Trinity Business School

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BUU22530: Introduction to Accounting

(5 ECTS)

Lecturer:

Amanda Roe 

Email: amroe@tcd.ie 
Office hours: Wednesday (Please email to make an appointment)

Module tutor: Dylan Kirby Email: kirbydy@tcd.ie and Ying Lin Email: liny5@tcd.ie

 Available to exchange Students 

Pre-Requisite: 

BUU11510 - Fundamentals of Management & Organisation

Module Description:

This module deals with the construction and interpretation of five key financial statements. The initial focus will be on three of these statements – the Statement of Financial Position, the Income Statement, and the Cash Flow Statement. Later in the module, the two remaining statements, which have been introduced relatively recently, will be considered. These are the Statement of Comprehensive Income and the Statement of Changes in Equity. Throughout the module, underlying theoretical concepts related to matching, income measurement and asset valuation will be explored in detail and the principles of sound financial management will be developed as the course proceeds. Emphasis on double entry book-keeping will be minimized as far as possible.

The overall goal of the course is that students obtain a sound understanding of money in organisations and – more specifically – learn how to analyse and judge (a) whether organisations are performing well and are financially healthy or (b) whether there are weaknesses in their financial performance / financial structure. 

Course Content

  • Introduction to accounting
  • Measuring, reporting & evaluating financial position
  • Measuring, reporting & evaluating financial performance
  • Accounting for limited companies (issue of shares, accounting standards etc)
  • Measuring, reporting & evaluating cash flows
  • Analysis & interpretation of financial statements (especially of public limited companies) Financing a business & the management of working capital

Learning Outcomes:

Having successfully completed this module, the student should be able to: 

  1. Explain and discuss the fundamental concepts underlying the construction of the key financial statements;
  2. Prepare a set of basic accounts (the 3 key financial statements) for a commercial enterprise;
  3. Evaluate the financial performance, position and cash flow of an enterprise [based on published financial statements of Public Limited Companies (plcs)];
  4. Recommend appropriate policies and strategies for funding and managing an enterprise's resource base, (re)investment requirements and funding needs.

Relation to Degree

A clear knowledge of accounting principles, together with an ability to construct relatively simple financial statements and interpret complex published financial statements (e.g. of large plc enterprises) is considered essential for all business graduates – regardless of whether the degree taken is a BBS (single honor), or one of the ‘joint honor’ degrees within the TR081 (BESS) suite, or one of those degrees which combines business with a language or law or computing.  This second-year course is a pre-requisite for the subsequent study of accounting – whether in Trinity College or abroad as an exchange student.   The course also complements studies in the area of finance, and is a valuable knowledge base for analysing financial information that may appear in other courses, especially Strategic Management in the final (senior sophister) year.

Recommended Texts/Key Reading:

 Required core course textbook:  

  • Accounting for Business  
  • Authors: Peter Scott (3rd Edition) 

General Supplemental Readings 

  • See lecture slides for supplemental readings.

 Student preparation for the module 

In advance of each lecture, students must read the required material to familiarise themselves with the new accounting concepts. Students must prepare the required questions in advance of the lectures and tutorials.  

Assessment:

In order to successfully complete this module, the student must obtain an overall grade of 40%.  

 There are three forms of assessment for this module.  

Continuous Assessment  

  • Two in-class MCQ tests, 30% of total grade (each test is worth 15%).  
  • Week 6: Friday 20th October: Topic 1 to 3 (15 MCQs)  
  • Week 10: Friday 17th November: Topic 4 to 6 (15 MCQs)

Final Assessment | Preparation of accounts and Interpretation of Accounts | 70%.  

  • 1.5-hour exam during exam week.  
  • The final assessment equates to 70% of the student’s overall grade.  
  • Breakdown: Section A:
    • Preparation of Accounts (A,B,C) (50 Marks)
    • Section b: Interpretation of PLC Company (50 Marks)  

Re-Assessment

  • Re-assessment occurs when the student fails to obtain an overall grade of 40% in this module.
  • Re-assessment involves retaking a 100% exam during the re-assessment period for 2024/25 academic year.

Workload

Content Indicative Number of Hours
Lecturing hours (11 weeks x 2 hours) 22
Study of lecture notes, textbook material, examples and exercises (11 weeks x 2 hours) 33

Attendance at tutorials (10 weeks x 1 hour)

 10
Preparation, in advance, of tutorial assignments/exercises (10 weeks x 1 hour) 10
Review of materials/solutions covered during tutorials (10 weeks x 1 hour)   10
10Preparation for + sitting MCQ tests   15

Preparation for + sitting end-of-year examination (1.5 hour exam)

 20
Total 120

Student Preparation for the Module

In advance of each lecture, students must read the required material to familiarise themselves with the new accounting concepts. Students must prepare the required questions in advance of the lectures and tutorials.

Course Communication

Please note that all course related email communication must be sent from your official TCD email address. Emails sent from other addresses will not be attended to.

Administrative information changes (e.g., dates, times, venues, groups, deadlines, etc.) will be posted on Blackboard. Students are responsible for checking their College email and Blackboard regularly.

Biographical Note:

Amanda Roe holds the position of Teaching Fellow in Accountancy and Workplace Well-being at Trinity Business School. She is a Chartered Accountant with many years' experience in both practice and industry. She holds a Bachelor of Business from University of Limerick, and a Master's degree in Accounting from University College Dublin. Teaching responsibilities in Trinity include undergraduate modules in introduction to accounting and financial reporting. Amanda is currently conducting doctoral research concerning employee attitudes post COVID-19.