This course examines how management accounting information can be created and used to effectively analyse business activities for operational improvement and superior performance. The course immerses students in management accounting tools that will build their business acumen in managing costs and resources, sources of value creation, and opportunities for enhanced operational outcomes. Management Accounting and Business Analysis offers an active learning approach, where students benefit from student-led class discussions, individual and team-based learning activities, and authentic case studies that introduce students to complexity in business analysis.

Note: This course is not available to students who have completed ACCT2522 in the last three years.

This course examines how management accounting information can created and used to effectively analyse business activities for operational improvement and superior performance. The course immerses students in management accounting tools that will build their business acumen in managing costs and resources, sources of value creation, and opportunities for enhanced operational outcomes. Management Accounting and Business Analysis offers an active learning approach, where students benefit from student-led class discussions, individual and team-based learning activities, and authentic case studies that introduce students to complexity in business analysis.

This course examines how management accounting information can created and used to effectively analyse business activities for operational improvement and superior performance. The course immerses students in management accounting tools that will build their business acumen in managing costs and resources, sources of value creation, and opportunities for enhanced operational outcomes. Management Accounting and Business Analysis offers an active learning approach, where students benefit from student-led class discussions, individual and team-based learning activities, and authentic case studies that introduce students to complexity in business analysis.

Note: This course is not available to students who have completed ACCT2522 in the last three years.

At university, the focus is on your self-directed search for knowledge. Seminars, textbooks, exams and other resources are all provided to help you learn. It is therefore essential to prepare for class as instructed each week (refer to the weekly Seminar Preparation Guide), and to proactively participate in class.

Through Moodle updates

Weekly Seminars

All weeks are delivered in small group seminars (3 hours each week - including Week 1), where you will develop your technical skills in management accounting calculation, your skills in applying management accounting techniques to organisational situations and problems, explore more deeply issues relating to the design, implementation, and analytical use of management accounting techniques. A particular focus of each seminar willbe an in-depth case study, where you will work closely with your designated seminar group to explore more complex management accounting issues associated with each topic.

Your success in completing this case with your group is heavily depending on your preparation for each seminar as instructed, including by completing the required readings.

Note: If students are not in a team by end of Week 2 (i.e. must attend class to be assigned), deferral of the course to a subsequent term is required.

As a student at UNSW you are expected to display academic integrity in your work and interactions. Where a student breaches the UNSW Student Code with respect to academic integrity, the University may take disciplinary action under the Student Misconduct Procedure. To assure academic integrity, you may be required to demonstrate reasoning, research and the process of constructing work submitted for assessment.

To assist you in understanding what academic integrity means, and how to ensure that you do comply with the UNSW Student Code, it is strongly recommended that you complete the Working with Academic Integrity module before submitting your first assessment task. It is a free, online self-paced Moodle module that should take about one hour to complete.

You are expected to complete all assessment tasks for your courses in the School of Accounting, Auditing & Taxation. In some courses, there will be a minimum pass mark required on the final exam due to the need to assure individual mastery of specific course learning outcomes for accounting accreditation requirements.  Where applicable this is explained in the assessment section of this course outline.

This course will have an invigilated exam held on UNSW’s Kensington campus. The exam will be conducted on Inspera, an online assessment platform. It is a mandatory requirement that you attend the exam on-campus (even if you are only attending online classes) and that you come with a fully charged laptop with Safe Exam Browser (SEB) installed. For information about On-Campus Invigilated Exams requirements and conditions please visit here. 

Further instructions on how to prepare for this exam will be provided to you during the term.

Formal Requirements

In order to pass this course, you must:

• achieve a composite mark of at least 50 out of 100;
• meet any additional requirements described in the Assessment Summary section.

You are expected to attempt all assessment requirements in the course.

Note: for more information on the UNSW academic calendar and key dates including study period, exam,supplementary exam and result release, please visit: https://student.unsw.edu.au/ new-calendar-dates

The website for this course is on Moodle.

The required textbook for this course is:

• Langfield-Smith, K., Smith, D., Andon, P., Hilton, R.W., and Thorne, H. (2022) Management Accounting: Information for Creating and Managing Value, 9th edition (ebook).

The link to the eBook is available from the course Moodle site.

In addition to this required text, other supplementary reading materials may be issued as appropriate (refer to your Seminar Preparation Guide each week for details).

Please note that it is against Australian copyright laws to photocopy, take photos, scan, or otherwise copy anything more than a reasonable portion of the required textbook.

If you bring anything other than a genuine version of the ebook to class, you will be asked to leave the class and obtain a genuine copy.

To be provided in Moodle when required

Not applicable

Feedback is regularly sought from students and continual improvements are made based on this feedback. At the end of this course, you will be asked to complete the myExperience survey , which provides a key source of studentevaluative feedback. Your input into this quality enhancement process is extremely valuable in assisting us to meet the needs of our students and provide an effective and enriching learning experience. The results of all surveys are carefully considered and do lead to action towards enhancing educational quality.