module specification

AC6064 - Advanced Financial Reporting (2024/25)

Module specification Module approved to run in 2024/25
Module title Advanced Financial Reporting
Module level Honours (06)
Credit rating for module 15
School Guildhall School of Business and Law
Total study hours 150
 
9 hours Assessment Preparation / Delivery
105 hours Guided independent study
36 hours Scheduled learning & teaching activities
Assessment components
Type Weighting Qualifying mark Description
Unseen Examination 100%   2-hour closed book exam
Running in 2024/25

(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change)
Period Campus Day Time Module Leader
Autumn semester North Thursday Afternoon

Module summary

To develop advanced knowledge and skills in understanding and applying accounting standards, other regulations and financial reporting framework in the preparation of financial statements of entities, including groups, and how to analyse and interpret those financial statements.
Students will develop analytical skills and apply these in the analysis, filtering and evaluation of data and drawing reasoned conclusions.

Module aims:

To account for specialised transactions in accordance with international financial reporting standards.
To understand a business combination and how to account for it.
To interpret an entity’s financial statements to give advice from the perspectives of different stakeholders.

Syllabus

  1. Accounting for specialised transactions including financial instruments, leasing, foreign currency transactions, employee benefits and share-based payments, fair values etc. - LO1
  2. Preparation of consolidated financial statements including an associate - LO2
  3. Analysing and interpreting the financial statements of single entities and groups - LO3

Balance of independent study and scheduled teaching activity

Scheduled teaching activity is a weekly 2-hour lecture and a 1-hour seminar. Independent study is supported by practice questions, case studies, past exam questions and published academic and professional articles. Online resources will be widely used in the teaching and learning of the module.

Learning outcomes

On completing the module, students will be able to:

LO1: Develop critical advanced skills for accounting for specialised transactions,
LO2: Prepare and present financial statements for business combinations,
LO3: Critically analyse and interpret financial statements.

Bibliography

Essential reading

Alexander et al (2017) International Financial Reporting and Analysis, 7th ed. Cengage Learning   (AL)    (Online Version available through University Library)

Recommended readings
Melville, A. (2019) International Financial Reporting 7th ed. Pearson Education (MA) (Online version available through the University Library)
Elliot & Elliot (2017) Financial Accounting, Reporting and Analysis 18th ed.  Prentice Hall (EE)

Professional journals and financial press

Websites
Accountancy Magazine – www.accountancymagazine.com
ACCA Student Newsletter – www.accaglobal.com
CIMA Student  – www.cimaglobal.com
Financial Reporting Council – www.frc.org.uk
International Accounting Standards Board Council – www.ifrs.org
ICAEW                                    www.icaew.com
ACCA                                      www.accaglobal.com
ICAEW online journal             www.accountancymagazine.com
Accountancy Age                    www.accountanyage.com
Financial Times                       www.ft.com

Electronic Databases:  FAME