Note: As a business division of
Te Pūkenga - New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology, UCOL is committed to providing the best learning outcome for you. As part of this, all programmes are currently being reviewed to make them portable, consistent, and closely aligned with the needs of the industry. When published, this course information is correct, but the courses offered may change over time. If you have any questions, call an enrollment advisor at 0800 468 265.
This programme consists of 150 Credits.
Your studies will differ according to your chosen area of focus - Accounting or Leadership and Management.
CORE COURSES
Organisations in an Aotearoa New Zealand Context (15 Credits)
Develop the knowledge, skills, and competencies to analyse organisations and engage with stakeholders in an Aotearoa New Zealand context. Courses include:
- Types of business entities in Aotearoa New Zealand, including Māori entities
- Internal and external business stakeholders in Aotearoa New Zealand
- Management theories, including roles and responsibilities of management and leadership in Aotearoa New Zealand organisations
- Bicultural partnership (as embedded in ngā kaupapa o te Tiriti o Waitangi, the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi)
- Multicultural considerations in contemporary business environments
- Developing effective relationships
- Organisational culture
- Business objectives and operational activities
- Professional communication:
- Effective business communication suitable for the Aotearoa New Zealand context including Tikanga
- Personal and interpersonal skills to support communication in formal and informal business situations
- Respect for individuals and diversity, social conventions and institutions
- Environmental, community and sustainability expectations
- Ethical frameworks
- Effective stakeholder relationship management
- Socially and culturally appropriate conduct
Business Environments (15 Credits)
Develop the knowledge, skills, and competencies to analyse and manage the impact of environmental influences on an organisation The course covers:
- Internal environment: SWOT
- Systems:
- Structure
- Resources
- organisational culture
- stakeholder analysis and management
- Business sustainability
- External environment
- Micro (customers, competitors, suppliers)
- Macro (PESTEL)
- Sustainability considerations
- Identifying internal and external environmental data
- Validating environmental data
- Defining and assessing risk
- Risk management
Business Functions (15 Credits)
Learn to apply knowledge of core business functions for operational efficiency and effectiveness. The course covers:
- Operations to support business performance, including:
- Role of operations for organisations
- Operational management areas
- Processes and productivity
- Break-even analysis
- Productivity definition & calculations
- HR to support business performance, including:
- Role of human resource management for organisations
- Transactional and transformational HR
- Recruitment to exit
- Marketing and sales to support business performance, including:
- Role of marketing and sales for organisations
- The marketing concept
- Value proposition
- The marketing mix
- Accounting concepts and processes to support business performance, including:
- Role of accounting for organisations
- Aaccounting Equation
- Statements of financial position and financial performance, budgets and cashflow forecasts
- Variance and ratios
- ESG
Change and Innovation (15 Credits)
Develop the knowledge, skills, and competencies to contribute to organisational change and innovation. The course covers:
- Organisational structures
- Organisational change including:
- Assessing the need for change
- Deciding on the change(s) to make
- Implementing change and evaluating change
- Innovation including sources and nature of innovation, and stimulating organisational innovation
- Models and theories for organisational change
- Frameworks that support innovation
- Stakeholder engagement and relationships in organisational change and innovation, including internal and external stakeholders
- Evaluating business performance
- Impacts of change on business objective
- Impacts of innovation on business objectives
- Personal skills including:
- attributes
- abilities
- technical skills
- interpersonal skills including:
- leadership
- relationship building
- team building
- negotiation
- assertiveness
- persuasion
Accounting Focus
Introduction to Accounting and Taxation (15 Credits)
Learn to apply accounting concepts and standards to prepare financial statements for a business entity and apply tax rules. The course covers:
Introduction to Accounting and Taxation (15 Credits)
Learn to apply accounting concepts and standards to prepare financial statements for a business entity and apply tax rules. The course covers:
- Accounting concepts including:
- Accounting entity
- Accrual accounting
- Going concern
- Periodic reporting
- Historic cost
- Qualitative characteristics
- The role of accounting standards
- Balance day adjustments including:
- Prepayments
- Accrued income
- Income received in advance
- Accrued expense
- Depreciation (NZIAS16)
- Financial statements including:
- Statement of financial performance
- Statement of financial position
- Statement of changes in equity
- Cash flow statement
- NZIAS1 & NZIAS2
- Financial reporting requirements for Māori business (Māori Land Act)
- Individuals:
- Working for Families
- Student loans
- Tax credits
- Individual tax calculations and returns
- Kiwi Saver scheme
- Small businesses:
