Masters of Professional Accounting unit: BFA712 Management and Cost Accounting: feasibility study
Developed by Simone Watson, Sonia Shimeld, Bernadette Smith, William Maguire, Kerri O’Donnell, Barry Hick, Patricia O’Keefe and Moira Cordiner
The Masters of Professional Accounting degree is designed as a conversion course that allows students to enter from any undergraduate degree. This means that an
undergraduate accounting degree is not a prerequisite. In the early units, this necessitates familiarising students with the types of assessment tasks they will do and
giving them practice before summatively assessing their responses. BFA712 is a core unit of this Masters degree. The learning outcomes for this unit were revised
first, then criteria developed from them for the assessment task – see the table below.
Synopsis and context
The feasibility study assessment task requires students to produce a report for a hypothetical small business client. This report sets out recommendations about the
feasibility of the client’s proposed business, with evidence that justifies the recommendations. To do this task, students apply the concepts and processes of
management accounting (at an introductory level in week 3 of the unit) to the given small business scenario. Students are provided with some clear and undebatable
source information from which they must calculate and correctly set out data – this requires that they know which concepts are relevant. Once they have the data,
they are to analyse and interpret it and take into account assumptions and limitations. They then write the report in language the client can understand. To assist
students, they are given: (i) a detailed set of guidelines (ii) the report format with advice on what each section should contain (iii)advice on what evidence, other than
their calculations, they can use to inform their recommendations. Because this unit is part of a professional accounting degree, this task mimics what would be
required in a professional context. For example, the report has to have references that the supervisor (in this case, the lecturer) would check but which the client
would not see. The report also has to adhere to the given ‘professional’ format (as it would in real life), and meet all submission requirements or it will not be
marked, i.e. be approved as good enough for the client to receive.
Match between objectives/learning outcomes and criteria for the task
Learning outcomes BFA712
Task specific criteria
On completion of this unit you should be able to:
To complete this task, you should :
1. Apply knowledge of management accounting concepts and
processes for strategic and operational purposes
1. Apply knowledge of management accounting concepts and processes for strategic and operational purposes
 determine which concepts apply to the scenario
 classify given information and identify information gaps
 calculate data based on source information
2. Analyse and evaluate data from the scenario to justify recommendations about the viability of the business venture
 interpret and analyse data including assumptions and limitations
 make recommendations about viability justified with evidence
2. Analyse and evaluate management accounting information (and
approaches to data gathering) to justify recommendations that inform
decisions
3. Communicate in writing in different formats (e.g. reports, business
plans, exams)
3. Communicate in writing in a report to a small business client:
 format: guidelines + present data – setting out
 quality of writing (meaning for client)
 adhere to Harvard referencing conventions (including footnotes)
 meet submission requirements
1
BFA712 Feasibility report
Criteria
Weighting %
High Distinction (HD)
In your feasibility report you:
1. Apply knowledge of
management accounting
concepts and processes for
strategic and operational
purposes
Weighting 1/4
Distinction (DN)
In your feasibility report you:
 applied comprehensive knowledge of management accounting
concepts and processes for strategic and operational purposes
by:
Credit (CR)
In your feasibility report you:
In your feasibility report you:
 applied knowledge of
management accounting
concepts and processes for
strategic and operational
purposes by:
 applied basic knowledge of
management accounting
concepts and processes for
strategic and operational
purposes by:
 demonstrated some
knowledge of management
accounting concepts and
processes for strategic and
operational purposes by:
 determining all relevant concepts applicable to the scenario
 determining most of the
relevant concepts
applicable to the scenario
 accurately classifying all
given information with
some reasons for
debatable classifications
and identifying information
gaps
 correctly performing all calculations to inform the analysis
Weighting 1/2
 analysed and evaluated to
justify recommendations
about the viability of the
business venture by:
 analysed and evaluated to
justify recommendations
about the viability of the
business venture by:
Fail (NN)
In your feasibility report you:
 accurately classifying all given information with reasons for
debatable classifications and identifying information gaps
2. Analyse and evaluate to
justify recommendations
about the viability of the
business venture
Pass (PP)
 analysed and evaluated to
justify recommendations
about the viability of the
business venture by:
 determining some relevant
concepts applicable to the
scenario
 stating definitions of
concepts used in the
scenario
 accurately classifying most
of the given information
 accurately classifying
some of the given
information
 correctly performing most
of the calculations to
inform the analysis
 correctly performing some
of the calculations to
inform the analysis
 analysed and evaluated to
justify recommendations
about the viability of the
business venture by:
 accurately and thoroughly
interpreting and analysing
the results of all the
required calculations
 accurately interpreting and
analysing the results of all
the required calculations
 accurately interpreting and
analysing results of most
of the required calculations
 interpreting and analysing
results of your calculations
 identifying the key
assumptions and
limitations of the data and
associated processes and
explaining their
implications
 identifying some
assumptions and
limitations of the data and
associated processes and
explaining their
implications
 identifying some
assumptions and
limitations of the data and
associated processes
 stating that there were
assumptions and
limitations of the data and
associated processes
2
 made broad
recommendations
BFA712 Feasibility report
Criteria
Weighting %
High Distinction (HD)
In your feasibility report you:
Distinction (DN)
In your feasibility report you:
Credit (CR)
In your feasibility report you:
 making logical recommendations about viability justified with
convincing evidence that relates to the client’s context
3. Communicate in writing in
a report to a small business
client
Weighting 1/4
Your report:
Your report:
 making logical
recommendations about
viability justified with some
convincing evidence that
relates to the client’s
context
Your report:
 adhered to all parts of the report format, and set out the required calculations so that they were easy
to follow
 format: guidelines +
present data – setting out
Pass (PP)
In your feasibility report you:
Fail (NN)
In your feasibility report you:
 making recommendations
about viability justified with
evidence that relates to the
client’s context
Your report:
Your report:
 adhered to all parts of the
report format, and provided
some setting out of
calculations
 adhered to most parts of the
report format, and provided
either:
 only answers to
calculations OR
 some setting out of
calculations
 quality of writing
(meaning for client) and
using English
conventions (grammar,
spelling, punctuation,
syntax) & terminology
 was concisely and logically
written in the third person,
used correct terminology,
and clearly conveyed
meaning to the client
 adhere to Harvard
referencing conventions
(including footnotes)
 consistently adhered to referencing conventions for all sources (including footnoted data sources)
 met submission
requirements
 met all submission requirements ******
Comments:
 was logically written in the
third person, used correct
terminology, and clearly
conveyed meaning to the
client
 was logically written in the
third person, used correct
terminology and conveyed
meaning to the client.
 was written in the third
person, used correct
terminology and partially
conveyed meaning to the
client.
 was written in first or second
person and used everyday
language
 mainly adhered to
referencing conventions for
all sources (including
footnoted data sources)
 acknowledged some sources
using own style of
referencing
 met some submission
requirements
Grade:
3