B2026 Pre2023

Part A: Business and Commerce Specified Study (8 Units)

This part is quite easy to understand, but there are a couple of tricks to look out for.

First, you must take these six units:

1. ACW1020  Accounting in business OR ACW1120 Financial accounting 1
2. BTW1042 Business law
3. ECW1101 Introductory microeconomics
4. ETW1001 Introduction to statistical analysis
5. MGW1010 Introduction to management
6. MKW1120 Marketing theory and practice

You will notice a couple of things about this list.

• In the first row there is a choice (the big “OR”). That means you have to choose which of these units you will study. The “OR” means that you cannot study both of them (we call that a “prohibition”). How do you decide which one to study? Here is some advice: if you are planning to study an Accounting major you must study ACW1120. Most students who don’t study accounting chose ACW1020 but you can study ACW1120 if you wish. If you want more information about these two units click on the links for each of them.
• You will notice that all these units have a “1000” code. That means they are first-year level units. So, you should take these units in your first year of study (that is, the first two semesters of study).

What about the other two units in Part A?

Good question. So far, we have only covered 6 units in Part A. There are two other units you need to take:

1. One “capstone” unit

   You must take one of the following capstone units. They are called capstone units because they provide an advanced education experience that integrates the different elements of the degree. You will see that these are all 3000 code units, so you will take this unit in your final year of study upon completion of 96 credit points or more. Once again there is a special rule for Accountancy students: they don’t have a choice of capstone and must study ACW3900 Global Issues in Accounting.
   
   Non-Accounting major students have four options for their capstone:

   • BEW3001 Ethics and Sustainability in a Business Environment
   • BEW3102 Experiential Learning Project
   • BEW3110 Work Experience Program
   • BEW3555 Integrative Business Practices
2. One additional unit

To complete the requirements for part A you can take any unit that is listed in the Bachelor of Business and Commerce. You will find a full list here. This can be a 1000 level unit, a 2000 level unit or a 3000 level unit. It’s up to you. But you need to be a little careful. When you choose your additional unit you will need to check if there is what we call a “prerequisite”. That means that in order to study some 2000 or 3000 level units you must have already completed a particular lower level unit. So, if you have your heart set on a particular additional unit, check if there is a prerequisite.*

*For example, the prerequisite for BFW2140 Corporate Finance 1 is ECW1101 Introductory Microeconomics because you need some prior knowledge in microeconomics to understand the contents in corporate finance.

Part A summary

Six first-year units + one third-year capstone unit + one “additional” unit = 8 units

Part B Business Listed Major (8 units)

In Part B you must complete what we call a “major”. A major is a set of eight units that concentrate on a single area of study. You can chose your major from the following list:

• Accountancy
• Business Analytics
• Applied Economics
• Banking and Financial Management
• Business Law and Taxation
• Econometrics and Business Statistics
• International Business Management
• Management
• Strategic Marketing

Each major has its own set of rules. You need to make sure that you follow the rules so you can count the major in your degree. If you don’t follow the rules of the major you won’t be able to graduate after three years.

It sounds complicated, but it’s not really. Majors have two different components.

• A “core” of compulsory units. All the majors in the degree have a core of compulsory units that you must study to complete the major. For some majors, the core is large: all eight units, so in these majors you have no choice, you must study all eight units in the list.

• Additional units. Some, but not all, majors have additional units, on top of the core. There is a list of additional units from which you can choose some, to complete the eight unit major. For example, if there are 5 compulsory core units, you will have to choose three additional units from the list. If there are 6 compulsory core units you will have to choose two additional units from the list. And, as we said in the point above, if there are 8 compulsory core units there is no list of additional units. Sometimes the list of additional units will have a mini-rule like “you must choose at least one 3000 level unit from the list.”

Sometimes students find it hard to decide which units in the additional unit list to study. To help you decide, read the unit descriptions (just click on the unit code to take you to the link). You may also find it useful to get the views of other students who have already taken some of the units. And you can always ask questions in our briefing sessions. It's your choice, so you need to do some research to help you decide.

If you look at the unit lists for the majors, you will notice that some of them have a special surprise: they include one of the 1000 level units you have already studied in Part A. That means you have already completed one of the units in the major. Congratulations! Does that mean that you only need to complete seven more units? Not quite, you have to pick up one more “additional” unit from the degree so that in Part A and Part B combined you have a total of 16 units.

Part B summary

You must complete one major = 8 units. If the major includes a 1000 level unit from Part A you must complete one additional business unit.

Part C: Free Elective Study (8 Units)

This is the most adventurous part of the Bachelor of Business and Commerce because the choice is yours! Here you have eight units of “electives'' which means that you can choose what you want to study. Let’s discuss some of the common choices that students make:

• Another major from the Bachelor of Business and Commerce.

Many students study a second major so that they can graduate with a “double major”. If you want to do this, you need to plan early so you can start studying the units from your second major early. If you study a second major you need to follow the rules of the major as explained above.

In your second major you may also find there is a 1000 level unit that you have already studied in Part A. You may also find that there is another 2000 or 3000 level unit that you have already studied in your first major. Because you have already completed these units, they become free electives in Part C: you can take any unit you want to fill these elective slots.

• A minor (or two minors) from the Bachelor of Business and Commerce

You can also take a minor, or two, from the Bachelor of Business and Commerce. A minor is a set of four units that concentrate on a single area of study. You can choose your minor from the following list. Of course, you cannot take a minor in the same area of study as your major.

