By Robbie Bailey
The second year of the BA Accounting and Financial Management programme 
aims to build on core knowledge gained during year one whilst allowing students to tailor their degree by choosing two optional modules. After the fun and excitement of first year, I found starting second year quite daunting as I realised that my grades from this point onwards actually count towards my final degree classification so it was important to get off to a good start. However, it hasn’t meant that I have had to stop having fun and enjoying the student life completely!
There are four core modules and two optional modules in the second year of this programme, with all six being twenty credit modules. ‘Intermediate Financial Accounting’, ‘Intermediate Management Accounting’ and ‘Financial Management’ are all continuations of modules studied in the first year of the degree and are designed to build on this foundation knowledge. In Financial Accounting, you are introduced to a range of accounting standards and key areas of debate in real-world accountancy. Part of the assessment for this module is an essay discussing the arguments surrounding these issues. In Financial Management, you will be introduced to bond pricing and advanced investment appraisal amongst various topics. Personally, the Financial Management has been my favourite module I have studied since arriving in Sheffield and this has led me to pursue a career in finance after graduation. I have also been successful in getting a finance internship at Santander this summer and this module helped me a lot during the application process.
Second year students also study ‘Introduction to Corporate Governance and Asset Pricing’, a module designed to help students develop their finance knowledge further. This course covers topics such as risk/return pay offs and portfolio theory and is significantly important for anyone aiming to go into the finance field. I am currently in the process of studying this module and I am really enjoying it so far as it is quite m
athematical and this is an area of strength for me personally.
Students have a choice of two optional modules, from a list of eight, covering a variety of topics from strategy to equity analysis. Personally, I chose ‘Quantitative Methods for Accounting and Finance’ and ‘Law for Management’. I enjoyed the analysis module in year one so I chose to study quantitative methods as it was a natural progression from that module. Topics covered include Multiple Regression Analysis and Probability. The management law module appealed to me as I wanted to study something slightly different and I also felt that the areas covered would give me important knowledge for my future career. I am studying the module currently and have so far been introduced to UK and European law making and will soon be studying areas such as Contract Law and Negligence.
I am really enjoying my second year so far and I am definitely starting to feel like I have a very good knowledge of a number of key areas in accounting and finance. Many students say that second year is the best year. I would agree with this as, although the work is hard and requires a lot of effort, it has made me appreciate my free time and my student life a lot more.