BA Accounting and Management

Compulsory modules

Management Information

Explore the techniques, principles and underlying concepts relating to the analysis of management information – including the examination of costs, revenues and profits. You'll gain experience of the approaches used in today’s businesses and understand how they fit together to provide an overview of a business’s performance.

Introduction to Business

Explore a variety of international businesses, their stakeholders, and the environments in which they operate. You'll study key business concepts, theories and models, enabling you to understand and analyse contemporary businesses. The use of case studies, and a focus on current events in the business world, will ensure that you develop commercial awareness.

Introduction to Accounting

Develop a sound understanding of the techniques of double-entry bookkeeping, and learn how to apply its principles in recording accounting transactions, adjusting financial records, and preparing non-complex financial statements.

Law and Business

Gain an understanding of the principles of English law that are relevant in a commercial context, and particularly those relevant to accountancy qualifications. The content of this module aligns with the requirements for professional accreditation.

Business in Practice: Data Analytics

Study key concepts in data analytics and explore visualisation techniques for summarising data. Topics will include: types of data, types of distributions (with an emphasis on the normal distribution), using parametric and non-parametric tests to analyse statistical differences, and regression models. You'll also gain experience in using GUI-based tools for analysing data.

Developing Professional Excellence

Develop the key skills and competencies to thrive in your studies and your career, including communication, business writing and time management skills. You'll also explore careers theories and gain practical skills that can help you with internships, placements or applications for graduate positions.

Optional modules

Introductory Economics for Business and Finance

Develop an understanding of micro- and macroeconomics, enabling you to see how businesses are affected by developments in specific markets as well as by changes at the level of the entire economy.

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/2025 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. 

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

Compulsory modules

Business Finance

Discover the  purpose of the financial management function within a business. Explore the theory and practice of financing decisions. Develop your knowledge, understanding and skills of financial management, assessing the working capital needs of a business and the ways in which the elements of working capital may be managed. 

Financial Accounting

Study the various International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), along with the related accounting concepts you'll need to understand in order to prepare single entity and consolidated financial statements.

Further Management Accounting

Gain insight into financial information techniques, principles, and concepts for organisational decision-making, planning, and control. Understand theories, technical language, and practices within the business context, including contemporary management accounting developments. 

Optional modules

Business Strategy for Accountants

Enhance your current knowledge and analyse an organisation and its environment, evaluate its current position and performance from both a financial and a non-financial perspective, evaluate the likely consequences of strategic choices and recommend strategies. 

Personal Tax

Enhance your knowledge of the UK tax system and calculate income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax and inheritance tax for individuals in given scenarios. 

Assurance in Context

Discover the nature and purpose of audit and assurance and gain a practical understanding of the work undertaken by assurance providers. You’ll examines the stages of the audit process, considering the work done by the assurance provider at each stage. The importance of assurance in achieving good corporate governance, and its wider political, economic and social context will also be considered. 

Trends in Finance

Contextualise current issues and debates in finance by placing them in the historical evolution of finance. Understand how finance has evolved over time and where it may develop in the future.

Climate Change and Finance

Gain an overview of the scientific consensus on climate change and its projected social and economic consequences, in order to understand how the financial sector can help to mitigate and manage these impacts.

Banking Law

Cultivate your understanding of banking law in the UK as you study the banker and customer relationship, the duty of banks to maintain confidentiality, and other issues related to transactions.  

Marketing Essentials

This module discusses and analyses marketing theories, as well as strategic marketing tools and techniques used in the business world. You'll explore the elements needed to develop a marketing strategy, including assessing your competitors and customers, market trends, brand positioning, the "marketing mix", and organisational capabilities.

Comparative International Management

Explore global management variations and their impact on firm performance. Learn about national differences in business systems, innovation, and organizational behaviour. You'll cover topics such as globalization, governance, education, and industrial relations across countries like the USA, China, Japan, Britain, France, and Germany. 

An Introduction to the Management of Information Systems

Explore the fundamental concepts and theories that underpin the design, implementation, control, evaluation and strategic use of information systems in business.

Branding Theory and Practice

Examine two key issues within marketing: branding and the preparation of a branding orientated project. You'll gain in-depth understanding of the theories and practices related to brand management, and the process of building a strong brand. The project will provide an opportunity to apply the concepts you've learned in a creative team task.

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/2025 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. 

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

Compulsory modules

Advanced International Financial Reporting

Explore advanced topics in financial reporting, as well as the theories that underpin financial accounting, and examine how these contribute to current financial reporting and practice. You'll gain knowledge and understanding of a number of International Financial Reporting Standards.

Business and Professional Ethics

Examine the moral norms of international accounting, investment and financial management. Within the business world, the overwhelming preoccupation with money and profit introduce a variety of conflicting moral pressures. Using real-world scenarios, you'll explore the ethical questions raised and develop the analytical, reflexive and decision-making skills to tackle a range of moral issues.

Advanced Management Accounting

Gain further understanding of the role of management accounting in organisational decision making, planning, control and performance management.

Optional modules

Accounting Project

Deepen your understanding of key issues in accounting or business. Under supervision, you’ll conduct research, which may stem from readings or work experiences, to enhance your research skills and comprehension of the process. 

Business Tax

Learn about the main areas of UK taxes applicable to businesses, including income tax, capital gains tax, corporation tax, national insurance and VAT. 

Forensic Accounting

Gain a critical understanding of financial fraud, including its context, necessary conditions, detection, and investigation methods. Learn to design and implement effective preventive and detective control mechanisms. 

Private Equity and Venture Capital

Develop your appreciation of the practical aspects of investing by private equity and venture capital firms, understand the dynamics between the venture capital investor and the entrepreneur, and the practicalities of raising private equity and venture capital funds from institutional investors.

Strategy and International Business

Study the strategic issues confronting managers of multinational enterprises (MNEs) both within the firm and in the global marketplace.  You’ll examine factors that influence the development and the competitive positioning of MNEs and gain an understanding of both the external business environment and internal nature of the firm and its strategy.   

Institutions and Emerging Firms

Explore frameworks that allow description and understanding of national institutions and competitive dynamics related to emerging economies such as China, Russia, Brazil, India and South Africa. You’ll gain understanding as to how managers can address challenges of different national institutions in product markets, labour markets and financial markets in the face of competition.    

Information Systems and Digital Business

Explore key concepts, theories, techniques, and issues in developing information systems solutions for digital business. Understand the importance of aligning business and IT strategies through an understanding of the structure and function of information processed by IT systems from both business and technical perspectives.

Service Operations

Covering key concepts and theories within the area of service operations and management, this module will introduce you to particular challenges facing service organisations in an era where services contribute more to gross domestic product (GDP) than manufacturing. You’ll be provided with theoretical and practical grounding to work within service organisations or service business units within manufacturing organisations.    

International Marketing

Gain an in depth understanding of the complexity and variety of factors playing a role in designing and implementing international marketing programmes. This module will stimulate your critical and independent thinking as you consider topics from theoretical and empirical perspectives and the implications for marketing operations of organisations trading across cultures. 

International Human Resource Management

Learn the key concepts for understanding international human resource management. You'll explore the practice of managing human resources in international businesses and consider variations in the practice of managing human resources in different countries and cultures.

Project Management

In this hands-on module, you'll work on project-based group activities to develop a practical understanding of the tools and techniques used in project management. You'll also explore the core theories that underpin the project management process.

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/2025 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. 

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.