Professional Core Courses
Accounting Information Systems and Auditing
This 15-credit course is designed to provide in-depth exposure to the basic areas of accounting information systems and auditing and to develop competencies in the practical application of these areas of expertise. This course is compulsory for some AcF degrees and optional within a range of other degree programmes. It is intended to provide an introduction to, and an overview of, the design and main features of Accounting Information Systems (AIS), and the use of such systems in the conduct of an audit, and also coverage of some basic concepts and practices in auditing.
Principles of Finance
The course aims to describe the theory and practice of financial decision making to cope with the practical financial problems that both firms and individuals are likely to confront. More specifically, the course aims to provide the basics for project evaluation, introduce the notion of risk, its role in investments and the methods to cope with it, and discuss how firms raise funds to undertake their investments. To equip the students with the necessary tools for dealing with such issues, this course focuses on the following subjects:
Capital investment appraisal techniques
The theory of risk, return and the cost of capital, including portfolio theory and the capital asset pricing model (CAPM)
The efficient markets hypothesis (EMH) and an introduction to behavioural finance
Capital structure and payout policy
Options and other derivatives: introduction and selected applications.
Financial Statement Analysis
This course is intended to provide you with:
A framework for business valuation using financial statement data and other information;
Financial statement analysis techniques that enable you to practically conduct business valuation;
Insights into the usefulness and limitations of financial statement analysis as applied in different decision contexts (e.g., investment decisions, lending decisions, etc.);
Teamwork and communication skills, analytical thinking, and general business knowledge.
Principles of Financial Accounting
This 15 credit course is designed to extend students’ knowledge of the environment within which businesses, particularly companies, in the U.K. conduct their financial accounting and reporting, introduce selected issues relating to regulation and monitoring and consider aspects of the theory and practice relating to financial reporting. Whilst the course examines certain technical aspects of the accounting process, it also aims to broaden the course participants’ outlook to enable them to appreciate the principles guiding the regulation of financial reporting, and the role of external financial reporting in the efficient allocation of economic resources.
Forming part of the Department’s financial accounting stream, the course requires the prior study of introductory financial accounting (AcF 100 or AcF 111/261 at Lancaster or equivalent) and leads on to advanced courses such as AcF 301 and 311. It is compulsory for the degrees in Accounting and Finance; Accounting and Management; Finance and Management Studies; Accounting and Economics; Accounting, Finance and Mathematics; and Accounting, Finance and Computer Science, and is optional for other AcF and LUMS (and other) degrees.
Management Accounting for Business Decision
The 15 credit (half unit) course introduces management accounting at an intermediate level. The aim of the course is for students to develop an appreciation of the main approaches to measuring, analysing and reporting information to support management decisions. The course is designed to explore the principles and concepts of management accounting, and also discusses its behavioural implications.
The objectives for the course are as follows:
Examine the major aspects of management accounting in the organisation;
Provide insights into the changing nature of manufacturing practice and the recent development of other management accounting methods (for example Strategic Management Accounting) and the impact on the role of the management accountant;
Facilitate the development of skills for, and knowledge of, management accounting in the organisation.
AcF 213 is compulsory for all majors in Accounting, for majors in Finance and Management Studies, and is optional for majors in Finance, Finance & Economics or anyone else with the pre-requisite of AcF 100, AcF 111 or AcF 261. The course leads on to advanced courses such as AcF303 and AcF 317. The course also provides those who wish to pursue a career in more general management with an understanding of the key concepts. This should help to enhance student employability regardless of the career path that the student wishes to follow.
Introduction to Asset Pricing
The objective of this course is to introduce students with no previous knowledge of accounting to:
• basic ideas and concepts underlying financial accounting,
• basic techniques used in preparing accounts,
• the use and interpretation of financial statements,
• an appreciation of financial accounting by companies, so that they can work effectively as future non-accounting managers with their accounting colleagues in cross-functional management teams.
Statistical Methods for Business
The overall objective of this course is to develop students’ abilities to describe, analyze and interpret data soundly, making effective use of computer software. Topics covered in the course include descriptive statistics, probability, discrete and continuous random variables, sample and sampling distribution, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, chi-square statistic, analysis of variance, and regression analysis.
