Third Year – Accounting Specialisation
The structure of the third-year curriculum is depicted in Table 1.3.
Description of Courses
A short description of each course offered during the third year is provided below.
ACC 3270: Accounting and Financial Modelling
The aim of this course is to familiarise the students with advanced spread sheet programming to manage strategic and operational business requirements that arise in the sphere of Accounting and Finance. This course also provides theoretical and practical knowledge of database management systems to enhance analytical competence of students in the field of computerised database applications in Accounting and Finance. Accordingly, this course covers model design principles; tools in spread sheet model development; pivot table; spread sheet decision logics; investment appraisal models; loan amortisation schedules; depreciation schedules; working capital management models; lookup functions; sensitivity analysis; solver function and macros.
ACC 3371: Advanced Management Accounting
This course is developed on the foundations of ACC 2370 Management Accounting, offered during Year II. This is an advanced course in management accounting, which aims to provide the students with an in-depth knowledge and skill base pertaining to management accounting concepts, techniques, application of concepts/techniques in work settings and recent developments in the spheres of management accounting. The areas covered are: evolution of management accounting; activity-based costing and activity-based management; budgetary control and beyond budgeting; divisionalisation and responsibility accounting; balanced scorecard; strategising for better pricing decisions; managing cost and quality strategically; service sector costing; introduction to sustainability management accounting and recent trends in management accounting research.
ACC 3372: Auditing and Assurance Services
This course provides students with a comprehensive understanding of auditing principles, concepts, techniques, and procedures to develop their understanding of the audit function and examine the techniques used by the auditors including risk analysis, evidence collection and evaluation, and audit reporting. Further, it familiarises students with the professional, ethical, legal, commercial and regulatory requirements within which audits are carried out. The areas covered include audit planning, quality control for audit work, internal controls, audit evidence, using the work of others, auditor’s involvement in special purpose audit engagements and other assurance services including social and environmental audits. In addition to this, the programme introduces the students to the use of computer assisted audit techniques (CAATs) and considers issues related to computer information systems audit.
ACC 3373: Corporate Reporting
The aim of this course is to familiarise the students with reporting practices and issues involved in the publication of financial and non-financial information of corporate entities and make them appraise the current practices adopted in corporate reporting. This course blends the conceptual understanding of corporate reporting practices with their practical application and exposes the students to contemporary issues in diverse business and social contexts. Accordingly, this course covers corporate reporting practices and issues from a broad perspective, which include corporate reporting environment; accounting for corporate sustainability; sustainability reporting; climate reporting; integrated reporting; accounting for financial instruments, share based payments, employee benefits, biological assets and agricultural-produce; performance measurement using earnings per share (EPS); and accounting and financial reporting in public sector and small and medium size enterprises.
ACC 3374: Taxation
The aim of this course is to familiarise the students with the knowledge of basic principles of taxation and application of tax laws of Sri Lanka in the computation of direct and indirect tax liability of persons (individuals and entities). Accordingly, this course is designed to expose the students to the computation of the income tax liability of individuals, companies and other entities in compliance with contemporary taxation laws and other regulations in Sri Lanka. Further, this course provides students with a basic understanding of the computation of Value Added Tax (VAT) liability in compliance with the relevant legislation and the tax administration provisions. Specific topics covered in this course include introduction to taxation, which covers the basic principles of taxation; employment income; business income; capital allowances; income from investment and other sources; tax computation of individuals, companies, partnerships, NGOs and charities; tax administration; and the basics of VAT and other business taxes.
ACC 3475: Internship in Accounting and Finance I
The two-year Internship Programme in Accounting and Finance has been a notable feature of the Degree Programme its inception in 1992. It consists of two stages: Stage 1 offered in Year 3, and Stage 2 offered in Year 4.
Stage 1 of the Internship Programme aims at providing training to students in a real-life work-setting to improve their: (a) ability to apply theoretical and conceptual understanding/knowledge in practice; (b) soft skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, conceptual ability, communication and inter-personal skills; and (c) professional and ethical conduct in relation to accounting, finance, and general management. Under this programme, the students will gain practical experience in several sub-disciplines of accounting that include accounting systems, procedures and processes; auditing and assurance services; financial and corporate reporting; management accounting; taxation; financial management; corporate governance; forensic accounting; and data analytics in accounting by undergoing internships in approved training organisations (in both public and private sectors) under the supervision of qualified supervisors. The training organisations include public accounting firms (audit firms), mercantile and financial institutions, business/knowledge process outsourcing firms (BPOs/KPOs), ERP solution providing firms and government ministries/departments/corporations. Furthermore, the students are also allowed to start a business venture under the guidance of the Department of Entrepreneurship of FMSC. The level of achievement and the professional development of interns are assessed at the end of the Year 3 using multiple modes including supervisor independent evaluation, training record evaluation, and a viva-voce examination.
