Philip McCosker

Personal profile

Biography

Since commencing at Coventry University in 2010 I have been module leader for a number of undergraduate and postgraduate financial accounting and financial reporting modules. I am currently module leader for 280ACC Financial Reporting and Analysis (mandatory stage 2 module) and 380ACC International Corporate Reporting (mandatory / option stage 3 module). Successful completion of these modules gives exemption from some professional accountancy exams. Wherever possible I make use of relevant real-world examples and during the last few years to assist understanding and help engage students, have made use of financial statements from several well-known companies including Next, Tesco, Manchester United and easyJet. I am also Academic Course Director for undergraduate accounting degrees.

Prior to Coventry University I was a Senior Trainer for the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) where I was involved in delivering modules on CIPFA’s professional accountancy qualification. I won the CIPFA National Student Forum Excellence in Education award in 2008 and 2009. I was examiner for CIPFA’s Financial Reporting module from 2012-15.

Before lecturing I worked as an accountant gaining experience in public practice and industry. During this time I became a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Research:

Since 1992 football clubs in the English Premier League (EPL) have seen huge growth in revenue. Despite this clubs have struggled to report profits and several are very reliant on soft loans from owners and related parties. The poor performance of clubs around Europe led UEFA to introduce Financial Fair Play Rules (FFPR) from 2012. The EPL also introduced tighter financial regulation that limited expenditure on players’ wages. Using analysis of published financial data for all clubs that played in the EPL during the period 2004-2015 combined with interviews with key informants in the football sector, my thesis looked at why stricter financial regulation was necessary and examined whether this had improved financial performance.