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Academy Documents

Please access the Students' Policies & Forms through this link. The following documents are all available at the link: Student Handbook, Student Code of Conduct,  Students' Privacy Notice, Deferral, Suspension, and Cancellation Policy, Assignment Extension Policy, Re-Sit Policy, Complaints Procedure Policy, Equality Policy, and Student Disciplinary Policy.

Sessions' Venue

All sessions will be held at 21 Academy's Training Centre in Naxxar

21 Business Centre, No. 20., Triq in-Nutar Debono, Naxxar NXR 2525

Monday sessions: 09:30 - 12:30hrs (compulsory signature)

Wednesday sessions: 17:30 - 20:30hrs

Saturday sessions: 09:00hrs - 17:00hrs

Lecture Schedule & Notes

Lecture notes will be available during the week following the respective lecture. Schedule dates are indicative and may change. All changes, if any, may be communicated via email, SMS, or telephone calls.

Lecturer/s  

Mr Antoine Portelli

Lecture Summaries & Suggested Reading 

Lecture 1 - Accounting Concepts

• Self-assessment, sitting 1

This introductory session will allow the lecturer and students to familiarise themselves with the course content, understand the basics of Accounting and Finance, discuss different types of organisations, look at the structures of the organisations, and have a deep dive into the various documents and statements generated by accountants.

Following this session, students will:

• Sit for the first session of the Self-Assessment
• Understand the key objectives of financial management;
• Obtain an overview of the Accounting Environment;

Core Reading List

• Atrill, P., (2019). Financial Management For Decision Makers. 9th ed. Pearson.
• Hussain, S. and Warner, S., (2017). Finance Book - Understand The Numbers Even If You’re Not A Finance Professional. FT Publishing International.

Supplementary Reading List

• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 1
• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 2
• Bauerle, J., (2018). Accounting Quickstart Guide. ClydeBank Media LLC
• Claydon, T., and Beardwell, J., (2017). Human Resource Management a Contemporary Approach, 8th ed. Pearson.

Lecture 2 - Financial Statements

This session will continue on the various Accounting Terms used; introduce the Accounting Equation, and looks at what makes up a Trial Balance;

Following this session, students will learn:

• The general presentation of Financial Statements (balance Sheet, income statement and cash flow statement);
• basic understanding of the basic principles of Financial Statements;

Core Reading List

• Atrill, P., (2019). Financial Management For Decision Makers. 9th ed. Pearson.
• Hussain, S. and Warner, S., (2017). Finance Book - Understand The Numbers Even If You’re Not A Finance Professional. FT Publishing International.

Supplementary Reading List

• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 1
• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 2
• Bauerle, J., (2018). Accounting Quickstart Guide. ClydeBank Media LLC
• Claydon, T., and Beardwell, J., (2017). Human Resource Management a Contemporary Approach, 8th ed. Pearson.

Lecture 3 - Financial Statements (cont.)

The third session will be dedicated to the analysis of the trial balance, the composition of the financial statements, how they are prepared, what information is required, and time periods.

Reference will be made to the various accounting techniques used in various countries. The session will delve into the basic accounting entries, types of accounts, the bookkeeping function, collated data, the use of the data for management accounts, and the transition from management accounts to financial statements.

Following this session, students will learn to:

• Describe how financial managers apply the income statement, the balance sheet, and the statement of cash flows to make better informed decisions;
• An understanding of Accountancy Techniques;
• Understand the basic Management Accounts;
• Sources of Finance.
• Read and understand Financial Statements;

Core Reading List

• Atrill, P., (2019). Financial Management For Decision Makers. 9th ed. Pearson.
• Hussain, S. and Warner, S., (2017). Finance Book - Understand The Numbers Even If You’re Not A Finance Professional. FT Publishing International.

Supplementary Reading List

• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 1
• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 2
• Bauerle, J., (2018). Accounting Quickstart Guide. ClydeBank Media LLC
• Claydon, T., and Beardwell, J., (2017). Human Resource Management a Contemporary Approach, 8th ed. Pearson.

Lecture 4 - Accounting Rations

The session will be dedicated to the introduction of Financial Ratios; how these are inter-related; which ratios to use in particular circumstances

Following this session students will be learn:

• Introduction of financial ratios;
• Compute the key financial ratios so as to calculate an entity's performance

Core Reading List

• Atrill, P., (2019). Financial Management For Decision Makers. 9th ed. Pearson.
• Hussain, S. and Warner, S., (2017). Finance Book - Understand The Numbers Even If You’re Not A Finance Professional. FT Publishing International.

Supplementary Reading List

• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 1
• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 2
• Bauerle, J., (2018). Accounting Quickstart Guide. ClydeBank Media LLC
• Claydon, T., and Beardwell, J., (2017). Human Resource Management a Contemporary Approach, 8th ed. Pearson.

Lecture 5 - Ration Analysis (cont.)

The session will continue analysing the various Accounting Ratios, looking at the Liquidity and Investment sections. It will also introduce the variances of Management Accounting and the handing of the information to prepare these sets of Accounts for internal entity consumption, together with their relationship with published Financial Statements.

Following this session students will be learn:

• Compute key financial ratios to interpret the entity’s performance and health;
• Prepare the entity’s Management Accounts;
• Formulate an evaluation of a business' financial statements.
• Analyse financial statements in order to gauge a business’ future performance.

Core Reading List

• Atrill, P., (2019). Financial Management For Decision Makers. 9th ed. Pearson.
• Hussain, S. and Warner, S., (2017). Finance Book - Understand The Numbers Even If You’re Not A Finance Professional. FT Publishing International.

