BSc Oxford Brookes

Students completing ACCA part two (2) papers or the Fundamental levels of the new ACCA syllabus and have opted for the Oxford Brookes BSc in applied accounting may present a Research and Analysis Project (RAP) of about six thousand, five hundred (6,500) word and a Skill and Learning Statement (SLS) report of about two thousand (2,000) words. The BSc project is a very good opportunity for students to apply the knowledge they have gained in writing a project. It will also equip students with the tools of doing a research and gaining practical experience from their studies. This article explores some of the basic things that any student preparing for their BSc projects especially for the ACCA / Oxford Brookes BSc in applied accounting should consider. The first thing is selecting of your research topic: Students doing the research have the opportunity to select their project topic from the list of twenty-two (22) topics covering various professional accounting area, such as financial reporting, management accounting, taxation, auditing, financial management etc . . . Factors to consider in selecting a research topic include: The selected topic must be in a subject area you enjoy and you are most comfortable with. You should not choose a research topic just because it feels great or that you think that not a lot of students can do such topic and so by doing such topic, it makes you look great and exceptional student.

 The topic chosen must be simple and easy for you to obtain information; you must also have reasonable degree of knowledge and understanding of the topic area, as this will make your research a lot easier and meaningful to you. This will make your project a lot more interesting and less difficult to do. The next thing to do is to have a reasonable idea as to what the format of the project should be: Most projects have prescribed format that students are expected to follow, this means that regardless of how best you think you can prepare your project, so that it looks unique, it is important that you follow the prescribed format given by your institution in doing your project. By using the prescribed format, it makes your work easier and it also allows for consistency and comparability in format regardless of your research topic. Note that if there is a prescribed format for your research, it is better to stick to such format, by so doing you avoid any possibility of being penalised. The recommended format of the ACCA / Oxford Brookes BSc in applied accounting is as follows: Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Topic chosen and its context This should consider the background of the company you are considering in the project, you should look at a brief history of the company from formation till present, you may consider when the company was formed, its activities, whether

it has subsidiaries, number of branches and or stores, whether it is a listed company or not? Etc

1.2 Reasons for choosing the topic This section may consider why you have chosen the topic and the particular company; it may also consider how the research will relate to your studies and what to be gained from you and users of your project

1.3 Aims and objectives of the report This section is what I refer to as the how to section. This section should discus how you will be doing the research in a brief ordered form, briefly describing the information gathering process, through to method to be used in the analysis and possible findings, then possible conclusion in relation to the objectives of the research. You should also set out clearly what the research seeks to achieve, and it is on this basis that a conclusion will be reached, as to whether the analysis and findings confirm the initial objective and/or answer the research question.

Chapter 2 INFORMATION GATHERING You will predominantly be using secondary information; that is information that is publicly available from sources such as: The Internet for some company specific information, such as the company background, history, financial statements, competitor information etc The library for more reading of your topic area, for other materials such as database on different companies, industry average, books on how to reference

your research, research methodology books to improve your understanding of what is required in doing research etc The company house especially for financial statement of your chosen company, if not published on the companys website. The ACCA website - for some professional articles, information regarding the research project, the various deadlines for the submission of the research etc Financial times news paper and website, other professional accounting and business websites (such as warmah.com)

Note: The main things that go into the information gathering should include the following: The source of the information The reason for the use of such source (why did you use the particular source of information as mentioned above) and The brief description of the methods used to gather the information (say, visiting the companys website or phoning the company to post copies of its financial statement to you. Etc) The three (3) points above must be applied to each source of information obtained and used for the research. Example If the source of information for the research is ACCA website and text books, then 1. You will have to give the source of information as: ACCA website and text books

2. You will then have to briefly explain the reason for using the ACCA website and textbooks 3. Finally you will need to describe how you obtained the information, it should be a brief description ACCA Resources: The ACCA website was used to obtain information on the research and analysis project (RAP) guidelines, different technical articles that have been published by experts in accounting and finance and other relevant information for the project. www.accaglobal.com

Chapter 3 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS The information gathered from previous chapter in relation to the research will have to be analysed, considering both financial and non-financial information This chapter should make detailed analysis of the information obtained and processed. The information obtained maybe processed using excel, to summarise the results. The results will be further processed using ratios, percentage change, graphs representing the analysis of the results. This processed data into information, will then need to be analysed in relation to information obtained from the companys annual report, competitor information, industry information and general SLEPT factors that may be relevant to the research topic.

Do not falsify your information or analysis; let your information make its own analysis. As often the case you may find students wanting to do their own textbook analysis, disregarding the information and financial data obtained, make sure your analysis is consistent with the information. Present your information in a systematic and meaningful way, well laid down, be consistent in your approach and make sure the analysis flow one after the other and all the analysis made should be in line with the research topic.

Chapter 4 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION Once you have made your analysis, you should then use the information to arrive at a meaningful conclusion and possible recommendation. This conclusion should consider what the report has shown in relation to the aims and objectives as stated in chapter one of the report. Some few points that could be discussed in this chapter may include: Possible recommendation Limitation of your research (example, limitations of ratio analysis, data availability, time constraint)

The following items should be included in the research after the conclusion and recommendation: Bibliography this page is for referencing of any work, websites, textbooks etc that you used or considered whiles doing your research.

Preferably your referencing should follow the Harvard style of referencing The appendix page (s) this page (s) may display the financial statement of the company, especially the income statement, balance sheet, cash flow, if any ratios were used in the research a table showing the definitions of the ratios and how it was arrived at etc

SKILL AND LEARNING STATEMENT (SLS) The skill and learning statement (SLS) should not exceed 2,000 words as explained above, and it may be structured along the following lines 1.1 Preparing for mentoring meeting 1.2 Listening to your mentor 1.3 Asking questions when you meet your mentor 1.4 Presentation of your report 1.5 IT skill obtained 1.6 The Power point slides that you used for your final presentation should be included at this stage

The 6,500-word limit for the RAP excludes the contents page, the appendices and the bibliography. However, your appendices should not consist of more than five sides of A4 including your spreadsheet data. There is no specific requirement on line spacing.

Introduction Information gathering Analysis

+ up to 1500 2,000 words up to 3,000 3,500 words

Conclusions

up to 1,5000 words

Our team of expert lecturers provide mentoring services for students wishing to do their BSc. Oxford Brookes project. Your comments, contributions, articles etc on the above article and any other accounting, business, finance and related issues is welcome. You can send us a mail on info@warmah.com Written by; William Armah Fellow; warmah.com