Course summary
This degree is designed to equip you with a unique set of accounting and managerial skills to analyse and evaluate company and industry trends. You’ll learn how to receive, interpret and communicate financial and other information in a globalised profession. Gaining a deeper understanding of how finances affect company performance, you’ll be better placed to help firms make effective business decisions. Upon completion of the degree, students will be eligible to apply for eight CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) exemptions and up to six ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).
In this fast-changing business world, there is a shortage of graduate talent with both accounting and business management education and skills. Our course covers management accounting, business and management education, and financial strategy. Generating value for the organisations you work in, you’ll look to the future, analysing the performance of business, advising or creating strategies to solve problems, adapt to changing circumstances and market conditions.
Taught by academics with professional experience as accountants and managers, there is an emphasis on learning through practice, so you graduate with the breadth of knowledge and capabilities to respond proactively and creatively to contemporary business issues and challenges. Throughout the course, you’ll also develop a range of transferrable skills highly prized by employers, such as critical evaluation, self-direction and problem-solving, as well as a sound grasp of analysis, presentations and negotiation techniques.
In December 2021, the University of Westminster received the CIMA Prize-Winner Excellence Award 2021. The Prize-Winner Award recognises university partners with top-performing CIMA students in Case Study exams. The CIMA Excellence Awards celebrate outstanding academic partners, education providers and students who have made significant contributions to the accounting profession and the Institute over the past year.
Top reasons to study with us
- Accredited by CIMA with eight examination exemptions on successful completion and up to six ACCA exemptions depending on your choice of modules
- Large range of optional modules covering specialist topics such as taxation or commercial law, as well as generalist activities like creating and managing an online presence
- Programmes are delivered by a multicultural and international teaching body, who come from professional practice and/or regularly publish in top international journals
- Optional placement year and study abroad semester to gain valuable work experience
- Opportunity to undertake an internship, which has enabled previous students to gain experience with the NHS and with Disney
- Participate in Westminster Working Cultures trips to understand working cultures within businesses abroad, which in the past have included Berlin, Mumbai and Washington DC
- Business School graduates have gone on to work for large banks, including Standard Chartered, Citibank, Société Générale and Paribas, and governmental agencies, such as the World Economic Forum and Taiwanese government
Course structure
This degree combines general business knowledge with specialist financial analysis and reporting that helps inform and monitor business strategy. In each year of study, you will take a combination of core modules and one optional, which cover specialisms such as personal finance or international financial management, for example, or an elective module, which includes the Polylang languages programme.
The following subjects are indicative of what you will study on this course.
| Year 1 | You are introduced to the functions of business organisations, the broader business environment, and key management skills and competencies, including information gathering and analysis, accounting, marketing and organisational behaviour. We consider business organisations – their purposes, structures and governance in a global context, together with cultural differences and ethical constraints. You’ll learn about basic management accounting concepts and deepen your understanding of company financial information, in particular how this information gets reported and analysed. Drawing on real-life data, you’ll be tasked with analysing the financial performance of an organisation of your choice. Subjects of study may include: - Accounting and Finance Fundamentals
- Fundamentals of Management Accounting
- Marketing for Finance and Accounting
- Organisational Behaviour for Finance and Accounting
- Quantitative Methods for Accountants
You will also have the opportunity to take one option module from: Creating and Managing an Online Presence, The Role of the Manager. You may also choose a foreign language as your option module. Credit Level 4 |
| Year 2 | You’ll take financial statement analysis to the next level by analysing the annual report of a chosen real-life company. Applying a ratio analysis, you will provide recommendations to existing and potential investors and present your findings in the report. Management modules will also concentrate on developing key transferable skills more, such as looking into explaining the process of managing the project, evaluating the role of individuals in a company and how this can be used to plan a business better. You’ll learn to make decisions regarding overall resource management and how to influence a company’s future direction and strategies to add value. Subjects of study may include: - Financial Reporting and Analysis
- Intermediate Management Accounting
- Managing and Leading People for Finance and Accounting
- Project Management
Plus two options from: Corporate Governance, Digital Business for Finance and Accounting and other areas of business including languages. Credit Level 5 |
| Placement year | Optional work placement/study abroad yearBetween Years 2 and 3, you can take an optional work placement or study year abroad. The work placement year is a one-year full-time business work placement. Past students have completed placements in a variety of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and prestigious organisations, including Barclays Bank, British Airways, Disney UK, IBM and the National Health Service (NHS). The study abroad year allows you to follow a programme of study at one of our partner institutions, giving you an opportunity to experience life in another country and learn Business from a different cultural viewpoint. You can also choose to split your year abroad into a first semester exchange and a second semester work placement, both conducted overseas. |
| Year 3 | We’ll look in-depth at financial information analysis, building your competence to use relevant and emerging technologies in the field of accounting and management. You’ll analyse detailed accounting information, including consolidated financial statements, making informed decisions and reviewing current research in the area of accounting. You’ll also explore the process of working in a team, applying personal and professional responsibility. Consolidating your learning, you will explore strategic leadership and assess the international environment of an organisation in the complex and unpredictable competitive environment of today’s turbulent economy. Subjects of study may include: - Accounting Theory and Practice
- Advanced Aspects of Management Accounting
- Financial Management
- Strategic Perspectives for Finance and Accounting
Plus two options from: Company Law, Taxation and other areas of business including languages. Credit Level 6 |
This degree is designed to prepare you for a financial management and management accounting roles across all sectors of business, anywhere in the world. You will become a confident analyst and advisor, learning to interpret cost or profit figures produced by an accountant to support managerial decision making. You will graduate with knowledge and professional skills, and a heightened sense of commercial awareness that will be immediately transferable in a business environment. You could enter a wide range of business careers such as banking, insurance, financial services and general management. Many of our students go on to postgraduate study here and at a range of other universities.
The University's Careers and Employability Service has built up a network of over 3,000 employers around the world, helping all our students explore and connect with exciting opportunities and careers.
