PRINCIPLES OF ACCOUNTING - 2020/1

Module Overview

To provide a grounding in the principles of accounting for students at Master level, most of whom are intending to pursue a specialist career in accounting or finance.

Module provider

Surrey Business School

Module Leader

AKERMAN Chris (SBS)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• Accounting principles and company reporting


• Preparation and analysis of the key financial statements


• Cost analysis and product costing


• Principles of budgeting and control


• Short term decision making


• Capital Investment appraisal

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Not applicable

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide a review opportunity for the understanding of the core skills learnt to date. Accounting is a skill based course and there is continuous need for practice. The best way to assess these skills is through examination and the course uses two formats a mid-term multiple choice and a final exam.

  Multiple Choice Test

  Every week multiple choice questions are available and these need to be practiced.

Examination

The examination consists of six questions, which will cover the range of learning outcomes described within the course content. Students are required to answer four questions. All questions require the student to display depth of knowledge by critical writing as well as showing competence in computational skills. The assessment is 70% of the overall mark for the module. The examination is closed book.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• A multiple choice test of 50 minutes


• A formal examination of 2 hours

The marks will be returned within the deadlines set by the University.

Formative assessment and feedback

Students will receive feedback on their performance during the module as every week tutorial questions are set and both written and verbal feedback is available in these tutorials. 

The teaching staff are available during office hours and are happy to give individual feedback on the course materials during those hours. There are questions available in Surreylearn all are supplied with model answers and students are advised to work through these during the semester period.

Independent learning

Students are expected to work independently for a considerable amount of the semester.  There is weekly reading from the core text for the course and each week students are expected to do a broad selection of questions to test their learning and some longer questions to evaluate their understanding. Remember this course requires action:

Take the initiative in finding out what needs to be done, drawing up weekly plans and implementing them.

Take the appropriate time to do the work set each week be systematic

Assess your situation regularly are you understanding the processes if not seek advice early.

Be reflective. Learn from your experiences. Review your study activities regularly and consider whether our strategies are working well.

Module aims

• Provide the conceptual foundations for understanding, analysing and interpreting financial information
• Apply accounting principles to decision making in modern business organisations
• Apply accounting principles to the business planning process and develop the skills used by business for management control

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

Ensure students acquire their professional and practical skills and intellectual and cognitive skills through a menu of delivery modes.

The learning and teaching methods include:

• SurreyLearn

SurreyLearn, identifies the issues within all topic areas listed in the learning outcomes and directs students to the relevant reading in the set textbooks and journal articles. SurreyLearn also includes activities that allow students to test their knowledge and understanding of the theories and concepts applied in the financial management context. It enables facilitation and interaction with the student body.

• Tutorials/workshops

Tutorials are used to introduce, compare, contrast and contextualise theories and concepts and then to apply these theories and concepts to questions.  Their primary aim is to improve student understanding and knowledge with students being encouraged to develop a deeper appreciation of the subject matter. 

The workshop (drop-in) sessions are used to further develop students knowledge of the subject with more questions, case studies and scenarios.

• Accounting Lab:

An interactive tool developed with Pearsons the publishers to develop the basic accounting skills this software, supported by the academic staff on an on-line basis, can be used to develop the core skills.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MANM198

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2020/1 academic year.