BSc Accounting and Finance
Course Overview
Understanding the financial world can lead you down many career paths, and a degree in Accounting and Finance can give you the best start.
If you are interested in current financial issues and are considering a career in either accountancy or finance, this course lets you sample the essentials of both disciplines to help you choose which interests you most.
Since almost every management job requires an understanding of budgeting and financial administration, this degree can open up much broader career opportunities as, upon successful completion, you should be equipped with a solid foundation of knowledge and skills in financial management within a business context. As part of our focus on your career prospects, we will also help you develop the skills often quoted by employers as lacking in graduates – critical evaluation, self-direction and problem-solving – incorporating analysis, presentations and negotiation techniques into your studies.
Main Study Themes
Accounting and finance fundamentals
The basic principles, rationale and methods used in analysing, recoding, planning and managing accounts or finances.
Taxation and law
Study of relevant business and competition law, as well as essential knowledge of tax initiatives, such as company, valued added, personal and inheritance tax.
Economics and business
Understanding how businesses operate within the external environment and the impact on finance of things like competition or overseas tax legislation on profit and loss.
Statistical analysis and quantitative methods
Essential numeracy skills and analysis for financial reporting, forecasting and modelling, for example, evaluating how much debt a company can afford or the optimum percentage sales growth.
Course Information
A key advantage of this degree is the flexibility that comes from gaining a wide breadth of knowledge across both disciplines of accounting and finance, with the opportunity to choose from a large range of optional modules on topics like Audit and Assurance, Business Strategy or Portfolio Management.
As well as simulation and practical exercises, such as preparing accounts or assessing financial investment options, you will apply theory to real-life scenarios that you might encounter on a day-to-day basis as a professional. In the past, students have analysed the detail of corporate accounts from supermarket giants’ Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons; they’ve also looked at the competencies and skills of easyJet in comparison to its competitors to try to ascertain what has contributed to its financial success.
