Accounting and Finance (MSc)

Award
Master of Science
Typical Offer
2:1 degree View full entry requirements
Duration
1 year
Course Type
Full-time
Campus
Highfield
Next course starts
September 2024

About this course

Become an expert in auditing, corporate governance and tax through our MSc Accounting and Finance degree. You’ll also have a rare opportunity to study international accounting and taxation. This course will prepare you for a variety of careers in accountancy and other sectors.

This master's in accounting and finance is ideal if you have studied in accountancy, business, mathematics, or economics. It’s also suitable if you have relevant professional experience and want to improve your career opportunities.  

You’ll evaluate and apply core technical accounting and finance methods to real-world situations, and gain a detailed understanding of global financial markets and accounting systems. You can use our Bloomberg terminals for live financial data as well as a range of key databases for research.  

Throughout the course you’ll cover: 

  • equity markets 
  • investment decisions 
  • management and financial accounting  
  • mergers and acquisitions  
  • internal and external auditing 
  • behaviour

Unusually for a postgraduate in accounting and finance, you’ll have an opportunity to study international accounting and taxation. You’ll learn how a country’s social, economic, legal and political environment determines its tax regulations, and the impact of tax on company behaviours. 

Other current study choices include the rapidly expanding area of corporate governance. This will give you an understanding of high profile corporate collapses and financial crisis. You can also choose from reporting and markets, or sustainability accounting.

Specialists also give regular guest lectures and will share insights with you from current research and industry issues. This will enhance your studies and career options, giving you real networking opportunities. 

We regularly review our courses to ensure and improve quality. This course may be revised as a result of this. Any revision will be balanced against the requirement that the student should receive the educational service expected. Find out why, when, and how we might make changes.

Our courses are regulated in England by the Office for Students (OfS).

Course lead

Dr Oliver Marnet is the course lead for our MSc Accounting and Finance degree, and former Head of the Accounting Department. His research focus is on behavioural decision-making applied to audit and corporate governance. As well as continued interests in accounting, finance, audit, governance and judgement and decision-making.

He has won competitive research grant awards from, inter alia, the ICAEW and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, UK. He has also conducted research for the European Commission, Big-4 accounting firms, the Pensions & Investment Research Consultants Ltd (PIRC), Research Fortnight HE, and contributed to The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators’ (ICSA) review of the Higgs Guidance for the Financial Reporting Council. Visit Dr Marnet's staff page.

Accreditations

“"What I learnt in the Business School was not limited to the financial sheets or return on investment, but a logical mindset with can-do spirits. The Business School gave me great exposure to the real business world, such as career talks and networking events.””
 Yi (Helena) Zhu, graduate

MSc Accounting and Finance Taster Lecture

Experience MSc Accounting and Finance with a taster lecture on: 'How Much Does it Cost to Make a Cake? A Short Introduction to Costing'.

Course location

This course is based at Highfield.

Awarding body

This qualification is awarded by the University of Southampton.

Download the Course Description Document

The Course Description Document details your course overview, your course structure and how your course is taught and assessed.