C37AF

Introduction to
Accounting and Finance

Edinburgh Business School

(Department of Accountancy,
Economics and Finance)

Course Handbook
2023/24
 School of Social Sciences

1. Introduction

Introduction to Accounting and Finance is a mandatory course on Accounting, Finance, Economics and
Business Management programmes. This course is designed to provide students with a broad understanding
of a wide range of important financial accounting, financial management and management accounting
techniques relevant to today's competitive financial environment as well as an introduction to the alternative
sources of finance available to various types of business organisations.

2. Course Learning Objectives

On completion of this course you will be able to:

(Accounting Part)
• Understand the principles of traditional accounting methods based on the accounting equation and
the main financial statements
• Able to appraise performance of organisations based on financial statement analysis
• Describe the basic elements of cost used to determine the price of products and services and have
a general understanding of absorption and variable costing
• Prepare break-even charts and profit/volume graphs for a single product
• Describe and explain the role of financial budgets within an organisation
(Finance Part)
• Analyse and evaluate investment opportunities using discounted cash flow, payback period and
accounting rate of return
• Describe and discuss the basic principles of valuation
• Define what a financial instrument is
• Outline and discuss the nature of the capital and money markets
• Understand and explain the idea of market efficiency
• Critically assess the history of the credit crunch

3. The Global Teaching Team

The School of Social Sciences operates across three of HW’s 5 campus locations giving you the unique
opportunity via Canvas to access any online sessions offered by faculty in each location. This course is offered
by staff located in Edinburgh and Dubai:

Campus Role Name HW Email Office Hours (local

time)

Global Course Leader 12.00 Monday

Dr Akira Yonekura A.Yonekura@hw.ac.uk
and Lecturer 13.00 Tuesday

Dr John-Paul 13.00 Tuesday

Edinburgh Lecturer/s j.marney@hw.ac.uk
Marney 15.00 Thursday

Tutor/s Fatima El Hanzouri f.el_hanzouri@hw.ac.uk n/a

(Accounting)
 School of Social Sciences

Campus Role Name HW Email Office Hours (local

time)

Tutor/s Dr John-Paul j.marney@hw.ac.uk 13.00 Tuesday

Marney (Finance) 15.00 Thursday

Course Leader and 11.00 – 12.00

Dr Sunita Mathur sunita.mathutr@hw.ac.uk
Lecturer Wednesday
Dubai
Lecturer/s Dr Sunita Mathur sunita.mathur@hw.ac.uk

Tutor/s TBC TBC TBC

4. Course Structure
This course is divided into 10 Modules. Each Module is accompanied by two one-hour lectures and
supporting weekly tutorials (weeks 3 to 11) and will address a specific subject area. In each of the course
Modules on Canvas you will find a range of online learning materials and instructions to guide your
progress through a number of tasks and activities to support your learning and to prepare you for lectures
and tutorials. In total this course comprises 11 timetabled lectures delivered on-campus at the same time
each week (except Week 6, Consolidation Week) over the semester. In addition, you are expected to
attend a number of on-campus tutorials in weeks 3 to 11 to explore theories, concepts and practice in more
detail.

Consolidation Week: Week 6 is reserved as a reading week free of any timetabled sessions across all HWU
courses. You should use this time to catch up with online learning materials and wider reading. This will
also give you time to prepare for the mid-term test.

5. Teaching Schedule
On-campus Lectures: There will be 21 timetabled lectures of one hour each (see the detailed schedule in
Section 10).

On-campus Tutorials: Lectures are accompanied by 8 timetabled tutorials starting in Week 3. Each tutorial
is a live interactive session lasting 1 hour and each will take place in person on campus. There will be a
number of tutorial groups and you will be allocated a Learning Stream. Learning Stream members attend
the same tutorial at the same time. In your tutorial group you will explore the theories, concepts and
practices introduced in the previous week’s lecture or in materials you will be directed to on Canvas.

