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Accountancy

View the employability skills

A graduate in accountancy typically will:

  • be able to critically evaluate arguments and evidence
  • be able to analyse and draw reasoned conclusions concerning structured and unstructured problems, from both given data and data that must be acquired
  • be able to locate, extract and analyse data from multiple sources
  • self-manage their learning
  • be numerate, including being able to manipulate financial and other numerical data and to appreciate statistical concepts
  • be effective in ICT including using spreadsheets, word processing software and online databases
  • be able to present quantitative and qualitative information, together with analysis, argument and commentary, in a form appropriate to the intended audience
  • have effective interpersonal skills, including the ability to work in teams
  • understanding the contexts in which accounting operates, including the legal and social environment, the accountancy profession, the business entity, the capital markets and the public sector
  • understand the current technical language and practices of accounting (for example, recognition, measurement and disclosure in financial statements, managerial accounting, auditing, and taxation) in a specified field
  • understand some of the alternative technical language and practices of accounting (for example, alternative recognition rules and valuation bases, accounting rules followed in other socio-economic domains, alternative managerial accounting approaches to control and decision making)
  • be skilled in recording and summarising transactions and other economic events, preparing financial statements, analysing the operations of business
  • understand contemporary theories and empirical evidence concerning accounting in at least one of its contexts and have the ability to critically evaluate such theories and evidence
  • understand theories and empirical evidence concerning financial management, risk and the operation of capital markets (in cases of degrees with significant finance content).

Accountancy is concerned with the provision and analysis of information for a variety of decision-making, accountability, managerial, regulatory, and resource allocation purposes. It is practised, in part, within a professional service context. The study of accounting involves the consideration of conceptual and applied aspects, including at least some of the theoretical considerations underlying the subject. If accountancy is studied in combination with a significant amount of finance, the course content will also cover the operation and design of financial systems, risk, financial structures, and financial instruments.

Students are required to study how the design, operation and validation of accounting systems affects, and is affected by, individuals, organisations, markets and society. Such perspectives may include the behavioural, the economic, the political, and the sociological. In everyday speech, 'finance' is often used synonymously with 'accounting' whereas, in accounting and in economics, finance is restricted to the science or study of the management of fund. Some students will pursue a professional accountancy qualification on graduation. Others consider the subject to be a useful introduction to the worlds of business and finance. Some students study accounting predominantly as an intellectual pursuit. A degree in accounting is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for progress towards professional qualification and the content of degrees is not prescribed by professional bodies.

Did you know graduates in this subject develop skills in effective team working, organisational and interpersonal sensitivity?


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