Course overview

Gain a solid foundation of knowledge and skills for a broad range of potential career options within finance, accountancy or general management. 

Sound financial knowledge and accountancy skills are needed for most forms of business to make the right decisions, develop the right strategies and achieve growth while also considering issues of ethics and sustainability. Almost every management job requires an understanding of budgeting and financial administration to ensure the business remains on track and meets its targets. This highly practical course will give you the opportunity to: 

Gain a solid grasp of accounting techniques, taxation, financial legislation, financial management and business strategy and demonstrate how these are being applied in today’s business world.
Attain a wide breadth of knowledge across both disciplines of accounting and finance while developing skills often quoted by employers as lacking in graduates including critical evaluation, self-direction and problem-solving, and IT skills. 
Apply theory to real-life scenarios that you might encounter on a day-to-day basis as a professional.

Why you should study this course

By studying this course you will have the opportunity to:

Put your skills to the test
Prepare and analyse financial statements, as well as studying the impact of finance on real businesses through case studies of a diverse range of organisations.
Tailor your studies
Select from a range of optional modules in your final year, allowing you to tailor your studies to a particular area of interest.

What you'll study

The main study themes covered on this course are:

Accounting and finance fundamentals: The basic principles, rationale and methods used in analysing, recoding, planning and managing accounts or finances.
Taxation and law: Study of relevant business law, as well as knowledge of company and personal tax.
Economics and business: Understanding how businesses operate within the external environment and the impact of, for example competition or overseas tax legislation on profit and loss.
Statistical analysis and quantitative methods: Essential numeracy skills and analysis for financial reporting, forecasting and modelling, for example, evaluating how much debt a company can afford or the optimum percentage sales growth.
Research skills:  Analyse and discuss contemporary accounting and finance issues; explore research methodology and research methods; synthesise and evaluate data from a range of sources.
Employability skills:  Designed to provide you with the opportunity to develop a range of generic skills that will be of value in any potential future employment, following graduation, including teamwork, numeracy, literacy, oral communication, ITC skills, and time management.

Broaden your knowledge of accountancy and personal finance, together with key elements of business and decision-making. 

Successful completion of the first year provides the foundations for all further study on this course. We will explore a range of topics that cover the basics of accounting and finance, including financial accounting, management accounting, finance, mathematics, statistics and business economics.

Modules

Introduction to Finance

Introduction to Economics

Introduction to Management Accounting

The principal aims of this module are to

Introduce you to the nature and behaviour of costs, the various approaches to the treatment of overheads and the different methods of costing available to the professional management accountant.
Introduce you to the concept of budgeting, measurement of variances, contribution analysis and other accounting concepts.

Compulsory

Statistics for Finance and Accounting

This module aims to provide you with transferable skills required for subsequent accounting and finance modules. In addition it provides the statistics based skills required to obtain exemptions from professional qualifications. The module will give the student a grounding in two principal areas:

ICT skills: basic I.T. based numeracy skills and also accounting data-based research skills using appropriate databases resources.
Statistics: an introduction to statistical methods relevant to accounting and finance including: descriptive statistics, statistical inference and regression modelling.

Compulsory

Business Mathematics

This module aims to develop your ability to apply appropriate mathematical techniques to financial and economic problems. It starts by applying basic mathematical methods that you will have covered at GCSE level or equivalent, and then introduces you to other techniques in the context of financial and economic applications.

Compulsory

Financial Accounting

Law for Business

This module aims to provide you with the knowledge, understanding and skills to identify and deal with a range of legal issues likely to be encountered in business. This will include an understanding of how the law works and the ability to apply the law to appropriate scenarios.

Compulsory

Academic and Employment Skills

This module aims to provide you with a range of skills which will enable you to become effective learners and enhance your employability. During the module you will be introduced to a range of subject specific knowledge and communication skills. In addition you will be introduced to a personal development planning and will be encouraged to become reflective learners.

Compulsory

In your second year, you will have the opportunity to further deepen your knowledge of key areas of both accounting and finance through mandatory modules such as Management Accounting, Accounting Information Systems and Principles of Financial Investment. You’ll also have the option to select an optional module allowing you to tailor the course to your own areas of personal interest.

Modules

Financial Reporting

This module builds on the Financial Accounting module and focuses primarily on the preparation and interpretation of published financial statements by public limited companies. Through use of real world examples, you will develop the knowledge and skills necessary to understand and apply a number of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) and accounting theory in the preparation of published financial statements for entities, including a simple group structure. You will also develop the skills necessary to critically analyse and interpret these financial statements and become aware of limitations in published accounting information.

