BA (Hons) Accounting (QFBA, Qatar)

On this module, you will be taught holistically to represent the ‘real life’ scenarios that are faced within the audit profession. Topics are viewed and taught as interrelated concepts, with the ethical principles of auditors (Accountability, Integrity, Objectivity, Independence, Competence and Rigour, Judgement, Confidentiality) underpinning the module content (Flint’s postulates). The following high level topics are covered during the module:

Audit in Context
What is the role, purpose and value of audit? What does the audit report say? What is the role of the audit profession and what are the key professional ethical guidelines? What are the statutory rules governing audit?

Audit Ethics
How does the nature of the audit business impact on audit ethics?
How does audit regulation promote or comprise confidence in audit ethics?
Why do audit ethics matter?
Threats to audit independence
Role of audit ethics in assuring audit quality

Audit Process
The identification of audit risk from knowledge of the business and the control environment. Planning the audit assignment
Analysis of Business Risk and application to the audit
Assessment of Risk Management and Internal Control
The nature of audit evidence and the methods of collection including sampling, analytical review and auditing accounting estimates
Critical appraisal of audit evidence techniques
The audit of going concern
Formulating and reporting an audit opinion

Current Issues in Auditing
The development of audit and the problems of independence
Critical appraisal of audit standards
Audit liability and its impact on the value of audit
The role of audit in corporate governance - internal audit, external audit and the audit committee
Role of audit in detection and prevention of fraud
Audit and society (Power, 1997, 2000, 2007), and the continued ‘audit expectation’ gap considering the impact of crises (Humphrey, Kausar and Loft, 2011).

You will learn to critically appraise, understand and apply a range of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The purpose of this module is for you to learn about a select number of standards in detail. In many cases this involves looking beyond the technical computational elements of the standard, instead focusing on areas of the standards which require the judgement of a professional accountant. The following standards will be covered in the module:

• IAS38 - Intangible Assets
• IAS32 / IFRS 9 - Financial Instruments
• IFRS13 - Fair Value
• IFRS15 - Revenue Recognition from Contracts with Customers
• IAS19 - Employee Benefits

In addition to the accounting standards mentioned above you will learn about some of the contemporary issues in financial reporting, these include:

• Corporate Governance and Compliance
• Integrated Reporting
• Sustainability and Carbon Accounting
• Responsible Financial Accounting
• Harmonisation
• Forensic Accounting and Fraud

You will be assessed by means of an examination and a continuous professional development (CPD) event. The examination will consist of a combination on computational, discursive, case-study and essay based questions. The CPD event is a simulated workshop where you will be required to present (in a group) on a contemporary topic in financial reporting. This will involve you carrying out research on a topic and being able to find innovative and interesting ways to disseminate that research to your peers during the workshop. This event builds your professional skills in a number of ways; researching, delivery of contemporary financial reporting content and innovate use of technology.

The module aims to provide you with the knowledge and skills of applying a variety of investment appraisal tools to support decision making in corporate finance. We also examine the notion of risk and value management in the context of large publicly owned organisations. All financial techniques which you will study as part of this module will be illustrated in practical terms. The module is delivered to you using weekly lectures and seminars.


Within this module, you will cover 9 main topics:

• Drivers of Corporate Value
• NPV sensitivity analysis
• Calculations of cost of equity and debt
• Capital structure and cost of capital
• Share valuations
• Dividend policy
• Market efficiency
• Introduction to portfolio theory
• Corporate cash holdings

The module will lead you to the development of basic analytical skills and confidence in handling numeric data using both mathematical derivations and Excel. In doing so, it will expose you to a wide range of financial techniques for use in analysis and interpretation of investment appraisal problems. You will become aware of the role of financial manager in the context of large publically owned organisations.

On completing the module you will be able to select and apply the appropriate financial techniques to support financial appraisal and decision making in a variety of situations. You will have developed relevant numerical skills to support the theoretical material introduced throughout the module. You will create, use and design appropriate spreadsheet models which directly relate to the concepts studied.

The dissertation module aims to equip you with the necessary intellectual and practical skills for undertaking an individual student-led, ethical investigation into an applied business (or the named degree) problem or issue. In addition, the dissertation aims to equip you with key transferable, employability skills, including: time management, project management, communication (written and verbal), negotiation, persuasion and influence, discovery, initiative, creativity and innovation in problem-solving, analysis.

The module is student-led but you are supported by, initially, weekly lectures and seminar-workshops which provide an introduction to undertaking Business-Management research followed by one-to-one or small-group supervision meetings.
The lectures and seminar-workshops will cover the following topics:
1. Developing a research aim/question (focusing and scoping the research)
2. Developing a literature review
3. Writing a research proposal
4. Researching ethically
5. Quantitative research techniques
6. Qualitative research techniques
7. Quantitative analysis techniques
8. Qualitative analysis techniques

Upon completion of the module you will be able to:
1. Conduct independent and ethical academic research involving the application and critical evaluation of appropriate theories and models,
2. Engage critically with relevant literature to establish a framework in which to analyse and synthesise the results of your primary or secondary research
3. Generate / collect relevant primary or secondary data using an appropriate and justified method
4. Analyse your data using an appropriate and justified method of analysis
5. Recognise the ethical implications of your work
6. Critically evaluate the source of your data and the method you adopted

The module aims to provide you with an opportunity to integrate the knowledge acquired during the programme and apply this to a consultancy project for a real organisation. This consultancy project provides a vehicle for participants to develop and demonstrate key employability skills, to relate theory to practice, and to undertake a significant piece of assessed work commensurate with a capstone module.

You will work on behalf of an external organisation, which has identified a business problem or question, requiring a solution, working in small group of typically 4 individuals (you will select their own team members), participating in group and individual activities. The host organisation will provide a project briefing, and review; students will be supported by appropriate academic input and guidance from Newcastle Business School in the form of a mentor and via the Business Clinic.

1. How strategic recommendations are likely to be evaluated by various stakeholder groups that place a different interpretation on the measurement of business success.
2. Understanding the concepts and frameworks of Endogenous Strategy that apply to a company’s Capabilities, Competences and Resources.
3. How to synthesise key concepts in the Resource-based View of Strategy (RBV) and apply them to companies in competitive markets.
4. How Sustained Competitive Advantage (SCA) can be achieved and maintained in an era of finite resources and increasing demand for sustainability.
5. How Innovation can be managed and applied to Products, Processes, Business Models and Sustainability.
6. How Sustainability can be incorporated into successful Strategy Formulation, Strategic Implementation, and Business Model Innovation.
7. How Leadership impacts upon strategic decision making.
8. Understanding how the concepts of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility can be applied to meet the challenges of Ethical Business Management in the future.
9. How to successfully write compelling and influential strategic briefing documents based around the structure adopted by this module.