What can I do with a degree in Accounting and Finance?

Find out where the range of skills you develop studying accounting and finance can take you. Here we list potential careers and tell you how you can find a job in this sector.

Accounting and finance careers

The jobs listed below may interest Accounting and Finance students and graduates. Although many of these careers are open to graduates in other subjects, an Accounting and Finance degree will be useful and some employers may give preference to relevant graduates. Accounting and Finance graduates are also likely to be eligible for exemptions from some professional accountancy exams.

Chartered Accountant

Chartered accountants are never limited to one discipline. You can take your career into a diverse range of specialist areas including auditing, taxation, corporate finance, forensic accounting and business recovery.

Prospects job profile: Chartered Accountant
Inside Careers: Chartered Accountancy
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

Chartered Certified Accountant

Chartered certified accountants provide a wide range of accountancy services. You can work within a range of sectors including public practice, financial services or the corporate sector. 

Prospects job profile:  Chartered certified accountant

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

Chartered Management Accountant

Chartered management accountants prepare, develop and analyse financial information for an organisation's management team and provide strategic advice to management colleagues.

Prospects job profile: Chartered management accountant
Target job profile: Chartered management accountant
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

Chartered Public Finance Accountant

Chartered public finance accountants work throughout public services worldwide, in national audit agencies, in major accountancy firms, and in other bodies where public money needs to be effectively and efficiently managed.

Prospects job profile: Chartered public finance accountant
The Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants

Investment Banker

Investment banking relates primarily to helping large organisations access the capital markets to raise money for expansion or other needs. Two main areas of interest in investment banking for graduates are typically Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) and Proprietary Trading.

Prospects job profile:  Investment banker
Inside Careers: Banking and Investments

Retail Banker

Retail bankers work in “high street” banks and building societies, online banks and other providers of banking and financial services. They assist individuals and small businesses with financial services ranging from loans and mortgages to savings and investments.

Prospects job profile: Retail banker
Target job profile: Retail banker
Inside Careers: Retail Banking

Tax Adviser

A tax adviser works with companies and individuals, trying to create the best tax strategies for them. The main areas of specialisation are corporate, personal, international, inheritance tax, VAT, National Insurance, and trusts and estates.

Prospects job profile: Tax adviser
The Association of Taxation Technicians

Chartered Institute of Taxation

For further information on these careers, see also:


Other Careers 

There are many other roles where the numeracy and analytical skills developed by studying Accounting and Finance will be valued by graduate recruiters.

Insurance broker

Insurance brokers act as intermediaries between clients (either individuals or commercial businesses) and insurance companies. They use their knowledge of risks and the insurance market to find and arrange suitable insurance policies and cover.

Prospects job profile: Insurance broker
The Chartered Insurance Institute: Discover Risk

Insurance underwriter

Underwriters analyse risks and make decisions on whether or not to accept applications for insurance cover, and on what terms, with the aim of minimising the risk to their company and helping it to make a profit.

Prospects job profile: Insurance underwriter
The Chartered Insurance Institute: Discover Risk

Management consultant

In essence, a consultant’s job is to advise an organisation on improvements that can be made. Consultancy usually involves identification and assessment of a problem or analysis of a specific area, reporting findings and formulating recommendations..

Prospects job profile: Management consultant
Target jobs: Management consultant
Inside Careers: Management consultancy

Market researcher

Plans, co-ordinates and manages market research projects, collecting and analysing quantitative and qualitative information and communicating it to clients.

Prospects job profile: Market researcher
Target Jobs: Market researcher
Your Career in Market Research

The Market Research Society

Purchasing manager

Purchasing managers are responsible for buying the best quality equipment, goods and services for a company or organisation at the most competitive prices. Through effective negotiation, networking and dealing with numbers, purchasing managers can help a business or organisation save money and increase profits. They work in a wide range of sectors for many different organisations from public sector bodies to retailers to manufacturing industry, possibly on a worldwide scale.

Prospects job profile: Purchasing manager
The Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply

I Want to Work In Purchasing

Risk Manager

Risk managers advise organisations on any potential risks to the profitability or existence of the company. They identify and assess threats, put plans in place for if things go wrong and decide how to avoid, reduce or transfer risk.

Prospects job profile: Risk manager
I want to work in Risk Assessment & Management

You may be interested in graduate roles outside of Accounting and Finance. There are many employers who are looking for graduates with good degrees but that don’t have a preference for the subject studied. To explore different career options see:

 

Skills Gained

A graduate in Accounting and Finance will

  • be able to critically evaluate arguments and evidence
  • be able to analyse and draw reasoned conclusions concerning structured and unstructured problems from both given data and data that must be acquired.
  • be able to locate, extract and analyse data from multiple sources
  • self-manage their learning
  • be numerate, including being able to manipulate financial and other numerical data and to appreciate statistical concepts
  • be effective in ICT including using spreadsheets, word processing software and online databases
  • be able to present quantitative and qualitative information, together with analysis, argument and commentary, in a form appropriate to the intended audience
  • have effective interpersonal skills, including the ability to work in teams
  • understand the contexts in which accounting operates including the legal and social environment, the accountancy profession, the business entity, the capital markets and the public sector
  • understand the technical language and practices of accounting
  • be skilled in recording and summarising transactions and other economic events, preparing financial statements, analysing the operations of business, financial analysis and projections

(Based on the Higher Education Academy Employability Profiles)

This is not an exhaustive list of skills – you will develop many skills from your course, extra-curricular activities and work experience. You can find out more about the skills employers look for and how you can develop them here.

Find a Job 

The Careers and Employability Service provides information and advice on job searching to University of Kent students and recent graduates. This includes a vacancy database advertising a range of graduate jobs, sandwich placements and vacation work/internships.

General Finance

Accountancy

Banking

General graduate vacancy sites

These will include a substantial number of vacancies in the Accounting and Finance sectors as well as vacancies with other employers. Most of these sites cover companies offering graduate jobs, internships and placement years and include background information as well as vacancies.

Looking for Careers Advice?  

The Careers and Employability Service is open to all University of Kent students and recent graduates. We support students from the moment they start their course, throughout their student life and up to three years after their graduation.  

Book an appointment with a Careers Advisor today

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