ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE

The module aims to develop your knowledge and understanding of accounting principles, concepts and techniques used by financial accountants to present financial information to relevant stakeholders. The module introduces you to the key digital skills required to prepare, analyse and interpret financial statements. This includes accounting framework, preparation and interpretation of financial statements, accounting reports to stakeholders, cash flow analysis, strategic planning and performance measurement of strategic finance in contemporary organisations. Using real world case studies and access to digital financial data, you will develop the competencies required to navigate technology-driven financial environment in strategic financial decision-making.

Over the last 25 years the global financial industry has undergone profound and dynamic transformation, driven by rapid financial innovation, technological advancement, recurring market failures, and increasingly stringent regulatory responses. This module aims to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of core finance theories and concepts that underpin the operation of modern financial markets and institutions. You will examine and critique the structure, functions and interactions of different market participants, while focusing on recent and ongoing developments including the evolving role of traditional and non-bank financial institutions, the rise of fintech and digital banking, sustainable and green finance initiatives, the impact of global financial crises, post-crisis regulatory reforms, and the growing significance of cybersecurity risks. By integrating these contemporary themes, the module equips you with the analytical tools to critically evaluate key developments in financial markets, institutions, fintech and cybersecurity risks in an ever-changing economic and competitive landscape.

The module will develop your knowledge and skills of appraising management accounting techniques in decision making. The module introduces you to the theory and practice of management accounting before examining the key management accounting tools for decision making techniques used for planning and controlling costs. These techniques include preparation and use of budgets, standard costing and variance analysis. The syllabus ends with an exploration of issues relating to performance measurement and monitoring of business processes in the context of organisational strategy.

This module aims to provide you with an understanding of sustainable audit practices and their role in promoting accountability, transparency and ethical governance. You will learn to assess sustainability reporting and apply auditing techniques associated with sustainability standards and frameworks. The module provides opportunity to understand the critical elements of audit process and the relevant ethical and regulatory framework. It discusses the role of emerging technologies in audit, key aspects of audit planning and engagement including the audit risk, internal control and the use of computer assisted audit techniques and the elements of best practice concerning corporate governance.

This module combines business statistics with financial modelling techniques. As the world becomes ever more data-driven, analytical skills are in high demand but very short supply. Data Analysis for Accounting and Finance equips you with the analytical skills to meet the current and future needs of multiple industries by using data for gaining business insights, predicting future trends and decision-making. The module equips you with quantitative and computational tools for analysing financial and accounting data. It bridges classical statistical analysis with contemporary text and semantic analytics techniques, enabling you to handle structured (numerical) and unstructured (textual) data for decision-making and research in accounting, auditing, and finance contexts. Aside from providing theoretical knowledge and practical skills to understand, interpret and communicate data, this module also offers a hands-on, scenario-focused and practical approach to learning financial modelling.

This module develops critical, theory-driven professionals who can navigate today’s imperfect and behavioural markets. Challenging traditional assumptions of rationality and efficiency, the module integrates agency theory, UK and global corporate governance, behavioural finance, and advanced asset pricing with rigorous valuation practice. You will master capital structure decisions under distress and asymmetric information, dividend signalling, merger valuation and financing strategy, and optimal working-capital management. Core models (CAPM, APT, DCF, FCF, EOQ, Baumol) are taught alongside the behavioural and governance realities that drive real-world outcomes. Designed for future CFOs, investment bankers, consultants and regulators, graduates emerge able to synthesise competing theories, justify sophisticated strategies, and exercise ethical judgement in complex, high-stakes environments.

The module develops knowledge and ability in focusing upon, and preparing for, industry research. It introduces you to the disciplines of research techniques, data analysis as well as the design and execution of a research project. The project can take various forms including a traditional dissertation, generating a new enterprise start-up plan, developing a business or marketing campaign, proposing new processes/systems/products/target markets. The aim is to develop your skills and expertise in the essential research tools you will need for both successful postgraduate study and as self-employed entrepreneurs or managers of the future.