MSc Charity Accounting & Financial Management - Charity MSc at Cass Business School

Course information

Overview
Course structure and content
Our course professionals
Students
Course fees and expenses

Overview

There is a growing recognition that in addition to a common body of knowledge all managers need in order to succeed, there are critical specialist areas for managers which provide a sound understanding of all aspects of their work and a springboard for further career progression.

This is an advanced course aimed at experienced finance managers working in an organisation's finance department or those who act as financial advisors to charities and not-for-profit organisations.

Introduction by Professor Paul Palmer

Professor Paul Palmer

This Charity degree course aims to equip students with a knowledge of:

Specialist charity taxation and unique tax privileges
The distinctive financial accounting practice and management.

Students should be highly motivated managers and will normally have a good first degree, a related professional qualification or at least three years wholly relevant experience.

Course structure and content

Postgraduate Diploma

The Postgraduate Diploma is offered on a part time basis and is taught over a period of 12 months. The Diploma consists of five core modules, common to all Centre for Charity Effectiveness postgraduate courses. These modules provide the essential underpinning of management skills. You also study three specialist pathway modules.

All courses are taught at Cass Business School and will require attendance one weekend a month commencing on the Friday afternoon at 13:00 to 21:00 and finishing on Saturday at 18:00.

Additional times of attendance will be required:

On the Induction Day
For Action Learning Set meetings (usually alternate months on the Friday morning of the teaching weekend)
The Resource Management module exam

Term dates

October 2012 intake

Induction/Introduction to Learning	05 October 2012
Voluntary Sector Policy	06 October 2012 09 -10 November 2012
Marketing & Fundraising	07- 08 December 2012
Resource Management	11 - 12 January 2013 08 - 09 February 2013 08 - 09 March 2013 Exam* 12 April 2013
Specialist Pathway Modules	18 - 19 April 2013 10 - 11 May 2013 14 - 15 June 2013 Exam* 07 June 2013
Shadowing	to be completed by August 2013
Strategy, Diversity & Governance	19 - 20 July 2013 06 - 07 September 2013

April 2012 intake - exemption route

Induction/Introduction to Learning	19 April 2012
Specialist Pathway Modules	20-21 April 2012 18-19 May 2012 22-23 June 2012 Exam* 08 June 2012
Shadowing/Fieldwork Exercise	to be completed by August 2012
Strategy, Diversity & Governance	20-21 July 2012 07-08 September 2012
Voluntary Sector Policy	06 October 2012 09-10 November 2012
Marketing & Fundraising	07-08 December 2012

(This route is open for applicants with an ACA or FCA qualification from the ICAEW only)

*All other modules are assessed by coursework.

Module outlines

Introduction to Learning

This module aims to enables the student to:

Map out your learning and development needs for the forthcoming 3 years
Set these needs within the context of the Masters (or Diploma) Programme
Develop new learning and study skills

Syllabus:

The Theory of Learning

Assessing your learning style
Learning and polishing study skills
Making use of all the available tools
Drawing up a Learning Contract

Voluntary Sector Policy

This module aims to enables the student to:

Develop an informed and critical understanding of the public policy environments in which voluntary organisations operate, to which they variously respond or help shape

Syllabus:

Policy concepts and the contested nature of public policy

Developments in new public management and public policy trends - marketisation, modernisation, joint working, partnerships
Fissures, links and building blocks in public policy networks in and for voluntary organisations
Policy actors in governmental and voluntary organisations and models of governmental/voluntary sector relations in UK and international contexts
Structuring and restructuring policy problems; new and enduring responses (eg faith based provisions, cross sectoral working)
Reputational impact on policy advocacy; the impact of mergers, alliances, closures and scandal on organisations' policy roles
Policy outcomes - the voluntary sector as provider, evaluator and critics
Lesson drawing in public policy and forecasting public policy futures; the voluntary sector as provider of policy evidence, policy learner and policy leader and advocate
Sectoral policy contributions to the development of civil society

Resource Management

This module aims to enables the student to:

Provide students with an understanding of the principles of resource management within the specialist context of charities

Syllabus:

Definitions and the legal framework of charities and voluntary organisations
The role of the Charity Commission
Sources of finance for the charity sector
Introduction to general accounting principles
Charity accounts and regulatory framework
Understanding, interpreting and analysing charity accounting statements
Costing and budgeting in voluntary organisations
Risk assessment
Outsourcing
Appraising, appointing and dismissing auditors and other resource consultants and experts
IT Strategic appraisal and implementation
The nature of Human Resource Management
Human resource and personnel issues including training and development, reward and retention and effective selection and recruitment

Marketing and Fundraising

This module aims to enables the student to:

To provide you with the concepts, underpinning knowledge, skills and techniques to plan and develop marketing and operations systems
Enable you to analyse marketing needs, evaluate marketing plans, in the context of applying marketing concepts to their own organisation

Syllabus:

Effective Marketing Information Systems
Development of a marketing strategy
Product/Service policy and new product development
Role of Communications
Branding
Pricing as a value-added marketing tool
Capacity planning - resources planning and allocation
Total Quality Management
Stakeholder/Customer care

