Trinity Business School

Introduction to Accounting 2023/24

MODULE CODE: BUU22530

MODULE NAME: Introduction to Accounting
ECTS: 5 ECTS

Lecturer: Amanda Roe | [email protected]

Office hours: Wednesday 10am – 11am, 12pm-1pm (Please email to make an
appointment)
Module tutor: Dylan Kirby | [email protected]
Ying Lin | [email protected]

1. MODULE DESCRIPTION

This module deals with the construction and interpretation of five key financial statements. The
initial focus will be on three of these statements – the Statement of Financial Position, the Income
Statement, and the Cash Flow Statement. Later in the module, the two remaining statements, which
have been introduced relatively recently, will be considered. These are the Statement of
Comprehensive Income and the Statement of Changes in Equity. Throughout the module,
underlying theoretical concepts related to matching, income measurement and asset valuation will
be explored in detail and the principles of sound financial management will be developed as the
course proceeds. Emphasis on double entry book-keeping will be minimized as far as possible.

The overall goal of the course is that students obtain a sound understanding of “money in
organisations” and – more specifically – learn how to analyse and judge (a) whether organisations
are performing well and are financially healthy or (b) whether there are weaknesses in their
financial performance / financial structure.

2. COURSE CONTENT

• Introduction to accounting
• Measuring, reporting & evaluating financial position
• Measuring, reporting & evaluating financial performance

1
 • Accounting for limited companies (issue of shares, accounting standards etc)
• Measuring, reporting & evaluating cash flows
• Analysis & interpretation of financial statements (especially of public limited companies)
Financing a business & the management of working capital

3. MODULE-LEVEL LEARNING OUTCOMES

Having successfully completed this module, the student should be able to:

1. Explain and discuss the fundamental concepts underlying the construction of the key
financial statements;
2. Prepare a set of basic accounts (the 3 key financial statements) for a commercial
enterprise;
3. Evaluate the financial performance, position and cash flow of an enterprise [based on
published financial statements of Public Limited Companies (plcs)];
4. Recommend appropriate policies and strategies for funding and managing an enterprise’s
resource base, (re)investment requirements and funding needs.

4. RELATION TO DEGREE
A clear knowledge of accounting principles, together with an ability to construct relatively simple
financial statements and interpret complex published financial statements (e.g. of large plc
enterprises) is considered essential for all business graduates – regardless of whether the degree
taken is a BBS (single honor), or one of the ‘joint honor’ degrees within the TR081 (BESS) suite,
or one of those degrees which combines business with a language or law or computing. This
second-year course is a pre-requisite for the subsequent study of accounting – whether in Trinity
College or abroad as an exchange student. The course also complements studies in the area of
finance, and is a valuable knowledge base for analysing financial information that may appear in
other courses, especially Strategic Management in the final (senior sophister) year.

5. ASSESSMENT
In order to successfully complete this module, the student must obtain an overall grade of 40%.

There are three forms of assessment for this module.

1. Continuous Assessment
a. TWO IN-CLASS MCQ tests | 30% of Total Grade | (each test is worth 15%).
i. Week 6: Friday 20th October: Topic 1 to 3 (15 MCQs)
ii. Week 10: Friday 17th November: Topic 4 to 6 (15 MCQs)
2. Final Assessment | Preparation of accounts and Interpretation of Accounts | 70%.
a. 1.5-hour exam during exam week.
b. The final assessment equates to 70% of the student’s overall grade.
c. Breakdown:
i. Section A: Preparation of Accounts (A,B,C) (50 Marks)
ii. Section B: Interpretation of PLC Company (50 Marks)

2
 6. RE-ASSESSMENT
• Re-assessment occurs when the student fails to obtain an overall grade of 40% in this
module.
• Re-assessment involves retaking a 100% exam during the re-assessment period for
2023/24 academic year.

7. WORKLOAD
Content Indicative Number of Hours
Lecturing hours (11 weeks x 2 hours) 22
Study of lecture notes, textbook material, examples and exercises (11 33
weeks x 2 hours)
Attendance at tutorials (10 weeks x 1 hour) 10
Preparation, in advance, of tutorial assignments/exercises (10 weeks 10
x 1 hour)
Review of materials/solutions covered during tutorials (10 weeks x 1 10
hour)
Preparation for + sitting MCQ tests 15
Preparation for + sitting end-of-year examination (1.5 hour exam) 20
Total 120

8. TEXTBOOKS AND REQUIRED RESOURCES

Required core course textbook:

- Accounting for Business
- Authors: Peter Scott (3rd Edition)
General Supplemental Readings
- See lecture slides for supplemental readings

Student preparation for the module

In advance of each lecture, students must read the required material to familiarise themselves
with the new accounting concepts. Students must prepare the required questions in advance of
the lectures and tutorials.

