Students will have acquired knowledge and understanding of the contexts within which accounting operates including the role and structure of the accounting profession; the impact of the legal, regulatory and social environment on accounting; the investment, planning, control, financing and stewardship functions of accounting within business entities; the influence of information technology and management information systems on accounting; and the role of the capital markets.

Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the main current vocabulary and techniques of accounting. This will have been acquired through the systematic study of separate pathways in financial accounting and reporting, management accounting, finance, auditing and taxation.

Students will understand needs of the wide variety of users, both internal and external, of accounting information and be able to evaluate current models for meeting those information needs.

Students will understand the strengths and limitations of conventional accounting practice. They will also be aware of and able to critically appraise some of the alternatives that have been proposed to conventional financial and management accounting models including alternative valuation bases and recognition rules, cash flow accounting, alternative managerial accounting approaches to planning, control and decision-making.

Students will have acquired skills in designing, operating and validating accounting systems using appropriate technology for both financial and managerial purposes. They will have acquired skills in the collection, recording, summarising and reporting of economic events; the preparation of financial statements for single entities and groups; decision analysis, performance measurement and management control; financial analysis and projections.

Knowledge and understanding of contemporary theories concerning accounting and finance and the ability to critically evaluate such theories and evidence.