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MN30170: Fundamentals of accounting and financial management

[Page last updated: 15 October 2020]

Follow this link for further information on academic years Academic Year: 2020/1
Further information on owning departmentsOwning Department/School: School of Management
Further information on credits Credits: 6      [equivalent to 12 CATS credits]
Further information on notional study hours Notional Study Hours: 120
Further information on unit levels Level: Honours (FHEQ level 6)
Further information on teaching periods Period:
Semester 1
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Summary: EX 100%
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Detail:
  • Examination (EX 100%)
Further information on supplementary assessment Supplementary Assessment:
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Further information on requisites Requisites:
Description: Aims:
The objectives of this module are to give students:
* A framework to allow understanding of the structure and contents of the key financial statements of business organisations;
* An understanding of the basic principles of financial accounting;
* An understanding of the basic techniques of preparation of such statements;
* The ability to analyse firm performance and position using financial ratios;
* An understanding of basic costing techniques in order to facilitate managerial decision making;
* Comprehension of the role and structure of budgets in an organisation;
* The ability to apply various investment appraisal techniques in order to make capital investment decisions.

Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the module students will be able to:
* explain the nature and roles of accounting and finance;
* identify the main users of accounting and discuss their needs;
* distinguish between financial and management accounting;
* explain the nature and purpose of the three major financial statements;
* prepare simple balance sheets, cashflow statements and profit and loss accounts from relevant financial information;
* use ratios to analyse the financial performance and position of a business;
* explain the relationship between costs, volume and profit and conduct break-even analysis;
* deduce the full cost of a unit of output in a single-product environment;
* define a budget and show how budgets, corporate objectives and long-term plans are related;
* construct simple budgets from relevant information; and identify and apply the four main investment appraisal methods used in practice.

Skills:
1. A level of numeracy which will enable fairly basic mathematical calculations in the context of preparing and using accounting and financial information - T&A
2. A generally well directed approach to the analysis and interpretation of information - F

Content:
The accounting process; the format and content of a profit and loss account, balance sheet and cash flow statements; techniques of financial analysis; fixed and variable costs; break even and contribution analysis; full costing; budgeting; capital investment appraisal.
Further information on programme availabilityProgramme availability:

MN30170 is Compulsory on the following programmes:

School of Management

MN30170 is Optional on the following programmes:

School of Management

Notes:

  • This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2020/21 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2021/22 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2020/21.
  • Programmes and units are subject to change in accordance with normal University procedures.
  • Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.
  • Find out more about these and other important University terms and conditions here.