Analyse and apply costs estimation techniques in business organisation contexts

Enquiry & Analysis

Evaluate budgeting and control for management decision-making purposes.

Knowledge, Understanding & Analysis

Apply management accounting methods for decision making and planning within business organisation contexts

Application, Communication, Knowledge & Problem Solving

Apply and critically analyse appropriate management accounting techniques to support short-term decisions.

Reflection & Analysis

1. On-line Test (1 hour) 20% (Los 1)

2. Written Exam (2 hours) plus 10 mins reading time (80%) (LOs 2, 3 & 4)

You will learn cost accounting for decision and control: Standard costing, Marginal costing, Absorption costing, Material mix and yield variances, Sales mix and quantity variances, Planning and operational, Variances, Performance analysis, Price and rate variances, Usage and efficiency variances, Interpretation of variances, Product and service costing using ABC, Advantages of ABC over other costing systems



Budgeting and control: Budgetary systems and types of Budgets, Quantitative analysis in budgeting, classification and allocate costs, Target setting and motivation, Controllable and uncontrollable outcomes, Dysfunctional behaviours in budgeting, Ethical considerations in budgeting Components and their interaction, Stress testing budgets, big data analytics and budgets, Alternative approaches to budgeting – beyond budgeting, Performance analysis, Planning and operational variances.



Short-term decision-making: Pricing decisions and different price strategies, Make or buy decisions, Discontinuation decisions limiting factors analysis in a scarce resource situation and select an appropriate technique, Cost volume profit analysis, Multi-product break-even analysis, Use of data and technology to analyse product mix decision Marginal and full cost recovery for pricing decisions, Differences in pricing and revenue maximisation for the short term and long term and Product mix, and learning curve.



Short term Risk and uncertainty: The techniques of Maximax, maximin, and minimax regret to decision-making problems including the production of profit tables, Stress testing, Sensitivity and what-if analysis, Probability distributions.

You will build on the skills you have learnt in your first year and focus on decision-making techniques such as multi-stage cost allocation, marginal and absorption costing, activity-based costing and variance analysis.

152 hours of student-centred activities involving reading, self-assessed exercises, case study analysis, feedback and revision.



48 hours of contact time will engage students with 26 hours of formal lectures/large group activity and 26 hours of workshops in which students will engage with a mix of lectures/tutorials/large and small group activities, including presentations and peer assessment and undertake formative assessment.



The increased contact hours above the University standard are to provide essential learning opportunities to gain the appropriate level of attainment for Professional Body exemptions.



The number of study hours for this module is 200 hours to meet the Professional Body accreditation requirements



The lectures will provide the main advanced financial accounting themes, analysis of concepts and their application. This knowledge will be reinforced by the preparation and discussion of questions in the tutorials and by students self-directed study time. The latter will include visiting corporate websites to support the knowledge acquired.



In-class sessions play a crucial role in the learning process, where formative assessments are essential for providing ongoing feedback to both students and the teaching team. Examples of formative assessments include quizzes, class exercises, draft submissions, and peer reviews, all of which help gauge students' understanding of the course material. These assessments enable instructors to identify areas where students may need additional support and adjust teaching strategies as needed. This practical implementation ensures that even in a remote learning environment, students receive the necessary support and preparation for their summative assessments.

Feedback and feedforward on this module in the dual award program would follow the steps implemented:

Cross-Institution Moderation: Implement a moderation process where a sample of feedback from both institutions is reviewed collaboratively. This allows for adjustments to be made to ensure that the quality and tone of feedback are aligned.

Structured Feedforward: Both institutions would follow a consistent approach to feedforward, providing clear, actionable advice on how students can improve in future assessments. This helps students apply feedback effectively across all their modules.

CIMA1: Operational paper P1-Management Accounting (study text for exams in 2022 and 2023) BPP.

ACCA: Paper F5- Performance Management (study text for exams in 2022 and 2023) BPP.

Recommended text:
Seal, W., Rohde, C., Garrison, R, and Noreen, E., (2020) Management Accounting. 5th ed. McGraw-Hill International (UK) Ltd.

Weetman, P., (2010) Management Accounting. 2nd edition, Prentice Hall.

Module study guide and handbook

The University Library and Learning Resources - books and academic journals

The module VLE

Learning support materials and booklets

Internet

Microsoft Office Excel

Microsoft Office PowerPoint

Computer-based quizzes