Overview
What drives an organisation’s decision making? How can accounting improve business performance? Combine your interests in both accounting and management to gain a unique skills set and career advantage.
Accountants and managers must work closely to interpret financial data and influence business performance. By understanding how both commercial functions operate, their priorities and unique vocabulary, you can work more effectively as a team to deliver organisational success.
Through BSc Accounting and Management you gain a foundation in financial accounting, management accounting, financial management, management and organisation studies, with an opportunity to develop expertise in a chosen specialism.
You’ll gain a broad understanding of accounting and management through studying a range of topics including:
- accounting and financial reporting
- prepare financial statements in accordance with UK GAAP
- quantitative and qualitative management accounting systems
- auditing
- management theory and practice
- organisational behaviour
- business strategy leadership
- human resource management
Our accounting and management degree will give you a strong grounding in financial and management accounting, with case studies applying accounting theory to practice. You learn how to manage people and organisations in complex global environments and develop the quantitative skills needed for strategic decision making.
In your first year, you are also introduced to topics such as marketing, finance and economics. This ensures you gain a broad knowledge of core business areas and concepts which you can use throughout your degree and future career. As your course develops, you can choose from selected optional modules to tailor the programme to your career aspirations.
In your final 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.
BSc Accounting and Management is taught at Essex Business School. We are an internationally diverse school, committed to sustainable and ethical business practices.
Study abroad
The four-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 three-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.
Placement year
Alternatively, you could opt for a placement year to gain relevant work experience within an external business. A work placement 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. Our students have gained placements with organisations such as BMW, Samsung and Cummins.
Our expert staff
You are taught by a highly qualified, enthusiastic team of academics and experienced, relevant practitioners with wide-ranging research interests. Their research is used in your lectures and seminars so you learn about the latest issues impacting business today.
Our staff specialise in areas including:
- accounting and economic development in the public and third sectors
- regulation, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility
- human resource management
- supply chain management
- accounting and finance in developing economies
- finance and banking
- contemporary financial markets and their participants
- Corporate governance in developing countries
Professor Thankom Arun is an active researcher and Professor of Global Development and Accountability in the Accounting Group at Essex Business School. His interdisciplinary research aims to understand the uneven relationships in accounting, finance and development, with a focus on emerging nations. On our accounting degrees, you will benefit from Professor Arun’s contemporary research which informs his approach to the application of accountancy.
Specialist facilities
Our BSc Accounting and Management 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, are a wealth of inspiring teaching and study zones..
Our custom designed building provides you with superb facilities:
- a state-of-the-art trading floor with Bloomberg Financial Market Labs, where you’ll gain hands-on experience and learn how to utilise live business data
- modern lecture theatres with ‘listen again’ recording to aid your study
- study pods and innovation booths for group working
- a café with and adjacent foyer to enjoy on-site fresh food and drink
- study skills workshops and advice
Our business school is located on the University’s Knowledge Gateway, where you may be able to take advantage of networking and work experience opportunities with businesses located on site.
Your future
The dual disciplines of accounting and management will make you an attractive prospect for many graduate employers and will prepare you for a variety of careers, including: HR, management accounting, accountancy, management and consultancy.
Many of our graduates go on to graduate management training schemes or management accounting roles straight after graduation as Essex Business School prepares you for the world of work from day one.
The BSc Accounting and Management curriculum taught here embeds transferable employability skills in analysis, critical thinking, presentation and communication across all modules.
The Study Skills module in year one will develop your academic skills, while the Student Success modules in year two will build on what you learned in year one and so that you can easily step up to meet the growing academic demands of your second and final years. The Successful Futures module in year two will foster your professionalism and introduce you to the graduate recruitment process, including practical advice to excel at interviews and assessment centres.
Recent graduate destinations include:
- Media and Marketing Strategist at Generation of Disciples – a young adults fellowship
- Audit Associate at EY – a multinational professional services firm
- Stewardship and Communications Officer at a secondary academy group
- Executive at PwC – a multinational professional services network
The School will support you with a range of skills and careers opportunities, including: skills development workshops; employer talks; skills events and careers conferences.
BSc Accounting and Management students can also take advantage of the services offered by the Student Development Team, including: careers advice; work experience; internships; placements; and voluntary opportunities.
Why we’re great
- You can gain work experience with an industry placement year.
- We teach you to be accountable, act ethically and make financial decisions that positively impact both organisations and society.
- This course gives you exemptions from many professional exams, giving a head start to your career.
Structure
Course structure
The course structure is designed to allow you to explore two contrasting sides of business.
In your first year our current students cover a variety of business essentials, designed to help you in a wide variety of potential careers. However, we are planning some changes to our first year and we’ll be tailoring it more closely to your chosen course. After that you’ll have accounting and financial management modules, which will focus mainly on the numbers, and management modules which will focus on people, organisations and strategy. You’ll also have some optional modules available to tailor your course to your own interests.
We offer a flexible course structure with a mixture of core/compulsory modules, and optional modules chosen from lists. ?Please be aware that we are planning changes to our first year to make it more relevant to your chosen course.
Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field. The course content is therefore reviewed on an annual basis to ensure our courses remain up-to-date so modules listed are subject to change.
Teaching and learning disclaimer
Following the impact of the pandemic, we made changes to our teaching and assessment to ensure our current students could continue with their studies uninterrupted and safely. These changes included courses being taught through blended delivery, normally including some face-to-face teaching, online provision, or a combination of both across the year.
The teaching and assessment methods listed show what is currently approved for 2022 entry; changes may be necessary if, by the beginning of this course, we need to adapt the way we’re delivering them due to the external environment, and to allow you to continue to receive the best education possible safely and seamlessly.
Placement
On a placement year you gain relevant work experience within an external business or organisation, giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market and providing you with key contacts within the industry. The rest of your course remains identical to the three-year degree.
Year abroad
On your year abroad, you have the opportunity to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden your degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that you are mature, adaptable, and organised. The rest of your course remains identical to the three-year degree.
Teaching
- Teaching includes a combination of lectures, seminars and computer-based lab sessions
- Modules delivered by experts in the field as well as guest speakers
- Contribute and interact in lectures through the use of smart technology
- Lecture presentations and notes are uploaded online beforehand to help you prepare in advance
- Complete your final-year project in consultation with a personal supervisor
Assessment
- Assessed through traditional methods of end-of-year exams and multiple choice questions in class tests and essays
- Plus more innovative and creative assessments include laboratory work, poster presentations, real-business case problems and group presentations
- Your first year marks do not count towards your final degree