ACC 3376: Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics in Accounting
This course consists of two modules, i.e., Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Analytics in Accounting.
Artificial Intelligence: this module provides knowledge and understanding to students as to fundamentals of AI, including their implications on the businesses specifically to accounting and finance functions; frontier technologies in these areas; applications and opportunities of AI in accounting and financial services, including the future of financial services; and how to build an AI strategy focusing the accounting and finance areas. This module also provides an overview of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) theory, techniques, and their applications in various functional areas of accounting and finance. Further, the students are provided hands-on experience in data mining software, data warehousing concepts and methods, and their application in accounting and finance. Moreover, this module develops links among information systems, statistics, finance, and accounting, and provides the foundations of data mining methods and their implementation. This module also equips the students in building and evaluating trading models and the managing of risk and addressing problems in these areas.
Data Analytics in Accounting: this module aims to equip the students with the necessary knowledge and skills in using data analytics to identify, capture, evaluate and resolve accounting and business-related issues and problems using appropriate data modelling and other quantitative analytical tools that includes descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive analytics. The students will be exposed to how the data is collected, created, and shared and make them to recognise and evaluate the reliability of sources of structured and unstructured data for use in the analysis. The students will also get an understanding of using quantitative techniques to discover frauds and anomalies in accounting and financial data. In addition, the students will be able to use visualisation techniques of data in gaining insights into associations, outliers, and other data anomalies. The module will also expose the students to business risks and ethical issues related to data gathering, storing, and usage. Furthermore, this course provides a sound basis for the final year research study, where quantitative data analyses are extensively involved.
ACC 3377: Corporate Sustainability Accounting
This course is designed to enhance students’ comprehension of sustainability and its accounting-related facets, aligning with the most recent advancements on both local and global fronts. Its primary focus centres on the pivotal role of accounting in fostering corporate sustainability, thereby contributing to the advancement of a sustainable society and economy with a pragmatic approach. The course encompasses an array of crucial topics, including sustainable development goals, contemporary accounting practices pertinent to sustainability, environmental management accounting, accounting strategies for the social dimension, the integration of the three sustainability pillars, and comprehensive frameworks for overseeing, accounting for, and reporting on sustainability. Moreover, it delves into emergent topics within the realm of corporate sustainability, such as sustainability assurance, the circular economy, sustainability risk management, sustainable supply chain management and digitalisation of sustainability management and accounting.
FIN 3375: Investment and Portfolio Management
This course is designed to provide students with basic concepts, theories, and practices in understanding, analysing, and making decisions in investment and portfolio management. The course discusses investor behaviour, capital markets, risk and return, portfolio analysis, capital asset pricing model, factor models, arbitrage pricing theory, valuation and analysis of fixed income and variable income securities and portfolio performance evaluation. It also discusses empirical findings on these topics to understand the application of them in practice.
ACC 3378: Forensic Accounting
This course intends to develop an understanding of forensic accounting work, including the nature and extent of financial crime and financial dispute resolution. Further, the course will enable the students to understand the pervasiveness and the causes of fraud and white-collar crime in society; identify the types of fraud and fraud schemes that affect business entities; explore fraud detective and preventive mechanisms; and improve the skills to recognise potential fraudulent situations. The course content includes the identification of problematic situations and inherently weak systems in organisations, various fraud detection and fraud investigation techniques, examination of financial statements and analytical techniques, the evidence collection process (physical, documentary and observational evidence), interview and interrogation methods, lost profits analyses, multiple types of litigation support services, the design and recommendation of solutions to minimise risks, and the methodologies used by organisations and individuals in the management of risk associated with financial exposure. Further, this course will expose the students to the fundamental legal concepts governing expert witness testimony, the quantification of economic damages in cases and the concepts relating to fraud reporting and the recovery process.
ACC 3379: Advanced Taxation and Tax Planning
This course is aimed at students who require extensive knowledge in taxation for their future professional careers. It further develops the key aspects of taxation covered in ACC 3374 Taxation course offered in Semester I, Year 3. Hence, the course syllabus extends the knowledge of personal income tax, company tax, capital gains tax and indirect taxes such as VAT, double taxation, tax administration etc., which will provide an extensive background to advanced taxation. Further, a special emphasis is given in the syllabus to tax planning at individual and entity level. Accordingly, specific topics covered in this course include income tax liability of a resident company, taxation and business decision making, taxation of non-residents and international taxation, statutory provisions, VAT, tax holidays, exemptions, and transfer pricing.
