AD3BPC: Business Planning and Control

Module code: AD3BPC

Module provider: School of Agriculture, Policy and Development

Credits: 20

Level: 6

When you’ll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Mr Neil Adams, email: g.n.adams@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2025/6

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 15 October 2025

Overview

Module aims and purpose

Learn how to effectively manage a farm business by increasing the efficient use of the four factors of production (human capital, financial capital, physical capital, entrepreneurship). Gain an in depth understanding of the use of financial tools for decision making and learn how to use the production function to efficiently allocate resources in order to maximise revenue, by examining the relationship between factor-factor, factor-product, and product-product relationship.  In addition, through practical examples and in class exercises and tutorials, review a series of tools used for farm planning and control, investment appraisal and risk analysis.  

The module has the following broad aims: 

• To develop understanding of the control function of farm management 
• To develop understanding of the fundamental role that planning plays in managing a farm business 

This encompasses the following objectives: 

• To review and interpret farm business data, particularly for measuring and analysing the performance of a business in financial terms 
• To apply planning methods and techniques to facilitate managerial decisions making and resource planning 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Understand the planning and control functions of farm business management and its role in the management process, concentrating on financial record keeping and management accounting, analysis and interpretation 
2. Evaluate the use of capital investment funds using investment appraisal techniques 
3. Design and assess whole farm and resource planning focused on land, labour and machinery use 
4. Undestand the basic concepts that underpin managerial economics and the logic for taking decisions on what to produce, how to produce and how much to produce 

Module content

1. Financial record keeping 
2. Management accounting, analysis and interpretation 
3. Financial planning, budgeting techniques 
4. Whole farm and resource planning 
5. Structuring decisions to deal with risk and uncertainty 
6. Optimisation techniques for management decision making 
7. Managerial economics, key concepts 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The delivery strategy for the module is a combination of introductory and follow-up lectures/tutorials based around exercises undertaken in class and outside of timetabled hours.

Study hours

At least 22 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each calendar day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three calendar days;
• where the piece of work is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in you Individual Learning Plan), the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three calendar days of the deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

Where a piece of work is submitted late after a deadline which has been revised owing to an extension granted through the Assessment Adjustments policy and process (self-certified or otherwise), it will be subject to the maximum penalty (i.e., considered to be more than three calendar days late). This will also apply when such an extension is used in conjunction with a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs