Why choose Accountancy as an undergraduate degree?

Any individual, whatever his or her age or income, needs to have some skills in managing his or her money. Any organization, whatever its size or purpose, needs to record and maximize the use of its assets and control its liabilities. It is difficult to think of any occupations that penetrate so often, so widely and so deeply into our lives than Accountancy and Finance. Simply, the expertise learned in studying Accountancy and / or Finance has an essential, integral and enduring application to the 'real world'.

Maybe friends have already decided that, while at university, they will study a subject either linked to a specific career, such as Medicine or Law, or where they have a particular gift, say in languages or a love of literature. However, if you are looking for a way of understanding how 'business' or 'organizations' work then 'following the money' could be a sensible way to proceed. Accountancy and / or Finance close few doors whilst, potentially, opening many others.

You do not even have to make any final decisions at the outset. A broad combination of joint disciplines can be undertaken in conjunction with one or other of Accountancy or Finance. Moreover, in that Accountancy and / or Finance has close alignment with Management Studies and Economics, in the first year these are studied alongside. Only in Second Year and subsequently, as the degree progresses, is greater specialization required. Then, there is a mixture of various options together with compulsory courses.

A significant benefit of having studied Accountancy and / or Finance as degrees is that these can form part of a direct path to being granted the optimal exemptions given by Professional institutes from the examinations necessary to get Professional Qualification status. This means becoming a CA or ACA, or a member, say, of ACCA, (the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants). There are many such bodies and many confusing sets of initials. For example, at the University of Aberdeen, courses are accredited by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) so that you would receive credit for courses that you would otherwise need to undertake, whilst working full-time. In the job market, these exemptions can make you particularly attractive to some employers.

Precise arrangements on accreditation will change over any three to four year periods, so it is not possible now to be specific as to exact exemptions for when you will graduate. However, as important as fewer exams in future, is experience of varied Accountancy and / or Finance subjects that will help you decide on particular interests for where to specialize ~ e.g. in Tax , or in Auditing, or in Personal Finance, or in Corporate Finance.

These further Professional memberships are the next stage beyond a degree but provide core foundations for future careers and employment in commercial and non-profit entities literally all around the world. For the language of Accountancy and Finance, is truly international and global. Whilst Banking, Fund-management, Taxation practice, Management accounting and Auditing are some of the more obvious destinations for an Accountancy and / or Finance graduate, the possibilities are everywhere and anywhere. Rewards are high. But first you need to gain the knowledge and expertise!