IT ALL

ADDS UP

ACCOUNTING

AND FINANCE

ABERDEEN BUSINESS SCHOOLUNDERGRADUATE COURSE GUIDE 2013

Accounting and Finance 2What and when: course overview 8…and course detail 10

How will I be taught? 14Key facts 15What next? 16

Choosing acourse 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. We have also kept things short and clear, so you don’t get more information than you need.

Our aim is to give you a quick, genuine and useful insight into our courses. If there’s anything more you’d like to know, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

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skills you

can count on

introduction

ACCOUNTINGAND FINANCEBA (Hons) UCAS N420

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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 Top in the UK for Graduate Employment (HESA, 2012). The BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance leads the way in providing 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.

Iain AbernEthyLEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, 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 diff erence. 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.”

Iain AbernEthy

ACCOUNTINGAND FINANCE BA (Hons) UCAS N420

Helen Cowie BA (HONS) ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE

“I spent my placement with ConocoPhillips doing intercompany accounting. My placement was a great opportunity to gain fi rst hand experience and to apply and build on the knowledge gained from 1st and 2nd year at RGU. The work environment was especially good and I was never treated any diff erently as a placement student to other employees. I had the

opportunity to be involved in teambuilding activities whereby I quickly got to know my colleagues.

“After I graduate I am going to do a 3 week Trek America trip travelling from New York to Los Angeles. Then in mid-August I will take up my place on the Finance Graduate Scheme with my placement company, ConocoPhillips.”

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Y0U’RE LEARNING FOR

PROSPECTS:

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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Y0U’RE LEARNING FOR

BUSINESS

PLACEMENTS:

AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHINE

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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

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.

Plus it’s great to have on your CV. In fact many of our graduates are offered full-time jobs by their placement employer.

Ours is the only accounting degree at a Scottish university with a year-long work placement.

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.

ACCOUNTINGAND FINANCE BA (Hons) UCAS N420

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“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 off er a placement year and I believe it was one of the most important aspects of my degree that allowed me to get a job off er immediately after the fi nal exams. I have been off ered a job as an Assistant Business Analyst at Canadian Natural Resources and hope to further my career there.”

Accounting and Finance graduate, 2012

“There’s a good balance between coursework, exams and presentations. The well constructed timetable allows you to plan your time eff ectively.”

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?

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.

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.

Some of ourplacement partners

Chartered Accountancy Firms

> 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

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.

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.

The financial accounting module includes the basic theoretical and practical knowledge needed to prepare fi nancial 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.

You study specialist modules in financial and management accounting and business finance.

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.

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ACCOUNTING AND FINANCEBA (Hons) UCAS N420 WHAT & WHEN:

COURSE OVERVIEW…

YEAR 1YEAR 2

In year 3, almost all students undertake a one year (minimum 48 weeks) work placement in an accounting or finance position.

You could work in a professional accounting firm, or the accounting department of a company (including one in financial services).

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 classroom-based modules instead.

In each semester, you study compulsory modules in fi nancial and management accounting, taxation, corporate fi nance and corporate ethics.

The grade you achieve in each module in this year determines your Honours classification.

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 fi nance, auditing, fi nancial markets as well as completing a literature project which develops your research and report writing skills.

After passing year 3 on this non-placement 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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YEAR 4YEAR 3 DEGREE LINK PROGRAMME

> Business Ethics > Financial Accounting > Management Concepts > Personal and Business Finance

> Business Law > Introductory Economics > Management Accounting > People Management

Certificate of Higher Education Accounting

> Advanced Business Law > External Reporting > Financial Decision-making > Quantitative Business Techniques

> Business Creation and Growth > Business Information Systems > Finance for Business Decisions > Management and

Cost Accounting

Diploma of Higher Education Accounting

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ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE BA (Hons) UCAS N420 …& COURSE detail

Semester One Semester One

Semester Two Semester Two

If you left now, you’d have…If you left now, you’d have…

YEAR 1YEAR 2

Please note that the course structure is reviewed each year and may be subject to change.

