Master in Accounting and Audit

There are four foundation courses that introduce concepts and terminology to students with no prior knowledge of the subject matter as illustrated in the following table:

Course Code	Course Title	Credits/ ECTS	Prerequisite
ACC5001	Foundations of Accounting	1.5 / 3	–
FIN5001	Foundations of Finance	1.5 / 3	–
FIN5200	Managerial Economics	3 / 5	–
ACC5203	Financial Reporting and Management Control	3 / 5	ACC5001
Total		9/16

Prospective students without relevant business/economics/accounting/finance education background are required to complete foundation courses. However, foundation courses may be waived based on prospective student’s previous educational and professional background.

Courses	Credits
Core Courses	8
Business Communications(Professional Foreign Language)	2
Organizational Behaviour and Leadership Ethics	3
One out of 3 below elective courses
Quantitative Analysis	3
Data Analytics	3
Foundation of Research in Accounting	3
Elective Specialization Courses (any four elective courses and Internship)	15
Performance Management	3
Financial Reporting	3
Audit and Assurance	3
Advanced Taxation	3
Modern Trend in Corporate Reporting	3
Current Issues in Accounting	3
Corporate Governance and Sustainability	3
Case Studies in Accounting	3
Corporate Finance	3
Advanced Financial Statement Analysis	3
Fundamental and Technical Analysis	3
Applied Risk Management	3
Financial Econometrics	3
Empirical Asset Pricing	3
Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability in Accounting	3
Internship: Directed Project/ Study in Accounting	3
Research Work	6
Final Attestation	1
Total	30

Duration

The Master of Accounting and Audit program runs on a cohort system and designed for completion in one year. It is advised to enter the program in the Fall semester. However, the admission in the Spring semester is also welcome.

The language of instruction is English, courses are conducted in the evening time. The duration of the program is 2 semesters and the program can be completed in 12 months.

Program duration: 1 year
(depending on academic background and course load taken per semester)
Language of instruction: English
Form of study: full-time (classes take place primarily at evening time)
Number of credits: 30

FIN5101 Quantitative Analysis

Prerequisites: none

This course introduces the basic concepts of study design, data collection, data analysis and statistical inference. Topics include an overview of observational and experimental study designs; graphical and numerical descriptive statistics; probability distributions for simple experiments and for random variables; sampling distributions, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing for the mean and proportion in the case of one sample. The emphasis is on developing statistical reasoning skills and concepts. The objective of the course is not just to create a better understanding of statistics but to have a business perspective on the use of the statistical analysis technique as well. Students will be often asked to interpret given data analysis results from a business perspective and to consider further business implications in the analysis.

Prerequisites: none

The course focuses on business communication skills in organizations; particularly writing concise and error-free business documents, interpersonal communication, small-group communication, and presentational speaking in a business context. These skills are almost universally identified as values critical to success in management.  Issues considered include coherence, clarity, style, tone, empathy, and other basic elements in communication success. The course also develops understanding of communication theories, describes strategies for planning managerial communications and looks at how new technologies are changing the way people in business communicate, and the implications those changes have for organizations. 

MGT5201 Organizational Behavior and Leadership Ethics (3 Credits) 

Prerequisites: none

The way people interact and are led in organizations affects the quality of work life and the overall effectiveness of organizations, including the ethical culture that develops within organizations.  The material in this course exposes students to some of the main themes associated with managing and ethically leading people, such as attitude, personality, values (including trust), ethical dilemmas, organization culture, human relations psychology, and the role of group behavior in organizations.  This core course also includes issues associated with motivation and job satisfaction, power (abuse) and empowerment, organizational politics and corruption, teamwork, organization change, interpersonal/organizational communication, and the critical role that leadership plays in organization success in today’s global business world.              

ACC5103 Foundation of Research in Accounting 

Prerequisites: none

The objective of the course is to introduce methods of empirical research applied in accounting. The primary emphasis of the course will be on developing skills for conducting research and comprehending research output in an applied and professional context. It covers basic aspects of the logic of scientific inquiry, the main techniques and methods of research. The content of the course covers, but not limited to, the following topics: development of the research idea; setting up a hypothesis or hypotheses; understanding of peculiarities of data collection; application of different tools of quantitative and qualitative data analysis; and interpretation of the findings.