You may find that your minor has a unit (or even two) that you have already studied in your first major. Because you have already completed these units, they become free electives in Part C: you can take any unit you want to fill these elective slots.

• Free electives

You can use the units in Part C as “free electives”. That means that you can take any Monash units, provided you meet any pre-requisite requirements or other limitations (such as enrolment caps). If you take a minor, you can combine a minor with four free electives. When you are choosing free electives you need to check that you don’t break two important degree rules:

• You can only count ten 1000 level units in your degree (including the 6 you have completed in Part A and any additional 1000 level units in your major).
• You must complete at least six 3000 level units.

Part C summary

You must complete 8 additional units. This could be one major, or two minors, or a minor plus four free electives, or eight free electives.

Special Advice for students who want to complete an Accounting Major

Part A. Business and Commerce Specified Study

You have to complete 8 units in Part A. In your first year, you will be completing these units:

• ACW1120 Financial Accounting 1
• BTW1042 Malaysian Business Law
• ECW1101 Introductory Microeconomics
• ETW1001 Introduction to Statistical Analysis
• MGW1010 Introduction to Management
• MKW1120 Marketing Theory and Practice

In your third year, you are required to complete ACW3900 Global Issues in Accounting.

You will have to complete one unit to make up the 8 units required in Part A. This can be any unit in the degree. But if you are planning on studying a second major (in addition to your Accountancy major), you must study ECW1102 Introductory Macroeconomics as your additional unit. This will mean you can fit a second major into your degree.

Part B. Business Listed Major

To gain a major in Accountancy, you need to complete these 8 units:

• ACW2120 Financial Accounting 2
• ACW2220 Management Accounting 1
• ACW2420 Accounting Information Systems
• ACW3120 Financial Accounting 3
• ACW3220 Management Accounting 2
• ACW3620 Assurance and Audit Services
• BTW2213 Company Law
• BTW3153 Income Tax Law

However, if you plan to pursue a professional accounting qualification, you will have to complete more units. The BBusCom course is accredited by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), CAANZ (Certified Accountants Australia and New Zealand) and CPA (Certified Practising Accountants). To be exempted from some modules set by these professional bodies, you must complete the following units, in addition to the Accountancy major:

• ECW1102 Introductory Macroeconomics (enrol in the first or second year)
• BFW2140 Corporate Finance 1 (enrol in the first or second year)

Since Part B consists of 8 units only, the completion of these professional accounting accreditation units would come under Part C.

Special Note for Accounting students going for exchange: Students wishing to get professional bodies accreditation are highly advised to NOT enrol for Accounting units while going for Global Intercampus Program or the Interuniversity Exchange Program. All accounting units for professional accreditation exemptions should be taken in Monash University Malaysia to ensure the unit codes match the Monash University Malaysia's unit codes already approved by these accreditation bodies

Part C. Free Elective Study

There are a number of different options for Part C of the degree. They are summarized here.

Most students majoring in Accountancy like to study a second major in Part C. This is possible, but you have to make sure that you pick up the second unit required by the professional bodies. (Remember that we recommended that you take one of these units, ECW1102 Introductory Macroeconomics,  as your additional unit in Part A).

How can you include the second required unit, BFW2140 Corporate Finance 1, if you are taking a second major in Part C? In fact, it's quite easy!

If you are taking the Banking and Financial Management major, there is no problem at all as BFW2140 is required in the major.

For all the other majors, it's a bit trickier because they don’t include BFW2140. But remember, that all of the other majors include one of the 1000 level units you have already studied in Part A. So you can study BFW2140 as the additional unit required to make up for this overlap.

So, it's easy. You can complete a second major and meet the requirements of the professional bodies!

How will my unit/major selection impact on my exchange program

During your course, you can opt to study a semester or two at any one of Monash's partner universities or study at a Monash campus in Australia for one semester.

You are encouraged to plan for this early in your course, preferably in your first semester, as you will need some flexibility in your course structure if deciding to study in Australia or a partner university.

Studying at a Monash Australia campus is the most convenient as you will find that most units you need for your major (or minor) are also offered in Australia. Apart from the Faculty conditions, you would also need to check if the units you need for your major are offered while you are in Australia.

If you prefer to study at a partner university, the choice of units you can take at the partner university will be dependent if you are substituting it with a Monash compulsory core unit, unit contributing to your major, or free elective unit. There are faculty policies in determining how the partner university subjects are assessed and approved:

• For compulsory core units, an equivalency assessment will be made where the partner university subject will need to share an 80% or greater overlap in learning outcomes, content and assessment.
• Units required for your major offers some flexibility in equivalency assessment and will be determined by the Faculty. This will be approved if the partner university subject is judged to have sufficient equivalent content and equates to six Monash credits on its own or in combination with another host subject.
• The most frequently used type of unit by students who exchange to a partner university are free electives. These units offer flexibility in your choice of study while overseas and can be anything judged suitable for credit at an appropriate learning volume.

Regardless of your study abroad location of choice, you will find that a single major offers greater flexibility in your course plan as you will have more ‘free electives’ to undertake while overseas. The choice is ultimately yours and we encourage you to plan early.

Students may plan their studies for exchange by referring to the Information Sessions particularly the Study Plan videos on Monash Abroad page, by referring to the Academic Details tab of the partner institution in Monash Abroad Portal, and by using the DIY Course Map (under Course tab). For Global Intercampus Program, students may match their equivalent units by referring to the Prohibitions units under the Requisites tab in the respective unit handbook

Students are not required to submit their course map for validation or verification from the Education Management Office for exchange purpose