> Corporate Financial Management > Financial Reporting Issues

and Applications > Management Accounting

Decision Making and Control > Personal and Business Taxation

> Corporate and Capital Taxes > Corporate Ethics > Financial Accounting for

Groups and Companies > Management Accounting

Issues and Applications

BA (Honours) Accounting and Finance

> Placement > The Theory of Auditing

> Placement > The Practice of Auditing

> Corporate Governance > Economic Environment > Literature Project > Theory of Auditing

> Money and Financial Markets > New Business Project > Practice of Auditing

> 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

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BA Accounting and Finance

BA Accounting and Finance

Semester One

Semester One Semester One

Semester One

Semester Two

Semester Two

Semester Two Semester Two

If you left now, you’d have…

If you left now, you’d have…

If you left now, you’d have…

Placement Route Direct Entry Route

Non-Placement Route

No exit award at this stage

YEAR 3 YEAR 4

Go NOrtH, Be HAppY12

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP, UP NORTH A great Scottish location and brilliant career opportunities; Robert Gordon University gives you lots to smile about...

Consistently named “best modern university in the UK” by leading University Guides and “top in the UK for graduate employment” (HESA, 2012), Robert Gordon University is the ideal place to start your career.

What’s more, Aberdeen was recently named the “sunniest city in Scotland” (Bank of Scotland Quality of Life League, 2011). So it’s time to get yourself up north, where things will be good for you too!

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 home to three superb ski and snow-boarding slopes, plus some of the best hillwalking in Scotland and loads of great places for canoeing, kayaking and sailing!

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In the classroom

You’ll study four modules per semester. Each module involves around three hours of class teaching per week. While this diff ers 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 15 students.

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.

Assessment

We use a mixture of assessments. Most modules are assessed by a two hour exam at the end of the semester, and by coursework submitted during the semester. Other modules are assessed only by exam, or only by coursework.

All of the teaching staff on the accounting modules are Chartered Accountants, and most completed their training in a Big 4 accounting firm.

The degree is taught in two semesters. Each semester has a block of 12 weeks of teaching.

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How will I be taught?

Alternative qualifications

Equivalent overseas qualifications and some access programmes will be considered.

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 unclassifi ed: 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.

Professional accreditation

The Honours degree is fully accredited by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and receives excellent exemptions from the Association of Chartered Certifi ed 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.

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KEY FACTSHow will I be taught?

The next thing to do is talk to us.

We can answer any questions you may have. Simply call us on 01224 262728 or emailUGOffi ce@rgu.ac.uk

We also provide a range of opportunities for you to visit us – so you can see what we can off er you first hand.

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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 eff ort 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.

WHAT NEXT?

Open 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 fi rst-class facilities and talk to current students.

For full details of dates and times, and to see a full programme please see www.rgu.ac.uk/openday.

Open Days

3 October 20123 November 2012

Applicants’ Days

2 March 201320 March 2013

Applicants’ Day

When you apply for any course at ABS, you’ll be invited to one of our course-specific Applicants’ Days.

We realise there’s a lot involved in making your fi nal 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 Offi cer, a tour of the facilities and a chance to speak to a lecturer about the course you’re interested in.

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Aberdeen Business SchoolRobert Gordon UniversityGarthdee RoadAberdeenAB10 7QE

Talk to us. We can answer any questions or queries you may have.Simply call us on 01224 262728,email UGOffi ce@rgu.ac.ukor visit us at rgu.ac.uk

Fiona DuncanCourse LeaderEmail: f.duncan@rgu.ac.ukTel: 01224 263821

www.facebook.com/AberdeenBSchool

www.twitter.com/AberdeenBSchool

www.youtube.com/robertgordonuni

www.rgu.ac.uk/accountingandfi nance