Syllabus for Accounting Theory

Decisions and guidelines

Master's Programme in Accounting and Financial Management - specialisation Financial Accounting, Management and Control, Financial Management.

Learning outcomes

The course provides a basis to compare concepts prevalent in accounting. After a completed course, the student should display an ability to:

• evaluate the notions and ideas of thought that have shaped a theoretical basis for accounting,
• formulate how a theoretical base for accounting can be used in the systematisation of accounting through policies, frameworks, and design considerations,
• examine the relationship between accounting theory and practice, and
• sketch the development in accounting thought and structure leading up to the current prevalent accounting methods.

Content

To develop the concepts prevalent in accounting, the course covers and expands on:

• the role of accounting theory,
• the concepts, principles and procedures that have been part of the elaborations of the foundations for accounting,
• how the concepts and principles are used as building blocks in the development of accounting policies and conceptual frameworks, and how they jointly shape the accounting systems and design,
• the interplay between accounting theory and practice, and
• the themes and trends in the different salient accounting systems leading up to the current trans-global accounting structure and harmonisation effort.

Instruction

The in-class teaching consists of lectures and seminars. Seminars are carried out in smaller groups and contain both written and oral elements. The course is taught in English.

Assessment

The student will get one single grade, equivalent to 7.5 credits.

Course examination includes a written test as well as written and oral seminar assignments. Attendance is required on scheduled examination activities, and absence motivated by particular reasons requires complementing assignments to be handed in within two weeks after the complementing requirement has been given. The grade for the entire course is based on an assessment of all parts of the examination.

Grading criteria are presented in the study guide that applies to the course section. The following grades will be used: pass with distinction (VG), pass (G), and fail (U). Examinations handed in late will not be assessed except under special circumstances. Any remaining supplemental work must be completed and handed in by the deadline specified in the study guide. Otherwise the entire course (all examinations included) must be retaken during subsequent course sections, pending availability of a place in the course.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.

Uppsala University does not accept cheating or plagiarism. Suspected incidents of cheating or plagiarism are reported to the Vice-Chancellor, which may issue a formal warning to the student or suspend the student from studies for a certain period.

NOTE: Only completed courses can count toward a degree.