Fourth Year -Accounting Specialization
Curriculum of the Fourth Year
In Semesters I and II of the fourth year, the students can select one course unit per semester as elective courses from the list offered by the Department for the purpose of further specialisation in the subject areas concerned. The elective courses offered by the Department are revised periodically in keeping with current developments in accounting and market demand. Currently, the Department is planning to offer the elective course units listed below.
Table 2: Elective Courses – Year IV, Semester II
ACC 4340: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This course familiarizes the students with the basic concepts, principles, methods and techniques of accounting research. The course emphasizes an applied research approach and focuses on problems in accounting, organizations and society. The areas covered are: introduction to research methodology: positivistic and post-positivistic research paradigms that could be used in accounting research; literature review; research methods used in accounting studies; and developing a research proposal.
ACC 4341: ADVANCED ACCOUNTING THEORY
This course provides students with a sound understanding of accounting theories that are integral to accounting practice and thereby enables them to appraise implications of these theories on the accounting practice. The areas covered are: the concepts of theory and accounting theory; evolution of accounting theory; accounting theory construction; financial reporting environment; international accounting; normative theories of accounting-measurement issues; effects of accounting for changing prices and changing business conditions, and conceptual framework for financial reporting; Positive Accounting Theory (PAT); system oriented theories – political economy theory, legitimacy theory, stakeholder theory and institutional theory; capital market research in accounting; behavioural research in accounting; extended systems of accounting – the incorporation of social and environmental factors within external reporting; and critical perspectives of accounting.
ACC 4242: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND ETHICS
This course provides the students with a sound understanding of the concepts and issues relating to corporate governance and controls, risk management and ethics, and their interrelationships. This courses covers philosophical basis of corporate governance and ethics, different regimes of corporate governance that exist in the world, types and sources of risks faced by an organization, and how these risks can be managed, controlled and mitigated, in the context of overall business strategy and governance structure of an entity. The course proceeds from the accounting and finance courses offered in the first, second and third years of the Degree Program.
ACC 4343: SKILL DEVELOPMENT OF INTERN ACCOUNTANTS III
This course, the third of the four units conducted under the Skill Development Program of Intern Accountants, emphasises on the development of Accounting and Financial Management Skills, Management and Personal Capacity Skills and Communication Skills. These skills are developed through the Internship Program together with other skill development activities.
ACC 4344: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING
This course familiarizes the students with the strategic role of management accounting within business organization and the role of management accounting professional in business. The areas covered are: evolution of Strategic Management Accounting (SMA); diffusion of Management Accounting practice; management accounting practices used in the strategy formulation and strategy implementation processes; evolving role of the management accountant in the changing business environment; performance measurement in decentralized business organizations; strategic risk management; project management; and deductive / inductive approaches in doing research relevant to the management accounting practice.
ACC 4345: FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS
This course provides students with a framework to analyze financial and non-financial information of a firm to evaluate its operations and to predict its future prospects leading towards the valuation of the organization. In this course, the students are made to appreciate and understand the connections between strategies of a firm and its operating, investing and financing activities in the broad socio-economic context, and thereby to develop the ability to analyze and interpret financial and non-financial information of a firm to gain further insights into its performance from an analyst’s point of view. The areas covered are: business analysis and its role in financial statement analysis; accounting analysis covering the analysis of investment, financial and operating activities of a firm; financial analysis covering profitability credit, equity, cash flow and risk of a firm; prospective analysis and company valuation; and analysis of non-financial information and value drivers covering social and environmental effects of a firm’s operations.
ACC 4346: SKILL DEVELOPMENT OF INTERN ACCOUNTANTS IV
This course, the fourth of the four units conducted under the Skill Development Program of Intern Accountants, emphasises on the development of Accounting and Financial Management Skills, Management and Personal Capacity Skills and Communication Skills. These skills are developed through the Internship Program together with other skill development activities.
ACC 4347: RESEARCH PROJECT IN ACCOUNTING
This course provides the students with a thorough understanding on addressing pragmatic issues in accounting and finance. The students will be able to develop their understanding of the research process and the key elements of a sound research design. They are required to carry out a research study in accounting and write a research report based on their study under the guidance of a research supervisor appointed by the Department.
