View Specification DocumentThe Accountancy Profession ACCFIN1017
- Academic Session: 2026-27
- School: Adam Smith Business School
- Credits: 20
- Level: Level 1 (SCQF level 7)
- Typically Offered: Semester 2
- Available to Visiting Students: Yes
- Collaborative Online International Learning: No
- Curriculum For Life: No
Short Description
This course gives students the opportunity to explore the nature and role of the accountancy profession in society, including how the accountancy profession is defined, organised and regulated and how it addresses its ethical and public interest responsibilities. Contemporary issues will be covered to give students an insight into the diverse and dynamic nature of the profession and the challenges it faces.
Timetable
Lectures: 2 hours of lectures x 10 weeks.
Tutorials: 2-hour tutorials x 4 weeks.
Requirements of Entry
Only available to students on one of the BAcc programmes, or students studying a joint honours degree in Maths/Statistics with Accounting or Finance.
Excluded Courses
None
Co-requisites
None
Assessment
1. Portfolio; Individual; 2650 words; 75%; ILOs 1-5.
2. Oral assessment & presentation; Group; 15 minutes; 25%; ILOs 1-2, 5-6.
Course Aims
This course sets accounting within its broader historical, professional, regulatory and ethical context in order that students can understand how the accountancy profession is structured and regulated and how individual accountants are expected to discharge their professional responsibilities. The course will be research-informed, with the aim of helping students acquire the skills required for the increasingly independent, research-informed, conceptual nature of undergraduate study. Many of the students will go on to become professional accountants and this course aims to complement the other more technical courses by providing a good foundation for the non-technical requirements of becoming a professional in today's society.
Intended Learning Outcomes of Course
By the end of this course students will be able to:
1. Describe the professional, regulatory and ethical context within which the accountancy profession is set.
2. Discuss a range of current and historical issues relating to the accountancy profession.
3. Identify and explain models of professional regulation and the work of UK bodies concerned with the regulation of the accountancy profession.
4. Explain the importance of ethics in the accountancy profession and of a limited range of ethical dilemmas including possible approaches to their resolution.
5. Search for and locate relevant literature to incorporate into a reasoned argument on an essay topic of relevance to the course.
6. Work collaboratively in a group to produce a combined piece of coursework, by liaising with other class members, allocating tasks and co-ordinating group meetings.