Strategic Business Reporting Preparation Course

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has a global footprint in approximately 200 countries with over 200 000 members. The NWU is currently accredited with ACCA and thereby gets nine exemptions for our BCom Accounting degrees. Over and above the nine exemptions there are four exams which participants need to write directly with ACCA and for which we cannot get recognition even if we align our syllabus fully with ACCA. The aim of this course is to prepare participants to write the exams with ACCA. Similar courses are only offered by a handful of institutions in South Africa including Wits, Academic Institute of Excellence, Polytechnic and the Institute of Management Accounting and Strategy.

Purpose of the course

The purpose of this course is to prepare participants to sit for the ACCA Strategic Professional exam. The NWU has a well-established track record of preparing participants for professional exams. We wish to use this knowledge and experience to expand our offering to the ACCA professional exams as well.

Admission requirements

Registered ACCA participants who have completed the Financial Reporting exam through ACCA or obtained the exemption for the Financial Reporting exam.

Learning assumed to be in place

The syllabus for Strategic Business Reporting, assumes knowledge acquired at the Fundamentals level including the core technical capabilities to prepare and analyse financial reports for single and combined entities.

Course outcomes and assessment criteria

Course outcomes and the associated assessment criteria

Outcomes	Assessment Criteria
After completion of this course, participants will:	Participant will be assessed on the following criteria:
Apply fundamental ethical and professional principles to ethical dilemmas and discuss the consequences of unethical behaviour.	Appraise and discuss the ethical and professional issues in advising on corporate reporting.
Evaluate the appropriateness of the financial reporting framework and critically discuss changes in accounting regulation.	Discuss the objectives of financial reporting including disclosure of information that can be used to help assess management’s stewardship of the entity’s resources and the limitations of financial reporting.
Apply professional judgement in the reporting of the financial performance of a range of entities.	Apply the knowledge, skills and professional judgement in the application and evaluation of financial reporting principles and practices in a range of business contexts and situations.
Accurate, coherent and appropriate preparation of the financial statements of groups of entities in accordance with relevant accounting standards.	Apply the recognition and measurement criteria for identifiable acquired assets and liabilities including contingent amounts and intangible assets.
An ability to appraise the financial performance and position of entities.	Discuss and apply relevant indicators of financial and non-financial performance including earnings per share and additional performance measures.
An ability to evaluate current developments in terms of corporate reporting requirements and expectations.	Identify issues and deficiencies which have led to proposed changes to an accounting standard.

Assessment

The overall strategy includes the use of technology as well as inquiry-based instruction. Instructors will guide students towards knowledge with a strong focus on self-discovery of the student. The final ACCA exam takes place in an online format therefore students will be required to test their knowledge on the same platform to prepare themselves for the exam.

Method of assessment

Basic knowledge checks will be done through the use of informal quizzes. After the completion of each chapter an assignment will be given as a formative assessment. At the end of the course one summative assessment will be given to the student to complete in the form of an online exam.