International Finance and Accounting

Module lead: Jo Watkins

Credits: 10

This module is delivered in Semester 1.

Module aims and objectives

The Module will provide an understanding of the theory and practical application of accounting in relation to the following accounting procedures:

  • The interpretation of external financial statements of incorporated companies (Financial Accounting).
  • Internally generated accounting information for decision making and control within organisations (Management Accounting).

The module will also develop skills in the analysis of accounting data and provides a good understanding of the underlying assumptions on which the figures are based. 

The topics covered by the module are:-

Financial Accounting

The following issues will be considered:

  • the underlying assumptions upon which the financial statements are prepared and the relevant International Accounting Standards.
  • the strengths and weaknesses of the figures included therein.
  • the legal framework under which companies are incorporated and thus the reasons behind the need for companies to prepare annual financial statements.

This will lead to a detailed analysis of a set of financial statements.

Management Accounting

This section will look at a number of techniques that companies use for internal decision making, namely:

  • Cost-volume-profit analysis:  the distinction between fixed and variable costs and break-even analysis and how these are used for short-term changes to companies operations.
  • Short-run decision making:  marginal analysis and the use of relevant costs.
  • Full costing: how companies calculate the costs of their products to enable them to set selling prices or to compare cost to a market driven selling price.
  • Making capital investment decisions – how companies evaluate major capital projects.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module students should be able to:

  • Demonstrate an advanced understanding of and be able to interpret a set of previously unseen financial statements.
  • Systematically apply management accounting concepts to business decision-making.
  • Display an advanced understanding and critical analysis of the role and function of accounting in the organisation both as an internal reporting and external reporting tool.

Assessment

2 hour unseen examination (75%) and a 2500 word group assignment (25%).