NTU NBS: Year 3 Semester 2

Year 3 Semester 2

This marks the end of my final semester in NTU. I've taken 2 cores and 2 electives this semester (excluding the ET0001, which was an online course that can be done in less than a day). 

AC3102 Risk Reporting & Analysis (CORE - 4AU)

Course Format: 

Online Quizzes x 4 (10%)

Seminar Participation (10%)

Mid Terms (20%)

Group presentation (10%)

Final Examination - open book (50%)

Attained Score: 

Online Quizzes x 4 (undisclosed)

Seminar Participation (undisclosed)

Mid Terms (A-)

Group presentation (undisclosed)

Final Grade: B+

This is probably the hardest module that I've taken in NTU. There are mainly 3 segments in this module: 1. Consolidation, 2. Foreign Exchange and 3. Hedging. 

The first half of the course is mainly spent on Consolidation where you learn how to perform the accounting entries on the group financial statement level. This is an extension of what we have learnt in the previous 3 accounting modules which primarily focuses on entity level financial statements. Complex issues such as intra-group transactions, changes in ownership interest and complex group structures were also introduced. Some prior knowledge on construction contracts in AC2101 is also required. It's important to grasp the first part of the module as the consolidation entries are still necessary in the subsequent segments, i.e., foreign exchange and hedging. Consolidation will be tested in the mid terms. For my semester, there was only one question for the mid terms, which is to perform all the necessary consolidation entries and the subsequent analytical checks. For the previous semester, there were quite a few of questions, I think there were 5/6 questions the previous semester. It really depends on the Course Coordinator. 

As for the segment on foreign exchange, various procedures for foreign currency denominated transactions and the translation process of a foreign subsidiary for consolidation are taught. Hedging mainly discusses on the risks that can be hedged and the accounting aspects on recording the fair value and cash flow changes on the hedged item and the corresponding hedging financial instruments. 

I feel that the requirements for the group presentation was also quite demanding. A 20-page group report has to be submitted along with the presentation slides and the timeline is quite tight. It's useful to start early in the preparation since there is a need to read up the entire topic in advance and solve all the questions required. There's also one research question where time is required to do all the necessary research and write up in the report.  

There's some changes made to this module this semester - online lectures and quizzes were included. Moving forward, there are plans to include online learning and convert the teaching of this module into 3-hour seminar sessions instead of the current 2 x 2-hour seminar sessions. Thus, I believe that the components and corresponding percentages may change too. 

Anyway, this module is very technical and constant review and practice do helps. It's just that the information to learn is too voluminous and this module's final was scheduled on the first examination day. The final exam was another tough tough tough hurdle. Kind of creepy just from the thought of it. 

Tip: Study with friends from different seminar/instructors classes to ensure all issues in mind have been comprehensively covered. Practicing past year exam papers and going through with friends helps too even though instructors often don't encourage students to do past year exam papers due to the constant review and amendment to the syllabus. 

AC3104 Risk Management & Advanced Auditing (CORE - 4AU)

Course Format: 

Seminar Participation (12%)

Team Presentation (10%)

In-class assignments (13%)

Online Quizzes x 5 (5%)

Final Examination - open book (60%)

Attained Score: 

Seminar Participation (undisclosed)

Team Presentation (A+)

In-class assignments + Online Quizzes (B)

Final Grade: A-

This module was so much manageable as compared to AC3102. There are 2 parts to this module as what the module is called: 1. Risk Management and 2. Advanced Auditing. It's quite 'business' for the risk management part. COSO ERM framework is heavily emphasised. Risk management covers risk identification in a given case in consideration of the business strategy and objectives and to provide mitigating response to the risk events. Risk assessment on the likelihood and impact was also included.  Additional judgment biases was also covered on top of what we have learnt in AC2104. 

As for the advanced auditing segment, complex issues on auditing were covered and this includes on judgmental areas such as revenue recognition, group financial statements audit, financial instruments and asset impairment, to name a few. It's basically an extension of what was covered in AC2104, where we covered the risk of material misstatements relating to the above complex issues and come up with audit procedures to response to such risks. 

Data analytics was also covered and ACL analytics software was taught. Nothing technical about it, it's mainly providing us with a general awareness on the applications of it. 

