Accounting and Finance with Business English MSc

The MSc in Accounting and Finance with Business English has been developed from our highly successful Accounting and Finance MSc, which has established an international reputation for the quality of its graduates. This course allows you to develop your English language proficiency at the same time as studying the key principles of accounting and finance. It also develops your awareness and understanding of aspects of UK and international social and business cultures and practices.

What will you study?

In addition to improving your English language skills, you cover the theories, models and practice of accounting and finance at an advanced level, together with an understanding of how they integrate in the wider business environment. You will be able to demonstrate the ability to critically analyse and use relevant information to offer interpretations and solutions to problems.

You also have the opportunity to focus in depth on a specific area of the business finance function, thus increasing your career choices.

Kingston Business School works closely with the business world's principal professional bodies in order to harmonise its education provision with the needs of today's business practitioners. You will learn how to turn theory into practice and gain a qualification that has real value in the real world. Find out more...

Research is an essential part of the day-to-day life of Kingston Business School and is embedded in its intellectual activities and development. In the most recent RAE (Research Assessment Exercise) undertaken in 2008, the research output of Kingston Business School was the highest rated of any new university. Ninety per cent of our research submitted was assessed as 'recognised internationally' or higher. Of this, 10% was classified as 'world leading' and 35% as 'internationally excellent'. 

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Please note that this is an indicative list of modules and is not intended as a definitive list. Those listed here may also be a mixture of core and optional modules.

Core modules

• Financial Accounting

• Financial Accounting

  This module introduces you to financial accounting in a business context. It provides you with a mix of practical 'know how' and deeper theoretical underpinning. The module covers:

  • the principles for constructing the key financial statements;
  • how to produce financial statements from transaction records using double entry principles;
  • how to conduct an appraisal of the financial statements of entities; and
  • company financial statements and their regulation.

  The module uses an active-learning approach in the lectures with informal feedback through discussion and practice questions.

  
   
• Management Accounting

• Management Accounting

  This module will enable you to understand and prepare management information to support the decision making in an organisation. It covers:

  • how to calculate the costs associated with the production of products and provision of services, and determine their price;
  • budgeting approaches and how budgets are produced; and
  • effective performance management systems, including performance measures, to assist management decision making.
  
   
• Finance and Investment

• Finance and Investment

  This module enables you appreciate the theoretical developments and concepts in the area of corporate finance and investments. It includes:

  • the modern corporate finance theories and their applications;
  • the decision making process in respect to major corporate decisions and their implications for corporate stakeholders and investors;
  • risk and returns, portfolio theory and portfolio performance measurement and evaluation;
  • the valuation methods of securities traded in the financial markets;
  • security trading in the financial markets; and
  • issues related to agency theory, agency problems and corporate governance.
  
   
• Financial Management

• Financial Management

  This module covers how organisations arrange their external financing and manage their internal resources. It looks at:

  • sources of capital and theories of how capital structures behave in response to changes in the choices of capital sources;
  • methods and costs of protecting the firm's capital and operational cash flows against currency, interest and maturity risk;
  • treasury and working capital management; and 
  • the firm's choice in of growth through acquisition or or reduction through spin-off, demerger or reconstruction will be studied.
  
   
• Financial Reporting

• Financial Reporting

  Financial reporting is the communication of quantitative and narrative company information to interested parties within society.

  This module follows the Financial Accounting module, developing your technical knowledge and your application skills of international financial reporting standards (IASs and IFRSs). It will also equip you with a critical appreciation of the dynamic environment within which financial reporting is practised.

  
   
• Academic English for Business I

• Academic English for Business I

  This module aims to develop your grammatical and lexical competence to a level at which you can understand and respond effectively to extended native speaker written and spoken discourse within an academic business context.

  You will also develop an awareness and understanding of British business and social culture and practices and gain confidence in your existing and developing language skills.

  
   
• Academic English for Business II

• Academic English for Business II

  Building on Academic English for Business I, this module further develops your critical reading and writing skills to enable you to produce analytical and discursive work. You will:

  • develop your communication and presentation skills to a level at which you can select vocabulary and grammatical structures appropriate to a particular communication context; and
  • further develop your knowledge of the UK and international business cultures.
  
   
• Research Methods and Dissertation

• Research Methods and Dissertation

  Initially this module will equip you with the skills and knowledge needed to successfully complete a research project.

  You will then investigate a specific business problem via a substantial piece of independent work, which demonstrates your proficiency in:

  • the design of a research project;
  • the application of appropriate methods;
  • the collection and analysis of data; and
  • the presentation of results.
  
   

Option modules (choose one)

• Auditing and Control

• Auditing and Control

  This module introduces you to the concept of auditing. It will cover both theoretical frameworks as well as practical processes and techniques. It also looks at current regulation, legislation, corporate governance and ethics.

  
   
• Comparative International Accounting
• International Money and Finance
• Taxation

• Taxation

  This module looks at the general objectives of tax assessment and the types of tax that apply in the UK. At the end of the module you will be able to:

  • assess the tax liability of both individuals and businesses; and
  • appreciate the implications of tax policies on business decision making.

  The module also covers ethical considerations and the administration of taxation.

  
   
• Accounting, Environmental Issues and Sustainability
• Corporate Governance & Company Secretarial Practice
• Principles of Business Law

• Principles of Business Law

  The aim of this module is to provide a general understanding of the principal areas of English law that you may encounter in business or professional practice. The focus of the module is therefore:

  • the legal environment in which businesses operate; and
  • how legal issues affect the practices of business organisations.

  You will develop knowledge and understanding of business transactions in a legal context and acquire appropriate skills in conducting further research in the area of business law.

  
   

The Faculty of Business and Law runs a number of postgraduate and post-experience open days. Visit us to find out how we can help you achieve your career ambitions.

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Read what some of our current and recent students think about the course.

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This course is taught by staff from Kingston Business School.

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