Certificate in Management and Financial Accounting

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The Programme

TThe Certificate in Management and Financial Accounting (previously Certificate in International Public Financial Management) consists of two modules: Management Accounting and Financial Accounting.

The Management Accounting module provides an introduction to the principles of costing and budgeting and their use in providing information to support management decision making. The skills and knowledge that students develop in this module are crucial in performing the finance professional roles of steward, enabler and innovator and underpin much of the activity associated with the business partner role.

The Financial Accounting Module provides an introduction to accounting theory, ethics, bookkeeping and the preparation of financial statements, which are all fundamental to the stewardship role performed by finance professionals in modern organisations.

View the 2023 Course Brochure here.

Who is this for?

This Certificate in Management and Financial Accountig programme is suitable for students working in all parts of the public sector, from large central government departments and local authorities to public agencies. New responsibilities or career ambitions may well mean that you require additional education in public financial management. As the programme is delivered through a blend of distance education and on-line resources, you can work toward a qualification while remaining in fulltime employment.

Learning Outcomes

Successful completion of this qualification will equip students with the skills to prepare accounting records per international standards, to draw up simple financial statements, record data relating to costs and use costing and budgeting techniques to help non-financial managers to make decisions and manage finances effectively. 

Course Content

The Certificate in Management and Financial Accounting Module Content is as follows:

Management Accounting Module

The Management Accounting module provides an introduction to the principles of costing and budgeting and their use in providing information to support management decision making. The skills and knowledge that students develop in this module are crucial in performing the finance professional roles of steward, enabler and innovator and underpin much of the activity associated with the business partner role.

The module starts by putting the role of management accounting into context within the accounting and finance function and explains the value of useful management information. The module covers the nature of costs and cost behaviour, before focusing on the application of costing techniques such as marginal costing, absorption costing, activity based costing (ABC) and process costing. Students learn the key aspects of standard costing and variance analysis, and the use of costing information to evaluate performance using techniques such as customer profitability analysis and key factor analysis.

The other substantive area in the Management Accounting syllabus is budgeting. The importance of the budget setting process and the types and uses of budgets are explored before dealing are explored before dealing with the practical skills involved in preparing budgets and estimating costs for inclusion in a budget using techniques such as regression analysis and learning curves.

As it provides fundamental knowledge of management accounting, it is advisable to study the module before the Financial Accounting module.

Syllabus Topics include:

1. Role of management accounting (5%)
2. Costs, cost behaviour and cost accounting (30%)
3. Budgeting (30%)
4. Control and decision making (35%)

Financial Accounting Module

The Financial Accounting Module provides an introduction to accounting theory, ethics, bookkeeping and the preparation of financial statements, which are all fundamental to the stewardship role performed by finance professionals in modern organisations.

The essential elements of ethics, values and attitudes as they apply to the accounting profession are introduced, focusing on knowledge of the content of the CIPFA Statement of Professional Practice (SoPP). Application of this knowledge in different contexts is covered in a number of other modules of the qualification. The Financial Accounting module sets out the purpose of financial accounting, the needs of the users of accounting information, and the general regulatory framework. The student is then taken through the main processes involved in financial accounting, from using ledgers to record transactions, through the use of control procedures, to the end result of preparing complete financial statements in standard formats.

The module focuses on sole traders, limited companies and clubs and societies to develop knowledge and skills across these topics. There is brief coverage of a limited number of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) - see table of examinable standards for coverage across relevant modules of the qualification. More detailed coverage of IFRSs is included in Company Financial Reporting (CFR) for limited companies and in Public Service Financial Reporting (PSFR) for public service organisations.

Financial Accounting includes fundamental content on ethical principles, and it is therefore appropriate that it is studied at an early stage. As it provides fundamental knowledge of financial accounting, it should ideally be studied before CFR and PSFR.

Syllabus Topics include:

1. Purpose and context of financial accounting (5%)
2. Professional ethics, values and attitudes (10%)
3. Accounting concepts and double entry principles (20%)
4. Recording transactions and exercising control (35%)
5. Financial statements preparation (30%)

Course Leader

This course will  be delivered by Finance Specialist, Majella Malone.