Financial Accounting

Accounting is the “language of business,” and accounting information is the basis for performance measurement, business contracting, and most operating, investing, and financing decisions that managers make. Financial accounting information affects how individuals outside an organisation perceive that organisation, and by extension, the resources available to the organisation to accomplish its objectives. An understanding of and the ability to use accounting information will be essential to students' success as a manager. This subject provides students with foundational knowledge about external financial reporting by for-profit organisations. This foundational knowledge not only forms the basis for correctly interpreting and using accounting information provided internally to managers for managerial decision making, but also provides the basis for using financial statements for more externally-focused judgments and decisions (e.g., assessing an organisation’s intrinsic value or to assess an organisation’s strengths and weaknesses relative to competitors).