- Common types of taxable income and dedications
- GST calculations
- Employer obligations and calculations
- PAYE
- Scheduler payments
- Kiwi Saver scheme
- Employee and independent contractor
- Payment and due date of taxes
- Hobby versus business tests
Applied Accounting (15 Credits)
Develop the knowledge, skills and competencies to record and process a range of financial transactions. Accounting processes include:
- Double entry accounting
- Perpetual and periodic inventory
- Journals
- General ledger
- Subsidiary ledger - including reconciliation - receivables and payables
- Sole trader, partnerships and straight forward corporate/company accounts
- Accounting processes for software include:
- Chart of Accounts
- General, cash, sales and purchases journals
- General ledger
- Subsidiary systems – receivables, payables, and inventory
- Trial balance
- Financial statements – statement of financial performance, statement of financial position
- Tax rules include:
- GST collected and paid
- GST reports and adjustments
- Other relevant tax
Analysis of Financial Information (15 Credits)
Learn to calculate, analyse and interpret financial information to inform decision-making for a business entity and evaluate debtor risk. The course covers:
Develop the knowledge, skills and competencies to calculate, analyse and interpret financial information to inform decision making for an organisation. The course covers:
- Purpose and users of financial analysis, limitations / assumptions
- Calculation of financial ratios
- Analysis and interpretation of financial ratios and financial information to inform decision making:
- Profitability
- Liquidity
- Asset utilisation
- Stability
- Investor
- Analysis and interpretation of Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) information
- Formulate recommendations
- Communication of financial and non-financial information to internal and external stakeholders
- Complex transactions may include:
- Depreciation
- Doubtful debts
- Bad debts
- Inventory
- Disposal of assets
- Code of ethics to include:
- Ethical decision-making model
- Integrity
- Objectivity
- Professional competence and due care
- Confidentiality
- Professional behaviour
Leadership and Management Focus
Budgets for Planning and Control (15 Credits)
Learn to prepare and use budgets to monitor performance and determine internal controls to minimise organisational risk. The course covers:
- Purpose and limitations of budgets – planning, control and behaviour
- Preparation of budgets using spreadsheets –including but not limited to:
- Sales budget
- Cash budget
- Income statement
- Balance sheet
- Sensitivity analysis - what if scenario
- Flexible budgets:
- Reforecasting
- Variance analysis
- Variance reports:
- Evaluation
- Corrective action
- Static budgets
- Flexible budgets
- Interpreting and communicating results
- The function of internal controls
- Functions and types of internal controls
- Testing internal controls and limitations of internal controls
- Determining actions and internal controls to minimise or mitigate risk
- Risk management
- Identification and measurement of risks
- Preparing a basic disaster recovery plan
- Computerised accounting systems – cyber security, cloud accounting
Introduction to Leadership (15 Credits)
Develop the knowledge, skills, and competencies to analyse and identify effective leadership approaches that promote positive workplace culture, diversity and change. The course covers:
- Defining organisational culture, workplace engagement and their contribution to
- Organisational performance
- Leadership approaches to shape and enhance organisational culture
- How diversity benefits work teams and organisations
- Strategies to promote diversity within organisations
- Effective communication for leaders
- Concept of leadership
- Leadership approaches and styles
- Leadership and its influence on success within an organisation
- Organisational agility
- Nature and complexity of leading change
Operations Management and Compliance (15 Credits)
Develop the knowledge, skills, and competencies to evaluate operational issues and challenges and apply operational techniques for continuous improvement and compliance. The course covers:
- External requirements including relevant regulations, legislation, and policy
- Internal requirements including quality management systems, policies and procedures
- Operational issues and challenges facing organisations
- Internal and external operational drivers
- Operations management techniques and approaches that support continuous improvement
Business Planning (15 Credits)
Develop the knowledge, skills, and competencies to engage in business planning and develop strategies that improve organisational performance.
- Nature and purpose of business planning
- Elements of business planning and the business planning process
- Types of business plans including strategic, tactical and operational and their relationship to each other
- Applying business planning processes
- Understanding differences between planning for a new or existing business (Note: business types include profit / not-for-profit / community organisation / etc.)
- Planning in a changing environment
- Competitive positioning
Managing Projects (15 Credits)
Develop the knowledge, skills, and competencies to effectively manage projects and lead project teams. The course covers:
- Project management fundamentals
- Project management phases, tools and documentation
- Stakeholder engagement and management
- Project team communication and engagement
- Conflict Management
- Strategies for leading virtual teams
- Managing stakeholders