Compulsory

Accounting Information Systems

Management Accounting

Professional and Academic competencies

This module aims to further develop and practice a range of key skills required of the professional accountant and financier.

Your academic research and writing skills will be improved by your having to identify a principal research question and carry out an initial literature review. Through this you will be prepared for the project or dissertation in accounting or finance required in the final year.

Compulsory

Principles of Financial Investment

This module looks at the goals of the firm and the roles of the financial markets, financial managers and stock market indices. It examines capital appraisal techniques and will equip you to understand various classes of financial assets and how they can be valued, how the cost of capital can be measured and the debate over whether capital structure affects the cost of capital.

Compulsory

Optional modules

Choose one from the following modules:

Economics of Banking and Finance

The module examines the underlying principles and characteristics of money and banking that are the foundation for understanding their role in the economy. The aims of the module are to enable you to analyse the nature and functions of financial institutions, and to equip you with the necessary tools and concepts to explain and interpret the process of financial intermediation. It establishes a fair understanding of the system of regulation in financial markets.

Financial Services

This module intends to provide you with an understanding of the functions and operation of retail financial services in the UK and the international context. It aims to provide an advanced knowledge of the main financial products offered by the financial service industry in the UK and in other major countries. These will include investment, savings, borrowing, insurance and pension alternatives available to individuals. It also provides a background to financial advice at the personal level through an understanding of the regulation framework and the decision -making process.

Principles of Taxation

The overall aims of this module are to enable you to develop knowledge and understanding in the core areas of UK tax related to business and their employees, and to prepare simple tax computations for individuals and companies.

Optional

The final year of study is designed to provide a greater level of specialisation, with the chance to enhance your analysis and rigour, evaluative and critical thinking. A wide range of optional modules are available to further tailor your studies – from Portfolio Management to Audit and Assurance. You will be required to conduct a project or dissertation to demonstrate your understanding of accounting and finance; students often choose a specific contemporary issue of interest to them.

Modules

International Finance

The aim of this module is to provide you with an understanding of the international dimension of finance and how this impacts upon business. By the end of this module you should appreciate the workings and operation of currency derivatives markets, the international money and capital markets and the principles of currency risk management.

Compulsory

Corporate Financial Management

Project

This module aims to provide you with an opportunity to apply and develop your research skills by extending your knowledge, understanding and powers of critical analysis within a specialist domain. You will chose an academic area related to your programme of study and apply your independent learning skills to research this area in depth. You will receive academic support through a series of group supervisions and will be allocated a project supervisor.

Compulsory

Optional modules

Choose three from the following modules:

Audit and Assurance

The module builds on and requires knowledge and understanding of financial accounting and reporting developed by Financial Reporting and Analysis or equivalent. Its aim, for different business entities operating in an international environment, is to develop understanding and critical evaluation of:

Internal control risks and organisational responses, and
Audit processes and their application in the context of the external regulatory framework.

Advanced Financial Reporting

The module focuses primarily on the preparation of published financial statements by public limited companies. The module aims to enable you to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to understand and apply International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) and accounting theory in the preparation of published financial statements of entities, including groups.

Advanced Management Accounting

This module seeks to equip you to design, use and critically appraise management and cost accounting information systems. You will learn how to employ advanced management accounting techniques, but also to evaluate their strengths and limitations and appreciate when different techniques may or may not be appropriate in the light of recent research in this area.

Business Strategy

This module aims to provide a firm foundation for understanding and applying a number of strategic management models, concepts and techniques. Through the use of case studies and real world examples, you will consider the usefulness of strategic management in enabling businesses to assess competitive conditions, evaluate corporate capabilities, and identify means for them to establish a sustainable competitive advantage. It will therefore explore the techniques of strategic analysis and evaluation available to companies, aiming to develop their strategic options, choices and business performance.

Portfolio Management

This module examines how portfolios are structured, monitored and managed for maximum effectiveness. It develops your understanding and ability to apply asset allocation, portfolio strategies, international diversification and performance evaluation techniques.

Investment Analysis

This module provides you with an understanding of: the characteristics of bond and equity financial investments, and methods used in their valuation. The teaching of the model will be focused around the use of practical problem-solving exercises using, where possible, real-world financial data.

Optional

We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.

How you'll learn

Combining theory and practice, our course is designed to give you the opportunity to gain the practical skills and experience needed for your potential future career.