Strategy, Diversity and Governance

This module aims to enables the student to:

To develop a broad knowledge and conceptual base in the field of strategy development, diversity and governance
Introduce practical tools to help improve the quality of an organisation's strategic response to the changing environment
Introduce practical tools to help improve the ability of the organisation and its managers and leaders to build a diverse workforce
Enhance appreciation of the constraints and opportunities offered by the changing governance and service-delivery frameworks which affect voluntary organisations

Syllabus:

Improving an organisation's strategic response by use of strategy and diversity management and theory
Approaches to developing strategy
Approaches to managing diversity
The changing environment of the voluntary sector
Case studies on the application of strategic planning and diversity

Fieldwork Exercise

This module aims to enables the student to:

Develop a different perspective on the role and environment at senior management level in a different organisation
Consider the ethical and environmental issues faced by a senior manager
Look at optional and compulsory roles when overseeing an organisation
Provide an opportunity to study at close hand the way change is managed in another organisation
Provide the opportunity to apply theory in practice

Syllabus:

Design of Shadowing/Fieldwork Exercise proposal linked to Learning Contract and negotiation with senior manager of shadowed organisation
Five days shadowing senior manager or fieldwork consultancy exercise - observing and learning from the experience
Reflections using all the theories and models learnt on the programme
Preparation of reflective report containing analysis and recommendations for improved effectiveness

Advanced Charity Accounting, Audit and Taxation

This module aims to enables the student to:

Provide students with advanced knowledge of charity accounting, audit and taxation principles and practice requirements

Syllabus:

The SORP and regulatory framework
Statement of Financial Activities
Branch accounting consolidation, mergers and associates
Disclosure of accounting policies
Accounting for smaller charities
Audit/independent examination of charity accounting statements
Main tax exemptions
Tax effective giving
Charity trading
VAT

The module provides the underpinning for the fieldwork exercise report, and foundation for the Voluntary Sector Financial Management module.

Voluntary Sector Financial Management

This module aims to enables the student to:

Provide you with an in-depth grounding of the principles of financial management applied to the charity sector

Syllabus:

Strategic Financial Management and the role of the Finance Director
Managing, including outsourcing the finance function
Social accounting, audit and ethical investment
Internal audit and control
Reporting to trustees and stakeholders
Working with, appointing, reviewing and dismissing financial advisors and services
International Financial Issues
Banking and Insurance
Investment planning and decision makingThe module links the technical knowledge in Charity Accounting through the fieldwork exercise in delivering the management component of the module

MSc conversion

Upon successful completion of the diploma, you will be given the option to continue to the MSc. This requires completion of the Research Methods for Managers module.

This can be followed by a further six months of personal, supervised research and the presentation of a 10,000-word dissertation.

Alternatively, you can opt to take a taught Masters which allows you to choose specialist modules from one of the other Charities programmes.

Term dates

Research Methods for Managers

January & February 2013 (for April 2012 Intake)

January & February 2014 (for October 2012 Intake)

Dissertation or Taught Masters Option

completion by the end of September 2013 (for April 2012 Intake)

completion by the end of September 2014 (for October 2012 Intake)

Our course professionals

The Course Director is Professor Paul Palmer, who is also the academic leader on the Charity Accounting and Financial Management course. The course team draws upon staff in the Centre for Charity Effectiveness like Caroline Copeman, Andrew Forrest and the wider Business School including Professor Jenny Harrow, Peter Grant (Grantmaking, Philantrophy and Social Investment academic leader), Professor Stephen Lee (Marketing and Fundraising academic leader), Professor John Hailey (NGO Management academic leader and Atul Patel (Voluntary Sector Management academic leader).

The internal course team is supported by leading sector practitioners, for example Geraldine Peacock, Stuart Etherington and Stephen Bubb together with professional firms, all of whom bring their skills to each of the courses.

Students

Students for all five courses will be highly motivated individuals who bring with them a wide range of professional competence, skills and experience from a wide range of charitable and not-for-profit organisations. Gender is evenly balanced across all the courses and there are no age barriers.

Students will normally have a good first degree, a related professional qualification or at least three years, wholly relevant experience. If you have more than three years relevant experience, two professional references are acceptable.

Course fees and expenses

Course fees

The course fees for all four courses are payable at the start of the academic year. The fee for the Postgraduate Diploma is £5,500. A deposit of £250 is payable on acceptance of a place and the balance is payable in two instalments, the first in September and the second in April. For those converting the Diploma to MSc a further £2,750 is payable in the second year.

Salary Sacrifice Scheme

Please note that self-funded students are able to gain substantial savings on the cost of course fees if they participate in a 'Salary Sacrifice Scheme' with their employer. Cass Business School cannot legally provide individual advice on how to benefit from this government scheme. For more information, see below.

Find out more about the Salary Sacrifice Scheme [pdf]

Course expenses

The weekend modules will incur additional accommodation and subsistence expenses for those participants living outside London.

Application deadline

There is no application deadline for this course. However, we advise you to apply well in advance, as competition for places is high and applications are considered on a continuous basis. We have provided suggested deadlines which give you the most competitive advantage in the How to Apply section.