MSc Accounting & Finance

This module aims to explore and formalise the fundamental relationships between investors’ decision-making in the presence of uncertainty (“risk”) and the cross-sectional and inter-temporal properties of the prices and returns of financial assets. 

You will gain a profound understanding of the characteristics of different asset classes, the mechanics of the markets on which these are traded, and the theoretical framework that determines the “fair” prices and returns for such assets.

This module complements the parallel core module “Corporate Financial Management” which explores the same theoretical framework from the corporate rather than the investor’s angle. Together, the first-term core modules will also equip you with the skills and techniques required to evaluate and conduct research in the area of Financial
Economics. 

Discover more about the tools and techniques which are well established and used by management accountants in organisations to aid planning, decision making and control. Delve into how management accounting has changed to respond to dynamic changes in the business environment and the way management accounting information can be used to affect behaviour.

Build on the financial reporting knowledge gained in your undergraduate programme. You will develop awareness of the contingent and powerful nature of technical accounting.

The content on this module is very practical, in that it uses normative, positive and critical theory to help
you to understand how financial reporting works in practice by studying technical/regulatory, cultural and ethical issues.

Centred on the work of the International Accounting Standards Board it will advance your critical understanding of financial reporting quality and its role in generating trust in the capital markets. You will gain a foundation for the optional advanced financial reporting module which focuses on current solutions for advanced technical financial reporting issues. A team-teaching approach will allow you to learn from experts in the area, as well as introducing you to faculty who could be supervising your dissertation later in the programme.

This module is related to Issues in Accounting and financial reporting modules to the extent that it draws on your knowledge of financial statement information and various valuation models such as free cash flow and abnormal earnings valuation models.

The main objective of the module is to provide you with the tools to analyse firm financial performance from an equity valuation perspective and to carry out a business valuation building on this analysis.

A further objective is to encourage you to use the valuation-based framework to analyse the 'quality' of accounting information and to explore empirical studies concerned with testing the value-relevance of financial statement information.

By the end of the module you should be able to:

• Understand the usefulness of financial statement numbers.
• Understand how to reformulate financial statements.
• Understand the importance of ratio analysis to investors and analysts and learn how to apply a value based approach to ratio analysis.
• Understand and apply business valuation models that use accounting numbers.
• Prepare a thorough valuation analysis including sensitivity analysis on the key assumptions.
• Understand the factors determining quality of accounting information from an investor perspective and gain a basic understanding of empirical research on value relevance.
• Demonstrate oral and written communication skills in relation to the analysis of company financial statement information from a valuation perspective.
• Apply modelling and spreadsheet skills to the solution of performance analysis and valuation problems.
• Apply and integrate concepts from accounting and finance to the analysis of business plans and company valuation.

Gain MSc level knowledge of concepts and issues in Corporate Financial Management that enables you to solve general problems in the field.

You will learn the skills necessary to apply state of the art ideas of modern Corporate Financial Management theory as well as the quantitative tools to solving the types of problems faced by CFOs and other business executives who must make investment, financing, risk management and payout decisions taking account of flexibility and discretion under uncertainty, tax consequences, and financing effects.

You will also be able to trace the effects of considerations such as corporate and personal taxes, bankruptcy costs, information signaling and conflicts of interest on investment decisions and on financial structure decisions. Finally, you will understand the use of option pricing techniques in corporate finance to evaluate corporate securities and investment projects.

The main goal of the module is to introduce you to quantitative research methods, providing you with the knowledge and skills (critical and analytical) to understand how these methods are applied in accounting research. Seminars will help build your understanding of how to apply the quantitative techniques learned.

A 12,000 word dissertation gives you the opportunity to develop, test, practice and apply the techniques and theories you have gained through your studies. You will be supervised and supported throughout by one of our academic staff or teaching associates and will usually submit your dissertation in early September.