Supplementary Reading List

• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 1
• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 2
• Bauerle, J., (2018). Accounting Quickstart Guide. ClydeBank Media LLC
• Claydon, T., and Beardwell, J., (2017). Human Resource Management a Contemporary Approach, 8th ed. Pearson.

Lecture 6 - Assessment Methods & Bonds & Stocks

Following this session students will learn to:

• Discuss the Assignment Question handed out during the Session;
• Go through the Group Presentations to be prepared by end of Module;
• Express how bonds and stocks work and their impact on a business’ structure;
• Identify factors which may distort an analysis;

Core Reading List

• Atrill, P., (2019). Financial Management For Decision Makers. 9th ed. Pearson.
• Hussain, S. and Warner, S., (2017). Finance Book - Understand The Numbers Even If You’re Not A Finance Professional. FT Publishing International.

Supplementary Reading List

• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 1
• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 2
• Bauerle, J., (2018). Accounting Quickstart Guide. ClydeBank Media LLC
• Claydon, T., and Beardwell, J., (2017). Human Resource Management a Contemporary Approach, 8th ed. Pearson.

Lecture 7 - Financial Forecasts

Following this session students will learn to:

• Apply their knowledge in practical situations;
• Prepare a company’s financial forecast;
• Report the results of an analysis
• Preparing a Business Plan and its Financials
• The benefits of Business Plans;
• The users of Business Plans, internal and external;
• The pitfalls to be avoided.

Core Reading List

• Atrill, P., (2019). Financial Management For Decision Makers. 9th ed. Pearson.
• Hussain, S. and Warner, S., (2017). Finance Book - Understand The Numbers Even If You’re Not A Finance Professional. FT Publishing International.

Supplementary Reading List

• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 1
• Wood, F., (2015). Business Accounting 2
• Bauerle, J., (2018). Accounting Quickstart Guide. ClydeBank Media LLC
• Claydon, T., and Beardwell, J., (2017). Human Resource Management a Contemporary Approach, 8th ed. Pearson.

Lecture 8 - Tutorial Session 01

• Self Assessment sitting 2

During this session students will:

• Go through and discuss the correct answers of the Self-Assessment
• Discuss the contents of the presentation being prepared for the Group Presentation

Core Reading List

• Induction Session 03 slides
• All of the 1 to 7 sessions slides

Lecture 9 -  Tutorial Session 02

During this session students will:

• Discuss the contents of the presentation being prepared for the Group Presentation
• Discuss the Assignments being drafted as part of the assessment method

Core Reading List

• Induction Session 03 slides
• All of the 1 to 7 sessions slides

Lecture 10 - Assessments

During this session students will:

• Receive the scored self-assessment
• Deliver the group presentations and answer to questions from both students and tutor
• Go through the last assignment issues, if any.

Methods of Assessment

Self Assessment 15% of final score - Students will be expected to sit for a multiple choice test during the module's first lecture on 6 January 2024. Students will be handed out with the test sheet and their answers during the session 8 on the 31 January 2024 and will be asked to correct their own submission.

Group Presentation 20% of final score

Reflective Notes 10% of final score

1 Assignment 55% of final score

Assignment

You have to choose 1 out of the 3 questions that are available in the Assignment Submission form below. The assignment should be submitted no later than Thursday 15 February 2024. The assignment has to be submitted together with the Assignment Submission Form through 21 Academy's plagiarism software, Turnitin. Please indicate the questions that you have addressed in the Assignment Submission form and upload the assignments in pdf format. Do not scan the assignment, but convert or save it directly to a pdf. We ask you to keep the similarity percentage very low and definitely below 20%. You should review and rephrase any assignments that show more than 20% similarity. Any assignments submitted with more than 20% similarity will not be scored and will be considered failed if found to be plagiarised.

Assignment Submission Form

If you need information on how to plan, draft, and submit your assignment, follow the 21 Academy presentation on Writing and Submitting your Assignment.

We are also making the 21 Academy's Assignments Rubric available for your guidance. This is a performance-based assessment tool. Tutors will use the rubric to assist them in allocating scoring while also allowing students to understand what is required in the assignment and how it will be graded. The Harvard Referencing Style should be used.

Group Presentation

You will be asked to design and deliver a group presentation about a business you plan to create together. This will be the same group you worked with in class. The presentation should be delivered in 20 minutes, and each member of the group should deliver part of the presentation. The presentation will be delivered on Wednesday 7 February 2024 between 17.30 and 20.30hrs.

Please read, fill out, and submit the Presentation Submission Form along with your presentation. The Presentation Submission includes the question that has to be addressed through your presentation.

This Presentation Rubric is being made available for your guidance. This is a performance-based assessment tool. Tutors will use the rubric to assist them in allocating scoring, while it also allows students to understand what is required in the presentation and how your presentation will be graded.

The presentation should be submitted in pdf format together with the Presentation Submission Form through Turnitin by not later than Tuesday 6 February at 23.59hrs. Do not scan the presentation, but convert or save it directly to a pdf.

Note that the submitted presentations will be scanned for plagiarism.

Reflective Notes

Each student should submit Reflective Notes about their experience during the preparatory phase of the Group Presentation. From here, you can download 21 Academy's Reflective Notes template in Word Format or pdf format. The Reflective Notes have to be submitted to the academy through turnitin by not later than Tuesday 6 February at 23.59hrs.

If you need information on how to write and keep your reflective notes for your involvement in the group work to prepare the presentation, please refer to Induction Presentation 03.