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• Undergraduate study:
• Courses
• Order a prospectus
• How to apply
• Information for applicants
• Why choose Kingston University
• Disability and mental health support
• Accommodation
• Undergraduate fees
• Fees, funding and payments
• Access, participation and inclusion

Financial and Managerial Decision Making

• Module code: BD5004
• Year: 2018/9
• Level: 4
• Credits: 30
• Pre-requisites: None
• Co-requisites: None

Summary

This module is a core module which introduces you to accounting and financial decision making. The module has two main elements: retrospective (historical) accounting and prospective forward looking accounting. Initially you will learn retrospective accounting which consists of the basic accounting concepts and accounting standards of Financial Accounting and apply these in preparing a set of financial statements for a sole trader. You will simultaneously learn to use accounting software (SAGE). You will also learn about the regulatory and reporting requirements for different businesses. You will then progress on to prospective accounting which consists of developing management accounting techniques for decision making for the short term and long term. You will also learn how to analyse and interpret and explain basic financial information and use your analysis to make recommendations.

Aims

• To introduce students to basic accounting concepts and standards.
• To familiarise students with accounting software
• To provide students with an awareness of the different types of business entity and the regulatory and reporting implications of this
• To develop the ability to analyse and interpret financial information confidently
• To provide students with the knowledge needed to make operational and strategic decisions

Learning outcomes

• LO1- Use accounting software appropriately to translate financial data into relevant financial information in the form of appropriate reports.
• LO2- Prepare a basic set of accounts for a sole trader applying main accounting standards and concepts
• LO3- Explain regulatory aspects of accounting and use ratio analysis to interpret published financial statements
• LO4- Use techniques to optimally allocate organisational resources and use these efficiently, taking corrective measures when there are disparities between plans and performance
• LO5- Apply financial decision making techniques in respect of short-term and long-term management decisions

Curriculum content

• Application of basic accounting concepts and standards and appreciating the differences and importance of profitability and liquidity to organisations
• Using accounting software effectively to input financial data and obtain financial reports
• An introduction to the regulatory and reporting requirements for different businesses and the ways in which these impact upon external stakeholders
• An introduction to key aspects of managing finance within a business including budgeting and costing techniques and how these are used for decision-making
• The concept and application of relevant costing for future decision making
• Introduction to capital appraisal Investment techniques as a tool for making future capital investment decisions

Skills developed

• Critical writing
• Numeracy and data analysis - eg. understanding economic data (scale, growth percentages, averages); interpreting investment returns
• Literacy skills - presenting a professional business reports
• Problem solving
• Teamwork and interpersonal skills.
• Self-management, initiative

Teaching and learning strategy

This module is delivered through a variety of lectures, seminars and practical computer lab sessions. The lectures will introduce students to the key areas of learning and seminars will allow students to explore these with practical examples, additional material and group activities. 

Breakdown of Teaching and Learning Hours

Assessment strategy

There are three elements of assessment in this module:

1. a series of short in course tests, (MCQs)
2. an in course test showing printouts from SAGE (acc. Software) and Excel
3. a group report (3000 words)

Students will be provided with opportunities to practice for the exam by using similar source documents in class. This will provide formative feed forward into the final assessment. This will also help to develop their research, preparation and communication skills and allow them to receive feedback both from lecturers and their peers. The feedback they are given will allow them to achieve their potential in the summative assessment. 

Students will be able to practice MCQ and other short form questions on Moodle and these together with the summative short form tests will help prepare students for the report in which they will apply some of the techniques that they have learned.

Mapping of Learning Outcomes to Assessment Strategy (Indicative)

Elements of Assessment

Achieving a pass

It IS NOT a requirement that any major element of assessment is passed separately in order to achieve an overall pass for the module.

Bibliography core texts

Collis, J, Holt, A and Hussey, R Business Accounting (2012) Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.: Hampshire

Atrill, P. and McLaney, E. (2011), Management Accounting for Decision Makers, 7^th edition, FT Prentice Hall, Harlow, Essex