Careers in accounting

A degree in accounting from Essex Business School will equip you with the knowledge and skills for you to be a competitive candidate in any area where accountancy is required.

Accountancy firms make up a huge amount of employment opportunities for accounting graduates, but there are plenty of opportunities for roles in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as many businesses have their own finance departments rather than outsourcing their financial obligations to one of the larger accountancy firms.

Common accounting roles after graduating include:

• Accounts Assistant
• Financial Analyst
• Graduate accountant
• Graduate Accounts Trainee
• Trainee Tax Accountant

Accounting graduates from Essex Business School have gone on to work for:

• Hiscox
• EY
• KPMG
• Lloyds Banking Group

Common careers for accounting graduates include:

• Business Recovery and Insolvency Consultant
• Chartered accountant
• Corporate Finance Accountant
• Financial Accountant
• Forensic Accountant
• Tax Accountant

Throughout your studies in accounting at Essex Business School you will be exposed to a range of skills development embedded throughout our curriculum.

Although we teach you far more skills than are listed below (see the Essex Business School Careers page for more about embedded skills) we have pulled out the list below from our accounting skills map which we think will be most useful for a career in accounting:

Accounting skills

• Analysing quantitative data
  The ability to analyse all kinds of numerical data, as well as financial data, is key to any level of career success in accounting.
• Analysing financial data
  A fundamental skill for accountancy which our teaching focuses on developing from day one.
• Working with data interactively
  How you work with data is as important as the data streams that you work with. We teach you skills in how to see more than just numbers on a spreadsheet.
• Specialist software for subject
  The accounting and finance industries rely heavily on software for number processing and we ensure that your skills in operating Bloomberg terminals and MatLAB are up to scratch.
• Data visualisation
  Data visualisation is key to client engagement, regardless of which industry you end up in so we focus on teaching you how to present data in easy to digest and attractive manners.
• Showing initiative
  Quite often in the field of accountancy you'll be given projects to work on independently, so while we advance your teamwork and leadership skills, we also focus on encouraging you to take initiative with your own projects and problem solving opportunities.
• Desk research
  Much of the work you will do as an accountant will involve the ability to research and operate using research from secondary sources. Therefore the skills you develop in research methodologies and techniques will see you through your degree and out into the world of work.
• Imaginative thinking in accounting
  A specific accountancy related skill, we encourage our accounting students to think imaginatively to see problems from all angles. The most direct solution is not always the most sustainable and we encourage sustainability in accounting wherever possible.
• New ways of seeing accounting
  We encourage our accounting students to view accounting through a variety of lenses, but particularly through those of gender and environment, two of the key research areas of the Essex Accounting Group.

Accounting is one of our five core subject groups and is led by our Accounting Group which is based at Essex Business School Colchester.

This means that we offer further study in accounting at both Masters and Research degree (PhD) level.

If you are interested in studying accounting at a higher level or want to take your own research in accounting and accountability to the next level, then you are welcome to apply for one of our postgraduate degrees in accounting:

Masters study

We offer five Masters degrees in accounting which allow you to specialise in either pure accounting or combine your core subject with our expertise in finance and banking:

• MSc Accounting
• MRes Accounting
• MSc Accounting and Finance
• MSc Accounting and Financial Management
• MSc International Accounting and Banking

Postgraduate research

Our research centres take on modern issues in accounting. The Centre for Accountability and Global Development is an interdisciplinary research centre which focusses on research and training for advancing accountability in both developed and emerging economies while the Essex Accounting Centre focuses on research and teaching of interdisciplinary approaches to accounting to inform public policy.

If your thesis explores issues such as; accountability in accounting, accounting in emerging economies, intersectional representation in accounting or accounting processes; then our supervisors would be interested in speaking with you about exploring it here within our accounting research centres:

• PhD Accounting
• PhD Accounting and Finance
• Integrated PhD Accounting