FIN 3372: Credit and Treasury Management
The credit management module of this course deals with concepts and techniques related to management of credit in institutions. This section mainly focusses on credit operations, credit policy, credit terms and conditions and credit risk assessment. The course provides necessary knowledge about sales ledger management, liquidity management and consumer credit together with export credit finance and credit insurance. The second module of the course intends to provide a comprehensive understanding on the treasury functions of corporate and financial institutions together with the rational for the availability of treasury function in corporations. The major aspects covered include treasury functions, international borrowings, corporate ratings, foreign exchange exposure management, interest rate risk management, value-based management, treasury performance measurement, liquidity management systems and controls, tax and accounting issues.
FIN 3376: International Financial Management
This is a specialised course to provide a clear knowledge and understanding of how the financial management principles and techniques are applied to a firm operated in an international context. This course intends to provide a basic understanding on how managers of international companies manage their finance resources via investment and finance decisions in order to maximise the wealth of the owners under the dynamic international business environment. This course unit basically covers international financial environment including foreign exchange markets and instruments, behaviour and determination of exchange rates, relationship among exchange rates with other macroeconomic variables, measurement and management of exchange rate risk and the long-term and short-term global investment and financing aspects. This knowledge is aimed to deliver via a comprehensively prepared set of lectures, tutorials, case studies, field visits and a series of guest lectures conducted by the experts in the industry.
ITC 3377: Digital Business Management and Enterprise Applications
This course is intended to equip the students, who are going to be future managers, with required knowledge and skills to help them navigate their organisation towards digital business, by analysing the market it operates and various other environmental factors. A key feature of this course is to identify and review key management decisions and strategies required by organisations to transform it to a digital business. The course will also highlight the process through which those decisions are taken. Students will also learn how to enhance the competitiveness of an organisation by deploying innovative digital technologies throughout an organisation and beyond, through links to partners and customers and promotion through digital media. Considering the vital role played by ERP systems in today’s digital businesses, the course provides hands-on experience on several important modules of an ERP system. Further, the students will be exposed to important digital marketing applications such as search engine optimisation, website content creation and management, and personalised marketing.
LAW 3372: International Trade and Investment Law
The course “International Trade and Investment Law” is designed to improve legal knowledge of management undergraduates who encounter with growing transnational business ventures in Sri Lanka. Vibrant and vigilant employees with adequate awareness with international economic affairs from different angles are welcomed by many organisations that interested to expand their businesses towards international level. Therefore, this course focuses the principles of International Trade Law and International Investment Law to facilitate the most appropriate investment decision making within globalised business environment. This course provides comprehensive legal background on state activities in international trade and investments. International Trade Law regulates transnational trade between countries, whilst, International Investment Law realises how the host state should treat foreign investors. International Trade Law focus at relevant treaties on international trade and relevant customary international law as well as structural aspects such as role of international organisations such as of United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, World Trade Organisation, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank. The latter part of international Investment Law focus at sources international investment law; key actors in international investments; the settlement of disputes between the host state and the foreign investor, with special reference to the role of International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes; and the relevance of non-investment concerns, such as the environment and human rights, and the goals of sustainable development, within the international and Sri Lankan legal framework on investment. The course will provide a general introduction to the international legal framework on trade and investment as it emerges from international conventions, bilateral /multilateral investment treaties and international arbitral case-law.
ENT 3383: Entrepreneurship and Business Development
This is an intermediate course on concepts, theory and practices related to entrepreneurship and business development. It discusses the fundamentals and definitions of entrepreneurship, difference and connection between entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship, the nature of characteristics and behaviour of the intrapreneur, entrepreneur’s role as a leader in an enterprise, the role of entrepreneur in the economy, importance of creativity and innovation in entrepreneurial work, related basic business functions in an entrepreneurial firm, content of basic business plan, and influences and issues related on entrepreneurship development. Further this course encourages students to engage in the process of planning a new business and planning for the growth of an existing business through thorough understanding of the challenges faced by a new or growing business in the real world. This course inspires the student to play the effective role of an entrepreneur or an intrapreneur through opportunity identification designing new or modernising existing artefacts while combining all other resources together to add values through creative and innovative solutions bearing calculated risk.