Aberdeen Business School Undergraduate course guide 2014
L L IT A S UP D D A G N I T N CE U O ACC FINAN AND
Accounting and Finance What and when: course overview ... and course detail Placements How will I be taught? Key facts What next?
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Choosing a course isn’t straightforward. There’s lots of detail you need to know. Where will I study? What topics are covered? How will I be assessed? You also want to gain a ‘feel’ for things – directly from some current students and graduates. In this brochure we’ve combined hard facts about the degree with real views of students and graduates. Our aim is to give you a quick, genuine and useful insight into our degrees. If there’s anything more you’d like to know, please don’t hesitate to get in contact. Simply call us on 01224 262728, email: UGOffice@rgu.ac.uk.
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SK I LL S COU YOU NT C A N ON
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Accountancy and Finance is a great career: challenging, rewarding and packed with opportunities to succeed, try new areas; and work globally. Giving you a head start in it has always been our priority. That’s why we’re the best UK university for Graduate Employment (HESA, 2013). The BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance leads the way in providing academic knowledge and understanding, practical hands-on skills, together with broader abilities – all of which make you an ideal employee. There has long been a demand for high-calibre graduates like ours. With (on average) just 80 students a year, you’ll be joining an elite group. The Times ranked our Accounting and Finance course as top in the UK for graduate recruitment.
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Iain AbernEthy
Lisa Reilly
Learning and Development Director, Johnston Carmichael
BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance
Johnston Carmichael currently has four RGU placement students: “We’re delighted with the calibre. In return, they get good experience; are expected to pick up information and take a degree of responsibility. A key element is developing communication and teamwork skills – it’s where students see a big difference. They gain an appreciation of business, the do’s and don’ts of meetings, writing skills… Our objective is that RGU students return after graduation and study for professional exams. Such students tend to do very well in their exams, then progress well with their career.”
“The best thing about the course was definitely the placement year but the staff came a close second. Their constant support and enthusiasm is fantastic. Not only have I gained a huge amount of knowledge from my course, but I also come away from RGU as a far more confident individual.”
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ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE BA (Hons) UCAS N420
Andrew Mutch BA (HONS) Accounting and Finance
“The year placement was the main reason that I wanted to study here. It is such a great opportunity to gain work experience whilst still completing a four year course and it is not available at most places in Scotland which makes it all the more special. It definitely gives you an upper hand once you have graduated to be able to say that you have already worked in the profession for a year.”
E R ’ U ING S O Y R N ES N A I E S L BU FOR
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Career options Our graduates are highly sought after by employers. You’ll be well-prepared for a career in areas such as financial and management accountancy, taxation, auditing and corporate finance. In the past few years, over half our graduates have gone on to work as a Trainee Chartered Accountant, and qualify with The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS).
Many others work for companies in industry and study for qualifications with The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) or Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). The Honours degree is fully accredited with ICAS and graduates are given excellent exam exemptions by ACCA, AIA, CIMA and ICAEW. Our graduates have had an excellent pass rate in these exams. Job options > CA Trainee > Financial Analyst > Tax Consultant > Treasury Accountant
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ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE BA (Hons) UCAS N420
YEAR 1 You develop generic skills: writing reports, presenting and working in a small team. You’ll use these throughout your course. They’re also skills employers view as essential.
WHA COU T & WH R SE E OVE N: RVIE W.
Approximately 75% of our students have studied accountancy before coming to ABS. However, you don’t need to have done so to enter at this stage – and if you haven’t, we give you extra support if you require it.
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The financial accounting module includes the basic theoretical and practical knowledge needed to prepare financial statements. A book-keeping case study and the SAGE computer package allow you to record accounting transactions as they would be in a real company. Management skills are taught in several modules in years 1 and 2, this allows you to apply your technical accounting and finance knowledge in a general management context to prepare you for working in the business world.
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YEAR 2
YEAR 3
YEAR 4
You study specialist modules in financial and management accounting and business finance.
In year 3, almost all students undertake a one year (minimum 48 weeks) work placement in an accounting or finance position.
The two financial accounting modules cover many of the international accounting and financial reporting standards, and preparing published financial statements using these standards. During semester 1, we advise you on writing your CV and interview techniques. This helps when applying for the year 3 work placement.
You could work in a professional accounting firm, or the accounting department of a company (including one in financial services).
In year 4, you study compulsory modules in financial and management accounting, taxation, corporate finance and corporate ethics.
You also further develop your academic knowledge by studying two modules in auditing, using distance learning. International standards on auditing are taught in these modules. If you choose not to do a work placement, or can’t get one, then you’ll study classroombased modules instead.
The grade you achieve in each module in this year determines your Honours classification.
