Accounting

Accounting is the language of business, providing the systematic methods that organisations use to record, report, and interpret financial information. Without accurate accounting, no organisation, whether a small charity, a multinational corporation, or a government department, can understand its financial position, make informed decisions, or demonstrate accountability to its stakeholders. Studying accounting at degree level develops both the technical skills of the profession and the broader analytical and commercial awareness that allows accountants to contribute to strategic decisions at the highest level.

Birkbeck College's four-year full-time BSc Accounting degree is based in the centre of London, close to the global financial centre, as the course itself notes. It has a typical entry tariff of 88 points, making it accessible to students from a range of educational backgrounds. Birkbeck has a long tradition of making higher education accessible to students who might not otherwise reach it, and the programme is designed to develop both essential subject knowledge and the key professional skills that allow graduates to stand out in the accounting field.

You will study financial accounting, management accounting, auditing, taxation, and the business and regulatory contexts within which accounting practice operates, building the technical competence and analytical understanding that accountancy employers require.

Graduates of accounting programmes are well placed to pursue professional qualifications with bodies such as the ICAEW, ACCA, or CIMA, which are the recognised routes to chartered accountant status and the gateway to senior professional roles. Career pathways include audit, tax, management accounting, financial analysis, corporate finance, and accountancy in practice. The skills the degree develops are valued across the private sector, the public sector, and the non-profit world, and many graduates find that an accounting qualification opens doors across a much wider range of industries than the term might suggest.