Optional 48-week placement:
Applied Professional Practice (120 credits)
Gain a strong understanding of a business including the identification and examination of an organisational issue, initiative or process. Examine areas of value to the host organisation. Develop the relevant practical knowledge and skills under the guidance and supervision of an academic mentor and host business.
Year 3 (national level 6):
Strategic Management Accounting (Professional) (30 credits)
Through this module you’ll cover the following areas of study: Relevant costs for decision making; activity-based costing; pricing decisions; budgeting; management control systems; variance analysis; performance management; transfer pricing; budgeting and control, including quantitative analysis in budgeting; performance management systems; measurements and control, including performance analysis in not-for-profit organisations and the public sector. By the end of the module, you’ll be able to evaluate a range of key sustainable strategic management accounting models and concepts, critically understand specific analytical skills in key areas within the management accounting profession at local and international level, appraise the role and limitations of management accounting theory, and apply key management accounting concepts and methodologies in order to contribute to successful, sustainable decision making in an organisation.
International Financial Reporting (Professional) (30 credits)
Through this module you’ll cover the following areas of study: International reporting standards, shareholder ownership and equity, financial statement analysis, trend analysis, financial reports and decision making. By the end of the module, you’ll be able to appreciate the current key issues in international financial reporting, critically understand the conceptual framework as a paradigm for sustainable accounting, analyse and evaluate financial reports for strategic decision making, and apply cognitive skills of critical thinking and analysis.
Corporate Governance and Ethics (Professional) (30 credits)
Through this module you’ll cover the following areas of study: Defining corporate governance, accountability, and disclosure; the impact of corporate governance weaknesses and failure; corporate governance reform in the UK (recent developments and future directions); the role, functions, and duties of board of directors in corporate governance; the role of shareholders, including institutional investors in corporate governance and context of socially responsible investing; the role of transparency, internal control and risk management in corporate governance; an introduction to corporate governance systems worldwide, and corporate governance and stakeholder accountability. By the end of the module, you’ll be able to critically discuss the key sustainable corporate governance and ethics concepts; demonstrate a distinguished understanding of different theoretical perspectives on corporate governance and understand their assumptions about key actors, motives and control mechanisms; explore international comparative perspectives of corporate governance, focusing on the system found in the UK and contrasting this with a range of different corporate governance systems in countries around the world; and construct critical thinking about a range of approaches and options for corporate accountability and ethics requiring the organisation of thoughts, analysis, synthesis and critical appraisal.
Financial Management (Professional) (30 credits)
Throughout this module you’ll cover the following areas of study: Capital markets and market efficiency, debt, equity, and hybrid financing, cost of capital and capital structure, capital budgeting, dividend decision-making, risk management, and merger and takeover activity. By the end of the module you’ll be able to evaluate key strategic decisions that a business may have to make and appreciate how the accounting and finance profession can assist in evaluating those decisions, critically understand specific analytical skills in key decision making areas within strategy and finance at an international and local level, appraise limitations of the current state of financial theory in making sustainable strategic business decisions, and apply key valuation concepts and methodologies of financial decision making in order to contribute to the wider sustainable decision making of an organisation.
