Accounting BSc (Hons)

Climate change, degraded natural resources and the distribution of power and resources are some of the most profound challenges facing the global economy today. This module introduces students to key concepts, literature and debates to investigate the relationship between economic growth and environmental protection. The module adopts a multidisciplinary focus, drawing of key debates in political ecology, environmental economics and natural resource management. The teaching and learning approach will combine a traditional lectures with case study based seminars where in students will engage with specific cases of sustainability related topics on a weekly basis. This will equip them to critically engage with contemporary issues involving economic sustainability across a range of socio-environmental contexts.

Through a range of theoretical and practical instruction, this module allows you to explore the nature of assurance and the role of the professional auditor. The module gives an insight into the practical aspects of how and why assurance engagements are performed, paying particular note of audit and its role in corporate reporting. You will explore the theory supporting current audit practice and be able to critical appraisal theory. The module discusses the nature and influence of audit risk on the modern audit and the key issues of audit independence and liability. It also focuses on the contemporary and contentious issues surrounding the effectiveness of audit (audit quality) due to the limitations in the modern audit process and the ethical conflicts arising from the nature of audit as a business.

You will participate in ‘audit simulation’ and client ‘case studies’ activities, alongside engagement with practice based auditors to embed a knowledge of documentation, analytical skills and processes undertaken during modern audits. Technology enabled learning is utilised in this module and use of ‘audit simulation’ both within class, and as directed study. The practical assessed task will be submitted through ESAF, with feedback provided electronically.

This module examines the contemporary issues and controversies in financial reporting. As such it focuses on technical and theoretical elements of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This will enable you to understand how financial reporting standards are used and applied in practice. In addition, the module gives insights into academic research which supports your understanding of higher level financial reporting issues.

The module is split into two distinct areas which complement the assessment structure. The first part involves teaching of reporting standards which are a continuation of the financial reporting work you undertook at level 5 . The concepts which are taught in this module enable you to gain a deeper understanding of the subjective elements of IFRS, thus aiding your decision-making skills. The second part introduces theoretical research which aids in your understanding of the contemporary issues which face the macro environment of financial accounting.

Periods of financial turbulence has taught us that there are companies which are managed well and there are companies which are managed badly. Discerning one form the other is critical to stability of modern economies. From the financial perspective, the key difference has been in the way mangers view the trade-off between risk and return. After studying this module, you will be able to make an informed judgement on which investment projects firms should go for and which ones they should reject; what is a sensible level of debt and what impact capital structure has on the required rate of return. Having completed this module you will be fully equipped to contribute to the practical problems that financial managers are faced with as well as engage in an academic debate revolving around theoretical underpinnings behind the studies concepts.

The Management Enquiry module is a student-led individual project that enables you to undertake a significant piece of assessed work commensurate with a capstone module. The module aims to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate an authentic engagement with managers and/or professionals in your discipline, and to integrate the knowledge you have developed during your programme to explore the theory in practice. The learning on this module is experiential and problem based, where the focus is upon you discovering, probing and questioning key practice-based issues. Through the module you will be offered the opportunity to develop and enhance key transferable employability skills including; time management, project management, communication (written, aural and verbal), negotiation, persuasion and influence, discovery, initiative, problem-solving and analysis.

The module has five thematic areas; explore, review, engage, reflect and connect. These form the key elements of the assessed submission.

Part A (35%, 3,500 Words)
• Explore: Interviewing a manager and/or professional in your discipline. In this interview you will either explore a key issue which you feel the discipline is facing or, alternatively, explore with the manager or professional the key issues that they feel they are facing in practice. It is expected that you will apply appropriate interview methods and provide evidence of the interview within the submitted enquiry report (e.g. within the appendices).
• Review: Critically examining the appropriate literature to support the exploration, displaying an ability to critically assess and appraise the knowledge of your discipline related to a specific key issue arising from your exploration.

Part B (65%, 6,500 Words)
• Engage: Displaying an authentic engagement with the discipline problem/issue identified in Part A, by collecting/generating and analysing further live data (beyond the initial interview) regarding the discipline problem/issue. This live data may be primary data (e.g. further interviews with, or questionnaire to, managers and/or professionals in practice) or secondary data (e.g. industry data). Application of appropriate, ethically-considered, research methods and appropriate qualitative or quantitative data analysis.
• Reflect and Connect: Demonstrating an ability to critically evaluate and reflect on the issues arising from the Management Enquiry. Demonstrating how you have connected and fed-back to the participants of the Enquiry (usually the manager and/or participants) your key findings to provide clear prioritised, well-justified, practical and actionable recommendations for change/enhancement/improvement to existing practice to show how the recommendations would potentially affect workplace professional decision making.

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.