ACC5105 Performance Management (3 Credits)

Prerequisites: FIN5101

The course introduces students to different topics of Management Accounting and, more specifically, to topics covered in preparation guide for ACCA Paper F5. The objective of the course is to build a conceptual ground for understanding of various management accounting techniques and their applications to managerial decision making. Namely, after successful completion of this course the students should be able to deal with overheads, solve problems surrounding pricing and make-or-buy decisions, prepare fixed, flexible and other types of budgets, compute and interpret different types of budget variances. Risks and uncertainties of real-life decisions are considered in relation to performance management systems and other tools used for measurement and control. 

ACC5107.1 Financial Reporting (3 Credits)

Prerequisites: FIN5101

This course is intended to provide students with necessary knowledge and skills to understand and apply various accounting standards and the theoretical framework in preparation of financial statements of business entities and groups. By focusing on reporting practices existing in the current business environment, this course also emphasizes accounting concepts and methods required to analyze and interpret financial statements of an entity.  

It covers specific areas of financial reporting including conceptual framework, regulatory framework, preparation of financial statements, business combinations, and analyzing and interpreting financial statements. The course is designed to cover preparation guide materials of ACCA paper F7. 

ACC5108 Audit and Assurance (3 Credits)

Prerequisites: FIN5101

The course introduces students to various topics of Audit and, more specifically, to topics covered in preparation guide for ACCA Paper F8. Objective of the course is to develop knowledge and skills in the process of carrying out the assurance engagement and its application in the context of the relevant professional regulatory framework. Namely, after successful completion of this course the students should be able to explain the concepts of audit and assurance and the functions of audit and corporate governance, demonstrate how the auditor obtains an understanding of the entity, assesses the risk of material misstatement, and plans an audit of financial statements. The course covers how to describe and evaluate internal controls, and work and evidence required to meet the objectives of audit engagement and the application of the relevant Standards on Auditing.

ACC5116 Advanced Taxation (3 Credits)

Prerequisites: FIN5101

The aim of the course is to apply relevant knowledge and skills and exercise professional judgment in providing relevant information and advice to individuals and businesses on the impact of the major taxes on financial decisions and situations. The syllabus builds on the basic knowledge of core taxes and further develops students’ ability to interpret and apply the Tax Code. The course extends the knowledge of income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax to encompass further aspects of taxation, additional exemptions and reliefs. Substantial part of the course is devoted to exploring the reporting of tax-related disclosures in annual reports of corporations. The course discusses tax planning strategic policies, tax avoidance and tax evasion, as well as tax expense management in financial reporting. 

ACC5120 Modern Trends in Corporate Reporting (3 Credits)

Prerequisites: FIN5101

The aim of the course is to discuss, apply and evaluate the concepts, principles and practices that underpin the preparation and interpretation of corporate reports in various contexts including the ethical assessment of managements’ stewardship and the information needs of a diverse group of stakeholders. 

The course for Strategic Business Reporting, assumes knowledge acquired at the Fundamentals level including the core technical capabilities to prepare and analyze financial reports for single and combined entities. The course requires students to examine corporate reporting from a number of perspectives, not only from the point of view of the preparer of corporate reports, but also from the perspective of a variety of different stakeholders such as finance providers. The syllabus further requires the assessment and evaluation of the reporting decisions made by management and their implications for a range of stakeholders and entities. It also explores the professional and ethical responsibilities of the accountant to these stakeholders. 

The subject matter of the syllabus requires students to have a cohesive understanding of the IASB’s Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting® and to use the Framework as a basis for judgment in applying International Financial Reporting Standards in corporate reports. The syllabus considers both the principles and practices of IFRS® Standards and uses these principles as a basis for the preparation of the financial statements of single entities and groups. 

The course requires students to reflect on the usefulness of corporate reports to stakeholders including developments in narrative reporting such as Integrated Reporting and to discuss the nature of the information that would help stakeholders assess the prospects of the entity. This involves the analysis and interpretation of corporate reports, and the provision of advice on the reporting implications of transactions. 

The final section of the course addresses current developments in corporate reporting and the implications of any potential changes. This includes a discussion of the deficiencies of existing accounting standards and the ability to explain the implications for a business and its stakeholders of significant changes to reporting frameworks. Question scenarios will be based in contemporary business settings; however, candidates will not be required to have detailed knowledge of these businesses. 

