Financial Accounting
Lecturer: Jo Watkins
Introduction and Aims
The module introduces students to the contents and preparation of Income Statements, Statements of Financial Position, Statement of cashflow and other financial information provided in Companies’ Annual Financial Reports. The emphasis is on using accounting information as a manager. Some exercises in the preparation of accounting statements are included in order to give students the necessary familiarity with their content and layout.
The module looks at the analysis and interpretation of financial statements, including the use of financial ratios. It also provides students with practice in performing these analyses.
The module continues by looking at the concepts underlying accounting information and the role of law and international accounting standards in this.
Objectives and Learning Outcomes
- By the end of the module the student should be able to:
- Understand the contents of reported financial statements;
- Prepare simple financial statements from source material;
- Calculate and understand the purpose and appropriateness of different financial ratios;
- Review financial statements in order to express opinions on the performance of the companies concerned.
- Discuss the bases of preparation of financial statements and their strengths and limitations in providing information on companies.
Module Assessment
Continuous Assessment: One assignment to count for 50% of total
Examination Component : One 3 hour examination to count for 50%
Your essay/project will require you to provide financial analysis and comment on the Financial Statements of a UK Company. You will be given the Financial Statements by Week 6. You will be able to do preparation work and in Week 11 will write your commentary in a 3 hour supervised session.