Course Descriptions
(Not all elective courses will be offered in a given year. The offering is subject to sufficient demand and faculty availability.)
ACT501 Auditing
This course examines the theory and practice of financial auditing and selected professional issues in auditing. Coverage includes the audit engagement framework and concepts from planning the engagement to audit reporting, professional ethics, the role and responsibilities of auditors, agency theory, frauds and internal control, auditing procedures for major accounts and transaction cycles, audit reporting and lags, audit market and auditor switches.
ACT502 Business and Company Law
This course introduces the characteristics of the Hong Kong legal system, the general principles of contract law, and the essential knowledge of consumer law and employment law. It also discusses the characteristics of different types of business organisations, including sole proprietorships, partnerships and companies. Detailed elaboration will be provided on the incorporation procedure, requirements for raising funds by share capital and loan financing, legal considerations in operating a company, and winding up procedure of a business registered pursuant to the new Companies Ordinance (Cap 622).
ACT503 Cost and Management Accounting
This course introduces students to the fundamental concepts, techniques and applications of cost and management accounting. Topics include cost concepts, cost behavior, costing systems, cost determination and allocation, standard costing and variance analysis, relevant costs, and budgetary planning and performance evaluation. Methods and techniques of cost management in the service sector and in the manufacturing environment will be discussed. Accounting implications for management planning, control, decision making and performance evaluation will be emphasized and developed. Throughout this course, students will be expected to actively participate in class discussions including case analysis.
ACT504 Financial Accounting and Reporting
This course deals with various aspects of financial accounting and reporting.Topics covered include the financial reporting environment in Hong Kong, accounting standards for major assets, liabilities, and equity, business combinations and consolidation of financial statements, and disclosure and reporting.
ACT505 Hong Kong Taxation and Tax Planning
This course covers the basic laws and practice of the Hong Kong taxation system, including salaries tax, property tax, profits tax, personal assessment, depreciation allowances, stamp duty, and tax administration. Additionally, the course will introduce problem solving with practical examples. Local tax cases will be discussed.
ACT506 Managerial Finance
This course provides an introduction to corporate finance and, in particular, financial decision making by firms and individuals. Financial management has been defined as the acquisition, management and financing of resources for firms. The emphasis is on financial decision making in capitalist economies although some techniques and concepts are also relevant for state-owned enterprises in socialist-market economies. Issues addressed include asset valuation models, investment decision making, analysis of risk, financial planning, working capital management, the cost of capital, and financial markets.
ACT601 Accounting Theory
This course critically discuss various theories underlying the economics of financial accounting and reporting and how they impact the regulation process, the measurement practice, the disclosure practices and decision process.
ACT602 Research Project in Accounting
This course allows students to bring together knowledge and skills acquired during their accounting studies and apply them to solve a real problemrelated to accounting. This course requires extensive investigation and culminates in a quality report with relevant findings and sound recommendations.
ACT604 China Taxation: An International Perspective
China is now the world’s second largest economy after years of unprecedented economic growth. An in-depth knowledge about the taxation system in Mainland China is therefore essential for any business student. This course will start with a brief coverage of the regulatory framework of tax reporting in China and its implications to the capital market. The study of the taxation system in China will be the major focus of the course with an extensive coverage of the laws, regulations, and the prevalent practices of the major types of taxes such as Value Added tax, Consumption Tax, Individual Income Tax, and the Enterprise Income Tax. The differences between taxation systems in China and those in Hong Kong and elsewhere will be discussed with an appreciation of the opportunities and challenges faced by enterprises in planning their tax affairs and managing tax risks in the global business environment. The course will also cover the current developments in the international tax arena and how China is responding to these changes.
ACT605 Contemporary Issues in Management Accounting
This course examines a variety of advanced management accounting concepts, principles, and techniques for manufacturing and service organizations. The course is composed of (1) cost analysis and joint product costing; (2) current and emerging issues in management accounting; and (3) international issues and comprehensive case studies. The advanced topics may include management accounting information, quality cost management, performance evaluation, the balanced scorecard, management accounting control systems, customer profitability and environmental cost management. International management accounting issues will also be discussed. Comprehensive cases selected for intensive studies are relevant to the business environment in different jurisdictions.
