General provisions

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

Entry requirements

Strategy and Contemporary Issues, 15 credits. A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university. Also required is 90 credits in business studies. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6. As all teaching takes place in English, very good language skills in English are a necessity to be able to partake in the course.

Learning outcomes

The course embraces two important areas of corporate reporting: financial and sustainability reporting. Financial reporting constitutes a major part of the course, as it is an established area with well-developed standards.

After completion of this course, students should be able to:

• understand the regulatory process concerning International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), as well as European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS),
• understand the content of the Conceptual Framework of IFRS, as well as the content of chosen IFRS,
• understand the issue of judgement in applying IFRS and ESRS, and its potential consequences,
• analyse contemporary issues in financial accounting in a business context,
• critically analyse financial accounting issues from a theoretical perspective,
• identify, evaluate, and integrate information independently and creatively to analyse and provide solutions to complex problems and situations related to business studies.

Content

The content of the course is based on a few chosen advanced financial accounting topics, including, for example:

• group accounting and business combinations (IFRS 3, IFRS 10)
• fair-value measurement and financial instruments (IFRS 13, IFRS 9)
• intangible assets (IAS 38)

The course also introduces European Sustainability Reporting Standards. 

Students increase their understanding of relevant standards, as well as challenges linked with judgment upon their application in practice. 

Instruction

This course is delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars, and project assignment components. Seminar and project assignment components contain elements that involve individual and group work. The language of instruction is English.

Assessment

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

The examination includes active participation in seminars, including written as well as oral assignments, done individually and in groups, and an individual written examination. 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.

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.

Other regulations

The course partly overlaps Advanced Financial Accounting, 2FE877.