As for the presentation component, topics on risk management segment are much more easier to do as compared to the advanced auditing topics. There are 5 mcq quizzes to be done online for the 5%. Lastly, for the in-class assignments, there are usually such assignments at the end of every seminar sessions and it's mainly questions from the tutorials. The final exam was okay and relatively manageable. 

NTU NBS: Year 3 Semester 1

Year 3 Semester 1

Time flies! I would be in my last semester next semester. The first semester of Year 3 was still manageable. I guess the main reason is that I’ve managed to clear my Strategic Management module during my summer exchange. As such, I’ve only took 2 core and 2 electives this semester.

AC2105 Accounting for Decision Making & Control (CORE - 4AU)

Course Format: 

Online Assessments (5%)

Class Participation (7%)

Mid Terms (10%)

Seminar Presentation (8%)

Management Meeting (20%)

Final Examination - open book (50%)

Attained Score: 

Online Assessments (A+)

Class Participation (B)

Mid Terms (A+)

Seminar Presentation (A-)

Management Meeting (B+)

Final Grade: A+

This module focuses on management accounting. There are 4 themes to this module:

1. Framework for Decision Making and Control (Agency theory; Organisational Architecture Framework; Porter’s strategy concepts)

2. Cost Planning and Decision Making (CVP analysis; decision making calculations) 

3. Operational Control (Budgetary planning; variance analysis)

4. Management Control (Responsibility accounting; management compensation; transfer pricing; sustainability and performance management).

This module seems like a MBA module to me though. There was less teaching involved and more discussion/presentations/role plays. Most of the concepts were self taught and the classes don’t really provide much information to learn from. Rather, it’s more focused on the application of concepts acquired before class. Thus, it’s quite important to prepare beforehand, if not, one will get quite lost during classes. There were some interesting aspects of this module, e.g. transfer pricing, which appeals to me. I would say this module’s difficulty level seems similar to year 2 standard.  

The management meeting was the main highlight of this module. It involves teams taking on roles of different department. A pre-meeting video is required prior to the meeting; a lot of editing have to be done for the video which I feel that it’s quite troublesome. Preparation for the meeting would have to be done and it’s somehow very difficult to coordinate as the actual meeting comprises of 4 different teams. After the meeting which is 2 hours long, a reflection report has to be submitted within 24 hours.

AC3103 Accounting Analysis & Equity Valuation (CORE - 4AU)

Course Format: 

Class Participation (15%)

Quiz (10%)

Individual Take Home Written Assignment (10%)

Group Written Assignment (15%)

Final Examination - open book (50%)

Attained Score: 

Individual Take Home Written Assignment (A-)

Final Grade: A+

This module is my first AC3XXX module and it’s really hard! There’s mainly 2 parts to this module, the first part (1^st 4 weeks) covered the various financial accounting theories (e.g. positive accounting theory, earnings management, value relevance) and the second part was on fundamental analysis.

The first part was rather dry but I’ve find it quite interesting as it touches on concepts such as capital market incentives to manage earnings and some aspects of behavioral finance. The second part was more quantitative in nature as it introduces the 4 steps to valuation. As for the course components, there was a case study presentation to be done as part of the class participation. I find the level of difficulty for the case studies to be rather high as we are using Harvard Business School case studies for this module and there’s a lot of computation to be done for most of the case studies. The quiz tests the financial accounting theories and concepts that was covered in the first 4 weeks. As for the individual written assignment, the topic for my semester was to analyse the effects of an increase in a company’s financial leverage on its ROE and share price and the applications of some financial leverage measures. It differs from semester to semester and sometimes it’s quantitative or qualitative inclined. Mine was more qualitative inclined though. The group written assignment was demanding. It involves extensive application of the 4 steps of equity valuation to determine the intrinsic share price of 2 chosen companies. Anyway, there’s a lot of work and computations to be done. My group’s final report has a supporting spreadsheet with over 20 tabs and that’s crazy and not fun. The final examination was really challenging. It’s also a combination of quantitative and qualitative reasoning. The questions in the finals are relatively standard though (EPS calculation, Accounting adjustments and ROE advanced DuPont decomposition, and RI model calculation).