Certificate Level: Business and Finance

The Certificate level concentrate on basic knowledge and skills which form the platform from which professional competence can be developed. 

At the Certificate Level (CFAB) the knowledge and skills will be tested separately by subject(s) and on completion of each subject, students should be able to demonstrate the ability to: 

• Identify and retrieve information 
• Appraise information 
• Apply concepts and techniques 
• Analyse and solve problems 
• Present information in a logical format 
• Communicate information clearly and succinctly 

On completion of the Business and Finance (BF) module, candidates will be able to: 

• To provide students with an understanding of how businesses operate and how accounting and finance functions help businesses to achieve their objectives. 
• identify the general objectives of businesses and the functions and tasks that businesses perform in order to meet their objectives; 
• specify the nature, characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of different forms of business and organisational structure; 
• identify the purpose of financial information produced by businesses, specify how accounting and finance functions support business operations, and identify sources and methods of financing for businesses and individuals; 
• specify the role of the accountancy profession and why the work of the profession is important; 
• identify the role that governance plays in the management of a business and specify how a business can promote corporate governance, sustainability, corporate responsibility and an ethical culture; and 
• specify the impact on a business of the economic environment in which it operates. 

The course is planned to prepare you for success in the Business and FInance exam. This is our key objective. We assume that you have done some preparatory work prior to the commencement of the course and that we can build on this through the duration of the course.

The course will consist of two phases – a lecture-based teaching phase and a revision phase. Lectures will follow the content of BPP course notes and will include extensive practice on questions from the ICAEW Question Bank.

You will be set assignments at the end of each lecture session. All assignments will be reviewed/ assessed by the course tutor in the following session.

One Progress Test (PT) and one Mock Exam (ME) will be issued to you to practice towards the end of the of the course. Please submit it to your tutor by the timeline set for marking.

The course is interactive and you will be encouraged to participate in class discussions.

“Completeness” is a key audit assertion. To meet the key course objective of exam success you need to be complete in your exam preparation. The course is aimed at exposure/ coverage to/ of most exam matters. You will be expected to attend all lectures and revisions, complete all course assignments and sit for and return all PT and ME answers.