Principles of Accounting

Module Description

Accounting is the process of tracking and recording a company’s financial transactions. These records provide crucial insights into the business’s performance and financial health. Therefore, maintaining these records accurately and within legal frameworks is of utmost importance.

Adhering to established accounting principles and regulations ensures transparency and helps prevent any irregularities or fraudulent activities. Companies must follow specific structures and guidelines to reflect true and fair financial positions.

Failure to comply with these legal and regulatory requirements can result in serious legal implications, including fines, penalties, and potential reputational damage.

This module emphasizes the significance of proper accounting practices, highlighting the necessity for precision, adherence to legal standards, and the ethical responsibility of accountants to uphold integrity in financial reporting.

By understanding and implementing these principles, companies can ensure their financial records are reliable, transparent, and in compliance with legal obligations, thus safeguarding their operations and fostering trust among stakeholders.

Entry Requirements

Candidates who apply for this course must possess: 

• a qualification at MQF Level 4 (one ‘A’ Level or equivalent in any subject)  

 AND 

• a pass in English* and Mathematics at MQF Level 3 (‘O’ Level or equivalent).   

Preference is given to applicants having a year of work experience related to the field of study. 

*Students whose first language is not English will be required to demonstrate evidence of an adequate level of English proficiency.  

Target Audience

This course is targeted at people who wish to have a thorough background in management in order to progress further in their careers, such as: 

• Supervisors 
• Coordinators  
• Assistant Managers  
• Junior Managers 
• Middle Managers  
• Project Coordinators/ Project Managers  

The target group can also be extended to groups that have significant management experience but lack a formal qualification, such as managing directors and officers. 

Module / Unit Instructions

The proposed structure comprises a blended approach promoting the building of a community of practice via peer-to-peer learning. The structure uses primarily two dimensions of teaching-learning modes:

1. Face-to-face sessions: 18 hours

2. Online Learning Activities: 12 hours

Face to Face sessions

Face-to-face sessions include lectures, tutorials, discussions, presentations and workshop activities promoting peer-to-peer learning.

Online Learning Activities

Online learning activities incorporate tutorials and asynchronous discussions. These may consist of active interaction, participation and contributions in fora discussions, sharing resources and self-reflection exercises.

Learners also contribute to the building of the community of practice by providing feedback to their peers as critical friends, enhancing the learner’s critical engagement throughout the study period.

The tutor provides continual support during both teaching -learning modes by providing information, readings and tasks relevant to the module in question.

The tutor provides continuous formative feedback as an on-going guidance during the student’s learning experience in preparation for their summative assessment.

How you’ll be assessed

Assessment of each module consists of two assignments, each carrying a weighting as below:

a) One Formative assignment carries 20% of total module mark achieved. b) One Summative assignment carries 80% of total module mark achieved.

For successful completion of a study module the student is required to achieve a minimum of 41% pass mark in both the formative and the summative assignment.

The overall grade achieved for each module is calculated as the sum of: · 20% of the mark achieved for formative assignment; and · 80% of the mark achieved for the summative assignment.

All assignment tasks of both formative and summative assessment aim to provide the learner an opportunity to produce evidence of his/her competences aligned to the learning outcomes of each individual Module.

Assessment

a) Formative assessment tasks are provided in the form of structured online discussions that support learners in their development throughout all of the modules studied.

Such discussions are facilitated and monitored by lecturer who provides students with constructive feedback to help them improve and prepare for summative assignment and dissertation.

For successful completion of a study module the student is required to achieve a minimum of 41% pass mark in the formative assignment.

Formative assessment tasks will contribute to the student’s final mark to acknowledge their work and give chance to improve.

This method allows students to also contribute to the building of the community of practice by providing feedback to their peers as critical friends, enhancing the learner’s critical engagement throughout the study period.

b) Summative assessment is done via one assignment at the end of each module. The mode of assessment varies and may include in-class assignments, and home-based written assignments.

The assessment tools for this module are presentations or proposals.

Word count range: 1500 ± 10%

For successful completion of a study module the student is required to achieve a minimum of 41% pass mark in summative assignment.