Accredited Level 3 Diploma in Accounting

Perhaps you are thinking about starting your own business. If so you will also find the course useful as a means to learn what records are important and how to keep your accounts. As an owner of a small business you might view professional accountancy as an unnecessary expense. Having completed this diploma you might well be able to dispense with the services of a professional accountant. Even if you do feel the need to retain a professional you will find his or her services will be appreciably cheaper if you are able to present your records in an orderly fashion with much of the preparatory work completed. Here again this diploma would be a great help.
 
Accountancy has been described as the art of communicating financial information about a business entity to users. These users might be shareholders, managers or even the bank. The message is usually in the form of financial statements. These show, in financial terms the total resources of the business and how they have been used to generate profit. Ten Oxford College modules will take you from the very basics of accounting to the more advanced concepts used by accountants to produce financial statements for any organisation.
 
The modules have been organised to take you a step at a time towards developing a sound knowledge of accountancy. At the end of each module there is a section focusing on examination preparation. These will help to prepare you for the 2 assessments. One assessment is at the midpoint of the course. The second is, naturally, at the end of the course and covers the entire syllabus.
 
The course is accredited by CIE and the grade given is either a pass or a fail. The assessments concentrate on 3 areas:
 

• Theoretical knowledge and understanding
• Practical implications
• Integration of theory and practice

 
The modules are of different lengths. You will probably find some to be easier than others. Some of them have references to carefully selected and reviewed websites to enable you to have even more practice and to see summaries and examples of topics covered in the lessons.
 
The course includes the concepts of financial record-keeping techniques, consequences of effective financial accounting, businesses profitability, performance, costing and budgeting.
 
This is important for directors, managers, banks, investors, tax authorities, regulators, and other decision makers. The accounts are used to make properly informed resource allocation decisions between and within companies, organizations, and public agencies. This is done by recording the value of assets, liabilities, income, and expenses in the books of account.
 
Accountancy helps businesses to measure, control and plan their operations. People skilled in accounting can assess if the business is performing well financially. Where this is not happening remedial strategies can be recommended. Accountancy is about recording, classifying and summarising information. Sound judgment and good analysis are required.
 
The course consists of the following ten modules:
 

• Module One – Purposes of Accounting and Records.

This module introduces the subject and explains why it is necessary to have reliable financial records and how double entry bookkeeping works.

• Module Two – Verification of Records – Accounts and Balance Sheets

In this unit you will learn about producing simple profit and loss accounts together with balance sheets.

• Module Three – Types of Business Organisations, Accounting Concepts and Further Aspects

There are various ways in which a business can be set up. Sole trader? Partnership? Limited Company? In this unit you will learn about the differences between these types of organisation and the effect that those differences make to how their accounts are presented.

• Module Four – Internal Final Accounts of Limited Companies, Ratio Analysis and the Assessment of Business Performance

This deals with the internal financial workings of the business. A big company should make a bigger profit than a small partnership- but does that mean that it is more efficient? If you are trying to obtain finance from a bank, for example, these calculations are often more important than the balance sheet and profit and loss accounts.

• Module Five – Introduction to Budgeting and Budget Control –

There are various ways of budgeting. Are some ways more appropriate than others? As well as learning the techniques you will learn the reasons behind different budgeting methods and when each one is most suitable.

• Module Six – Stock Valuation, Incomplete Records and Sources of Finance

This is a very practical element of the course. How do you produce a set of accounts when there is not a complete set of accounting records? Think about an insurance claim following a fire or theft! How can you quantify the amount of inventory destroyed if- well- it has been destroyed? This really is an introduction to the Sherlock Holmes world of working out the missing figure. Here there is also a short sub unit on sources of finance for the business. Different sources are appropriate for different projects.

• Module Seven – Accounting Standards, Published Accounts and Partnership Accounts

These are the rules which are followed in drafting financial statements. It is important underpinning knowledge which you need to have at your fingertips. Think of it as “Rules of the game”.

• Module Eight – Manufacturing Accounts

If you are actually making things, rather than simply buying and selling goods, then you need a different type of accounts. The accounts of a factory have to deal with stock of raw materials, stock of finished goods and the intermediate stage called “work in progress”. These accounts are what are known as “Manufacturing Accounts” and need to be completed before a profit and loss statement can be produced.

• Module Nine – Costing

How are costs allocated between different parts of the business. It might sound a simple question, but it is not. You will learn the basic principles and some pragmatic methods. You will also start to understand why it is far from being simple!

• Module Ten – Capital Investment Appraisal, Budgeting, Further Considerations and Social Accounting

Business is all about taking risks. If you are not prepared to take a risk you will not get very far in business! No decision can remove that inherent risk but by making decisions based on hardnosed financial considerations you should greatly increase your chances of making the correct decisions. That is what is at the core of this unit.
 
Textbooks
The course is self-contained so you do not need to use any extra textbooks. You may however find it useful to read other books on the subject. There are many excellent works available. The following books are recommended:
 

• Business Accounting 1 – Frank Wood & Alan Sangster, FT Prentice Hall. ISBN 0273655523
• Business Accounting 2 – Frank Wood & Alan Sangster, FT Prentice Hall. ISBN 0273655574
• Business Accounts – David Cox, Osborne books

 
Entry Requirements
 
All students must be 16 years of age or above. Level 3 Diploma courses require a minimum prior learning to GCSE standard. This is to ensure that students can manage their studies and have the assumed knowledge within course content.
 
Study Hours
 
Approximately 20 hours per unit. This varies between students and depends on your ability and aptitude. The course is completely flexible. You might find some units take less than 20 hours. If you are particularly interested in a certain unit, or if it is very relevant to your situation, you are free to devote more time to it.
 
Academic Credits
 
Upon successful completion of the course, students will earn 120 academic credits which they can use toward further education courses, such as university degree programs.
 
Assessment Method
 
2 assessments. The first one is at the half way mark and the final one is when you have completed all the units. Award OLC Level 3 Diploma in Accounting