Bachelor of Science (Honours) : Accounting Accounting and Finance
Bachelor of Science (Honours) : Accounting Accounting and Finance
Bachelor of Science (Honours) : Accounting Accounting and Finance
> Accounting
> Accounting and Finance
Dr Dominic Micklewright
Dean of Academic Partnerships
University of Essex
I am delighted that you are thinking about studying for a degree in Singapore with the University
of Essex.
Together with Kaplan we have developed a range of high-quality degrees that are interesting,
engaging and challenging. Your educational experience with us will be informed by the latest
research and you will develop knowledge and skills that will transform your prospects.
Our graduates are globally aware, ethical and innovative individuals, people who will have the
attributes to shape the future. In joining the Essex community, you will be much valued and a
member of our University for life.
I look forward to welcoming you to the University.
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UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX
About the University of Essex
Ranked in the top two percent of world universities and celebrating
our 50th anniversary in 2014, the University of Essex has
established a global reputation. Our pioneering research helps
to inform policy and change lives in the UK and overseas.
Placed in the top ten UK universities for research quality, and
top for social science, we are an international community for
original thinkers. In 2013, we were awarded the only Regius
Professorship for political science by HM The Queen. Research
is integral to our teaching, providing a transformational living
and learning experience which empowers our students with
the skills, knowledge and curiosity to build successful careers
and lead fulfilling lives. Our students ranked Essex second in
the UK for overall satisfaction with their courses in the 2013
National Student Survey. With more than 12,000 students from
130 countries, Essex graduates develop a genuine world view.
Programme Structure
Students will attend a combination of lectures, tutorials and
workshops in this programme. There are a total of 4 terms and
a typical term is a 20 week. The last term is a 18 week period.
The programme may be completed in a minimum of 18 months
by enrolling in 1-2 units over a 9 to 10 week period. Each unit
is supported by 28 contact hours over the duration of a term
conducted on weekday evenings to suit the busy schedules of
students enrolled on this programme.
Compulsory Units
Bachelor of Science (Hons) Accounting
Financial Reporting and Analysis
Management Accounting 1
Management Accounting 2
Applying E-commerce in Business
Corporate Finance
Portfolio Analysis
Introduction to Banking
Current Issues in Financial Reporting
Advanced Management Accounting
Auditing
Issues in Management Accounting
International Accounting
Issues in Financial Analysis
Corporate Governance
Bachelor of Science (Hons) Accounting and Finance
Financial Reporting and Analysis
Management Accounting 1
Management Accounting 2
Corporate Finance
Portfolio Analysis
Financial Modelling
Introduction to Banking
Current Issues in Financial Reporting
Advanced Management Accounting
Auditing
Options & Futures
Financial Markets and Monetary Policy
International Finance
Risk Management
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LEARNING CYCLE
There are a total of 4 terms and a typical term is a 20 week. The last term is a 18 week period with no term breaks. The total duration of
the course is 18 months.
Weeks 1 to 7
Weeks 8 to 9
Week 10
Weeks 11 to 17
Weeks 18 to 19
Week 20
1 to 2 classes
per week
Assignments and
Examinations
Study break
1 to 2 classes
per week
Assignments and
Examinations
Study break
NEXT
TERM
The University and Kaplan reserve the rights to alter the learning cycle, days and timing of the seminar if necessary. This is just an
indication. The actual cycle may alter.
PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES
Graduation and Recognition
Programme Management
The programmes are managed by a professional programme
management team at Kaplan Higher Education Institute. The
team ensures that in addition to classes, students will receive
regular programme newsletters via email, academic support via
email/internet and study notes. Programme managers will also
provide assistance with scheduling, study group formation, Kaplan
City Campus library membership, assignment and examination
management, student liaison and organisation, etc.
Career Opportunities
Recent graduates from this programme have gone on to pursue
careers in areas such as Chartered Accountancy, Auditing,
Investment banking, Stockbroking and Financial and business
analysis amongst others. Graduates have landed jobs at top
international companies including, Accenture, Allen & Overy,
Barclays, Bloomberg, Credit Suisse, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs,
KPMG, Morgan Stanley, Rothschild GmbH, Royal Bank of Canada,
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Singapore Airlines Limited and Lloyds
Banking Group. Many of our students secure employment
before they graduate. Although a good number are recruited
by international, national and regional firms in the accounting
profession, others choose careers in the financial services sector,
working for banks, insurance companies or stockbrokers. Some
find employment in industry, working in manufacturing, retail or
leisure, while others follow careers in the public sector.
Assessment Methods
Assessment includes a wide range of methods. There are midterm class tests, individual essays and reports, group reports,
individual and group presentations and written examinations.
A combination of assessments is used for all our programmes.
These assessments test students understanding of theoretical
concepts, application in business practice and students ability
to analyse and evaluate.