ACC5130 Current Issues in Accounting (3 Credits)

Prerequisites: FIN5101

The course is designed to provide an intermediate level of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and further understanding of major financial reporting issues. The role of financial accounting information is to facilitate economic transactions and to foster the efficient allocation of resources among businesses and individuals.  A company’s financial statements can be used for various purposes: as an analytical tool, as a management report, as an early warning signal, as a basis for prediction and as a measure of accountability. Over time, the accounting profession has developed a network of rules, guidelines and procedures, collectively referred to as generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The principles and rules that govern financial reporting continue to develop and evolve in response to changing business conditions. International Financial Reporting Standards is a set of accounting standards developed by International Standards Board (IASB) that is becoming the global GAAP for the preparation of company financial statements. IASB is an independent accounting standards body, based in London, consisting of 15 members, responsible for the development and publication of IFRSs. 

This course focuses on developing a “critical thinking” approach to financial accounting and reporting. The course seeks to develop students’ understanding of the environment in which financial reporting choices are made, what the options are, how these data are used for various types of decisions. In this approach, it covers all the core topics of intermediate accounting by first describing the business transactions that affect various accounts, the technical details of IFRS and GAAP, how these rules are applied in practice and what the financial statements look like.

The course is totally focused on IFRS as well as GAAP standards. The course is a fully accounting course and requires problem solving mostly. Differences between IFRS and GAAP are deeply studied as well as contemporary issues in the area of Accounting are discussed. This course is focused on relevant issues in the area of accounting and helps future auditors to understand their job better. Practically, students will focus their attention on financial statements analysis, audit and taxes. 

ACC5104 Advanced Financial Statements Analysis (3 Credits) 

Prerequisites: FIN5101

This course will prepare students to analyze, interpret and use financial accounting statements from management and investor perspectives. In addition to developing the practical understanding needed to analyze an organization’s income statement, balance sheet and statement cash flows the course will also integrate such understanding into consideration of corporate strategy, accounting choices, budgeting and forecasting. 

FIN5110 Financial Econometrics (3 Credits)

Prerequisites: FIN5101

Financial econometrics is the intersection of statistical techniques and finance. It provides a set of empirical tools to analyze historical financial data, model underlying economic mechanisms, and predict future price trends. This course covers both cross-sectional and time-series data. Multivariate regression analysis is developed to study the cross-sectional differences in stock returns of individual firms and associated portfolio models. Applications of these techniques to evaluate the performance of new trading strategies and hedge fund managers are also discussed. Furthermore, time-series models are introduced to model and forecast both time-varying aggregate stock returns and volatility. The course prepares students to conduct empirical research in an academic or business setting. 

FIN5108 Corporate Governance and Sustainability (3 Credits)

Prerequisites: FIN5101

This course provides students with theoretical and practical knowledge of business ethics, corporate governance and sustainable business, and explores their impact on multinational companies, specially focused on the role of shareholders activism on environmental, executive compensation and social issues. This course explores theory and practice of corporate governance (agency theory, transaction cost theory, stakeholder theory, resource dependency theory), including topics such as structure and functioning of the board of directors, shareholder activism and executive compensation. Corporate governance, the all-encompassing mechanism that imparts integrity, ethics, transparency, accountability, and culture, will ultimately steer an organization towards achieving long-term success and longevity. Robust governance arrangements include establishing a clear organizational structure, well-defined lines of responsibility, effective risk management processes, control mechanisms, and remuneration policies. The past few decades have proven that, in practice, these arrangements have fallen short of ethical business standards and have incentivised short-term thinking.

Multiple corporate actions and publications prove that there is a significant movement towards aligning the interests of the company with the interests of society. This shift has encouraged organizations to focus on a longer time horizon that will account for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) related risks and opportunities.

FIN5116 Fundamental and Technical Analysis (3 Credits)

Prerequisites: FIN5101
In this course, you will learn what fundamental analysis, adopted by most investors for long term investing, is and how to determine the valuation of a company or stock by analyzing different measures using ratios and statistics, industry analysis and examining the company’s financial statements. The course will start by going through the valuation measures, then the financial highlights, and lastly the trading information for a given company. You will also learn that, in contrast, technical analysis assumes that a company’s fundamentals are already all priced into the stock (and any other trading instrument) removing the need to actually consider these factors separately. Technical analysis introduces the traders’ psychology factor into market volatility which makes prices move in trends and repeat itself with certain periodicity. Historical data, mainly price and volume, are predicted through using charts, price patterns, technical indicators, etc. This type of analysis is more actively used in commodities and currency markets where traders focus on short-term price movements. You will see that switching between fundamental and technical analysis is crucial and complementary as long-term planning in pair with “here and now” living.  

