Accounting and Finance

Accounting and finance are two disciplines that sit at the heart of how organisations understand and manage their financial position. Accounting is concerned with measuring, recording and reporting financial information: creating the accounts that allow investors, regulators and managers to understand what an organisation owns, owes and has earned. Finance takes a more analytical and forward-looking perspective, concerned with how capital is raised and invested, how risk is managed, and how the value of financial assets and businesses is assessed.

Together, they give you a rigorous and comprehensive understanding of the financial dimension of business and economic life.

At London South Bank University, this programme, which includes a foundation year for students who need additional preparation before degree-level study, develops your knowledge of financial accounting, management accounting, corporate finance, investment, taxation and the regulatory frameworks that govern financial reporting. The foundation year is designed to build the mathematical and analytical skills that accounting and finance require, giving you a solid base before you move into the main degree. Across the full programme you will develop both technical competence and the analytical capacity to interpret and communicate financial information in ways that support good decision-making.

The programme is typically structured to provide exemptions from some of the examinations set by professional accounting bodies, which can reduce the time it takes to qualify professionally after graduation. Critical thinking, written communication and numeracy are all developed throughout.

Graduates from accounting and finance degrees typically move into roles in chartered accountancy, audit, management accounting, corporate finance, financial planning and analysis, banking, investment management, taxation, and business management. Professional qualification with bodies such as ACCA, CIMA, ICAEW or CISI is the most common pathway after graduation, and postgraduate study in finance or accounting is an option for those who want to specialise further or pursue a research career.