MSc Accounting & Finance with CIMA

• Financial Reporting (20 credits):This module is designed to build your understanding of mid-level financial reporting knowledge, improve your financial analysis skills and help you learn to prepare basic financial statements. The field of financial accounting is vast and with many specialty areas. This module does not require advanced specialised knowledge of any given area of financial accounting (such as taxation, auditing, etc.). Instead, this module attempts to build your general knowledge of financial reporting, to further your understanding of the most fundamental building blocks of the accounting and finance world.
• Accounting for Managers (20 credits): This module develops critical understanding of essential management accounting and finance topics within a business environment, to develop critical understanding of the importance of managing customer value parameters (cost, quality, and time) through management accounting practices for value creation.
• Advanced Management Accounting (20 credits): This module is designed to improve your expertise in strategic management accounting, somewhat based on your learning in Accounting for Managers. CIMA is the world's largest management accountant professional body. To become CIMA qualified, you need to have a high level of understanding in the specialty area of strategic management and cost accounting. This module is also crucial to your success in passing the global Management Level Case Study set by CIMA after your study is finished with QMU.
• Fundamentals of Corporate Finance (20 credits): This module aims to introduce students to relevant concepts in finance. Students will learn about the function of capital markets, the trade-off between risk and return, how to price financial assets and the importance of the way a firm finances its operations. The module is designed to develop numeracy and analytical skills.
• Research Methods* (20 credits): The Research Methods module aims to provide students with a deep understanding of the way that research is designed, conducted, and communicated and to use this to develop a viable proposal for future research.
• Strategy and Leadership (20 credits): In this fast-paced module, students will critically evaluate the concepts, frameworks and techniques of strategic management and leadership decision-making. Furthermore, students will synthesise competitive conditions, appraise corporate capabilities and consider strategies that lead businesses towards a sustainable and competitive advantage within contemporary industry.

If studying for an MSc, you will also complete a Capstone module (60 credits). This takes the form of either a 12,000-word Dissertation, a Business Consultancy in Practice project, or a Business Incubation Programme.

• Business Consultancy in Practice (60 credits): This is a hands-on practical project where you will work with a business on a live project, determine the project parameters, manage the project, and deliver a consultancy report recommending actions the company can implement. The module aims to develop excellent project and client management skills alongside high-level writing skills that include excellent reflective abilities.
• The Business Incubation Programme (60 credits):The aim of this module is to critically evaluate a range of nascent, micro and family businesses and to develop, through inception, investigation and planning, a new start-up business or social enterprise of your own design. You will work with mentors, QMU’s Business Innovation Zone (BIZ) and the on-campus Business Gateway to take your business from idea to reality
• Accounting or Finance Dissertation (60 credits): To enable students to develop, plan and critically evaluate a piece of research in the relevant degree subject related area, written up in the form of a dissertation. This offers the opportunity to conduct a substantial academic research project around a topic of choice.

*Students need to complete Research Methods as a core module unless they have an equivalent on their student transcript. In such circumstances, students will be offered an optional module from a prescribed list.

NB The modules listed are correct at time of posting (October 2023) but this course is due for revalidation in 2023/24 and it is likely that this will result in some changes to the course. . The updated course will be launched in time for the September 2024 intake and updates will be posted here when available.