Finance and Accounting

Finance and Accounting

About the Level 4 Finance and Accounting Certificate

Contrary to popular belief, accounting is not just about counting up numbers. Accountants are expected to store, sort, retrieve summarise and present financial information and then analyse and interpret it. These processes work to assess a company’s expenditure and keep the business financially healthy. If you want to work in accounting, this could be the course for you.

The course is spread across six interesting and informative home study modules. Starting at the beginning, unit one explains what accounting is and outlines the objectives, concepts and policies involved in the profession. As students move through the course they will move on to more advanced topics including budget control and capital investment.

Who should study this course?

This distance learning course has been designed for individuals interested in pursuing a career in finance or accounting. Individuals who are planning to start their own small business may also find this qualification useful.

As with all of our distance learning courses here at learndirect, there are no prerequisites. All we ask is that you have an interest in finance and accounting, access to our online portal and the motivation to engage in home study.

What happens after the course?

On successful completion of this distance learning course you will have a broad knowledge of accounting and the practices involved. If you want to further expand your skills, you may consider embarking of further accounting courses with us.

Alternatively, you may decide to use your qualification to find work. There are a wide number of opportunities in this field and many chances to progress. It’s worth noting that to become an accountant you may have to pass a CPA exam first. Jobs include but are not limited to:

• Accountant
• Credit controller
• Payroll assistant

For more information about this course, give us a call on this number: 01202 006 464

Modules

Part 1: Financial Accounting

Unit 1: Introduction to Accounting

Introduction

Objectives

1. What is accounting?

2. Organisations, objectives and management

3. Financial and managerial accounting

4. Profit, profitability and cash

5. Accounting conventions, concepts and policies

6. Capital and sources of finance

7. Capital structure - limited liability company

Unit Summary

Unit 2: Financial Statements

Introduction

1. Objectives

2. Content of financial statements

3. The "big three"

4. The balance sheet

5. Measurement of profit

6. The income statement

7. Bookkeeping and books of account

8. The trial balance

9. Judgement

10.The cash flow statement - profit versus cash

Summary

Review activities

Unit 3: Interpretation and Analysis of Published Financial Statements

Introduction

Objectives

1. The analysts

2. Analytical techniques

3. The key issues

4. The principal ratios

Summary

Part II: Management Accounting and Financial Management

Unit 4: Cost and Management Accounting
Introduction

Objectives

1. Introduction to management accounting

2. Costs and historical costing

3. Controlling costs

4. Total absorption costing

5. Marginal costing

6. Break-even analysis

Summary

Appendix: examples of cost units

Unit 5: Budgetary Control

Introduction

Objectives

1. The household budget

2. Benefits of budgeting

3. Rules for budgeting and budgetary control

4. Cash budgets

5. Behavioural implications of budgeting

6. Control though comparative statements

7. Fixed and flexible budgets

Summary

Unit 6: Capital Investment Appraisal and Project Evaluation

Introduction

Objectives

1. Capital investment appraisal

2. What is investment?

3. Evaluation - alternative approaches

4. Judgement

5. Non-financial aspects of capital investment appraisal

Summary

Further reading

Entry Requirements

There is no experience or previous qualifications required for enrolment on this course. It is available to all students, of all academic backgrounds.

All course fees, inclusive of all payment plans including our Premium Credit Limited option, must be settled before certification can be ordered.

*You will have access to the course for 24 months.

Assessment Method

After each lesson there will be a question paper, which needs to be completed and submitted to your personal tutor for marking. This method of continual assessment ensures that your personal tutor can consistently monitor your progress and provide you with assistance throughout the duration of the course.

What's Included

• All study materials
• Study Guide
• Full Tutor and Admin support
• The course fee includes the awarding body registration and certification fee (valued at up to £30.00).

At the end of this course successful learners will be given the option to receive a Certificate of Achievement from the Quality Licence Scheme and a Learner Unit Summary (which lists the components the learner has completed as part of the course).

Level 4 Finance and Accounting Certificate of Achievement

The course has been endorsed under the Quality Licence Scheme. This means that learndirect has undergone an external quality check to ensure that the organisation and the courses it offers, meet defined quality criteria. The completion of this course alone does not lead to a regulated qualification* but may be used as evidence of knowledge and skills gained. The Learner Unit Summary may be used as evidence towards Recognition of Prior Learning if you wish to progress your studies in this subject. To this end the learning outcomes of the course have been benchmarked at Level 4 against level descriptors published by Ofqual, to indicate the depth of study and level of demand/complexity involved in successful completion by the learner.

The course itself has been designed learndirect to meet specific learners’ and/or employers’ requirements which cannot be satisfied through current regulated qualifications. The Quality Licence Scheme endorsement involves robust and rigorous quality audits by external auditors to ensure quality is continually met. A review of courses is carried out as part of the endorsement process.

The Quality Licence Scheme is part of the Skills and Education Group, a charitable organisation that unites education and skills-orientated organisations that share similar values and objectives. With more than 100 years of collective experience, the Skills and Education Group’s strategic partnerships create opportunities to inform, influence and represent the wider education and skills sector.

The Skills and Education Group also includes two nationally recognised awarding organisations; Skills and Education Group Awards and Skills and Education Group Access. Through our awarding organisations we have developed a reputation for providing high-quality qualifications and assessments for the education and skills sector. We are committed to helping employers, organisations and learners cultivate the relevant skills for learning, skills for employment, and skills for life.

Our knowledge and experience of working within the awarding sector enables us to work with training providers, through the Quality Licence Scheme, to help them develop high-quality courses and/or training programmes for the non-regulated market.

*Regulated qualification refers to those qualifications that are regulated by Ofqual / CCEA / Qualification Wales

To view a sample of the Certificate of Achievement, please click here.