DEGREE LINK PROGRAMME Completed an HND in Accounting at one of our partner FE Colleges? You can enter directly into year 3. Instead of doing a placement, you study financial and management accounting, business finance, auditing and financial markets as well as completing a literature project which develops your research and report writing skills. After passing year 3 on this nonplacement route, you can either: >> graduate with a BA Accounting and Finance degree OR >> go into year 4 to complete the Honours degree
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ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE BA (Hons) UCAS N420
year 2 SEMESTER ONE >> Advanced Business Law >> External Reporting >> Financial Decision-making >> Quantitative Business Techniques Please note that the course structure is reviewed each year and may be subject to change.
year 1 SEMESTER ONE >> Business Ethics >> Financial Accounting >> Management Concepts >> Personal and Business Finance
SEMESTER TWO >> Business Law >> Introductory Economics >> Management Accounting >> People Management If you left now, you’d have... Certificate of Higher Education Accounting
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SEMESTER TWO >> Business Creation and Growth >> Business Information Systems >> Finance for Business Decisions >> Management and Cost Accounting If you left now, you’d have... Diploma of Higher Education Accounting
...& cou rse detail year 3
year 4 DIRECT ENTRY Route
SEMESTER ONE
SEMESTER TWO
>> >> >> >>
>> Placement >> The Practice of Auditing
>> >> >> >>
SEMESTER TWO
Placement Route
SEMESTER ONE
>> Placement >> The Theory of Auditing
No exit award at this stage NON-Placement Route
SEMESTER ONE
>> >> >> >>
Corporate Governance Economic Environment Literature Project Theory of Auditing
SEMESTER TWO >> Money and Financial Markets >> New Business Project >> Practice of Auditing
SEMESTER ONE
>> >> >> >>
External Reporting Financial Decision-making Literature Project Theory of Auditing
Finance for Business Decisions Management and Cost Accounting Money and Financial Markets Practice of Auditing
If you left now, you’d have... BA Accounting and Finance
Corporate Financial Management Financial Reporting Issues and Applications Management Accounting Decision Making and Control Personal and Business Taxation
SEMESTER TWO >> >> >> >>
Corporate and Capital Taxes Corporate Ethics Financial Accounting for Groups and Companies Management Accounting Issues and Applications
If you left now, you’d have... BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance
If you left now, you’d have... BA Accounting and Finance
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ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE BA (Hons) UCAS N420
“There’s a good balance between coursework, exams and presentations. The well constructed timetable allows you to plan your time effectively.”
AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHINE Placements Nothing beats real experience. It brings your studies to life, tests your understanding of topics, and helps you get an idea of what you might like to do after graduating. Ours is the only accounting degree at a Scottish university with a yearlong work placement. 10
How do I find my placement? Our Placement Office arranges opportunities with a wide range of employers, who then advertise the position using the University’s internal IT system. You choose which to apply for, and employers decide who to interview and subsequently employ.
Who can I work for? Your placement must be in either a professional accounting firm, or in the accounting or finance department within another relevant employer. We have a number of firms who have offered placements for many years, and used successive placement students to fill a permanent post within their organisation.
placements What will I do? Put your knowledge of accounting and finance into practice, and develop many new technical and interpersonal skills. At a firm of Chartered Accountants you’ll probably be involved in preparing financial statements, audit, taxation and corporate finance. At a company, you might: prepare monthly financial statements and budgets, compare actual vs budgeted figures and prepare specialist reports for management.
How will I know how I’m doing?
Some of our placement partners
The employer will assess you, and you’ll be supported by an academic member of staff who will make several visits to monitor your progress during the year.
Chartered Accountancy Firms
Can it help beyond my degree? Absolutely. At the end of their placement, many students are offered the option to return to the employer after graduation. If your placement was in a Chartered Accountancy firm, then the firm can also opt to count the placement as part of the three years of CA training. This means you could qualify much earlier than graduates from other Accounting and Finance degrees.
> Anderson Anderson and Brown > Crowe Clark Whitehill (based in London) > Deloitte > Ernst and Young > Hall Morrice > Johnson and Carmichael > KPMG > Meston Reid > PricewaterhouseCoopers Companies > BP > Deutsche Bank (based in London) > GE Oil and Gas > Marathon > Shell > Simmons International > Talisman > Total
“It’s not just about studying in university – going to lectures and doing the research – it is about applying this to real life. My main highlight was going on placement and experiencing real life work. I learned a lot about how the company operated and I made a lot of connections. Not many universities in the UK offer a placement year and I believe it was one of the most important aspects of my degree that allowed me to get a job offer immediately after the final exams. I have been offered a job as an Assistant Business Analyst at Canadian Natural Resources and hope to further my career there.” Accounting and Finance graduate, 2012
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GREAT PLACEMENT PROSPECTS
Wide open spaces
AB PE ERD RF EE EC N, T L TH OC E AT ION
A great Scottish location and brilliant career opportunities; Robert Gordon University gives you lots to smile about... Named “best UK university for employment” (HESA, 2013), Robert Gordon University is the ideal place to start your career.
