BA Accounting

Course objective

This is the final course for the 3 year Accounting degree programme conducted in Singapore by EASB Institute of Management, with the degree conferred by the Benedictine International University, USA. Students are provided with the unique opportunity of obtaining a dual qualification from this programme: an American degree as well as a professional International Accountant qualification after successfully attempted the AIA Professional level II examination.

In this course the advanced topics of accounting will be covered and students will be required to show applications to various concepts and theories taught. The subjects cover in-depth studies in areas of Financial accounting, financial management, taxation and auditing. Contemporary issues on organizations and organizational behaviour, business environment and management will once again be discussed in this course.

Entry Requirements

• EASB Advanced Diploma in Accountancy OR
• Local polytechnic Diploma in Accounting OR
• Equivalent qualification from an institution of higher learning
• Min IELTS 6.0 or TOEFL 550

Course Structure

• Auditing II*
• Taxation II*
• Financial Management*
• Financial Accounting III*
• Complex organisations and organizational behaviour
• Broader business environment
• Designing for eBusiness
• Production and Operations Management

* The coverage of these modules include the syllabus for the Professional Level II examinations of the Association of International Accountants.

AIA Qualifications

Students having completed the prescribed units may proceed to take the Professional Level II examination.

Successful completion of the Professional level II examination will allow candidates, with sufficient relevant working experience, to apply for the Professional membership of the Association of International Accountants.

AIA and EASB Partnership

EASB will assist and prepare students in the study of the AIA examinations by providing:

• Tutorial classes, study materials and texts,
• Examination kits and past years' question & answer papers,
• Recommended reading lists for supplementary readings,
• Administrative support in the registration for the examinations
• On-line Learning Facilities

How to obtain the AIA qualification?

• The AIA qualification is achieved upon successful completion of the examinations (Professional Level II)
• 3 years relevant working experience in accountancy. This can be gained before, during or after studying for the qualification.
• Outcome of the AIA qualification
• On successful completion of the AIA accountancy qualification, candidate qualifies as an International Accountant'. The AIA syllabus has been designed to provide a practical course of study covering a broad base of accountancy subjects, meeting the needs of the current professional market in China and internationally.

Duration

The BA in Accounting final year is a 12 months programme, comprising 4 terms. Each term is of 12 weeks duration, including 3 hours of lectures and 3 hours of tutorials per week and independent study.

Students will attempt 2 units per term.

Assessment and Awards

Assessment for each module comprises coursework and a written examination. The allocation of marks between modes of assessment varies with each module. The course may include case study analysis, review of published journals or conference articles, laboratory assignments, research reports and tutorial participation and tests.

Upon successful completion of all 8 modules, the student will be conferred the Benedictine International University BA in Accounting degree.

Fee Structure

Module Synopsis

Auditing II
Auditing II requires participants to be aware of the legal implications, the importance of professional ethics, the duties and responsibilities of an auditor. It focuses on the auditors need to know the implications of quality control, peer reviews and evaluation services. This subject also covers the need to be able to identify and plan the audit approach bearing in mind the duty of care as auditors as opposed to that of management. It stresses on the need to apply the appropriate audit strategies, approaches and providing audit opinions. Candidates would also be familiar with the evaluation, reporting of audit findings, the contents and style of statutory audit reports including the types of audit reports to be issued to the auditees. Current professional issues and pronouncements affecting the audit assignments will also be discussed.

Taxation II
Taxation is essential in personal and corporate financial planning and decision-making. The subject introduces students to the various tax incentives, reliefs, schemes and arrangements that are available to assist taxpayers in minimising their tax liabilities. The topics covered include tax implications of inward and outward investments, tax implications of corporate restructuring, mergers and liquidation, foreign individuals working in Singapore and Singaporeans working overseas. The subject will also cover briefly the schemes available in Goods and Services Tax.

Financial Management
Financial Management in Year 3 is a continuation of Corporate Finance in Year 2 of the Accounting degree programme. Students will continue to study about concepts and theories in finance that would help investors and business decision-makers in making investment and financing investments as well as concepts of risk and returns and how to manage them.

Investment decision making criteria and topics such as Capital budgeting, sources of long-term financing and their costs, Capital structure and dividend policies and Working Capital management would be covered in this module.

Financial Accounting III
In this final module for Financial Accounting, the student will be studying even more advanced accounting topics, which are further progressions from the first two years. Accounting for business combinations is a core topic in this module. The different types of business combinations to be studied will include investment in subsidiary companies, associate companies as well as merger accounting. Besides accounting for business combinations, other advanced topics such as foreign exchange transactions will also be covered. As corporate governance is of growing importance in most countries as well as in Singapore, it will also be covered. Looking at shareholder value creation from a different perspective will be the topic on Economic Value Added (EVA).

At the end of the course the student would have acquired the knowledge to competently carry out the work of a financial accountant.

Complex Organizations and Organizational Behavior
The study of organizations and their relationships to society. Topics will include: organization goals, environments, technologies, people, work design, decision making, control, structure, climate, and effectiveness.

Broader Business Environment
This course is designed to introduce the student to how studies in other disciplines and thoughts can be integrated in their understanding of how business can be conducted in a multi-faceted world. Students from EASB will dealt on this option:

Designing for eBusiness
There is no question most businesses can benefit from a web presence. Determining what that presence should be is critical to developing an effective eBusiness site. Should the site sell product, or simply act as a location for information? How interactive should the site be? What mix of entertainment and information will work best? This course will examine these questions and introducethe basics of eCommerce through the production of an eBusiness site.

Production and Operations Management
A survey of the available techniques of operations research that are readily applicable to business problems. Various modes of quantitative decision-making are covered. These include: PERT/Time cost, optimization, inventory, linear programming, transportation, non-linear programming, dynamic programming, games and strategies, Markov analysis, queing, stimulation, and heuristic programming.