ACM011: Advanced International Financial Reporting and Analysis

Module code: ACM011

Module provider: Business Informatics, Systems and Accounting; Henley Business School

Credits: 20

Level: Postgraduate Masters

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Renata Stenka, email: r.i.stenka@henley.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s): IN THE SAME YEAR AS TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST TAKE ACM010 (Compulsory)

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 28 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The module develops further students’ knowledge and critical understanding of the international financial reporting and the relevant regulatory and institutional framework of financial accounting. It also covers performative aspects of financial disclosure and critical evaluation of accounting innovations that acknowledge the broader social and environmental impact of business activities. The module focuses on the inherent subjectivity in the preparation and interpretation of financial statements and its impact on the decision usefulness of the information provided.

Module learning outcomes

1. By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:
2. Understand and apply relevant international accounting standards and guidance with regards to more complex transactions and business scenarios 
3. Appreciate and understand the broader political, institutional, and social context of financial reporting 
4. Critically evaluate the controversies surrounding most recent financial reporting developments (social and environmental accounting)
5. Appreciate the inherent subjectivity and thus performativity of financial disclosures and how it affects their decision usefulness.  
6. Analyse, summarise and synthesise selected relevant academic and professional literature. 
7. Critically evaluate and challenge established dogmas in the relevant body of knowledge.

Module content

• A critical evaluation of theoretical frameworks concerning corporate reporting and their real-life applications
• Prepare and critique group accounting (including subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures)
• The economic and broader social implications of numerical and narrative components of corporate reports 
• The inherent subjectivity and thus performativity of financial statements 
• The most recent corporate reporting innovations
• Corporate reporting and sustainability – the era of the ‘enlightened’ investor
• Valuation techniques and their applications for the quantification of social and environmental capital – how do we quantify intangible sources of value? 
• Creative accounting manoeuvres and their economic and social implications
• The institutional and political context of accounting regulations
• Legitimation practices within the accounting regulatory field  

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures will focus on the major concepts, principles, and techniques under consideration. Workshops will be used for case studies, practical applications and student-led presentations or discussions. The input from external speaker(s) will provide international and interdisciplinary context to the module delivery.

Study hours

At least 34 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 50% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Group work based on real life accounting practice case studies.

Reassessment

Additional costs