Financial Accounting

Put simply, Accounting is for people who are interested in a career in financial management or business management. Even the very best of business ideas will not get off the ground without sound financial management. Financial Accounting is about the way in which organisations measure, record and present information about the financial affairs of the business. One of the most important aspects of accounting is about making sure the financial records are accurate. However, it is just as important that the information taken from the records is used in the right way. It is, therefore, part of the job of the accountants in the business to give advice on how to use financial information in a meaningful way. Typical traditional Accountant role encompasses the following :

Analyse past financial performance, usually for regulatory reporting.

Create reports to satisfy external regulations

Are regulated - reports are in line with prescribed requirements

Measure financial data only

Focus on the entire organisation

Compile data as set points of the year, according to legislation

Look at quantitative data only.

The financial Accounting subject will help you to obtain a practical understanding of financial accounting and the process behind the preparation of financial statements for single entities. The statements are prepared within a conceptual and regulatory framework requiring an understanding of the role of legislation and of accounting standards.

Students who have studied accounting often follow the subject at degree level or study for a related subject such as Business, Law and Mathematics. Many students opt to go straight into further accounting training and a career in accountancy via one of the professional accounting bodies, ICAEW, CIMA or ACCA.

Management Accounting

This subject deals with the fundamental knowledge and techniques that underpin management accounting. It identifies the position of the management accountant within organisations and the role they play. The subject portrays the role of management accounting in the contexts of commercial and public sector bodies and its wider role in society.

The identification and classification of costs and their behaviour provides the basis for understanding and applying the tools and techniques needed to plan, control and make decisions. Budgetary control requires the setting of targets and standards which then allow the performance of the organisations to be reported and analysed by the calculation of variances. Investment appraisal, break-even analysis and profit maximisation are used to inform both long and short - term decision making.

Management Accountant role encompasses the following;

Analyse data, forecasts and budgets to help leaders make decisions.

Create reports to be used internally

Compile information looking at the future, not the past.

Are responsive-whatever information the business needs ,they'll provide it

Measure operational, as well as financial ,performance

Can focus on specific parts of the business

Look at qualitative and quantitative data.

CIMA ( Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) professional qualifications specialises in the study of Management Accounting and after students complete the relevant subjects exams and three years of acceptable practical training and experience are allowed to use the world wide recognition status of CGMA ( Charterd Global Management Accountant).

Business Studies

Whether you wish to work in a large organisation or you have Ambitions of starting your own business, Business Studies give you an understanding of how business works. This subject involves studying firms and the environment in which they operate. It will look at how firms are affected by Government policy, overseas trade, and other firms and customers they compete for. Also, what makes some firms successful and other failures.

The subject looks at where business ideas come from and how you could decide if they are likely to be successful or not, by researching the market. Then of course, you would have to raise finance to start business and decide its legal structure and how they and where it will operate. This will have to be done at a profits so you will learn how to calculate profit and other aspects of managing finance.

Business Studies is a good preparation for Careers in Accountancy, Management, Journalism, Marketing, Politics, Teaching, Lecturing, Retailing, Local Government, and any other career that requires a non-specific degree.

Macro/Micro Economics

If you are interested in world events and your environment you will find Economics an interesting and useful subject and the topics covered in lessons will provide you with a greater insight into current affairs and economics issues. Economics is the study of how economics work and why they sometime fail to work effectively.

Many modern economies, such as the UK, are capitalist systems which rely on the free market to distribute scarce resources. However, the market is not perfect and in the lessons you will learn more on how the markets operate and how governments deal with market failures such as unemployment and pollution.

Britain has the seventh largest economy in the world but the recent recession has prompted questions about how well balanced the British economy is. Do we rely too much on banking and services? Why do we import more manufacturing goods than export?

Macro and business economics explores how do businesses operate? How income is distributed in the British economy and is it fair? Why do women earn less than men and is an unequal distribution of income a natural and healthy consequences of a capitalist economy and so on...

The National & International economy covers the globalised world in which the UK economy is closely linked in with those of other countries. What happens in the US or Japan impacts on the British Economy. The balance of the world economy is also changing with Brazil, India and China becoming more important and this will have far reaching consequences.

The assessment of economics takes place in a variety of ways, including essays, multiple-choice questions and case studies. However, to be successful in this subject it is just as important to follow world events related to Economics as it is attend class and write assignments.

Students who study economics as a subject might go on to careers in: Accountancy, Banking, Business, Civil Service, Insurance, Journalism, Management, Marketing, Media, Fund Management, Retailing, and the Financial Services. Graduates in Economics are among the very highest paid.

Careers following an Economics -related degree 
Info