AC330     
Financial Accounting, Analysis and Valuation.

This information is for the 2017/18 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr Vasiliki Athanasakou OLD 2.20, Dr Stefano Cascino OLD 3.32 and Prof Richard Macve OLD 3.11

Availability

This course is compulsory on the BSc in Accounting and Finance. This course is available on the BSc in Business Mathematics and Statistics, BSc in Management, BSc in Statistics with Finance and Diploma in Accounting and Finance. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course is not available to General Course students.

The course is available as an outside option, subject to the course leader's permission, if students have achieved a sufficient standard of performance in the pre-requisite course AC100 Elements of Accounting and Finance or AC102 Elements of Financial Accounting or AC104 Elements of Accounting, Financial Institutions and Financial Management or equivalent.

Pre-requisites

Students must have completed AC100 Elements of Accounting and Finance, or AC102 Elements of Financial Accounting, or AC104 Elements of Accounting, Financial Institutions and Financial Management.

Course content

The course addresses the theory and practice of financial reporting. Accounting practices are examined in the light of historical development, regulatory requirements, theories of income and capital and other approaches to accounting theory and to the use of accounting information in business analysis and valuation.

Financial accounting with particular reference to company accounts. Issues in financial accounting including accounting for business combinations under International Accounting Standards. Implications of empirical research into stock market effects of management choice of accounting policies. Business analysis and valuation. Regulation of financial reporting. International standardisation of accounting practice. A conceptual framework for financial reporting. The measurement of income, costs and depreciation. The valuation of assets. Accounting for changing prices. Further details will be given at the start of the course.

Teaching

20 hours of lectures and 9 hours of classes in the MT. 20 hours of lectures and 11 hours of classes in the LT.

There will be a revision class in week 1 of ST.

Formative coursework

Students should prepare weekly written work for class discussion. At least two pieces per term will be collected for marking and some of these assignments will count towards the final mark for the course.

Indicative reading

Detailed reading lists of books and journal articles will be provided during the course. No one book covers the entire course. Recommended books include Whittington, G, Inflation Accounting: an introduction to the debate, CUP (1983); Baxter, WT, Inflation Accounting, Oxford, Philip Allan, (1984); Beaver, WH, Financial Reporting: An Accounting Revolution, Prentice-Hall (1998); Palepu, KG, Healy, PM, Bernard, VL and Peek, E, Business Analysis and Valuation: IFRS Edition, Thomson (2013).

Assessment

Exam (80%, duration: 3 hours, reading time: 15 minutes) in the main exam period.
Other (10%) in the MT.
Other (10%) in the LT.

The two other assessments are presentation/essay assignments comprising group work (total 20%).

 

Student performance results

(2014/15 - 2016/17 combined)

Classification % of students
First 36.4
2:1 30.2
2:2 18.2
Third 10.8
Fail 4.4

Key facts

Department: Accounting

Total students 2016/17: 170

Average class size 2016/17: 16

Capped 2016/17: No

Lecture capture used 2016/17: Yes (LT)

Value: One Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

PDAM skills

  • Leadership
  • Self-management
  • Team working
  • Problem solving
  • Application of information skills
  • Communication
  • Application of numeracy skills
  • Commercial awareness
  • Specialist skills

Course survey results

(2014/15 - 2016/17 combined)

1 = "best" score, 5 = "worst" score

The scores below are average responses.

Response rate: 81%

Question

Average
response

Reading list (Q2.1)

2.7

Materials (Q2.3)

2.5

Course satisfied (Q2.4)

2.4

Lectures (Q2.5)

2.6

Integration (Q2.6)

2.2

Contact (Q2.7)

2.3

Feedback (Q2.8)

2.3

Recommend (Q2.9)

Yes

51%

Maybe

42%

No

7%