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Corporate Finance - ECO00039I

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  • Department: Economics and Related Studies
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: I
  • Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
    • See module specification for other years: 2023-24

Module summary

To introduce the student to the main principles of company accounting and financial reporting, and to give the student an overview of the activities of the accountancy profession in the UK and the main challenges which it faces.

This course has the objective of introducing students to theoretical research in corporate finance and understanding how corporate governance affects financing decisions and risk-taking by managers.

Related modules

Pre-requisite modules

Co-requisite modules

  • None

Prohibited combinations

  • None

Additional information

prerequisite: Introduction to Finance

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 1 2024-25

Module aims

To provide students with a thorough understanding of key issues in the theory of corporate finance and the relevance of theory for financial decision-making within firms.

Module learning outcomes

  • Be aware of the main activities of the accountancy profession, including the activities and duties of company auditors and the main problems which surround the role of the auditor

  • Be familiar with the main accounting and legal entities in the private sector and their relative advantages and accounting obligations, and with the main items to be found in a typical Annual Report of a public limited company (PLC), and the reasons for this content

  • Understand the process of accounting standards setting in the UK and related accounting concepts and desirable attributes of financial statements

  • Understand the main sources of capital for a company and how these and other main accounting items make up the content of a Balance Sheet or Statement of Financial Position for a company and understand the meaning of each of these items and the valuation issues which arise in the context of items such as stock/inventories

  • Understand the meaning of, and main differences between, accruals accounting and cash-flow accounting, and their relationship to the recording of business transactions; understand the relevance of accruals accounting to profit measurement and the concept of depreciation; and understand the meaning and nature of the main entries in a company's income statement or profit and loss account, and its statement of changes in equity

  • Understand the role of the cash-flow statement in company accounting, the differences between solvency and profitability and the required content of a company's cash-flow statement and its meaning

  • Understand who the potential users of company accounts are, their respective user needs and how the different concepts of ratio analysis and trend analysis can help to satisfy these needs, and how the existence of inflation and other limitations can distort these analyses

  • Understand the main sources of tax revenue, the main features of income tax, capital gains tax and corporation tax, and the role of the accountancy profession in relation to the tax system, including the differences between tax compliance and tax planning

  • Be able to draw up basic company Statements of Financial Position, Income Statements and Statements of Changes in Equity, and carry out detailed ratio analysis on them and carry out basic corporation tax computations, from raw data on company transactions.

After successful completion of the module students will be able to:

  • Understand advantages and disadvantages of using different securities contracts for project funding;

  • Perform capital budgeting analysis;

  • Explain and critically asses different theories in corporate finance related to:

    • firm’s capital structure,

    • dividend payout policy;

  • Solve basic agency models related to corporate financing decisions;

  • Describe the incentive problems that can occur due to asymmetric information and ways to solve them through contract design.

  • Explain incentives and motivations for corporate events, such as mergers and acquisitions, and their theoretical explanations;

  • Understand and explain corporate finance in international context.

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 40
Online Exam -less than 24hrs (Centrally scheduled) 60

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Online Exam -less than 24hrs (Centrally scheduled) 60

Module feedback

Feedback will be provided in line with University policy

Indicative reading

Ross, Westerfield, Jaffe, Jordan, 2021, “Corporate Finance: Core Principles and Applications”, McGraw-Hill, 6th edition.

Brealey, Myers, Allen, 2020, “Principles of Corporate Finance”, McGraw- Hill, 13th edition.

Berk, DeMarzo, 2019, “Corporate Finance”, Pearson, 5th edition.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University constantly explores ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary. In some instances it may be appropriate for the University to notify and consult with affected students about module changes in accordance with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.