1. Background of the program
Accounting as a profession had emerged following the ever increasing needs of mankind in the social, economic and business environment. The accounting profession has shown a continuous and tremendous growth in the business world. This evolution of the accounting practice ranges from the ancient civilization periods of the Babylonians and Egyptians when payments for daily workers were used to be calculated on clay, as today’s practice where Computerized Accounting Information Systems that are used for generation of financial information which is very useful for making reliable business decisions. The significance as well as momentum of growth of the accounting discipline has increased after the 18th century Industrial Revolution of the Great Britain which has brought a series of radical changes in the Content, Concept and Context of many of the professional fields, particularly those under the shadow of Business and Economics.
In the existing organizational dynamics and global integrations, the importance of vibrant Accounting and Finance professionals is indisputable. The central role of accountancy and finance in society make them interesting disciplines in their own right, especially for those who are interested in how economic or financial activities of any economic players, both at the micro and macro level, influences and structures our lives.
Over the past periods, the program has long been working on the conventional knowledge based course based delivery system with its many drawbacks including lack of academic coherence, poor assessment and evaluation, fragmented knowledge, poor quality and relevance of the curriculum as a whole which could not produce highly qualified and competitive graduates at the job markets.
The modularized curriculum constitutes modules and courses carefully designed to transform the conventional academic incoherence approach to competence based teaching/learning approach behind the modularization.
Rationale of the program
Accounting and Finance as a profession had emerged in response to the social, economic and business environment needs. The Accounting and Finance profession has shown a continuous and tremendous growth in the business world. Accounting and Finance, in the modern context of business, is a Financial Information and Communication System that provides various groups of decision makers with valuable and reliable information that makes a difference in their day-to-day business decisions.
The basic rationale of the program is attributed to the observed continuously flourishing of different organizations in Ethiopia, along with the rapid pace of development of Ethiopian economy over the past periods. Different countries in general, and Ethiopia, in particular host various organizations: private, governmental, profit making, non-profit making, service, manufacturing organizations, etc. The business world is becoming increasingly complex and is facing new and greater challenges continually. The Accounting and Finance profession, a key profession in modern business society, will have to meet these challenges. Given the volatility of events, the Accounting and Finance education program needs to provide new skills and knowledge to Accounting and Finance graduates who enter the profession.
This program is designed to prepare students for careers in Accounting and Finance in all economic sectors such as business, not-for-profit, and government organizations. The areas of Accounting and Finance study are financial Accounting, cost and managerial Accounting, tax Accounting, Accounting information systems, Government and non-profit Accounting, Finance, and auditing. In addition to the above mentioned input of the program, it combines and applies several supporting subject fields including law, information technology, quantitative techniques and economics pertinent to the accounting and finance agenda.
Rationale for curriculum review
Many scholars working for the quality of the world education strongly recommend that curriculum should be flexible across time, place and discipline so that the practice of curriculum design and delivery is based on the actual practice of countries development capacity and updated technological demand/advancements. For this reason public universities in Ethiopia are striving to design and implement a new modular based approach to promote innovative curricula, assure quality education and produce competent graduates that can make a difference in the overall progress of the country. Hence, all the Ethiopian public universities in collaboration with the strong commitment of the Ministry of Education have been intensively working to launch the modular curricula in the academic year of 2012/13 (2005 EC).
There is consensus among curriculum scholars that the delivery system of the existing accounting and finance curriculum followed disciplinary approach rather than focusing on the competency of the students. The old curriculum also focused on teachers’ engagement rather than students’ engagement and lacked natural flow and unity of ideas. Besides, the labor market shows the growing and urgent needs to link academic learning with professional practice in the world of work.
As a result, the revised curriculum, which shifts to modular system, attempts to address the problems of the old curriculum. In addition to linking academic learning with professional practice, the revised modularized, modular approach gives value for student’s independent activities. Since the course sequences and coding are standardized, the revised curriculum allows student to transfer freely within the country from one university to other.
2. Program objectives
2.1 General objectives of the program
The program of Accounting and Finance plans to meet the University’s mission of instilling into present and future-leaders knowledge of current and future accounting, auditing and finance practices and relevant skills through student–centered high quality, viable programs which are fully recognized internationally and by both the private and public institutions in Ethiopia. Hence, the Department seeks to sustain its growth and relevance through:
- A highly educated and motivated faculty Viable programs which have local relevance and fully recognized internationally.
