ACCA COURSE SYLLABUS

The purpose and types of business organisation Define ‘business organisations’ and explain why they are formed.[K] Describe common features of business organisations.[K] Outline how business organisations differ.[K] List the industrial and commercial sectors in which business organisations operate.[K] Identify the different types of business Stakeholders in business organizations Define stakeholders and explain the agency relationship in business and how it may vary in different types of business organisation.[K] Define internal, connected and external stakeholders and explain their impact on the organisation.[K] Identify the main stakeholder groups and the objectives of each group.[K] Explain how the different stakeholder groups interact and how their objectives may conflict with one another.[K] Compare the power and influence of various stakeholder groups and how their needs should be accounted for, such as under the Mendelow framework.[K] Political and legal factors affecting business Explain how the political system and government policy affect the organisation.[K] Describe the sources of legal authority,including supra-national bodies, national and regional governments.[K] Explain how the law protects the employee and the implications of employment legislation for the manager and the organisation.[K] Identify the principles of data protection and security.[K] Explain how the law promotes and protects health and safety in the workplace.[K] Recognise the responsibility of the individual and organisation for compliance with laws on data protection, security and health and safety.[K] Outline principles of consumer protection such as sale of goods and simple contract. Macroeconomic factors Define macro-economic policy and explain its objectives.[K] Explain the main determinants of the level of business activity in the economy and how variations in the level of business activity Explain the impact of economic issues on the individual, the household and the business Describe the main types of economic policy that may be implemented by government and supra-national bodies to maximise economic welfare.[K] Recognise the impact of fiscal and monetary policy measures on the individual, the household and businesses. Micro economic factors Define the concept of demand and supply for goods and services.[K] Explain elasticity of demand and the impact of substitute and complementary goods.[K] Explain the economic behaviour of costs in the short and long term.[K] Define perfect, competition, oligopoly, monopolistic competition and monopoly. Social and demographic factors Explain the medium and long-term effects of social and demographic trends on business outcomes and the economy.[K] Describe the impact of changes in social structure, values, attitudes and tastes on the organisation.[K] Identify and explain the measures that governments may take in response to the medium and Technological factors Explain the potential effects of technological change on the organisation structure and strategy:[K] Describe the impact of information technology and information systems development on business processes Environmental factors List ways in which the businesses can affect or be affected by its physical environment.[K] Describe ways in which businesses can operate more efficiently and effectively to limit damage to the environment.[K] Identify the benefits of economic sustainability to stakeholders Competitive factors Identify a business’s strengths, weaknesses opportunities and threats (SWOT) in a market and the main sources of competitive advantage.[K] Identify the main elements within Porter’s value chain and explain the meaning of a value network’..[K] c) Explain the factors or forces that influence the level of competitiveness in an industry or sector using Porter’s five forces model