9. COURSE COMMUNICATION

Please note that all course related email communication must be sent from your official TCD
email address. Emails sent from other addresses will not be attended to.
Administrative information changes (e.g., dates, times, venues, groups, deadlines, etc.) will be
posted on Blackboard. Students are responsible for checking their College email and Blackboard
regularly.

3
10. MODULE SCHEDULE

Teaching Date of Lecture & Readings Tutorial Material

week # lecture
1 13th Sept Introduction to Accounting No tutorial (please review
- Module outline / Assessments question 2.4 ahead of next
- Topic 1 Lecture notes weeks lectures & tutorials).
- Chapter 1: Accounting for Business
15th Sept The Statement of Financial Position
- Topic 2 Lecture notes
- Chapter 2: Accounting for Business
th
2 20 Sept The Statement of Financial Position Question 2.4: covered in
- Topic 2 Lecture notes the tutorial (2.5 – attempt
- Chapter 2: Accounting for Business by yourself, solution will
22nd The Statement of Financial Position be available on
Sept - Topic 2 Lecture notes blackboard).
- Chapter 2: Accounting for Business
- Questions: Crafty Engineering and Bench PLC
3 27th Sept The Statement of Profit or Loss Question 2.6
- Topic 3 Lecture notes
- Chapter 3: Accounting for Business
29th Sept The Statement of Profit or Loss
- Topic 3 Lecture notes
- Chapter 3: Accounting for Business
4th
4 Oct The Statement of Profit or Loss Question 3.2
- Topic 3: Lecture notes
- Chapter 3: Accounting for Business
6th Oct The Statement of Profit or Loss
- Topic 3: Lecture notes
- Chapter 3: Accounting for Business
th
5 11 Oct The Statement of Profit or Loss Question 3.4
- Topic 3: Lecture notes
- Chapter 3: Accounting for Business

4
 13th Oct Business organisations and the financing of business
- Topic 4: Lecture notes
- Chapter 5: Accounting for Business ()
6 18th Oct Business organisations and the financing of business SFL Limited
- Topic 4: Lecture notes
- Chapter 5: Accounting for Business ()
20th Oct In-person MCQ test. Topics 1 to 3.

7 25th Oct Reading week

27th Oct
8 1st Nov Ratio Analysis 1 Springfield Limited
- Topic 5: Lecture notes
- Chapter 6: Accounting for Business ()
3rd Nov Ratio Analysis 2
- Topic 6: Lecture notes
- Chapter 7: Accounting for Business ()
th
9 8 Nov Ratio Analysis (1&2) Albany PLC
- Topic 5/6: Lecture notes
- Chapter 6/7: Accounting for Business ()
- Question: Kerry Group PLC (see blackboard)
- Profitability; efficiency; performance
10th Nov Ratio Analysis (1&2)
- Topic 5/6: Lecture notes
- Chapter 6/7: Accounting for Business ()
- Question: Kerry Group PLC (see blackboard)
- Liquidity, working capital management, Long term financing
th
10 15 Nov Ratio Analysis Godwin PLC
- Topic 5/6: Lecture notes
- Question: Kingspan PLC – Ratio Analysis
17th Nov In-person MCQ test. Topic 4 to 6
11 22nd The Statement of Cash Flows Hexagon PLC
Nov - Topic 7: Lecture notes
Chapter 4: Accounting for Business

5
 24th Nov The Statement of Cash Flows
- Topic 7: Lecture notes
Chapter 4: Accounting for Business

12 29th Nov Exam preparation – Preparation of accounts Cash Flow Statement

2012/2013 Annual Exam Question 1 – WoodGrange PLC
1st Dec Question & Answer session

6
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE:

Amanda Roe holds the position of Teaching Fellow in Accountancy and Workplace Well-being
at Trinity Business School. She is a Chartered Accountant with many years' experience in both
practice and industry. She holds a Bachelor of Business from University of Limerick, and a
Master's degree in Accounting from University College Dublin. Teaching responsibilities in
Trinity include undergraduate modules in introduction to accounting and financial reporting.
Amanda is currently conducting doctoral research concerning employee attitudes post COVID-
19.