ACC 4648: DISSERTATION IN ACCOUNTING
This course provides the students the opportunity to study in depth an issue in accounting or finance and write a dissertation on the study under the under guidance of a research supervisor appointed by the Department. It has been designed to facilitate a student-centred approach to deep learning using positivistic or/and post-positivistic research paradigms. The dissertation in accounting will provide the student with a degree of academic self-confidence based on the experience of studying and researching an area independently.
ACC 4349: PUBLIC SECTOR ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
This course enables students to understand concepts and techniques used in public sector accounting and finance. This course consists of two modules – Module 1: constitutional provisions and functions of the Ministry of Finance, Sri Lanka and Module 2: financial planning, budgeting, and government accounting practised in Sri Lanka. The following study areas are covered in relation to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka: constitutional provision and parliamentary control; Finance Act; executive power of the President; treasury control and supervision; the consolidated fund; accountability; delegation of authority; treasury minutes; parliamentary control cycle; the objectives and functions of the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury; authority for expenditure; financial planning and budgeting; foreign aids and accounting; government expenditure; government accounting; delegation of financial functions; procurement procedure; responsibilities of accounting officers and chief accounting officers; and the role of the auditor general.
ACC 4350: ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT
The course provides an understanding of the main areas of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). ERM takes a broad perspective in identifying the risks and factors contributing towards those risks. The following study areas are covered: sources of risk (credit risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk, foreign exchange risk, operational risk and reputational risk etc); identification of risks; risk management processes, strategies of managing risk in organizations {(together with Transference, Avoidance, Reduction or Acceptance (TARA) framework)}; and external risk frameworks. This course uses case studies from different business areas to illustrate the mounting importance of ERM in today’s business world.
ACC 4351: ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS IN ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
This course imparts students with skills required to make models for prediction of corporate failure, detection of management frauds using published financial data, prediction of earnings using financial statement information and relative costs of financial distress by using computer-based mathematical modelling. The areas covered are: classification of multivariate techniques, guidelines for multivariate analysis and interpretation; multiple regression analysis and model building; neural computing; neural computing applications, and advanced intelligent systems and applications; bivariate statistics; parametric test using SPSS and SAS; computational applications: soft computing and artificial neural networks (ANN) capabilities; ANN architecture; bankruptcy prediction, mergers/acquisitions prediction, credit rating, derivative pricing, stock return prediction, portfolio management, testing market efficiency, market segmentation; and modelling issues.
ACC 4352: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING
This course explores accounting and related concepts and policies by applying them to a range of contemporary issues. The topics discussed reflect the issues that are being considered in accounting practice such as approaches to measurement, fair value accounting, corporate governance, management accounting change, beyond budgeting, performance measurement systems, management control systems, management accounting in developing countries, stakeholder management, development of sustainability strategies, earnings management, and financial indicators of corporate collapse. This course provides the basis for students to use their accounting knowledge attained during their studies to discuss, analyze and critically evaluate a range of issues they are likely to deal with once they enter the profession.
ACC 4353: FORENSIC ACCOUNTING AND FRAUD EXAMINATION
This course develops in students an appreciation of forensic accounting work, including the nature and extent of financial crime and financial dispute resolution. The course covers the identification of problematic situations and inherently weak systems in organizations, design and recommendation of solutions to minimise risks and the methodologies used by organizations and individuals in the management of risk associated with financial exposures.
ACC 4354: ADVANCED TAXATION AND TAX PLANNING
This course develops the technical and conceptual skills of the students in relation to taxation in Sri Lanka. The areas covered are: administration of income tax (administrative structure, officers and responsibilities, returns, assessments & refunds); the self-assessment system; taxation of companies (types of companies and tax implications, different components of income tax payable by companies, human resource endowment fund contribution, dividend tax, remittance of tax, social responsibility levy, economic service charges and nation building tax); taxation of partnerships; taxation of other entities (charitable institutions, clubs and trade associations); appeal procedures; tax law; tax incentives, and VAT. This course also covers tax planning and international taxation at an advanced level.