- Relevant curriculum leading to an exceptional learning environment with full access to new technologies and computer-mediated learning
- An abundant level of intellectual capital created through scholarly activities
- Research that meets the needs of the local and international business and academic communities;
- A fully integrated international perspective
- A full understanding of employer needs obtained through constant monitoring of the business environment through linkage program
2.2 Specific Objectives of the program
The program of Accounting and Finance has the following specific objectives:
- To produce graduates in its regular degree program to satisfy a portion of the demand for accounting and finance graduates.
- To enhance the relevance and timeliness of instruction, as well as the technical competency of the staff, by conducting applied research and developing innovative educational materials and techniques.
- To provide students with sufficient academic, technical, logical, analytical, and professional base from which to pursue a career in accounting and finance and to advance to further study and a potential academic career in accounting and finance
- To be a major provider of consultancy services to the public
- To put 80% of its second year complete and third year complete students into internship programs in which students gain practical experience
- To establish linkage programs with different stakeholders from which the program will be able to tap resources and share experiences
3. Graduate profile and professional profile
3.1 Graduate Profile
Upon graduate from the program, the graduate from BA degree in Accounting and Finance should have accounting and finance knowledge and understanding that enable them to:
- Prepare, analyze, and interpret financial statements competently;
- Audit financial statements and the underlying accounting systems,
- Identify, measure, gather, analyze, interpret and communicate cost and other types of information to the management;
- Identify, anticipate and control risks both in manual and computerized accounting systems;
- Analyze and design accounting information systems, and use computer applications in business transaction cycles;
- Develop the specific skills, modes of analysis and institutional background useful to work in finance areas for profit-making businesses or not-for-profit enterprises
- Establish and manage their own business;
- Conduct accounting and finance related research and form linkage with various accounting and finance research based institutions;
- Manage clerical activities like, keeping general accounts, records and reports; payroll processing and billings.
- Prepare tax return and perform tax plan
- Internalize an appreciation for the role of ethics in both the profession and the business world.
- Ready for furthers studies& trainings.
3.2 Professional profile
With additional training and work experience, the graduates of the program can pursue careers and render professional services in the areas of accounting and finance in various forms of organizations ranging from private, governmental and non-profit entities. After successful compilation of the three years undergraduate program of accounting and finance, students will be able to be:-
- Perform clerical activities
- Work as a cost and managerial accountant
- Perform audit and other assurance services
- Design and implement computerized and manual accounting systems
- Provide consultancy services
- Perform project evaluation and control.
- Prepare and control budget
- Manage financial resource and risk exposures of business firms
- Prepare tax return, work as internal revenue agents and tax administrator
- Run brokerage & dealer firms and investment banks;
- Prepare and communicate financial and non financial information
- Conduct scientific researches in the area of accounting and finance.
4. Academic requirements
4.1 Admission requirements
Anyone who wishes to join the BA program is required to meet the entry requirements of higher institutions stated by Ministry of Education and Each University.
4.2 Graduation requirements
To graduate from the program the student should take all courses offered in the program, a total of 180 EtCTS and earn a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 2.00 or better by the end of the program, and earn no ‘F’ grade in any course. The student is also required to have a cumulative grade-point average of at least 2.00 in all major courses by the end the program.
4.3 Degree Nomenclature
BA Degree in Accounting and Finance and the Amharic version is: የአርት ባችለር ዲግሪ በአካውንቲንግና ፋይናንስ
4.4 Medium of Instruction
The medium of instruction for the program is English Language
4.5 Duration of the study
The completion of the program would require three years of study or six semesters
4.6 Assessment and Evaluation Methods
The program follows a combination of various assessment and evaluation techniques. Considering the very nature of the course and the expected learning outcome from each course, the assessment and evaluation methods include continuous assessment like assignments; quizzes, tests, individual and group projects, paper based and practical exams, presentations, and the like.
5. Teaching /Learning Methods and Mode of Delivery
Depending on the nature of courses in the program, various mode of delivery which involve both the instructor and the students will be used including lectures, class discussions, demonstrations, presentations, and the like.
5.1 Academic Staff profile
The staff profiles of the Accounting and Finance program of the Department are as below
| No | Name | Sex | Nationality | Academic rank | Area of Specialization |
| 1. | Betgilu Oshora | M | Ethiopia | Lecturer | MBA in Finance |
| 2. | Tiblets Niguse | F | “ | Lecturer | MBA in Finance |
| 3. | Addisu Karafo | M | “ | Lecturer | MSc Accounting and finance |
| 4. | Gebremedhin Gebru | M | “ | Lecturer | “ |
| 5. | Abatneh Mengist | M | “ | Lecturer | “ |
| 6. | Mohammed Meko | M | “ | Lecturer | “ |
| 7. | Mohammed Abdelah | M | “ | Lecturer | “ |
| 8. | Tadesse Wube | M | Lecturer | “ |