ACT606 Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination
The course will include broad coverage of an array of related topics, including the sociology of white-collar crime; legal, regulatory, professional, and ethical issues; types of fraud involving business organizations; fraud prevention techniques; and fraud examination techniques. This course assumes you have working knowledge of basic accounting principles, auditing concepts and techniques, and transaction processing cycles and internal controls.
ACT607 Financial Statement Interpretation and Analysis
This course focuses on providing a framework for using financial statements data in a variety of business analysis and valuation contexts. The framework consists of four key components: (1) business environment and strategy analysis (industry and competitive advantage analysis), (2) accounting analysis (evaluation of earnings quality), (3) financial analysis (evaluation of financial position and performance), and (4) prospective analysis (the forecasting of future payoffs). The course places primary emphasis on accounting analysis and financial analysis.
ACT608 The Economic Law of China
The course introduces to students the salient features of the PRC Economic Law, including the principles of agency, litigation, arbitration, sole traders, partnership, main types of foreign investment, companies, securities, bankruptcy, contract, and bills.
ACT609 Advanced Auditing
This course provides an in-depth analysis of auditing issues and principles and introduces students certain advanced auditing topics (e.g., audit sampling, auditing in computerized environments) as well as other types of attestation and assurance services. This course relies extensively on the coverage of real-world auditing cases to expose students to the complexities of auditing practice.
ACT610 Accounting Ethics and Corporate Governance
This course introduces the main principles and concepts of accounting ethics and corporate governance, and discusses how the two are linked. It explains, in the context of the current crisis of trust in the accountancy profession, the ethical expectations that business and society have of accountants. It introduces normative theories of ethics and ethical decision models to the students. The course then examines the conflicts of interest that may occur in practice in the accounting profession. It discusses the nature, objectives and limitations of professional codes of ethics, focusing on that of the HKICPA.
ACT611 Comparative Legal Systems
The course introduces the salient features of the legal system of the PRC and compares it with other major jurisdictions which have representative legal regimes. Major legal systems in the world include the Common law, Civil law, Islamic law (Sharia) and Scandinavian systems.
ACT612 Data Analytics for Accounting
In this digital age, data has proliferated and businesses big and small, are increasingly place a high value on data analytics. Accountants nowadays need to possess the analytic mindset and technical data skills that enable them to provide value-added services and make better decisions. This course is intended to provide students with an understanding of data analytic thinking and terminology as well as hands-on experience with data analytics tools and techniques. Students should leave this course with the skills necessary to translate accounting and business problems into actionable proposals that they can competently present to various stakeholders.
ACT613 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Issues in Business and Accounting
This is an introductory course on environmental & social responsibilities and their relations with corporate governance and corporate disclosure. It enables students to identify, analyze, and evaluate ESG issues as an essential factor in corporate reporting and decision-making process. Specifically, topics covered include basic corporate governance framework, the stakeholder perspective of corporate strategy, corporate social responsibility, corporate environmental considerations, ESG management techniques, ESG disclosure, and relevant case studies. The teaching & learning process incorporates the evolving nature of ESG for business and accounting, as well as up-to-date information on ESG practices, regulations, and management. Students are expected to apply subject knowledge in researching current ESG issues faced by accountants and other administrators in their working environment. They are also required to actively participate in class discussions and to share their experiences and learn from each other.
ACT614 Financial Regulatory Environments of Hong Kong and Mainland China
This course aims to provide students with perspectives of how the financial regulatory environments of Hong Kong and Mainland China function. Students can deepen the understanding of financial markets and institutions, international financial centres, money supply process, central banking, currency board system, regulations of banking system and financial markets. The course will cover contemporary development and reform in global financial market as well as fundamental financial reform, opening-up and financial systems integration and challenges in China. Current issues and future directions of Financial Regulatory Environments of Hong Kong and Mainland will also be explored in the course. A deep understanding of such big and sophisticated global financial market will benefit students in planning and managing their careers.
FIN545 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing and Sustainable Finance
ESG knowledge and skills are critical for developing ESG thinking, which is embedded in almost all investment settings nowadays for the promotion of sustainability in capital market. This course introduces (1) the background, current developments and trends of ESG investing, (2) the participants, institutions, and various financial instruments in ESG marketplace, and (3) the concepts, framework, techniques, data and toolkits related to using ESG considerations for identifying and informing sustainable investment solutions.