BUSD104 - Money Matters

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Nil

Incompatible

ACCT100 Introduction to Accounting AND BUSN104 Money Matters

Unit rationale, description and aim

Without knowledge of ethical accounting and financial analysis skills the business world could collapse. This unit will provide a non-specialist grounding in accounting and financial management so that you can appreciate the financial dimensions of decisions within business. Moreover, the unit considers corporate social responsibility within the context of financial management and sustainability in the promotion of stewardship for social good. The unit will enable you to understand the impact of economic transactions on a business’ financial and operating capability as well as to recognise the use of accounting information in decision making without getting bogged down in the mechanics of the system. Building on this, you will develop fundamental financial planning and forecasting skills so that you can utilise these skills in life or in business. The aim of this unit is to introduce accounting and financial management skills in a non-technical way so you will be able to develop financial and accounting literacy as a life skill.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Explain the importance of accounting and its role in decision making by various users and understand the importance of corporate social responsibility in the context of the common good, the environment and society (GA2, GA5)

LO2 - Recognise types of organisational structures and functional and operational areas including concepts for authority delegation and how these integrate an organisation’s governance framework and the rights and responsibilities of stakeholders (GA3, GA5)

LO3 - Show knowledge of communication theory and information literacies by applying relevant knowledge, skills and judgement for business and academic audiences (GA5, GA9)

LO4 - Measure the effect of recording basic business transactions and other events for different types of business that report financial position and performance using the principles of the duality of accounting (GA5)

LO5 - Analyse cost behaviour and the drivers of costs as well as internal and external factors that influence the strategy of an organisation (GA5, GA8)

LO6 - Analyse aspects of the global environment, that may influence the risk management approach of an organisation towards international trade and finance (GA5, GA6)

Graduate attributes

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

Content

Topics will include: 

• Organisational structures and operations
• Business strategy and planning 
• Measuring and reporting accounting information 
• Corporate social responsibility and ethical professional values 
• Communication and information literacies
• Corporate governance 
• Fundamental finance and risk
• Cost behaviour analysis 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit takes an active learning approach to guide students in the analysis and synthesis of knowledge associated with managing money and finances. Students can explore the knowledge base through online learning material and a series of workshops. These workshops are designed to support students to actively participate in the construction and synthesis of this knowledge both individually and in groups. By participating in these workshops, students will systematically develop their understanding of the how and why management is critical to the achievement of sustainable business outcomes. This unit takes an experiential approach to support students by tapping into the knowledge of other participants, sharing stories and insights and reflecting on experiences. This approach is designed to interest students who prefer to learn within a social environment. The following resources will be accessible to students online: 

• unit outline
• notices/announcements
• assessment information, submission, marking and return of results/feedback
• learning resources (readings, direction to further sources of online information, lecture slides, audio and video recorded material)
• interactive online self-study activities and quizzes.

Mode of delivery: This unit is offered mainly in ‘Attendance mode’ with aspects of ‘Multi-mode’ incorporated into the delivery to maximise the learning support offered to students. Students will be required to attend face-to-face workshops in specific physical location/s and have face-to-face interactions with teaching staff to further their achievement of the learning outcomes. This unit is also structured with some required upfront preparation before workshops – learning materials and tasks set via online learning platforms. This will provide multiple forms of preparatory and practice opportunities for students to prepare and revise.

Further to this, to ensure students are ready to transition from the Diploma and articulate into the second year of undergraduate study, transition pedagogies will be incorporated into the unit as the key point of differentiation from the standard unit. This focuses on an active and engaging approach to learning and teaching practices, and a scaffolded approach to the delivery of curriculum to enhance student learning in a supportive environment. This will ensure that students develop foundation level discipline-based knowledge, skills and attributes, and simultaneously the academic competencies required of students to succeed in this unit.

Assessment strategy and rationale

To pass this unit, students must demonstrate competence in all learning outcomes and achieve an aggregate mark of at least 50%. Marking will be in accordance with a rubric specifically developed to measure students’ level of achievement of the learning outcomes for each item of assessment. Students will also be awarded a final grade which signifies their overall achievement in the unit.

Assessment is an integral part of the learning process. Assessment tasks in this unit are aimed at measuring and developing student’s achievement of both the learning outcomes and graduate attributes noted above. In this unit there are multiple forms of formative assessment for a student to assess their progress against the learning objectives as well as three (3) main pieces of summative assessment.

Strategies aligned with transition pedagogies will be utilised to facilitate successful completion of the unit assessment tasks. For each assessment, there will be the incorporation of developmentally staged tasks with a focus on a progressive approach to learning. This will be achieved through activities, including regular feedback, particularly early in the unit of study to support their learning; strategies to develop and understand discipline-specific concepts and terminology; in-class practice tasks with integrated feedback; and greater peer-to-peer collaboration. 

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Attrill, P 2017, Accounting and finance for non-specialists, 10th edn, Pearson, Melbourne.

Birt, J, Chalmers, K, Maloney, S, Brooks, A, Oliver, J & Bond D 2023, Accounting: Business reporting for decision making, 8th edn, John Wiley and Sons, Milton.

Dwyer, J 2020, Communication for business and the professions: Strategies and skills, 7th edn, Pearson, Melbourne.

Hoggett, J, Medlin, J, Chalmers, K, Beattie, C, Hellmann, A & Maxfield J 2017, Accounting, 10th edn, John Wiley & Sons, Milton.

Nobles, T, Mattison, B, Matsumura, E, Best, P, Fraser, D, Tan, R & Willett, R 2016, Horngren’s accounting, 8th edn, Pearson, Melbourne.

Snyder, JL & Frank, LAC 2016, The essential guide to business communication for finance professionals, New York, Business Expert Press.