Accounting and Business Diploma

Course Structure

The Accounting and Business Diploma course is divided into seven comprehensive units:

Module 1: Recording Financial Transactions (FA1)

• How accounting systems work.
• Types of business transactions and documentation
• Banking system and transactions
• Payroll
• Ledger accounts
• Cash and bank
• Sales and credit transactions
• Purchases and credit transactions
• Reconciliation
• Preparing the trial balance
• Duality of transactions and the double entry system

Module 2: Management Information (MA1)

• Cost and management accounting
• Basic cost information for management accounting.
• Collecting and recording cost information
• Revenue information for planning and control
• Systems for management accounting
• Source documents in costing systems
• Costs by nature, behaviour and purpose
• Costs for material, labour and expenses
• Actual and expected costs
• Spread sheet system in Microsoft excel

Module 3: Maintaining Financial Records (FA2)

• The fundamental principles of accounting
• Techniques for maintaining accounting records
• Ledger accounts, sales tax records, control accounts, reconciliations.
• Extracting and correcting an initial trial balance
• Producing an extended trial balance
• Accounting for the business transactions of sole traders and partnerships
• Outlining the principles and process of basic bookkeeping
• Preparing journals and ledger accounts
• Recording transactions and events
• Preparing trial balance including identifying and correcting errors
• Reconciling the control accounts and cashbook
• Extending the trial balance, year-end adjustments and final accounts

Module 4: Managing Costs and Finances (MA2)

• Recording, analysing and reporting costs and revenues
• Using costs and revenues for internal management purposes
• Cost concepts and their role in making short term decisions
• The application of spreadsheets in management accounting
• The role of costing within the organisation and how costs are classified
• Classification of costs
• Cost accounting techniques
• The use management accounting techniques to make and support decision making
• Principles of cash management

Module 5: Management Accounting (FMA)

• Management accounting concepts for decision making, planning and control
• The use and function of forecasting techniques, the preparation of budgets
• Standard costs and performance measurement.
• The nature, source and purpose of management information
• Explain and apply cost accounting techniques
• The role of budgets for planning and control
• Comparing actual costs with standard costs and variance analysis
• Analysis, interpretation and monitoring of business performance

Module 6: Accountant in Business (FAB)

• Aspects of the regulatory framework as they affect auditing and governance
• The roles of internal and external auditors and the importance of internal control
• Key organisational management and people issues
• External environment issues: economic, legal, and regulatory, employment, health and safety, data protection and security
• Business organization structure functions and the role of corporate governance
• The function of accountancy and audit in communicating and assuring financial information
• Accountancy for effective financial control and compliance the principles of authority and leadership
• Recruitment of teams and individuals and how they are, managed, motivated and developed personal effectiveness as the basis for effective team and organisational behaviour
• Accepted professional ethics and professional values

Module 7: Financial Accounting (FFA)

• The underlying principles and concepts that relate to financial accounting
• Further knowledge of the double entry system
• Preparation and interpretation of basic financial statements
• Financial information for sole traders, companies and simple groups of companies
• Explain the content and purpose of financial reporting
• Define the qualitative characteristics of financial information
• Demonstrate the use of double-entry and accounting systems
• Recording transactions and events
• Prepare a trial balance (including identifying and correcting error)
• Prepare basic financial statements for incorporated entities
• Prepare simple consolidated financial statements
• Interpretation of financial statements

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