Core, Stream Core and Capstone Courses

This course aims to equip students with the fundamental knowledge in the preparation, interpretation and use of financial statements. It reviews the conceptual framework underlying financial reporting by business enterprises and focuses on the detailed recording and reporting of the basic items in the financial statements. This course provides students with a solid foundation of single-company financial reporting and prepares them for more advanced accounting courses.

This course offers an in-depth analysis of management accounting systems and their use in firms’ decision-making, planning, and control. Major topics include the different methods of product costing, the design of planning and budgeting systems, and performance measurement issues. Some management control and corporate finance issues for multinational corporations will be discussed. Corporate ethics are also incorporated into the discussions.

This course aims to provide students with sound and in-depth technical and conceptual knowledge of recognition, measurement, and disclosure issues in relation to advanced financing accounting topics, including financial instruments, derivatives, foreign currency transactions, and business combinations. We will examine how to account for various financial instruments and derivatives under International Financial Accounting Standards. We will explore different types of foreign currency transactions and apply accounting rules for hedging activities. A major focus of this course is group accounting. We will analyze transactions where one firm acquires significant influence or control over another firm and prepare consolidated financial reports in compliance with international financial reporting requirements. Translation of foreign currency financial statements will also be discussed for multinational business groups.

This course aims to introduce the Hong Kong tax system. It provides students with knowledge of property tax, salaries tax, profits tax, tax depreciation allowance, personal assessment, and tax administration. The course will develop students’ analytical ability to solve technical tax problems in a systematic way. It will prepare students so that they can demonstrate generic skills and develop an ethical outlook and sense of professional integrity when dealing with tax related-issues. This course further imparts students with an understanding of global tax planning considerations and strategies, including China Tax, for the relevant tax regulations and planning techniques.

The course’s objectives are to develop students’ knowledge and understanding of the main legal and ethical principles relevant for a business professional.  After establishing a basic foundation in business law, the course will delve into the specifics of Hong Kong Company Law, where corporate governance will be a key theme.  During the course, the economic and business context of law and in particular, the way in which the law seeks to strike a balance between the interests of various stakeholders including companies, shareholders, creditors, and the public will be explored.  The course will also deeply explore ethics with a focus on understanding its impact on individual behavior, businesses, and society, including the growing importance of ethical considerations related to the users and producers of technology.

This course is about understanding the role of information systems in managing the entire data lifecycle (including capabilities for acquiring, integrating, managing, and analyzing data) as it pertains to accounting professionals.  In the era of “big data”, the defining properties volume, velocity, and variety make it difficult to understand and use data.  Meanwhile, explosion of data enables firms to get insights into many aspects of their business.  Data analytics then becomes an important skill for accountants as it automates document handling, facilitates anomalies detection, and manages regulatory compliance.

The objective of this course is to develop students’ understanding of the decisions made and methods used by auditors when verifying management's assertions in corporate financial statements. Auditing does not take place in a vacuum, but rather in a complex economic, regulatory, and institutional environment that is evolving and changing. In addition, this environment varies across countries, and auditing is very much a global business. Thus a second objective is to develop students’ understanding of the forces that have shaped and continue to shape auditing practices in Hong Kong (China), mainland China, the US, and elsewhere (e.g., major corporate bankruptcies and frauds, changing government regulations here and abroad). The course will emphasize the basic principles, concepts, and methods of auditing. This course introduces the basic concepts in quantitative business analysis to help you gain a clear understanding of the key elements in the decision-making process. We discuss methods that are used extensively in business organizations. These methods provide you with the tools and the skills to approach, analyze, and solve problems of varying scales. Furthermore, this course aims at improving a decision-maker’s overall problem-solving ability by stressing approaches to 1) understand and question assumptions, 2) consider a richer set of solution alternatives, and 3) consider diverse measures of performance.

This course provides a high-level view of what accounting is about and why and how it is important for the real economy and financial markets.  Going beyond the rules and procedures that are taught in other accounting courses, this course takes the perspective of those who use accounting information to make decisions in business organizations and financial markets (i.e., analysts and investors, lenders, the board of directors, regulators).  Topics include the use of accounting information in business valuation, market efficiency, investment strategies, debt contracts, and executive compensation.  The course emphasizes both the practical techniques for how to properly use accounting information and the theoretical foundation for the techniques (the why question).

Data analytics has brought tremendous changes to the world around us in the past decade and is fundamentally transforming the ways in which we live and work. Application of data analytics in Accounting can benefit accountants significantly, and accountants can address fundamental business and accounting questions by leveraging data analytics. This course on advanced data analytics in accounting will prepare students to apply data analytics in a systematic fashion to different domains of accounting and develop key skills required for an analytics mindset that are valued significantly by industry. The skills we will focus in developing are data preparation and understanding quality of data, performing descriptive data analysis, data manipulation, addressing business and accounting problems using statistical analysis, and creating visualizations that allow business users to see data with new insights. The course will combine a mix of theory and hands-on-practice by utilizing real world datasets and case studies in the context of accounting areas such as Audit, Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Forensic accounting, and Tax.

This is a course on fundamental analysis. The primary emphasis is on equity (share) valuation, with a focus on developing and applying methods for valuing firms using financial statement analysis. This course is designed to improve students’ ability to analyze financial reports and value companies.  After completing this course, students will gain two valuable tools in their skill set: (1) financial statement analysis; and (2) equity valuation principles.  The methods of fundamental analysis will be examined in detail and applied in cases and projects involving listed companies. Topics include models of shareholder value, a comparison of accrual accounting and discounted cash flow approaches to valuation, the determination of price/earnings (P/E) and market-to-book (P/B) ratios, the reformulation of financial statements, the analysis of profitability, growth and valuation generation in a firm, and diagnosing accounting quality.

The primary purpose of managerial accounting, and the main goal of this course, is to learn how to provide superior information to those running a company so that they can make better decisions, manage risk, and more successfully compete for customers, suppliers, employees, and so forth. In short, good managerial accounting is a competitive tool we want to learn how to use. With the increased focus that investors, businesses, and other stakeholders use to evaluate a company's performance and operations using environmental, social, and governance metrics (ESG), it is critical to consider and incorporate ESG information into decision making.

This course focuses on how future accounting professionals can prepare for how new technologies will change the nature of their work. These lessons will apply for accounting, finance and other related professions. An improved understanding of the impact of new technologies is critical because accounting is frequently included as one of the industries with a high likelihood of being impacted due to new technologies.  To help students better navigate this process of change, the course will begin by introducing artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, bots, OCR and other relevant technologies so students can develop comprehension and appreciation of such technologies.  Building on this foundation, the course will then explore specific applications of such technologies, their potential impact and the relevant business opportunities they present.  The course will be augmented by interaction with a number of accounting professionals, entrepreneurs and others that can share insight on how technological innovation provides an opportunity and not just a threat, as accounting evolves. Beyond learning new technologies and their business application, students should also develop additional career insight through the course.

Investors and other corporate stakeholders are increasingly calling for high-quality reporting by companies on sustainability performance and environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters. This course offers an in-depth and comprehensive discussion of ESG reporting with an emphasis on its practical application in the corporations and business world. Major topics include ESG reporting standards, corporate disclosure of various ESG matters, ESG rating, ESG scandal, and auditing of ESG reports. Issues on the carbon emission trading and the development of carbon markets will also be discussed.