Graduate Diploma of Professional Accounting

Program Overview

The Graduate Diploma of Professional Accounting is a 12-month program designed for non-accounting graduates seeking a foundation in accounting. Through a flipped classroom approach, students develop technical skills, critical thinking, and communication abilities essential for entry-level accounting roles. Upon completion, graduates can pursue further studies to become accredited accountants with professional bodies like CPA Australia and Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The Graduate Diploma of Professional Accounting is a 12-month full-time or part-time equivalent course offered by the Tasmanian School of Business and Economics. The course is full fee-paying, which means that you will be charged at the full fee-paying rate listed for each unit. This course provides training in accounting for those who do not have an accounting background. Successful completion of this course will give students a solid foundation in accounting fundamentals, and can be built on through further studies to achieve the level of competency required to become an accredited accountant.

Objectives:

The Professional Accounting suite of courses are primarily designed for graduates with an undergraduate degree, from disciplines other than an accounting major, to develop skills to meet the entry requirements necessary for Associate Membership of the professional accounting bodies. Students are treated as adult learners with a wealth of experience and with no accounting knowledge. The course utilises a ‘flipped” classroom to deliver content, with workshops used to develop student learning, communication and application skills. The accounting profession now places a strong emphasis on the importance of “soft skills”, and these as well as critical problem solving skills are best practised in a workshop environment. Through this context, students develop skills to question and find solutions by applying their technical knowledge and ability to research authentic situations in the accounting context. Students also learn to interact within diverse groups and communicate their findings to both accountants and non-accountants through the most appropriate method.

Outline:

Core units:

• BEA603 Statistical and Economic Analysis for Decision Making
• BFA503 Principles of Financial Management
• BFA507 Accounting and Accountability for Decision Making
• BFA601 Business and Corporate Law in Practice
• BFA605 Contemporary Financial Accounting and Reporting
• BFA612 Management Decision Making and Strategy
• BFA714 Australian Tax Law and Practice
• BFA746 Pathway to Accounting and Finance Careers

Course schedule:

The course is offered in both semester 1 and semester 2, with the following units offered in each semester:

• Semester 1: BEA603, BFA503, BFA507, BFA746
• Semester 2: BFA601, BFA605, BFA612, BFA714

Individual modules with each module description:

• BEA603 Statistical and Economic Analysis for Decision Making: This unit provides managers with an introduction to a comprehensive range of key data analysis, statistics, microeconomic and macroeconomic topics.
The emphasis is on the practical application of basic statistical techniques, economic concepts and models to real world business-oriented problems.
• BFA503 Principles of Financial Management: This unit introduces students to the major concepts and analytical tools used in the theory and practice of financial management within an Australian context.
It is designed to provide students with an understanding of: the scope and nature of the finance function, financial markets and instruments, the role of financial managers, financial planning and analysis, capital budgeting, cost of capital, and dividend policy.
• BFA507 Accounting and Accountability for Decision Making: Accounting and Accountability for Decision Making is an introductory accounting unit concerned with the fundamentals of financial accounting.
The unit includes an introduction to the basic principles of accrual accounting and the five elements of financial reports (i.e. assets, liabilities, equity, income and expenses).
• BFA601 Business and Corporate Law in Practice: This unit covers a wide range of interesting legal topics and teaches students how to apply corporate legal theory to solve legal problems.
These are essential skills for those wishing to work in both the fields of accounting and business.
• BFA605 Contemporary Financial Accounting and Reporting: Your understanding will be extended to develop your accounting knowledge and skills in the context of more complex financial and corporate accounting issues.
The unit covers an understanding of how financial transactions are recorded and reported for different entities, including listed companies, non-profit organisations and government entities.
• BFA612 Management Decision Making and Strategy: In this unit we explore the key functions fulfilled by managerial and cost accounting.
The primary purpose of managerial and cost accounting is to provide relevant information to managers within an organisation. Managerial accounting can be thought of as the provision of information to help managers make decisions, and cost accounting can be thought of as the provision of information to assist managers in understanding the costs of different products and services.
• BFA714 Australian Tax Law and Practice: This unit introduces students to the core concepts in Australian taxation and identifies the framework (both legal and administrative) behind those concepts.
The knowledge gained through this exploration enables the application of the framework to current issues faced by individuals and organisations in the Australian taxation system.
• BFA746 Pathway to Accounting and Finance Careers: In this unit you will develop and apply the skills necessary to succeed in obtaining employment and a career in accounting and finance.
As a graduate, it is essential to be able to demonstrate capability in applying technical skills in accounting and finance, as well as in generic skills such as communication, problem solving and teamwork.

Careers:

Professional Accreditation:

The units in this course form part of the MPA program and on completion of the MPA degree, it provides a pathway for students to qualify for membership of Professional Accounting bodies, including CPA Australia and Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand. The students are then able to pursue professional year studies with these bodies.