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Accessibility statement
Qualification dates
StartEnd
03 Oct 2026Mar 2027
This module will help you understand different types of companies, including their formation, company financial accounting, the regulatory framework in which they operate, and their role in market economies, law and society. You’ll gain an understanding of corporate governance and responsibility, and sustainability reporting. You’ll learn how to interact with accountants and auditors to understand their duties, as well as external stakeholders to understand their information needs. By the end of this module, you'll be able to prepare basic company financial accounts and interpret the financial statements of a single entity company from the perspective of external stakeholders.
You will study two aspects of company financial accounting and reporting.
Accounting technical: understanding, preparing and interpreting company financial statements and reports. You'll learn how to prepare income statements, balance sheets, statements of changes in equity, and cash flow statements for single-entity companies. You'll also learn how to interpret financial statements from the perspective of external stakeholders.
Contextual: the economic, legal and social context of companies and company financial accounting. You'll learn about the characteristics of market economies and companies, regulation, financial accounting standards, audit and corporate governance, and why business ethics, corporate responsibility, and sustainability reporting are essential for mitigating the deficiencies of corporate governance and financial reporting. You'll also learn about contract law and employment law and their influence on financial accounting.
This module assumes that you will have completed Fundamentals of accounting (B124) or equivalent. Therefore, you should already:
The end-of-period adjustments that you need to be able to make include:
At the start of the module, you'll have the chance to review the prerequisite core knowledge and skills. This way, even if you completed an accounting module a while ago, you can refresh your understanding and skills in order to feel confident that you're ready for this module. You'll also be required to use a calculator and Excel spreadsheets.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the module, please speak to an adviser.
You’ll get help and support from an assigned tutor throughout your module.
They’ll help by:
Online tutorials run throughout the module. While they’re not compulsory, we strongly encourage you to participate. Where possible, we’ll make recordings available.
Course work includes:
We regularly review the assessments in our modules, so we may update the examination method used for this module to an in-person exam or a remotely invigilated (proctored) exam. When we are making such a change, we will make it clear on this page. If we need to make a change after you have registered, we will notify you as soon as possible. If you have additional requirements, we will support you to complete your assessments.
You’ll be provided with a printed Exam Preparation Workbook and have access to a module website which includes:
A non-programmable calculator.
The OU strives to make all aspects of study accessible to everyone, and this Accessibility Statement outlines what studying B293 involves. You should use this information to inform your study preparations and any discussions with us about how we can meet your needs.
To find out more about what kind of support and adjustments might be available, contact us or visit our Disability support website.
Financial accounting in context starts once a year – in October.
This page describes the module that will start in October 2026, when we expect it to start for the last time.
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