Accounting and Finance

Accounting and finance is the discipline at the heart of how organisations manage their economic resources and report their activity to the world. Accounting provides the systematic framework through which financial transactions are recorded, summarised, and communicated, while finance addresses the decisions about how to allocate and grow resources over time. Together they form the essential analytical infrastructure of any well-run business or public sector body, and a degree that covers both gives you a genuinely versatile and professionally recognised foundation.

At the University of Northampton, this programme is offered on a part-time basis, allowing you to balance study with work or other commitments. It includes a sandwich year, giving you the opportunity to undertake an extended placement with a real employer, and work placement opportunities are built into the degree's structure. This combination of flexible study mode and practical professional experience makes the programme particularly well suited to people who are already working in finance or accounting roles and want to develop their qualifications alongside their careers.

You will study financial and management accounting, corporate finance, taxation, auditing, investment analysis, and the regulatory context in which financial professionals operate, building both technical competence and the broader analytical judgement that employers value.

Graduates of accounting and finance degrees move into roles across the full spectrum of the profession, including audit, tax, corporate finance, management accounting, financial analysis, and compliance. Many graduates pursue professional qualifications through bodies such as ICAEW, ACCA, CIMA, or CIPFA, and degree programmes like this one are often structured to provide exemptions from parts of those qualifications. The combination of practical placement experience and a recognised academic qualification gives graduates a strong starting position in the job market.

Others continue to postgraduate study in finance, business, or taxation, or move into leadership and management roles within the organisations where they gain their initial experience.