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Course & Unit Catalogues


MN20485: Accounting and decision making for managers

[Page last updated: 23 October 2023]

Academic Year: 2023/24
Owning Department/School: School of Management
Credits: 6 [equivalent to 12 CATS credits]
Notional Study Hours: 120
Level: Intermediate (FHEQ level 5)
Period:
Semester 2
Assessment Summary: CW 40%, EX 60%
Assessment Detail:
  • Coursework (CW 40% - Qualifying Mark: 35)
  • Examination (EX 60% - Qualifying Mark: 35)
Supplementary Assessment:
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Requisites: Before taking this module you must take MN10476 OR take MN10331 OR take MN10566
In taking this module you cannot take MN20018 OR take MN20019
Learning Outcomes: On completion of this module students should be able to:
* Explain the role of financial statements in providing useful information to users
* Evaluate the usefulness of published sources of financial information
* Carry out financial statement analysis and evaluate its usefulness
* Discuss the accounting information needs of managers and the use of budgeting within an organisation
* Identify relevant information for internal decision-making
* Compute and evaluate basic budgets
* Improve technical, analytical and information research skills.


Aims: The unit aims to enable students to:
* Understand financial statements and their place in decision-making
* Use basic techniques of financial statement analysis
* Understand the various roles that accounting information plays within organisations
* Identify relevant information for decision-making purpose
* Explain the role of budgets and standard costing within organisations.
* Prepare and interpret budgets, standard costs and variance statements.

Skills: Financial data manipulation and interpretation
Analytical and communication skills in relation to financial information
Use appropriate financial analysis and computational techniques to compute financial information which is useful in a management accounting context
Identifying financial information and analytical techniques relevant to a particular purpose
Interpreting the results of analysis in a manner pertinent to a specified problem/objective
Construction of relevant costing, financial analysis and budget statements in a format suitable for general readership
Transferable/Key Skills
Applying a range of quantitative analysis techniques in a variety of business environments
Critical skills in the application of techniques and the interpretation of results

Content: (a) Financial planning and control Analysis and practical applications of a variety of management accounting and financial planning techniques, including
* Activity based costing and absorption costing
* Pricing
* Relevant costs and decision making
* Standard costing
* Budgeting
* Variance Analysis.
(b) Reporting results in financial terms
* The purpose of financial statements
* The analysis and interpretation of financial statements.
* The role and process of the regulatory framework in the preparation of financial statements.

Course availability:

MN20485 is Compulsory on the following courses:

School of Management
  • UMMN-AYB06 : BSc(Hons) International Management with Year Abroad (Year 2)

MN20485 is Optional on the following courses:

School of Management
  • UMMN-ANB07 : BSc(Hons) Business with Thin sandwich placement(s) (Year 2)
  • UMMN-AFB04 : BSc(Hons) Management (Year 2)
  • UMMN-AKB04 : BSc(Hons) Management with Year long work placement (Year 2)
  • UMMN-AKB05 : BSc(Hons) Management with Marketing with Year long work placement (Year 2)
Department of Politics, Languages and International Studies
  • UXXX-AYB05 : BSc(Hons) International Management and Modern Languages (French) with Year Abroad (Year 2)
  • UXXX-AYB04 : BSc(Hons) International Management and Modern Languages (German) with Year Abroad (Year 2)
  • UXXX-AYB06 : BSc(Hons) International Management and Modern Languages (Spanish) with Year Abroad (Year 2)

Notes:

  • This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2023/24 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2024/25 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2023/24.
  • Courses and units are subject to change in accordance with normal University procedures.
  • Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.
  • Find out more about these and other important University terms and conditions here.