The course also emphasizes the practical application of statistical methods including the use of statistical packages where appropriate. Statistical packages involved in the class include Excel and SPSS.
Tax System and Accounting
The course is a required course for undergraduates majoring in accounting. The teaching objective of this course is to enable students to acquire the basic theory and knowledge of tax related aspects, master the basic concepts and principles of China's tax system and the current tax law system of China, and master the basic theory and practice of tax accounting. According to the graduation requirement index points supported by the course, the course teaching objectives are subdivided into specific target points
Financial Accounting I
The aim of this module is to enable students to prepare and present financial statements for business combinations (complex entities) which conform to international accounting standards and to be able to explore and evaluate some of the more complex areas of financial accounting and reporting.
Financial Accounting II
The objective of this course is to develop students’ critical evaluation of advanced financial accounting issues, and to place this within the international accounting context. The course will focus on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The course aims to provide academic perspectives on accounting issues and therefore progresses from and builds upon CnAcF212 Principles of Financial Accounting (the pre-requisite course) and CnAcF301 Financial Accounting I.
Advanced Management Accounting I
The 15 credit (half unit) course introduces management accounting at an intermediate level. The aim of the course is for students to develop an appreciation of the main approaches to measuring, analysing and reporting information to support management decisions. The course is designed to explore the principles and concepts of management accounting, and also discusses its behavioural implications.
Advanced Management Accounting II
This module aims to extend students’ understanding on management accounting, focusing on three distinct approaches to the discipline: conceptual, practical, and applied. The conceptual part of the module aims to develop critical thinking skills for students via a wide range of philosophical and economic theories that fit with the management accounting paradigm. In particular, students will learn to become critical of assertions about the superiority of a management accounting system.
Issues in Auditing
This module aims to extend students’ understanding on management accounting, focusing on three distinct approaches to the discipline: conceptual, practical, and applied. The conceptual part of the module aims to develop critical thinking skills for students via a wide range of philosophical and economic theories that fit with the management accounting paradigm. In particular, students will learn to become critical of assertions about the superiority of a management accounting system.
Other professional courses
Principles of Economics
To provide a thorough introduction to the discipline of economics, including a descriptive and analytical overview of the workings of a modern economy both at the microeconomic level of firms and individuals and at the macroeconomic level where aggregates such as national income, unemployment and inflation are the focus of attention.
By the end of this course, students should have a knowledge and understanding of:
Analytical methods, both theory and model based The relevance of different theoretical approaches to public policy and business problems
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
Engage in abstract thinking by extracting the essential features of complex systems to facilitate problem solving and decision making
Engage in deductive and inductive reasoning to enhance problem solving and decision-making skills
Bring a range of modelling frameworks to bear upon the analysis of public-, corporate- and commercial-policy problems
Plan and manage their time effectively in relation to deadlines whilst displaying individual initiative and enterprise
Demonstrate a logical argument, analyze and interpret data and evaluate alternative perspectives on the basis of objective reasoning
Communicate and present complex arguments in oral and written form with clarity and succinctness
Understand the nature of incentives and opportunity costs in decision-making
Think in marginal terms about the trade-offs involved in public policy and business decision making.
Introduction to Operations Management
Operations management is found in all kinds of organisation, from private sector manufacturing firms through to public sector services. It is about the capability to organise all of the activities needed in the production of goods and the delivery of services in a world of intense competition. It is a core managerial discipline and of particular relevance to students in the Management School.
Part of this subject is analytical: being able to formalise, measure and understand operations management problems, such as congestion, under-capacity, and operational failure. Part of it is constructive: being able to plan and design production and service processes. The course reflects this combination, and includes both qualitative and quantitative methods.
Introduction to Accounting and Finance
The Business Environment section of the CNAC.F100 course is intended to broaden your educational experience, not only in terms of subject coverage, but also in terms of the skills acquired during the academic year. It is split into two sections
(i) group working elements and
(ii) individual study. This outline details the reading for both parts of the course and should be used as a reference guide for the full academic year. Details of more specific course tasks will be notified to you throughout the year in separate handouts.