UNIT OUTLINE
Financial Reporting and Analysis
The unit covers the preparation and analysis of the published
financial statements of limited companies operating on their own,
or within group structures. The content includes the regulation of
financial reporting, the function and content of the main published
statements, the problems posed by consolidated statements,
the analysis of financial statements to assess company/group
performance, and problems connected with the treatment of
taxation, depreciation and specific aspects of the asset-expense
distinction. The unit is complete in itself, but is also intended to
provide students with the conceptual knowledge and technical
skills necessary for further units in financial accounting.
Management Accounting 1
Management accounting may be seen as a way of providing
information in three main areas: costing, decision-making and
planning and control. The emphasis of this unit will mainly be
on the first area (i.e., information for costing). In reality, however,
it is often difficult to separate this area from the other two. For
example, standard costing provides costing information which
is then used as a tool for planning and control. This unit will
develop students basic knowledge of management accounting
and the context in which it operates. Students will learn about the
traditional routine or period oriented concepts and techniques
of costing such as absorption and marginal costing, system
design such as job order and process costing, and also the
non routine or ad hoc approaches relevant for decision making.
These concepts and techniques will be considered mainly in
the context of manufacturing organisations, yet they are also
relevant to the service and not for profit sectors. The unit is
complete in itself but is also intended to provide students with
the conceptual knowledge and technical skills necessary for
further units in management accounting.
Management Accounting 2
This unit seeks to further develop students critical understanding
of the role of management accounting in organisational decision
making and control. The emphasis this term will be on the uses
of management accounting information in facilitating planning,
control and decision making by managers. This will include a
critical reflection element through which the value of information
and information systems in decision making process can be better
understood. This unit will be set against a broader understanding
of management accounting as a mode of communication in the
organisation, and as a managerial tool that comes with a wide
range of behavioural implications.
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UNIT OUTLINE
Corporate Finance
The purpose of this unit is to provide an introduction to corporate
decision-making. The emphasis is on explaining the value
maximisation principle, and to show how we apply this principle for
corporate decision-making. The unit covers investment decisions,
borrowing decisions, and dividend decisions. It also studies
some elements of corporate restructuring defaults, workouts,
and mergers and takeovers.
Portfolio Analysis
This unit focuses on the theoretical and empirical underpinning of
trading strategies adopted by fund managers. The unit will outline
the main theories of risk and return and explore the implications
of these theories for investors decisions. In doing so the unit will
address questions such as: What is the appropriate measure of
risk for a particular security? How might investors decide on the
weightings of different assets in their portfolios? How can we
identify mispriced stocks? Should you invest your savings in an
actively managed fund or in a passive fund? The unit will begin
with an overview of how investors measure a securitys risk and
return and then, using Markowitzs mean-variance criteria, shall
illustrate how efficient portfolios can be constructed. The main
difficulty with Markowitz style optimisers is how fund managers
predict future risk and returns of individual securities. In this unit
we will introduce some of the approaches used to make those
predictions. Bonds are often regarded as a relatively low risk
asset class. Alternative measures of bond risk are evaluated and
a portfolio strategy that claims to remove all risk is outlined and
critically evaluated.
Financial Modelling
The purpose of this unit is to consider the use of modern
econometric techniques in the analysis of financial time series.
The unit will extend students understanding of econometrics
and the models used for financial time series. The unit will cover
multivariate models for stationary and non-stationary processes,
such as Vector Autoregressive models. The unit will also consider
appropriate models for volatility and introduce students to Markov
processes and simulation methods used for financial modelling.
Introduction to Banking
This unit is an introduction to both theoretical and practical issues
related to the modern banking business. The unit begins with an
overview of the role and genesis of the financial system and the
nature of financial intermediation. It covers the main characteristics
and types of banks (e.g., commercial and mutual; retail and
wholesale) and analyses recent trends and developments in
relation to both domestic and international banking markets. The
unit also explores the main items contained in banks financial
statements and discusses main risks of banking, with particular
reference to elementary risk management techniques. Special
attention is paid to central banking and the rationale for regulation
at national and international levels.
UNIT OUTLINE
Current Issues in Financial Reporting
The unit covers the nature of accounting and focuses on key issues
faced by producers, consumers and regulators of corporate financial
reports. Students will look at the institutions that manufacture or
produce accounting standards. Who should make accounting
standards? Should it be the state, professional bodies or some
private interests? Each of these choices raises questions about
accountability and democracy. The unit will then cover the making
of accounting standards. There is nothing natural about accounting
standards and in common with other social practices they are
socially constructed. As accounting has impact on the distribution
of income, wealth and risks, various parties may have competing
views and these issues will be examined. As accounting rulemaking
is full of contradictions and complexities some have advocated
the formulation of a conceptual framework for financial reporting
to enable us to think afresh or in a systematic way about financial
reporting. Therefore, the fourth lecture will examine a case for
this. Of course, accounting (or the giving of an account) is not
just done with numbers. It can also be done in a variety of other
ways. Thought has led to calls for Corporate Social Reporting
(CSR). The students will consider the demand for CSR, theories
that might explain its popularity or otherwise. In lectures, we
will critically examine how the conceptual framework has been
applied in the UK based on the claim that financial statements
provide information that is useful to a wide range of users for
assessing the stewardship of an entitys management and for
making economic decisions. In particular, we will discuss such
topics as IAS1 Presentation of Financial Statements, IAS 37
Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets; financial
instruments and pension reporting.
