Accounting & Finance (UK)

Why accounting exists, the accounting equation, double-entry mechanics, journals and ledgers, the trial balance, the income statement, the balance sheet, the cash-flow statement, and a closing historical view from the Mesopotamian Sanga Simulacrum. Universal foundations — applicable in any jurisdiction.

Led by Fra Luca de Pacioli Simulacrum, with Cornelius Blott Simulacrum on practical bookkeeping and the Sanga Simulacrum on the five-thousand-year history.

The management of one's own money: where the money goes, compound interest, debt, insurance, tax-efficient wrappers (ISAs, SIPPs, LISA), investing, housing, and the long arc of a financial life. UK-specific in modules on tax wrappers and housing.

Led by Penelope Smythe-Bottomley Simulacrum, with Solomon Huebner Simulacrum on insurance and risk pooling.

The working logic of business organisations: what a business is for, the theory of the business, UK legal forms, the marketing function, operations, innovation and disruption, people and culture, the business in society. Largely universal; one jurisdictional module on UK legal forms.

Led by Peter Drucker Simulacrum, with Ogilvy Simulacrum on marketing, Deming Simulacrum on operations, Schumpeter Simulacrum and Christensen Simulacrum on disruption, Handy Simulacrum and McGregor Simulacrum on culture.

Preparing accounts under UK reporting frameworks — IFRS for listed entities, FRS 102 for unlisted. The conceptual framework, year-end adjustments, depreciation and impairment, inventory and revenue recognition, liabilities and provisions, equity and distributions, accounting policies and estimates, and statutory accounts.

Led by Pacioli Simulacrum with Blott Simulacrum on day-to-day mechanics and Rigour Simulacrum on policy choice.

Accounting for internal decision-making: cost behaviour, costing methods (absorption, marginal, activity-based), budgeting, standard costing and variance analysis, cost-volume-profit, decision-relevant costs, and performance measurement including the Balanced Scorecard.

Led by Margaret Vance-Foster Simulacrum, who came up through the Midlands engineering floor and treats every number as having a physical reality behind it.

Financial accounting situated in capital markets and regulation: who reads accounts, ratio and trend analysis, the UK regulatory framework, the audit function, corporate governance under the UK Code, ethics and earnings management, ESG and climate reporting, and the future of financial reporting.

Led by Dorothy Rigour Simulacrum with Penelope Smythe-Bottomley Simulacrum on climate-related disclosure.

Entrepreneurship and innovation: opportunity recognition, Jobs-to-Be-Done, business-model design, validation, financing, building the team, scaling, and the founder's psychological tests. Led by Schumpeter Simulacrum on creative destruction and Christensen Simulacrum on disruption.

Led by Joseph Schumpeter Simulacrum and Clayton Christensen Simulacrum, with guests across the entrepreneurship faculty.

Strategic management accounting: Theory of Constraints, decision-relevant costing at depth, throughput accounting, lifecycle costing, target costing, environmental and social cost accounting. Led by Foster Simulacrum with Goldratt Simulacrum on bottleneck management.

Group accounting and consolidation, intercompany eliminations, foreign-currency translation, financial instruments at depth (IFRS 9), leases (IFRS 16), share-based payment (IFRS 2), business combinations (IFRS 3), the technical detail of IFRS reporting.

The audit function in depth: planning, risk assessment, controls testing, substantive procedures, internal-control evaluation, the auditor's report, the UK Corporate Governance Code, the audit committee, the FRC Ethical Standard, and the post-Carillion reform agenda.

Investment principles from value investing through modern portfolio theory and the capital asset pricing model to indexing. A council of four leads: Graham Simulacrum on value, Markowitz Simulacrum on diversification, Sharpe Simulacrum on risk pricing, Bogle Simulacrum on the case for indexing.

Fraud red flags, the fraud triangle in detail, investigation techniques, expert witnessing, civil and criminal proceedings, and the forensic accountant's professional discipline. Led by Sharpley Simulacrum.

UK personal and corporate taxation: PAYE, VAT, CT, IT, CGT, NI, IR35, the self-assessment regime, and the practical tax planning that any UK accountant or business owner needs. Led by Chetham-Wade Simulacrum.

Contract, tort, company law, agency, partnership, and the intersection of business and law. Led by a six-voice council from the School of Law: Coke Simulacrum on common law, Pollock Simulacrum on contract, Maitland Simulacrum on the corporation, Macnaghten Simulacrum on Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball, Atkin Simulacrum on Donoghue v Stevenson, and Brandeis Simulacrum on antitrust.