What’s more, “residents in Aberdeenshire enjoy the best quality of life in Scotland” (Bank of Scotland Quality of Life League, 2012). So it’s time to get yourself up north, where things will be good for you too!
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We consider our riverside campus, based on the banks of the beautiful River Dee, to be one of the most attractive campuses in the UK and one of Europe’s finest. The river itself is home to otters, heron, salmon and other wildlife. Our campus has beautiful woodland walkways and parkland, connecting our modern, stylish buildings.
97.7% Gra
SUNNY SCOTL
SKI CENTRAL
RGU
BEST UK UNIVERSITY FOR EMPLOYMENT
Mountaineering mecca
raduate employment
Y LAND
Scotland at its best. Aye, that’s right! Aberdeen is pretty unique in the UK with its cosmopolitan culture, rich heritage and fantastic scenery. It’s got everything you’d expect from a major city – pubs, clubs, restaurants, cinemas, theatres and art galleries – but there’s lots more than that! Like the miles of beach boulevard – loved by skaters and surfers – and the wild mountains right on the doorstep: Aberdeen is a great location for skiing and snowboarding with dry ski slopes nearby the campus and during the winter Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray takes on a whole new lease of life with many challenging ski runs, plus some of the best hillwalking in Scotland and loads of great places for canoeing, kayaking and sailing!
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HOW W BE TAU ILL I GHT? The degree is taught in two semesters. Each semester has a block of 12 weeks of teaching.
In the classroom
Assessment
You’ll study four modules per semester. Each module involves around three hours of class teaching per week. While this differs from module to module, most have two hours of lectures delivered to the whole class, plus a further one hour tutorial taught to a small group of about 18 students.
We use a mixture of assessments. Most modules are assessed by a two hour exam at the end of semester or a mid semester class test, and by coursework submitted during the semester. Other modules are assessed only by exam, or only by coursework.
Outside the classroom In addition to lectures and tutorials, you have to spend approximately another 24 hours (per week) outside class time working on your own. For example doing the prescribed reading, preparing answers to the tutorial assignments or researching and writing coursework reports.
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All of the teaching staff on the accounting modules are Chartered Accountants, and most completed their training in a Big 4 accounting ďŹ rm.
KEY FA CTS
Alternative qualifications
Professional accreditation
Equivalent overseas qualifications and some access programmes will be considered.
The Honours degree is fully accredited by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and receives excellent exemptions from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the Association of International Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales. Students who enter the degree in year 3 are considered on an individual basis by the Professional Bodies.
Degree link programme Entry to year 3 of the course is possible if you’ve completed an HND in Accounting at one of our partner FE Colleges. If you enter via this route, you won’t undertake a placement in year 3.
Study options Full-time Honours: 4 years Full-time unclassified: 3 years (non-placement route)
Placement A year’s paid placement in year 3 (minimum 48 weeks). This placement experience can count towards an ICAS training contract requirement.
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what
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This course guide is intended as a guide for applicants for courses delivered by Robert Gordon University. In compiling it the University has taken every care to be as accurate as possible, and the information in this course guide is correct at the time of going to print, but the course guide must be read as subject to change at any time and without notice. The University undertakes to make every reasonable effort to provide the teaching and academic facilities necessary for applicants’ programmes of study. However the University reserves the right, if such action is considered to be necessary, to make variations to fees and/or to vary the content or delivery method of any course at any time. In addition, the University may, at its sole discretion, discontinue or amalgamate any course(s). In these rare cases the University will notify applicants as soon as possible and reasonable steps will be taken to provide a suitable alternative to a discontinued course.
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The next thing to do is talk to us. We can answer any questions you may have. Simply call us on 01224 262728 or email UGOffice@rgu.ac.uk We also provide a range of opportunities for you to visit us – so you can see what we can offer you first hand. Open Day
Applicants’ Day
We organise two annual open days in October and November each year. It’s a perfect opportunity to visit us, meet the academic staff, experience the first-class facilities and talk to current students.
When you apply for any course at ABS, you’ll be invited to one of our course-specific Applicants’ Days.
For full details of dates and times, and to see a full programme please see www.rgu.ac.uk/openday Open Days 2 October 2013 2 November 2013
We realise there’s a lot involved in making your final choice, so we hope to give you all the insight and information you need. For full details of dates and times, and to see a full programme please see www.rgu.ac.uk/absapplicantsday Visit Afternoons We hold monthly Visit Afternoons. The visit includes a talk by an Education Liaison Officer, a tour of the facilities and a chance to speak to a lecturer about the course you’re interested in. www.rgu.ac.uk/visitafternoons
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Aberdeen Business School Robert Gordon University Garthdee Road Aberdeen AB10 7QE
Talk to us. We can answer any questions or queries you may have. Simply call us on 01224 262728, email: UGOffice@rgu.ac.uk or visit us at www.rgu.ac.uk Fiona Duncan Course Leader Email: f.duncan@rgu.ac.uk Tel: 01224 263821
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