AF4004 - Introduction to Financial Accounting

You will learn through lectures, seminars, guided learning and independent study. There will be two lectures of two hours per week which will cover theories and concepts that will enable you to benefit from the experiential learning aspects of the seminars. There will be two seminars of one hour per week which will be facilitated by group tasks, team working, communication and interpersonal skills and enabling you to reflect on your learning.

Use of the module’s e-learning portal will be essential as this will support the work you will be undertaking in the lectures and seminars, it will also contain additional exercises that will allow you to undertake further practice independently.

Your progress on the course will be continually assessed by both yourself and your lecturers. The problem solving nature of the seminars means that lecturer (formative) assessment and feedback will occur continuously. Each lecture and seminar will end with a short quiz/test which will enable you to measure your performance on a more formal (summative) basis and allow you to identify areas requiring additional work. Periodic tests will be available through the e-portal to assess progress to date. None of these quizzes and tests will form part of your final assessment grade.

Independent learning time is set aside for learning activities, self-identified by your own research, so you can gain a deeper and broader knowledge of the subject.

The directed activities you undertake on the module are designed to ensure that you and the lecturing staff are the co-creators of knowledge. They will encourage you to create an active and self directed learning experience, which will allow you to take responsibility for your own learning, whilst still having a high level of support.

Support will be provided to you by a member of academic staff leading the module and providing the lecture input. A small team of academic staff will be allocated to seminar groups of approximately 20 students. They will be able to provide a closer and more focused support.

Your module is supported by an e-learning portal, which houses the teaching and learning plan, lecture materials, workshop and seminar exercises, current and previous assessment information, period tests and details of additional resources such as online recordings. You will also be able to access key parts of lectures which will be recorded on panopto throughout the course.

You will be provided with a wide-ranging electronic reading list that comprises of various academic reports, conference papers and journal articles that showcase the application of various issues and topics presented in the module.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
• Understand the nature of accounting and the requirements of the different users of financial information and features of the different types of trading entities and their associated reporting requirements (MLO1).

• Demonstrate competence in basic financial accouting skills and techniques in the support of appropriate financial decision making, in particular:
1. Record and process transactions
2. Prove the accuracy of the financial accounting system
3. Prepare financial statements
4. Interpret basic financial statements and communicate the results to users (MLO2).

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
• Consider the professional and business ethical dimenstions when making decisions (MLO3).

Formative assessment will be carried out on a continuous basis through the interaction in the seminars and workshops.

Formative assessment will be carried out weekly based on self marked short tests at the end of each seminar. This will be supported by periodic tests accessed via the e-learning portal. This does not form part of your overall assessment for this module.

The summative assessment for this module is based on a closed book three hour exam which you will take at the end of the course. The exam has been design to give you maximum professional body exemptions (MLO1, MLO2 & MLO3).

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This module aims to introduce you to how accounting techniques can help meet a wide range of users needs. It will introduce you to the basic accounting techniques which enable you to design and monitor systems to collect, record and summarise business transactions and interpret the results of your analysis in an ethical context. You will understand the nature and importance of stewardship and understand the limitations of financial accounting.

The subjects, teaching and assessments are aligned with the Professional Bodies – allowing you not only to gain exemptions from professional exams but also have experience sitting professional body style assessments. This will prepare you as much as possible for further study once you have graduated.

These topics will be considered from a corporate social responsibility perspective and ethical considerations will be a running issue throughout the course.