BSc Business Accounting with Industrial/Professional Experience

This course builds on student’s knowledge of assurance engagements and ethics covered in their first year of study. The course will explore the regulatory, ethical and professional considerations when accepting, planning, managing, concluding and reporting particular engagements. A deeper consideration will be made of understanding the business and identifying risks on assurance engagements. Appropriate responses to these risks will be considered, including the possibility of using experts and the implications of this. Finally, concluding and reporting on engagements is considered; subsequent events, going concern, analytical procedures, reporting and any modifications required for that report.

Students will deepen their knowledge and professional skills about ethics, current issues affecting the accounting profession including the use of big data and the future of audit drawn from academic research and real-world examples.

Core and only available for Level 3 BSc Business Accounting with IPE.

The pre-requisite course is BMAN10760 Auditing and Professional Accounting Practice.

This course aims to develop students’ understanding of the critical aspects of managing an assurance engagement (including audit engagements): acceptance, planning, managing, concluding and reporting. It also incorporates ethics, current issues affecting the accounting profession and the future of audit.

On completion of this module, students will be able to:

• identify and advise on the regulatory, professional and ethical issues relevant to those carrying out an assurance engagement;

• explain the processes involved in accepting and managing assurance engagements;

• explain how quality assurance processes mitigate risks;

• plan and perform assurance engagements in accordance with the terms of the engagements and appropriate standards; and

• conclude and report on assurance engagements in accordance with the terms of the engagements and appropriate standards

The core content will be updated annually to reflect any changes to legislation following the major reviews on audit reform and assurance processes.

The key areas of the syllabus are:

1. Reintroduction to audit, assurance and ethics

Students will revise the concepts of assurance, audit and ethics that they learned previously in year 1 to understand how these concepts will be integrated in detail within specific topics taught on the course.

2. Responsibilities and compliance with laws and regulations

Students will be able to understand and explain the distinction between the responsibilities of assurance providers and management based on legal and other regulatory requirements.

3. Professional standards and professional ethics

Students will be able to describe and explain the role of national and international standards when conducting statutory audits and providing assurance on internal controls globally and in the UK.  Students will also be able to discuss the importance of professional ethics and apply the rules of the code of professional ethics in specific accounting situations.           

4. Quality management and accepting engagements

Students will be able to identify and explain the quality management processes for accepting and managing an assurance engagement to ensure that the assurance engagement risk is reduced to an acceptable level. Students will also be able to discuss and explain the issues which underlie the agreement of the scope and terms of an assurance engagement (new or continuing), the main ways in which national legislation and other regulations affect the scope and nature of the audit as well as the appointment and removal of auditors.

5. Planning and performing the audit

Students will be able to plan and perform assurance engagements in accordance with the terms of the engagements and appropriate standards. Students will need to understand the business by identifying and responding to risks through reliance on controls, use of experts and analytical procedures including the use of data analytics for a given organisation.

6. Concluding and reporting the audit

Students will be able to conclude and report on assurance engagements i

The course will be an intense course taught over a twelve-week period. Thecourse will adopt a blended learning approach. Students will have 200 hours of activity hours based on a mix of delivery styles to accommodatethe timing of the placement period for students on the BSc (Hons) Business Accounting programme. The learning and teaching will include:

• Classroom based face-to-face lectures and workshops (synchronous)
• Online asynchronous videos covering specific standalone topics
• E-learning materials in the form of videos, short form quizzes, longer online question and answers, and discussion forums
• Inpreparation for the assessment, students will be given mock examquestions and guidance on the approach to be taken in answering thequestions as well as exam technique
• Directed independent study.

The lectures will focus on the core topics of the course and the morecomplex, integrated topics. Running alongside this will be some asynchronous videos covering the more theoretical aspects of the topic.These asynchronous videos are aimed at teaching the student the topicand enhancing the learning they have gained in their private study.Topics covered in the asynchronous videos will also be covered in theworkshop to give the students the opportunity to have areas ofmisunderstanding or misinterpretation clarified.

Knowledge and understanding - Students will gain a deeper understanding on the regulatory, professional and ethical issues relevant to accepting, carrying out and managing assurance and audit engagements as well as understand how quality assurance processes mitigates risk.

Intellectual skills - Students will apply their technical knowledge to case scenarios, identifying and using relevant information, to develop solutions and applying judgement in relation to the case, leading to a credible conclusion and reporting on assurance engagements in accordance with the terms of engagement and appropriate standards. Students will demonstrate ethical reasoning in accounting scenarios.

Practical skills - Students will apply technical knowledge and skills to plan assurance engagements in accordance with the terms of engagement and appropriate standards by understanding the business, identifying and responding to risks through reliance on controls, use of experts and analytical procedures. Students will use a range of data types and sources to inform analysis and decision making as well as analyse potential ethical issues in practical settings. Students will conclude and report on assurance engagements, including determining whether to modify a report with or without a modified opinion/conclusion; and identify deficiencies in financial information systems, their potential consequences and recommendations for improvement.

Transferable skills and personal qualities - The course supports the student’s development as lateral thinkers. They will be required to analyse courses of actions in terms of the requirements of the scenario, accounting standards, legislation and ethics. The delivery schedule and assessment method for the course demonstrates the student’s ability of time management, applying judgement and problem solving.

Summative assessment - 100% examination

Following the assessment generic feedback posted on Blackboard regarding overall examination performance.

Formative feedback will be given by:

• Informal advice and discussion during lectures and workshops.
• Online exercises and quizzes delivered through the Blackboard course space.

Responses to student emails and questions from a member of staff including feedback provided to a group via an online discussion forum

Auditing 11^th Edition by Alan Millichamp and John Taylor

Accounting Ethics 3^rd Edition by Duska et al.

Auditing Standards

ICAEW Learning Resources for Audit and Assurance Professional Level

Information

Pre-requisites: BMAN10760

Co-requisites: None

Dependent courses: None

Programme Restrictions: Compulsory for and available only to students on the BSc Business Accounting programme.

For Academic Year 2024/5

Updated: March 2024

Approved by: March UG Committee