AC5072 - Performance Management (2026/27)
| Module specification | Module approved to run in 2026/27, but may be subject to modification | ||||||||||||
| Module title | Performance Management | ||||||||||||
| Module level | Intermediate (05) | ||||||||||||
| Credit rating for module | 15 | ||||||||||||
| School | Guildhall School of Business and Law | ||||||||||||
| Total study hours | 150 | ||||||||||||
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| Assessment components |
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| Running in 2026/27(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change) | No instances running in the year |
Module summary
This module builds on the foundation laid in Level 4’s Management Accounting Fundamentals. It is designed to help students to develop a sound understanding of the principles and techniques used by managers in planning, control, decision making and performance measurement. Students will also able to understand the principles applied in job and service costing using both traditional absorption costing and the more recent activity-based costing.
The module is directed at core accounting and finance students who intend to specialise in the field of accounting and finance after their degree. It is aimed that the module should provide them with the skills they need in the world of work when solving different business problems. Students’ skills in cost accounting will be developed through the module to enable them to plan, control, evaluate and measure performance.
The module aims to develop students’ skills in the following areas:
- application of knowledge and data presentation
- communication skills including oral presentation
- Interpersonal skills including working with others to achieve desired objectives.
- Numeracy and interpreting management accounting information.
Syllabus
Specialist management accounting methods (LO1)
• Activity based costing.
• Target costing.
• Life-cycle costing.
• Throughput accounting
• Environment and sustainability accounting
Decisions-making techniques (LO2)
• Relevant cost analysis
• Cost-volume-profit analysis (CVP)
• Limiting factors.
• Pricing decisions.
• Make or buy and other short term decisions.
• Dealing with risk and uncertainty in decision making.
Budgeting and control (LO3)
• Budgeting systems and types of budget
• Analytical techniques in budgeting and forecasting.
• Standard costing
• Material mix and yield variances.
• Sales mix and quantity variances
• Planning and operational variances
• Performance analysis
Performance measurement and control (LO4)
• Performance analysis in organisations
• Divisional performance and transfer pricing
• Performance analysis issues in not for profit organisations and the public sector
Employability, technology skills MI Systems (LO5)
• Use of IT to access and manipulate relevant information.
• Prepare data and information effectively using the appropriate tools
• Management information systems
• Uses and control of information
• Big data and data analytics
Balance of independent study and scheduled teaching activity
Scheduled teaching activity is a weekly 2 hour lecture and 1 hour seminar. Independent study is supported by practical seminar questions, past exam questions, practice questions in the recommended textbooks and past examination papers with suggested solutions on the websites of ACCA and CIMA. Relevant learning resources will be available on Weblearn.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to do the following:
LO1 – Explain and apply cost and management accounting techniques.
LO2 – Select and apply relevant decision making techniques taking risks and uncertainty into consideration.
LO3 – Identify and discuss management information systems used by organisations to manage and measure performance.
LO4 – Assess the performance of different organisations using financial and non-financial perspectives.
LO5 – Demonstrate required employability and technology skills.
Bibliography
Library reading list link:
https://rl.talis.com/3/londonmet/lists/C0FF76BF-A3A1-3652-E075-85F4EB8028C0.html
Core Textbooks
Drury C, Management and Cost Accounting, 12th edition, 2024, published by Cengage Learning, ISBN- 9781473791244
Management Accounting, W Seal, Rohde, C, R H Garrison and E W Noreen, 6th Edition, McGraw Hill, 2019.
Other Textbooks
Management Accounting, P Weetman, FT Prentice Hall, 2010.
Management Accounting for Decision Makers, Atrill, Peter, 8th ed, 2015
Cost and Management Accounting: An Introduction, Colin Drury, 8th ed, 2015
Employability and Reflective resources :
Financial Reporting Council www.frc.org.uk
ICAEW www.icaew.com
ACCA www.accaglobal.com
CIMA www.cimaglobal.com
Accountancy Age www.accountancyage.com
Financial Times www.ft.com
PQ Magazine https://www.pqmagazine.com/
Journals:
Library Journal Databases: Academic Search Complete, Business Source Ultimate, Emerald Management, Science Direct
Websites:
Electronic Databases: FAME