Through self-study and group working elements, this part of the CNAC.F100 course introduces students to the business environment within which companies operate. It acts as a background and context for the financial reporting and the accounting and financial decision-making elements. It also introduces students to the basic nature of and concepts underlying certain main management functions.
Investments
Teaching Goals：This course adopts various advanced methods, such as international comparison, mathematical deduction and empirical analysis. It sums up the basic frameworks, structural system, key notes and study guides of modern investment with scientific system and rich content. Through learning the knowledge expansion module, this course highlights the latest development and trends of the modern investment theory and practice, and focuses on the combination of basic disciplines of materials with the forward-looking contents of the course itself.
Abilities That Students Should Attain：Students should fully grasp the basic concepts of the Investment, the basic theory and method. With the better command of the basic concepts and principles of the Investment, students should learn to analyze a variety of investment opportunities and the investment environment, study the regular investment process, formulate the best investment management strategy and cultivate and improve the distance learners’ abilities for proper analysis and solution to the problems of investment management, so that students can adapt to the changing needs of the market.
Statistics and Computing for Management
Understanding of data and uncertainty is an essential basis for sound decision making in any organisation. The main aim of this module is to teach statistical and data analysis skills to deal with data and uncertainty in a management and business context. This course along with MSCI 212 next year will teach a wide range of business analytics techniques. As well as covering the techniques, we will discuss when and how to apply them, and common pitfalls. This will hopefully enable you to challenge and spot problems in data analysis in various contexts such as organisational data, government statistics, and media news reports. The module will also include some computing skills, in particular the use of Excel. The module is available to students on specific majors at Part I and is taught during the Michaelmas term in weeks 1 to 10. The skills taught are widely used and are absolutely essential for many careers such as accountant, management consultant, business analyst, economist, operational researcher, specialist consultant. They are also very valuable for running any business from small start-up to multi-national.
Business and Management II: Strategic Management
Strategic Management is about making distinctive choices concerning the direction and scope of the organization over the long term, in order to enhance its ability to create value and improve its prospects for organizational survival and growth.
In a complex and turbulent environment, with rapid economic, regulatory, and technological changes, strategizing – the art of processing complex information thoughtfully and creatively and the ability to convince others of your analysis and recommendations – is a critical skill to acquire. These skills affect not only the short-term financial health, but also the long-term survival of a firm – and have implications for a broad range of organizational stakeholders.
The goal of this module is to provide you with an understanding of strategy that will enable you to discuss real-life business activities within a framework of contemporary strategic management thinking. This module is designed to encourage you to develop a personal and distinctive understanding and appreciation of strategizing for different industries and in uncertain environments, through lectures, case analyses and class discussions.
Techniques for Management Decision Making
The following five techniques will be introduced in this course: Network Analysis, Linear Programming, Forecasting, Decision Analysis, and Simulation. These techniques are part of the scientific discipline alternatively known as Management Science or Operational Research. As well as learning how to apply the techniques to business style examples, emphasis will be placed on the benefits and limitations of these techniques to enable you to understand when (and when not) to apply them.
International Financial and Risk Management
This course is directed at students interested in international markets and operations, foreign exchange, multinational corporations and their activities. The course provides an analysis of modern theory and practice in international financial management. Topics include: concepts and operations of foreign exchange markets; international financial markets; decision-making in multinational corporations; management of political risk; funding mechanisms; capital budge.
Financial Markets
Financial Markets is one of the required courses for accounting students. The purpose of this course is to make students (1) master the basic concepts, methods and principles of financial markets and institutions from multiple perspectives, establish a theoretical framework of financial markets and institutions; (2) cultivate the ability to identify and analyze financial markets and institutions, as well as the problems of financial markets and institutions in business practice, and propose comprehensive solutions to these problems; (3) cultivate integrity, professional ethics and social responsibility spirit in business practice.
Accounting and Finance Databases and Research Methods
This is a compulsory course for financial management and accounting degrees. Through the study of this course, students will master the methods of case study analyses techniques and learn basic empirical research methodology in Accounting and Finance. This course will provide students the ability to apply necessary research methods for the follow-up graduation thesis.
