Financial decision making impacts every business decision within an organisation, which ultimately has an impact on local and global economies, so it is imperative that accountants ensure their actions benefit a business’ bottom line, without negatively impacting society.

We provide a comprehensive grounding in corporate analysis and reporting, as well as building your confidence in financial decision-making. Your studies can be tailored to suit your preferred career direction in industry, commerce or professional services by choosing from optional modules.

You will cover topics including:

• theories of financial reporting
• management accounting and control
• theoretical and critical approaches to accounting and financial management
• analysis of financial statements

Essex Business School, where this course is based, is home to a number of cutting-edge financial research centres and institutes where the academics leading your course can share their latest research findings:

• The Essex Finance Centre (EFiC) works with leading financial services firms and public sector organisations, governments and policy institutions to produce work that makes real-world impact across the globe.
• Our Centre for Work, Organisation and Society organises regular events, which provide you with access to academic and industry expertise, as well as the opportunity to network with scholars from around the world.

Our students can use industry-leading Bloomberg data in Essex Business School’s virtual trading floor. This state-of-the-art facility gives you access to the same tools used by traders and business analysts worldwide, offering a fantastic opportunity to hone your practical skills in finance and management.

Essex Business School is a member of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute University Affiliation Program.

Professional accreditation

Accredited by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) for the purpose of exemptions from some professional examinations.

Completion of this course gives you accreditation exemptions from up to four professional examination papers with The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

This means that you are able to gain a professional qualification faster by taking fewer exams when you graduate, giving your career a head start.

Why we’re great

• You don’t need an accounting or finance Bachelor’s degree to study this Masters.
• Accredited by ACCA with up to four exemptions from ACCA professional examination papers.
• Our virtual trading floor offers a fantastic opportunity to hone your practical skills in financial management.

Our expert staff

Essex Business School has a number of established research strengths in accounting, including:

• accounting in emerging economies
• sustainable accounting
• governance
• global development
• public sector accounting
• regulation and reporting

Our researchers make a significant impact on the lives of people all around the world, with past and current research projects covering five continents.

The experience and findings of our experts will feature throughout your teaching. For example, you’ll hear from Dr Pawan Adhikari, Reader in Accounting at Essex Business School. Dr Adhikari’s expertise is public sector accounting, in particular highlighting the issues that emerging economies face while improving their accounting and accountability practices.

Pawan’s work is widely used in policy making and his recent work in Nepal has benefitted the government, investors, development partners (for example the World Bank) and wider Nepalese society by ensuring decision-makers are truly held to account, are transparent and open to scrutiny by stakeholders. This standardisation of public sector accounting practices has been a key part of Nepal’s reform agenda for the past ten years.

Two research centres support the research activities taking place in the accounting group. They organise seminars by external invited speakers, Essex Business School staff and research students; co-ordinate workshop programmes; and schedule bi-annual conferences of international renown. These offer a further excellent opportunity for you to engage with the very latest research and ideas in the field of accounting.

The Essex Accounting Centre conducts distinctive world-class research, with a particular focus on accounting research applied in developing countries, including topics such as social responsibility and corporate governance; management accounting change; and corruption and accountability.

Our new interdisciplinary centre, the Centre for Accountability and Global Development (CAGD), is a dynamic hub for social justice research, with a particular focus on accountability across all sectors in both developed and emerging economies. The Centre contributes to impactful global development through rigorous research and engagement with the policy community, which complements the existing research strengths and expertise established within the Essex Accounting Centre.

Specialist facilities