B Business organisational structure, functions and governance

The formal and informal business organisation Explain the informal organisation and its relationship with the formal organisation.[K] Describe the impact of the informal organisation on the business.[K] Business organisational structure and design c) Explain the characteristics of the strategic, tactical and operational levels in the organisation d) Explain centralisation and decentralisation and list their advantages and disadvantages. Organisational culture in business Define organisational culture.[K] Describe the factors that shape the culture of the organisation.[K] Explain the contribution made by writers on culture: Committees in business organizations Explain the purposes of committees.[K] Describe the types of committee used by business organisations[K] List the advantages and disadvantages of committees.[K] Explain the roles of the Chair and Secretary of a committee.5. Governance and social responsibility in business Explain the agency concept in relation to corporate governance.[K] Define corporate governance and social responsibility and explain their importance in contemporary organisations.[K] Explain the responsibility of organisations to maintain appropriate standards of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. Explain how organisations take account of their social responsibility objectives through analysis of the needs of internal, connected and external [K] f) Identify the social and environmental responsibilities of business organisations to internal, connected and external stakeholders.[K] C Accounting and reporting systems, controls and compliance The relationship between accounting and other business functions Explain the relationship between accounting and other key functions within the business such as procurement, production and marketing. Explain financial considerations in production and production planning. Identify the financial issues associated with marketing.[S Identify the financial costs and benefits of effective service provision.2. Accounting and finance functions within business organizations Explain the contribution of the accounting function to the formulation, implementation,and control of the organisation’s policies,procedures, and performance.[K] Identify and describe the main financial accounting functions in business: Identify and describe the main management accounting and performance management functions in business: Identify and describe the main finance and treasury functions:[K] Explain the main functions of the internal auditor and the external auditor and how they differ Principles of law and regulation governing accounting and auditing Explain basic legal requirements in relation to retaining and submitting proper records and preparing and auditing financial reports. Explain the broad consequences of failing to comply with the legal requirements for maintaining and filing accounting records.[K] Explain how the international accountancy profession regulates itself through the establishment of reporting standards and their monitoring.[K] The sources and purpose of internal and external financial information, provided by business Explain the various business purposes for which the following financial information is required Describe the main purposes of the following types of management accounting reports Financial systems, procedures and related IT applications Identify an organisation’s system requirements in relation to the objectives and policies of the organisation.[S] Explain why it is important to adhere to policies and procedures for handling clients’money.[K] Identify weaknesses, potential for error and inefficiencies in accounting systems.[S] Recommend improvements to accounting systems to prevent error and fraud and to improve overall efficiency Explain why appropriate controls are necessary in relation to business and IT systems and procedures.[S] Internal controls, authorisation, security of data and compliance within business Explain internal control and internal check.[K] Explain the importance of internal financial controls in an organisation.[K] Describe the responsibilities of management for internal financial control.[K] Describe the features of effective internal financial control procedures in an organisation,including authorisation.[K] Identify and describe the types of information technology and information systems used by the business organisation for internal control.[S] Identify and describe features for protecting the security of IT systems and software within business.[S] Describe general and application systems controls in business.[K Fraud and fraudulent behaviour and their prevention in business, including money laundering. Explain the circumstances under which fraud islikely to arise.[K] Identify different types of fraud in the organisation.[K] c) Explain the implications of fraud for the organisation.[K] d) Explain the role and duties of individual managers in the fraud detection and prevention e) Define the term money laundering.[K] f) Give examples of recognised offences under typical money laundering regulations.[K] g) Identify methods for detecting and preventing money laundering.[K] h) Explain how suspicions of money laundering should be reported to the appropriate authorities.[K] Define leadership, management and supervision and explain the distinction between these terms.[K] Explain the nature of management Explain the areas of managerial authority and responsibility.[K] Explain the situational, functional and contingency approaches to leadership Describe leadership styles and contexts: using the models of leadership Recruitment and selection of employees Explain the importance of effective recruitment and selection to the organisation.[K] Describe the recruitment and selection process and explain the stages in this process.[K] Describe the roles of those involved in the recruitment and selection processes. Describe the methods through which organisations seek to meet their recruitment needs.[K] e) Explain the advantages and disadvantages of different recruitment and selection methods.[K] f) Explain the purposes and benefits of diversity and equal opportunities policies within the human resources plan.[K] g) Explain the practical steps that an organisation may take to ensure the effectiveness of its diversity and equal opportunities policy. Individual and group behaviour in business organisations Describe the main characteristics of individual and group behaviour.[K] Outline the contributions of individuals and teams to organisational success.[K] Identify individual and team approaches to work.[ Team formation, development and management Explain the differences between a group and a team.[K] Explain the purposes of a team.[K] Explain the role of the manager in building the team and developing individuals within the team.[ List the characteristics of effective and ineffective teams.[K] Describe tools and techniques that can be used to build the team Motivating individuals and groups Define motivation and explain its importance to the organisation, teams and individuals Explain content and process theories of motivation: Maslow, Herzberg, McGregor, and Vroom.[K] Explain and identify types of intrinsic and extrinsic reward.[K] Explain how reward systems can be designed and implemented to motivate teams and individuals.[K] Learning and training at work Explain the importance of learning and development in the workplace.[K] Describe the learning process: Honey and Mumford, Kolb.[K] Describe the role of the human resources department and individual managers in the learning process.[K] Describe the training and development process:identifying needs, setting objectives,programme design, delivery and validation.[K] Explain the terms ‘training’, ‘development’ and ‘education’ and the characteristics of each.[K] List the benefits of effective training and development in the workplace.[K] Review and appraisal of individual performance. Explain the importance of performance assessment.[K] Explain how organisations assess theperformance of human resources.[K] Define performance appraisal and describe its purposes.[K] Describe the performance appraisal process.[K] Explain the benefits of effective appraisal.[K] Identify the barriers to effective appraisal and how these may be overcome. E Personal effectiveness and communication Personal effectiveness techniques Explain the importance of effective time management.[K] Describe the barriers to effective time management and how they may be overcome.[K] Describe the role of information technology in improving personal effectiveness.[ Consequences of ineffectiveness at work Identify the main ways in which people and teams can be ineffective at work.[S] Explain how individual or team ineffectiveness can affect organisational performance.[K]3. Competence frameworks and personal development 3 a)Describe the features of a ‘competence framework’.[S] b) Explain how a competence framework underpins professional development needs.[S] c) Explain how personal and continuous professional development can increase personal effectiveness at work.[S] d) Explain the purpose and benefits of coaching,mentoring and counselling in promoting employee effectiveness [K] e) Describe how a personal development plan should be formulated, implemented, monitored and reviewed by the individual.[ Sources of conflicts and techniques for conflict resolution and referral Identify situations where conflict at work can arise.[S] Describe how conflict can affect personal and organisational performance.[S] Identify ways in which conflict can be managed.[S] Communicating in business Describe methods of communication used in the organisation and how they are used.[K] Explain how the type of information differs at strategic, tactical and operational.[K] List the attributes of good quality information.[K] Explain a simple communication model:sender, message, receiver, feedback, noise.[K] Explain formal and informal communication and their significance in the workplace.[K] Identify the consequences of ineffective communication.[K] Describe the attributes of effective communication.[K] Describe the barriers to effective communication Identify the main patterns of communication.[K F Professional ethics in accounting and business Fundamental principles of ethical behaviour Define business ethics and explain the importance of ethics to the organisation and to the individual.[K] Describe and demonstrate the following principles from the IFAC (IESBA) code of ethics, Describe organisational values which promote ethical behaviour using examples. Explain the concept of acting in the public interest.[K] .2. The role of regulatory and professional bodies in promoting ethical and professional standards Recognise the purpose of international and organisational codes of ethics and codes of conduct, IFAC (IESBA), ACCA etc.[K] Describe how professional bodies and regulators promote ethical awareness and prevent or punish illegal or unethical behaviour.[K] Identify the factors that distinguish a profession from other types of occupation.[1 Explain the role of the accountant in promoting ethical behaviour.[K] Recognise when and to whom illegal, or unethical conduct by anyone within or connected to the organisation should be reported [K] Corporate codes of ethics Define corporate codes of ethics.[K] Describe the typical contents of a corporate code of ethics.[K] Explain the benefits of a corporate code of ethics to the organisation and its employees.[K] Ethical conflicts and dilemmas Describe situations where ethical conflicts can arise.[K] Identify the main threats to ethical behaviour.[K] Outline situations at work where ethical dilemmas may be faced.[K]