For dates and timings of different tutorial groups please refer to the online timetable accessed via the
portal.
 School of Social Sciences

6. Course Assessment
Assessment on this course is designed to test your achievement of the learning outcomes listed above. This
course is assessed by a combination of coursework and a final invigilated examination. You will be assessed
using the following assessment components:

• On-campus invigilated Mid-Term Test (30 % of course mark)

This is an invigilated in person timed closed-book multiple-choice test. This assessment will evaluate your
performance against the following course learning objectives:

• Understand the principles of traditional accounting methods based on the accounting equation
and the main financial statements
• Describe the basic elements of cost used to determine the price of products and services and
have a general understanding of absorption and variable costing
• Describe and explain the role of financial budgets within an organisation
• Describe and discuss the basic principles of valuation
• Define what a financial instrument is
• Outline and discuss the nature of the capital and money markets

• Final Invigilated on-campus Examination (70 % of course mark)

The exam will be 2 hours in duration on campus during the final exam diet in December.
This Exam will evaluate your performance against the following course learning objectives:

• Understand the principles of traditional accounting methods based on the accounting equation
and the main financial statements
• Able to appraise performance of organisations based on financial statement analysis
• Describe the basic elements of cost used to determine the price of products and services and
have a general understanding of absorption and variable costing
• Prepare break-even charts and profit/volume graphs for a single product
• Describe and explain the role of financial budgets within an organisation
• Analyse and evaluate investment opportunities using discounted cash flow, payback period and
accounting rate of return
• Describe and discuss the basic principles of valuation
• Define what a financial instrument is
• Outline and discuss the nature of the capital and money markets

Marking criteria for each assessment are available in the Assessment on this course Canvas Module. These
criteria are used to evaluate your work against the learning outcomes for this course and therefore you
should ensure that you understand the criteria and focus on what matters. Support to complete course
assessment is provided during tutorials and in the assessment documentation uploaded to Canvas.

Mid-Term Test
You will be tasked during this 60-minutes timed test to answer 20 multiple choice questions. Mid-Term

Test takes place on Friday 17th in Week 10 at 15.00 (Edinburgh)

 School of Social Sciences

Test takes Place on Monday 13th November in Week 10 (Dubai campus)

Will I get feedback on my Mid-Term Test? Yes, you will receive general feedback on Canvas to help you
improve your performance on the course and help you prepare for the final exam.

Missing the Mid-Term Test. There is no alternative test date if you miss the Mid-Term Test. You will lose
30% of your final mark. If you foresee having issues completing the Mid-Term Test at the specified time,
please contact your Personal Tutor and apply for Mitigating Circumstances (MC) via the student portal.

The Final Course Exam

The final examination will be delivered on-campus during the December Exam and Assessment diet
(dates will be released later in the semester by Academic Registry). You will have 2 hours to complete
the exam. This is an invigilated in-person closed book exam. The exam paper will comprise 4 sections
and you will be required to answer all sections within 2 hours. A Specimen Exam Paper will be available
on Canvas so that you can see the format of the exam paper.

You will not receive your mark for the exam, but you will receive your final overall course mark after the
Board of Examiners has approved the course results and results are released by Academic Registry.

Will I get feedback on my exam? Individual feedback on your exam performance is not routinely
provided. However, if you have failed the exam or performed below your expectation, then you can
contact the course leader to book an appointment within 3 weeks of the exam marks being released.
During your appointment you will receive verbal feedback.

Further detail on course assessment is available in the Assessment content area of the Canvas course.

7. Course Revision and Exam Preparation

Before the final revision session at the end of the course, you should have worked your way through all your
lecture notes, the online learning materials and activities and covered the prescribed textbook and journal
article readings. The following broad topics will be covered in the final revision session:
• Exam format and question types
• Grading standards/expectations
• Review of key concepts

You should prepare for the revision session and bring along any questions you have and areas of difficulty
you would like to raise or review during the session. You may be asked to work through practice examination
questions (Specimen Exam Paper) before or after the revision session.

8. Academic Misconduct
At Heriot-Watt we expect all students to apply the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty in
all aspects of learning and assessment. You must read and adhere to the University’s policy on Academic
Integrity and complete the Academic Integrity Module included in the Canvas course.

