Accounting and Finance

Accounting and finance together cover the two disciplines most directly concerned with how organisations manage and report on their financial resources and how capital is valued and allocated in markets. Accounting provides the systematic framework for recording, summarising, and communicating financial information, and for ensuring that it is accurate, complete, and compliant with the legal and regulatory requirements that govern financial reporting. Finance examines how assets are valued, how investment decisions are made, how risk is managed, and how capital markets function.

Together, they form the intellectual foundation for the majority of professional financial careers.

The Open University offers this programme through distance learning and part-time study, making it accessible to people who are already working in accounting, finance, or business roles and want to develop formal qualifications alongside their professional practice, as well as to those for whom full-time attendance at a campus university is not practical. The OU's track record in delivering rigorous accounting and finance education at a distance is well established, and the support structures for distance learners are comprehensive. Many students studying this programme are simultaneously pursuing professional accounting qualifications, and the two pathways reinforce each other.

You will study financial and management accounting, corporate finance, investment and portfolio theory, financial markets and institutions, taxation, auditing, and the quantitative and statistical methods used in financial analysis. The degree develops both the technical skills required for professional accounting and the broader conceptual understanding of how financial systems work that careers in finance and management require.

Graduates in accounting and finance work across the full spectrum of financial services, public practice accounting, corporate finance, investment management, the finance functions of commercial organisations, and the public sector. Many graduates pursue professional qualifications through bodies such as ACCA, CIMA, ICAEW, or the CFA Institute, using the degree as a foundation and gaining exemptions from professional exam stages. Postgraduate study in accounting, finance, or business is another route for those seeking senior or specialist roles.