Combining theory and practice, our course is designed to give you the opportunity to gain the practical skills and experience needed for your potential future career. Learning and teaching incorporates lectures, seminars, tutorials, presentations, projects, workshops, simulation and practical exercises.

As well as simulation and practical exercises, such as preparing financial statements or assessing financial investment options, you will have the opportunity to apply theory to real-life scenarios that you might encounter on a day-to-day basis as a professional. In the past, students have analysed financial statements from supermarket giants’ Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons; they’ve also looked at the competencies and skills of easyJet in comparison to its competitors to try to ascertain what has contributed to its financial success.

In addition to the academic content, we explore a wide range of professional skills on the course, including: team working; critical evaluation; self-directed learning; problem-solving; action planning and organising; written and oral communication; presentation; questioning and listening. We’ll also explore the following personal qualities in each of the skills modules: achievement orientation; initiative and creativity; self-confidence; decisiveness; reflectiveness; adaptability and flexibility.

We set out below the typical teaching contact hours that you will receive on this course. Teaching contact hours will vary in different semesters and years of study and may vary due to module selection.

Within your first and second year, you will have around 12 contact hours of teaching a week which includes:

Medium group teaching: seminars or workshops per week.
Large group teaching: lectures each week.

In your final year, if you are undertaking a project/dissertation, there is a greater emphasis placed on independent study and therefore total contact hours may be reduced. In addition, you will be expected to undertake a significant amount of studying and revising in your own time each week, including some guided study using for example, seminar exercises or online activities.

The contact hours may be made up of a combination of face-to-face teaching, individual and group tutorials, and online classes and tutorials.

As an innovative and enterprising institution, the University may seek to utilise emerging technologies within the student experience. For all courses (whether on-campus, blended, or distance learning), the University may deliver certain contact hours and assessments via online technologies and methods.

Assessment

This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which will vary depending upon the module.

Assessment methods include:

Formal examinations
Phase tests
Essays
Group work
Presentations.

The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards the achieving the intended learning outcomes. Assessments may include exams, individual assignments or group work elements.

Entry requirements

Contact PSB Academy

Fees and funding

Student	Full-time	Part-time
International	Contact PSB for fees per year	Not available

Careers and opportunities

On successful completion, you will be able to: 

Understand the complex and dynamic global business environment in which accounting operates including awareness of interdependencies between the regulatory, legal, ethical and economic frameworks.
Identify, extract and interpret data from a variety of financial and other numerical sources using appropriate financial analysis techniques and an appreciation of statistical concepts.
Record and summarise transactions and other global economic events; prepare financial statements in compliance with relevant regulatory requirements; and show awareness of the contexts in which accounting data and information is processed and used by different stakeholder groups.
Demonstrate an understanding of the financial needs of business entities, an appreciation of how theory and evidence may be used to guide practice; the workings of capital markets; and the relationships between risk and return.
Critically evaluate a range of contemporary theories, models and concepts in accounting and finance, and synthesise these to devise optimal strategies for entities.
Apply critical, analytical and problem-solving skills, including critical analysis and evaluation of data, drawing reasoned conclusions to formulate effective strategies for individuals or organisations.
Use contemporary information and communications technology for the acquisition, analysis and communication of information.
Effectively communicate and present quantitative and qualitative information, analysis and findings in a form appropriate to the intended audience.
Evidence effective critical self-reflection, ethical awareness, intercultural awareness and well-developed interpersonal skills including numeracy, global networking, collaborative problem-solving and effective time management.

Designed to prepare you for a successful career in finance, accounting or management. On successful completion, you should have the confidence to give sound financial advice and make effective financial decisions. You should be well placed to pursue a wide variety of potential future careers options in areas such as: 

Finance
Management
Accounting
Banking
Personal and corporate finance
Business
Education in private, public and third sector organisations.

Alternatively, this course could set you on the path towards a professional qualification as a Chartered Accountant.

Where our graduates work

Our past graduates have gone on to work for companies spanning a range of sectors such as BDO, Britvic, Meggit, ICON plc, and The Wigley Group.

Typical roles that graduates from this course may progress to include Finance Analyst, Account Technician, Audit Graduate Scheme, and Finance Graduate Scheme.

Further study

Upon successful completion of our Accounting and Finance BSc (Hons) course, you may wish to continue to further your studies at postgraduate level with our Accounting and Financial Management MSc or Finance MSc here at Coventry Business School. You can explore all of your options using our postgraduate course search tool.

Please note that further study opportunities are subject to competitive application, availability, meeting any applicable visa requirements and additional costs may apply.