Accounting and Finance

Accounting and Finance are the financial foundations on which all organisations, whether commercial businesses, public bodies, or charities, depend. Accounting is the systematic recording, classification, and reporting of financial transactions, the mechanism through which organisations communicate their financial position and performance to stakeholders. Finance extends into questions of investment, valuation, risk, and capital allocation, examining how organisations manage money over time and how markets price assets and allocate capital across the economy.

Taken together, they form a rigorous preparation for careers in the financial sector and in the finance functions of organisations across every industry.

At the University of Gloucestershire, this three-year full-time programme provides a solid academic grounding in both disciplines. You will study financial reporting and analysis, management accounting, corporate finance, investment and portfolio management, taxation, and auditing, developing both the technical competence to work in accounting and finance roles and the analytical understanding to interpret financial information meaningfully. The university also offers a four-year version of the degree with a placement year, which provides twelve months of professional experience in industry and is a well-established route into graduate employment in accounting and finance.

The programme is designed to align with the professional accounting qualifications that many graduates go on to pursue, and the technical content provides a strong foundation for examinations with bodies such as ACA, ACCA, and CIMA, reducing the amount of study required at each stage of professional qualification.

Graduates move into roles in accountancy practice, working for audit, tax, and advisory firms, as well as into financial analysis, corporate finance, management accounting, banking, insurance, and financial management in organisations across all sectors. Professional qualification after graduation is common and well supported by the degree's technical grounding. Some graduates pursue postgraduate study in finance, financial management, or accounting.