Take the Fear out of Accounting & Finance with our pre-sessional MBA course

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We know how daunting and full of jargon disciplines such as Accounting, Finance and Economics can be for an MBA student, even for seasoned professionals.  For that reason, and following feedback from our students this year on the MBA we are introducing a pre-sessional, intensive MBA crash course opened exclusively to our 2014/15 MBA students, aimed at equipping them with the basic knowledge and skills that will help them to make the most of quantitative modules in Term 1.

Entitled “Taking the Fear out of Accounting and Finance”, our intensive pre-sessional course will be delivered over five consecutive days starting on 15th September 2014, just before the official start of your MBA. Specially designed for non accountants, non economists and/or non financiers, this pre-sessional will introduce you to the language of those quantitative subjects and equip you with the skills that will enable you to address the Challenges our MBA corporate partners will assess you on throughout the year.

What is covered?

The five-day course will consist in 30 hours of workshops and seminars focusing on knowledge as well as valuable, practical skills to enable you to produce, and make sense of any organisation’s financial statement. It will be delivered in small groups to maximise learning opportunities. Key topics covered by the pre-MBA induction include:

  • the language of accounting and finance
  • the lexicon of accounting and finance
  • business structures
  • financial reporting statements (income statements, balance sheets, cash flow)
  • Case Study 1: construction of an organisation’s financial statement
  • Measurement of financial performance
  • Case Study 2: analysis of an organisation’s financial performance
  • Time value of money
  • Financial decision making
  • Case Study 3: navigating published annual reports and accounts

Why this pre-sessional MBA course

The MBA is a very demanding programme with very little time during the year to perform background and supplementary reading that will be required in each module. It is for that reason that our pre-sessional MBA course is being created for you – to help you understand, process and digest prior knowledge and acquire quantitative skills that will be needed for our corporate Challenges and MBA modules such as Integrated Accounting, Finance, Economics and Global Strategy Analysis.

 Should I take this pre-sessional?

The simple answer is: if you are NOT quite sure what is a balance sheet or profit and loss account, or if you don’t know how to construct an organisation’s financial statement and use the information it provides you to assess whether a firm is succeeding or under-performing, or generally if you are not quite sure how to use financial information for strategic analysis purposes – then the answer is a definite YES.

If, however you are a chartered accountant with 10 years experience creating and interpreting financial statements, then the pre-MBA course is probably not for you.

I am interested. How do I sign up?

Applications for our pre-sessional are now open. We anticipate high levels of demand as such courses tend to be rare. To maximise your experience we may need to cap enrolment. So if you are in possession of an offer from our MBA you will first need to confirm your place on our MBA and register for our pre-sessional by following this link. To confirm your place on the MBA please speak to Emma Birch, our Admissions Officer by emailing mba@exeter.ac.uk – you will have spoken to her while securing your place on our MBA.

Emma will let you know once your place has been secured, both on the pre-sessional and on the MBA.

How much does it cost?

This year we have been successful in securing funding for the course, so the fee is heavily reduced to £500 for the full week. The fee includes tuition (30 hours of hands-on, practical teaching and workshops) and material.

Key features

  • intensive, 5 day crash course
  • delivered in our MBA facilities
  • 30 hours of practical workshops and seminars
  • small group teaching to maximises learning opportunities
  • plenty of feedback opportunities to monitor your understanding of these complex subjects
  • a head start to your MBA
  • recommended by our current MBA students

So take the fear out of Accounting, Finance and Economics and secure your place on our pre-sessional MBA course. It will really enhance your MBA experience. Who would want to be left out?

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