Mr Farooq Mahmood

Mrs Chris Constantinou (Course Leader)

This course is available on the BSc in Actuarial Science, BSc in Business Mathematics and Statistics, BSc in Management, BSc in Mathematics, Statistics, and Business and BSc in Statistics with Finance. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course is available with permission to General Course students.

This is a half-unit course that introduces students to fundamental principles of management accounting, financial management and, because it allows the study of some core financial concepts, the accounts of pension funds and insurance companies.

AC103 begins by focusing on internal decision making by way of an introduction to cost and management accounting. This includes a discussion of key concepts of cost calculation and various costing systems relevant for decision making. The aim is to help students understand how accounting information can help managers make crucial decisions, such as about the pricing of products or services, or even whether to offer or discontinue a product or service, or whether to expand the product/service range or to invest in new product development. AC103 then develops into key concepts of financial management including the role of the financial system in relation to sources of finance. Because it allows the study of some core financial concepts, AC103 finally covers the accounts of pension funds and insurance companies which also play an increasingly important role in the financing of organisations.

22 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT. 2 hours of lectures and 1 hour of classes in the ST.

Written answers to numerical problems and discussion questions will be expected weekly; some will be collected during classes for marking and feedback.

Detailed reading lists will be made available at the beginning of the course in a syllabus. Illustrative texts include Atrill, P. and McLaney, E. (2018) Management Accounting for Decision Makers, 9th edition, Pearson; Atrill, P. (2017) Financial Management for Decision Makers, 8th edition, Pearson.

Exam (100%, duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes, reading time: 15 minutes) in the summer exam period.

The exam duration is 1 hour and 45 minutes. The first 15 minutes will be reading time.