FIN5102 Applied Risk Management (3 Credits)

Prerequisites: FIN5101

This subject focuses on the application of risk management within organizations. It examines the various tools, techniques and processes for managing financial risks including ‘market risk and credit risk’, and operational risk. The common types of market risk evaluated in this subject include interest rates risk, spot risk, forward risk, options risk, and liquidity risk. It also examines the range of credit products and derivatives used in managing credit exposures as well as the issues that arise in assessing, managing and monitoring operational risk.

Students perform calculations and review real-world as well as fictitious case studies based on mock institutions to apply their learning in this subject. Additionally, they will be involved in an empirical project, where they will investigate the factors of any types of risk that they will choose. At 

FIN5118 Empirical Asset Pricing (3 Credits)

Prerequisites: FIN5101

This course develops, examines, and applies models for portfolio decisions by investors and the pricing of securities in capital markets. While developing portfolio theory, we will study the extensive empirical work that characterizes movements in security prices, evaluates alternative investment and asset pricing models, and attempts to test those models and interpret the implications of those tests. This is a research-oriented course with practical implementation of quantitative methods in finance, aimed at highly motivated and technically proficient students. 

This course is designed for students who want a more detailed and up-to-date treatment of academic asset pricing theory and empirical work and its application to the practice of quantitative finance. The course is especially appropriate for students contemplating analytical finance and quantitative money management and provides many tools and concepts that are essential for a career in quantitative investments. The material is covered in a rigorous analytical manner, and students must be comfortable with some technical methodologies (i.e., calculus, linear and matrix algebra, and statistical theory). The course is meant to be challenging, but accessible. 

A good fundamental background in economics and especially statistics is required. The course is highly quantitative because the field is, and so relies heavily on analytical tools and economic theory developed throughout the course. Students should be comfortable with probability, statistics, and regression analysis. Students should also feel comfortable with the concepts of risk aversion, utility functions, and budget constraints. Use of a statistical package or programming language will be vital for the course, saving time and aiding in understanding the material. Many of the applications will move beyond simple spreadsheet packages such as Excel. A good statistical programming language such as Matlab, SAS, Stata, Python is even more useful. 

ACC5170.3 Internship: Directed Project/study in Accounting (3 Credits) 

Prerequisites: 

Directed projects offer students an opportunity to develop and demonstrate in-depth knowledge of a topical area in management with critical inquiry, clear expression, and independent judgment in an extended analysis of a subject that will be explored in more details in students’ thesis research work. The project will be dependent upon the professor’s area of expertise and student interest. Readings will be in areas not fully covered in other courses and it is anticipated that they will deal with subjects at the leading edge of current management thought.  As a part of the course, students are expected to undertake a supervised field experience that takes place off campus. Directed projects are internship courses in which the professor will direct non-classroom independent study by students. The responsible faculty will meet regularly with students to assess their progress. It is anticipated that publishable research may be output of these courses, fitting directly with the overall course requirements for curriculum research papers.

OR

Internship gives Master students the opportunity to put into practice the knowledge acquired during their studies, get some business experience and be better prepared for their future career. Credit Internship Program can be taken after completion of 24 credit hours in the MBA program.  The minimum internship period is 160 hours of job experience of managerial nature. After completion of internship, students submit an Internship Report and other required documents. Students will be assigned a faculty supervisor who will monitor internship and evaluate the Internship Report. Internship should be in the field of chosen specialization. Students have to attend at least 3 Preparatory Internship Training Sessions prior to becoming an intern. For details on Credit Internship Program, students are advised to seek information from BCB Career Services Center and/or the Director of the MBA program.

ACC5150 Master Thesis (2 Credits) 

Prerequisites: none

Master thesis is a practical research work, involving the analysis of a specific problem in the area of Major, evaluation of the results of the analysis, which serves as a basis for developing specific proposals and implementing the appropriate solution to the problem. 

The Master of Accounting and Audit program has been specially designed for those seeking a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management, or aiming for positions within Kazakhstan or international companies at a management, control or decision-making level. The program provides with invaluable accounting professional knowledge, leadership capabilities and business management acumen.