role financial strategy within the business model of a firm.
understand the role of accounting information in the collection, collation, decision making and analysis of business performance;
evaluate the competing theories on the roles of dividend policy and the debt-equity mix in the determination of firm value;
evaluate the processes by which the value of both real and financial assets can be estimated;

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

financial strategy including capital structure, dividend policy and corporate governance of firms.
the purpose, limitations, layout and presentation of financial statements;
the importance of capital structure and dividend policy decisions;
the assumptions underlying the preparation, interpretation and analysis of the Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement;
cost analysis in the context of short and long term decision making and the use of discounted cash flow analysis;

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

benefit from improved skills in learning, problem solving, numeracy, written communication and self management.

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures, weekly classes and 6-7 hours of private study per week, including reading, use of websites and working computational problems.

Study time
Type	Hours
Tutorial	12
Revision	16
Follow-up work	30
Wider reading or practice	20
Lecture	22
Completion of assessment task	20
Preparation for scheduled sessions	30
Total study time	150

Resources & Reading list

General Resources

Other Resources. You are advised to read widely on the financial and business environment. The following resources may be useful: Quality daily and Sunday papers (in particular, the Financial Times). Nexis UK. This is a web-based service giving key business news and financial information on listed companies, and 250,000 unlisted companies in the UK. It is accessible from the library’s homepage. FAME. A web-based service covering 2.8 million UK and Irish companies and other businesses. It is also accessible through the library, as above. Company websites. These are likely to include copies of the annual report, investor information press releases etc. R. Vaitilingam (2005) The “Financial Times” Guide to Using the Financial Pages, 5thedition, FT Prentice Hall. ISBN 0 273 65263X. R. Hussey (ed.) (2005) Oxford Dictionary of Accounting, 2nd edition, OUP. ISBN 0 19 2806270.

Journal Articles

Trigeorgis, L. (2005). 'Making use of real Options simple: An overview and applications in flexible modular decision making. The Engineering Economist, 50(1), pp. 25 – 53.

Brounen, D, Jong Abe de and Koedijk, K (2006). Capital structure policies in Europe: Survey evidence. Journal of Banking & Finance, 30(5), pp. 1409-1442.

Textbooks

Atrill, P. and McLaney, E (2017). Accounting and Finance for Non-specialists. FT Prentice Hall.

Atrill, P. (2011). Financial Management for Decision Makers. FT Prentice Hall.

Gowthorpe, C. (2011). Business Accounting and Finance. Cengage Learning.

Watson, D. and Head, A. (2010). Corporate Finance: Principles and Practice. FT Prentice Hall.

McLaney, E. (2011). Business Finance: Theory and Practice. FT Prentice Hall.

Assessment

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Problem solving

Assessment Type: Formative
Feedback: Formative feedback will be provided during the lecture and classes on the students’ performance in problem solving exercises and multiple choice questions.
Final Assessment: No
Group Work: No

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Examination	100%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Written assessment	100%

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Written assessment	100%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External