Auditing
The objective of this unit is to introduce students to key auditing
concepts and issues. The unit begins with an introduction to
the role of the auditor followed by an analysis and evaluation of
the two main audit approaches, audit risk-based auditing and
business risk-based auditing. After this, the unit will continue with
an examination of key auditing concepts, such as, the true and
fair view, evidence and independence. Following this will be an
examination of the form of the auditors report and discussion
of recent developments in auditor liability and audit regulation.
International Accounting
This unit is concerned with accounting and financial analysis in
a global context, and considerable attention is focused on the
accounting practices of a wide range of countries. The unit begins
with a discussion of the problems involved in the classification
of national accounting practices and understanding how these
practices develop over time. This leads on to a discussion of the
benefits and costs associated with recent initiatives to promote
international harmonisation of accounting practices. Discussions
also cover the emergence of International Accounting Standards
Board (IASB), the organisation of the IFRS Foundation, and the
standards setting procedures. Next a comparative analysis is made
of accounting practices in a number of countries covering USA,
Australia, European Union, France, Germany, Japan, and countries
of the developing world. Finally the unit covers some specific
issues related to international financial analysis, environmental
accounting and reporting, IFRSs for SMEs, and international
public sector accounting.
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UNIT OUTLINE
Issues in Financial Analysis
This unit is designed to develop financial accounting knowledge
and analytical skills in the context of real-life company financial
statements. The analysis of a cross section of companies will be
contextualised within a business sector based framework. By
applying their accounting knowledge together with the additional
techniques and concepts taught on this course, students will
develop appropriate skills to understand and analyse contemporary
company financial statements.
Corporate Governance
The objective of this unit is to introduce students to key concepts,
theories and issues in corporate governance. The unit provides
grounding in multiple perspectives of corporate governance
theories as a basis upon which specific case studies are discussed.
The unit explores issues of corporate governance regulations,
the relationship between accounting and corporate governance,
board structure and managerial opportunism, corporate social
responsibility and the politics of corporate governance.
International Finance
This unit has three elements. The first aims to provide students
with a thorough understanding of the basic international arbitrage
relationships and introduce them to some basic models of exchange
rate determination. The second aims to build upon this economics
based approach, covering topics such as models of currency
crisis, and the South American and East Asian Crises. The final
element aims to provide students with insight into international
markets from the perspective of a multinational firm, where topics
such as the international cost of capital, international portfolio
investment and foreign direct investment are covered.
Risk Management
This unit helps students understand and measure various types
of risks in the financial market and how they affect the value
of portfolios; to provide an introduction to the features and
applications of important financial derivatives that can be used
in risk management; and to discuss and analyse cases of how
risk management is conducted in the real world.
Fee Schedule
Please refer to the insert for the information on:
Tuition Fee
Non-tuition Fee
Refund Policy
For more information, please contact our programme consultant
or email info.sg@kaplan.com
Entry Requirements
A wide range of advanced standing qualifications are accepted
for entry onto the programme. These include:
Polytechnic Diploma
Private Diploma
Advanced Diploma
ACCA/CAT/LCCI
Applications are considered individually and are required to meet
programme entry as well as the Universitys English language
requirements. Please contact Kaplan Higher Education Institute
for more information.
Study Loans
Study loans are available with most banks and financial institutions.
Interested candidates may contact:
POSB
Maybank
TCC Ltd
RHB Bank
:
:
:
:
6333 0033
www.posb.com.sg
1800 629 2265 www.maybank.com.sg
6319 3700
www.tcc.org.sg
1800 323 0100 www.rhbbank.com.sg
Closing Date
Deadlines for applications for the intakes each term are contained
in the application forms. We recommend students submit their
application package 3 weeks before the commencement date.
Who to Contact
For enquiries on this course, send KAP-7KDA via sms to
9677 7598 or enter it at http://ask.kaplan.com.sg
By sending the code via sms or website, you have given your consent to have a representative from
Kaplan contact you regarding your request.
: 6733 1877
: 6225 3605
: info.sg@kaplan.com
: www.kaplan.com.sg
: www.essex.ac.uk
Checklist
Have you:
Duly completed and signed your application form?
Attached a hard copy passport-sized photograph?
Attached a front and back copy of your identification card
/ first page passport?
Attached a complete official transcript and certificate of your
tertiary record from each institution you have attended?
Included your application fee?
The full application package should be sent to:
Director, University of Essex BSc (Honours) Programmes
Kaplan Higher Education Institute
8 Wilkie Road #02-01 Wilkie Edge
Singapore 228095
University of Essex and Kaplan Higher Education Institute reserve the right to alter, amend
or delete any programme fee, course, admission requirement, mode of delivery or other
arrangements without prior notice.
The information contained in this brochure is correct at time of printing (August 2014).
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Validity: 17.08.2014 16.08.2018