Program Overview

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Accounting and finance data informs business decision-making every day so it is vital for organisations to employ accounting and finance professionals who understand how to meet business objectives. Our MAcc Accounting and Finance offers you an integrated Bachelors and Masters degree, allowing you to progress seamlessly from your undergraduate to postgraduate studies within a single course. We not only teach you how financial information underpins leadership, strategy and planning, but how financial decisions can impact society and the economy. We develop your understanding of governance and ethics, so you can take actions for the good of organisations and the wider world. You further your understanding of advanced accounting and corporate finance and can tailor your studies to your professional ambitions by choosing from a range of optional modules. You explore areas such as:

• the preparation of financial statements and budgets
• accounting standards and corporate governance
• financial theory
• portfolio management
• options and futures markets
• risk management

MAcc Accounting and Finance includes an introductory first year to familiarise you with wider business topics, such as management and marketing. In your third year, you have the opportunity to put your knowledge into practice by completing an in-depth, independent research project or dissertation. This will give you the chance to further develop vital employability skills in areas of research, time management and critical thinking. You will further supplement this with the development of your own research portfolio in your final year. Essex is one of just three UK universities to have received Q-Step Affiliate status, including for our MAcc Accounting and Finance course, to support the way we develop the quantitative skills of our graduates. This means we can provide work placement bursaries to develop your skills in evaluating numerical information, analysing data and designing research. We also offer the opportunity to follow a specialised degree path, where you graduate with enhanced quantitative skills. These are evidenced on your degree transcript, to help give you the competitive edge in the graduate job market. MAcc Accounting and Finance is taught at Essex Business School . Our finance group is one of the largest and most respected in the country and our students and staff join us from all over the world. Essex Business School is an Investment Management Certificate (IMC) Advantage Partner and this course is aligned to the IMC syllabus, the industry’s benchmark entry-level qualification. This means that upon graduation you will have completed up to 70% of the IMC qualification which will help you complete the full qualification in a shorter time frame than most other graduates.

Professional accreditation

Completion of this course gives you accreditation exemptions from up to nine professional examination papers with The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) . Depending on the module options you choose during your studies, you can currently obtain up to seven exemptions from professional examinations awarded by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) . This course also enables you to take up to five exemptions for certificate level examinations offered by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) . This means that you can gain a professional qualification by taking fewer exams when you graduate, giving your career a head start. Why we're great.

• This course offers you an integrated Bachelors and Masters, allowing you to progress seamlessly from your undergraduate to postgraduate studies.
• You’re taught by industry renowned academics and practitioners in the fields of accounting and finance.
• Ranked in the top 200 for Accounting and Finance in the QS World University Rankings by Subject (2022).

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Study abroad

The five-year version of this course enables you to study abroad during your third year. In all other areas, this version of the course remains identical to the standard four-year variant. You can study abroad with one of our exchange partners in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, the Middle East, Hong Kong and Japan. In doing so, you experience other cultures and languages, meet new people, and gain intercultural skills that are sought-after by employers.

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Placement year

Alternatively, you may decide to take on a placement year to gain relevant work experience within an organisation. A placement year can give you a competitive edge in the graduate job market and provide you with key contacts within the industry. The Student Development Team can offer bespoke support throughout the process of researching, applying and interviewing for placements. However, it is your responsibility to apply, prepare for and secure your own role. We also offer a number of other employability opportunities during your studies. Our students have gained placements with organisations such as BMW, Samsung and Cummins.

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Our expert staff

You learn from academics and industry practitioners whose research continues to have a real-world impact. Many of our highly qualified and enthusiastic team are published in world-leading journals. Our staff specialise in areas including:

• accounting and economic development in the public and third sectors
• regulation and corporate social responsibility
• finance and banking
• accounting and finance in emerging economies
• corporate governance in developing countries
• contemporary financial markets and their participants

Our staff embed the latest research into your course, so you learn about real-world issues affecting business right now. Professor Thankom Arun is a Professor of Global Development and Accountability in the Accounting Group at Essex Business School. His interdisciplinary research aims to understand the uneven relationships in finance, accounting and development, particularly in emerging nations. You will benefit from Professor Arun’s contemporary research into emerging economies which informs his approach to the application of accountancy theories.

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Specialist facilities

Our MAcc Accounting and Finance is based at our Colchester Campus . In our landmark Essex Business School building - the first zero carbon business school in the UK - you’ll see our sustainable approach to business first-hand. Set around a lush winter garden, it features a wealth of inspiring teaching and study zones. Our custom-designed building provides you with superb facilities :

• a virtual trading floor with Bloomberg Terminals offering direct use of Bloomberg data, information and analytics
• light and spacious lecture theatres with ‘listen again’ recording to aid your study
• study pods and innovation booths for group working
• a café and adjacent foyer to enjoy on-site fresh food and drink
• study skills support provided by the Essex Business School Learning Team

Discover our trading floor: Our Colchester building is located on the Knowledge Gateway , an innovation park housing some of the East of England’s most exciting science, technology and creative businesses. The University of Essex is a University Enterprise Zone , designated by the Government as a centre for nurturing and supporting new digital and creative businesses. Essex Business School is situated on the university’s business and innovation hub. By joining us you will be able to access the additional support from the opportunities for networking, internships and work experience at the on-site Parkside Office Village and Innovation Centre .

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Your future

Experience of the dual disciplines of accounting and finance means that you will be well suited to sector specific roles in chartered accountancy and management accountancy as well as more generalist roles such as management consultancy or financial management. We embed a series of core and specific skills into our undergraduate curriculum for BSc Accounting and Finance to ensure that our graduates are suited to careers in finance, accounting and management roles. All of our taught modules embed elements of our skills map which emulate the skills which are required by employers of business, accounting and finance graduates, these generally include:

• Academic and cognitive skills
• Research skills
• Technology skills
• Communication skills
• Data analysis skills
• Soft skills

We embed a structured approach to student development and skills support throughout the curriculum and through additional support from the Essex Business School Learning Team . Our students have gone on to become financial analysts, accountants, hedge fund managers and insurance trainees, with recent graduate destinations including:

• Private Client Tax Senior Associate at PwC - a multinational professional services network
• Treasury Analyst at Hiscox , a multinational business insurance and home insurance provider
• Junior Tax Consultant at Deloitte – the multinational and financial services network
• Global Finance & Business Analyst at J.P. Morgan – global financial services provider
• Junior Consultant - Valuation & Advisory at Cushman & Wakefield – commercial property and real estate consultants

Our accounting and finance graduates enjoy successful careers in their fields. Additional to the skills development offered by Essex Business School, BSc Accounting and Finance students can also take advantage of the University of Essex Careers Service which focuses in particular on supporting the development of undergraduate employability , including: careers fairs, career mentoring, skills development, careers advice and guidance, placement year support, job opportunities, start-up support and more.