To deal with academic misconduct, including activities associated with contract cheating, plagiarism and
collusion, the University has Student Discipline Policy and Procedures that apply to all students of the
University.
 School of Social Sciences

The University understands that assessment can be stressful for students, for a wide range of reasons.
Therefore, if you are feeling anxious about your assessment(s), please contact the Student Advice Hub, the
Student Well-Being Services, your Personal Tutor or your course leader for guidance and/or advice. If
there are circumstances out with your control preventing you from effectively engaging with and
completing assessed work, you should seek advice and consider applying for Mitigating Circumstances.
It’s vital that you seek support rather than resorting to cheating. If you are found guilty of academic
misconduct this will be reflected in your final degree transcript and you will be expected to resubmit your
work or resit the course; this may delay progression to the next stage of study and / or delay the award of
your degree.

To gain access to the Assessment on this course you need to complete the
Academic Integrity Module contained within the Canvas Course.

9. Reading, Preparation and Additional Resources

Within each Module in the Canvas Course you will find what will be covered in each lecture and tutorial and
how you can best prepare for these sessions. Each Module details the learning outcomes and topics to be
covered. Please read through these carefully in advance. There are clear instructions for the activities,
exercises and tasks you need to complete before each tutorial.

Any required pre-work involves selected aspects of the online course and readings; if pre-work is indicated
for a lecture or tutorial this should be considered a minimum required level of preparation. If you have time
and would like to do more work beforehand or after a seminar or tutorial, you should work through the
additional activities and readings indicated in the Module.

The digital library is available giving access to a full range of resources, including e-books, databases and
journals. Resource lists, subject guides, skills development and online tutorials will also be available to
support your study. If you have any questions, our specialist Librarian (Marion Kennedy, EBS and
Psychology, +44 131 451 3583, m.l.kennedy@hw.ac.uk / Astrid Faragher, LINCS, +44 (0)131 451 3383
astrid.faragher@hw.ac.uk) will be ready to help with one-to-one advice.

Core Textbook. The core textbook for this course is available via the HWU library as an e-book:

• Peter Scott, (2019), Accounting for Business, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press.
• For the Finance part of the course there is no essential purchase. There are lots of introductory
finance texts in the library which cover exactly the same ground. If you want a recommendation, you
could look at Brigham, Earhardt, Fox (2019) ‘Financial management’. Cengage.
 School of Social Sciences

10. Detailed Course Schedule

All times are local. Lectures are 1 hour in duration. All sessions are delivered on-campus only.

Module Lectures Edinburgh Dubai

1. Introduction: What is Accounting? – Lecture (wk 1)

10.00 / 12 Sep 1-3 pm/11 Sep
(Accounting in a Business Context)

2. The Accounting Equation and the main Lecture (wk 2)

10.00 / 19 Sep 1-3 pm/18 Sep
Financial Statements

3. Evaluating Business Performance – Analysing Lecture (wk 3)

10.00 / 26 Sep 1-3 pm/25 Sep
and Interpreting Financial Statements

4. Management Accounting & Its Role in a

Lecture (wk 4)
Business Context – Types of Costs, Absorption and 10.00 / 3 Oct 1-3 pm/2 Oct
Variable Costing

5. CVP Analysis, Budgets and Management Lecture (wk 5)

10.00 / 10 Oct 1-3 pm/9 Oct
Control

Week 6: Consolidation (Reading) Week – No Lecture and Tutorials

Lecture (wk 7)
6. Discounting and Present Value 10.00 / 24 Oct 1-3 pm/23 Oct

Lecture (wk 8)
7. Applications of Present Value techniques 10.00 / 31 Oct 1-3 pm/30 Oct

Lecture (wk 9)
8. Money and Capital Markets 10.00 / 7 Nov 1-3 pm/6 Nov

9. Valuation of stocks and bonds. The Efficient Lecture (wk 10)

10.00 / 14 Nov 1-3 pm/13 Nov
Markets Hypothesis

10. When valuations go wrong, the Credit Crunch. Lecture (wk 11)
10.00 / 21 Nov 1-3 pm/20 Nov
Start Revision

Lecture (wk 12)

11. Revision 10.00 / 28 Nov 1-3 pm/27 Nov