Key information

Teaching department:  UCL School of Management
Credit value:  15
Restrictions:  This module is only available to UCL MBA students. You must have first completed ‘The Data Analytics Advantage’ module.
Alternative credit options:  There are no alternative credit options available for this module.

This module will provide you with a foundation in accounting and finance principles, enabling you to utilise current accounting information that organisations need to operate, develop and grow. You will consider questions such as: How do financial models deal with highly volatile markets or rapid rates of innovation in a market? How might accounting be disrupted by intelligent business systems?

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

• understand the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of, and frameworks for, financial accounting/reporting and as used in financial decision-making
• construct income statements, cash flow statements and balance sheets
• identify and interrogate issues in revenue recognition, expense recognition, accruals, prepayments, depreciation, inventory valuation and recognition of liabilities
• assess financial performance and health using ratio analysis, through calculation and interpretation, linking such assessments to different types of industries and contexts
• identify and apply differing approaches to cost determination and evaluate differences, not least in the context of a changing external environment
• plan ahead through a range of techniques including break-even and cost-volume-profit (CVP) analyses, budgetary control and capital expenditure appraisal (CAPEX: Payback, NPV, IRR, PI)
• understand the significance of opting for differing sources and mixes of long- and short-term financings, in the contexts of capital gearing (leverage) and weighted average cost of capital (WACC).

Methods of assessment:

Mark scheme:  Letter grades

Module leader:  Alan Parkinson and Lynsie Chew

Who to contact for more information:  admissions@onlinelearning.ucl.ac.uk