This unique programme offers you the ability to advance your accounting career as well as acquire practical analytics skills.
Qualified accountants are always in high demand and the profession provides excellent employability and earning prospects. The MSc International Accounting with Analytics offers you the ability to advance your accounting career as well as acquiring practical analytics skills essential to the accounting profession.
This programme is designed for business and accounting graduates to combine study for a Master’s degree, while also gaining exemptions from professional examinations and gaining an understanding of and expertise in accounting and business analytics.
The programme is informed and shaped by the needs of the accounting, finance and taxation professionals of tomorrow. The programme encourages critical and creative thinking, teamwork and communication, and develops a diverse range of professional attributes which equip graduates to excel in the accounting profession and to become the business leaders of the future.
Significant exemptions from the Chartered Accountants Ireland examinations will be available on completion. Graduates of the MSc should be granted full exemption from their CAP2 examinations and therefore have only two final admitting examinations to complete after graduation.
We know that choosing to study at university is a big decision, and you may not always be able to find the information you need online.
Please contact Ulster University with any queries or questions you might have about:
For any queries regarding getting help with your application, please select Admissions in the drop down below.
For queries related to course content, including modules and placements, please select Course specific information.
We look forward to hearing from you.
In this section
This highly desireable programme allows students to combine a postgraduate master's qualification with study for professional examinations with Chartered Accountants Ireland.
All students who sucessfully completed this programme in July 2022 and December 2022 are currently employed in graduate Chartered Accountants Ireland training contracts.
Over the course of two academic years, lectures are delivered in flip classroom format with students required to attend on campus practical workshops one day per week.
Learning and Teaching
The range of modules offered on this course allows a varied and interesting mix of methods to be used, to enhance knowledge and understanding as well as allowing you to practice and develop your professional and transferable skills.
For each module on this course you will have weekly lectures and seminars. Lectures are used to explain and develop the skills identified as being important to you in developing your professional and personal development within the subject areas. Lectures provide the framework for directing independent student learning activity and skills development. Weekly seminars will provide opportunities for you to engage in an in-depth appreciation of theoretical and practical issues related to the subject area. A number of modules will utilise the simulation suite available on campus to enhance your learning experience. In addition, a number of modules involve small group teaching in a workshop format.
Assessment
Considerable effort has been devoted to ensuring that the assessment requirements built into each module on this course are appropriate to the learning outcomes, qualities and abilities being assessed. Assessment methods range from class tests, essays, business reports, group projects and practical skills audits, a variety of group and individual presentations incorporating self and peer assessment, practical simulations, case study applications, reflective portfolios, on-line assessment, class tests, management reports, projects and work-based assignments and unseen end of semester examinations.
The Department of Global Business and Enterprise has strong ties with the major professional accountancy and taxation bodies including:
All accounting staff in the department are members of professional accountancy bodies with a number of lecturers also having obtained additional qualifications in areas such as taxation and financial services. Many staff have trained and worked in the Big Four professional services firms as well as having experience advising within small and medium sized practices and in industry.
All lecturing staff within the Department of Global Business and Enterprise are Fellows/Senior Fellows of the Higher Education Academy.
The University employs over 1,000 suitably qualified and experienced academic staff - 59% have PhDs in their subject field and many have professional body recognition.
Courses are taught by staff who are Professors (25%), Readers, Senior Lecturers (20%) or Lecturers (55%).
We require most academic staff to be qualified to teach in higher education: 82% hold either Postgraduate Certificates in Higher Education Practice or higher. Most academic staff (81%) are accredited fellows of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) by Advanced HE - the university sector professional body for teaching and learning. Many academic and technical staff hold other professional body designations related to their subject or scholarly practice.
The profiles of many academic staff can be found on the University’s departmental websites and give a detailed insight into the range of staffing and expertise. The precise staffing for a course will depend on the department(s) involved and the availability and management of staff. This is subject to change annually and is confirmed in the timetable issued at the start of the course.
Occasionally, teaching may be supplemented by suitably qualified part-time staff (usually qualified researchers) and specialist guest lecturers. In these cases, all staff are inducted, mostly through our staff development programme ‘First Steps to Teaching’. In some cases, usually for provision in one of our out-centres, Recognised University Teachers are involved, supported by the University in suitable professional development for teaching.
Figures correct for academic year 2021-2022.
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Here is a guide to the subjects studied on this course.
Courses are continually reviewed to take advantage of new teaching approaches and developments in research, industry and the professions. Please be aware that modules may change for your year of entry. The exact modules available and their order may vary depending on course updates, staff availability, timetabling and student demand. Please contact the course team for the most up to date module list.
Year: 1
Status: C
This module explores the legislation and practice governing the income tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax and stamp tax exposure of an individual within the scope of UK taxation. It also explores the taxation implications for a corporate entity from a corporation tax, capital tax and stamp tax perspective. The scope, legislation and practice for VAT is also explored for both business and property transactions.
Year: 1
Status: C
This module explores the concepts underlying financial accounting, current regulations and how these concepts inform regulation including the preparation of internal and external financial reports.
Year: 1
Status: C
This module covers key concepts, principles and theories in strategic finance and will be of particular relevance to professionals either employed or seeking employment in medium and large sized entities. Key topics will include financial strategy formulation, investment decision making, financing sources, dividend policy, company valuation, mergers and acquisitions and financial risk management.
Year: 1
Status: C
This module covers key concepts, principles and theories in strategic management accounting and will be of particular relevance to professionals either employed or seeking employment in medium and large sized entities. Key topics will include frameworks /for performance management, performance management decisions, IT and data analytics, behavioural aspects of budgeting, approaches to budgeting, budgetary control, variance analysis, divisional performance measures and ethics, transfer pricing and corporate governance.
Year: 1
Status: C
This module provides students with knowledge and understanding of the research process in the broad area of international accounting, finance and analytics. It will equip students with an in depth understanding and ability to develop a research question, undertake a critical literature review, and identify a justifiable research methodology to match the research question.
Year: 2
Status: C
The aim of this module is to develop students' appreciation of strategic leadership in accounting, in an international context. The module will emphasise the role of high level financial techniques, technology and analytics in leading strategic change within an organisation.
Year: 2
Status: C
This module explores the conceptual and theoretical fundamentals of auditing, combined with the practical application of auditing principles and the issues encountered in the international audit environment. The use of data analytics and emerging technologies are also explored for the conduct of the audit.
Year: 2
Status: C
This module is designed to introduce the student to the role of data analysis, data visualisation and reporting using within accountancy and business. The module will provide students with the skills and know to work with data and apply data analysis techniques to inform client management strategies, business advisory approaches and reporting.
Year: 2
Status: C
This module explores the financial accounting legislation and regulations, including IFRS and local GAAP, needed for the practical preparation of financial statements for groups. The module also explores the legislation, procedures and practice governing the most common aspects of UK corporation tax for UK companies and multinational groups operating in the UK.
Status: O
Year: 2
This module is optional
The master's dissertation enables students to carry out research on a chosen topic within the field of international accounting, finance or analytics. Students will gain an in depth understanding of the academic research process. Completing the dissertation enables the student to build on the knowledge and skills gained throughout their masters programme, to produce a major piece of academic writing.
Status: O
Year: 2
This module is optional
The applied research project module provides students with the skills to apply their technical knowledge and capabilities to research an opportunity, problem or challenge in an organisation in the area of international accounting, finance and/or analytics and come up with an effective solution for the organisation. The module integrates the knowledge gained throughout the programme so that students can critical apply financial, analytical and technical skills to a research project.
We recognise a range of qualifications for admission to our courses. In addition to the specific entry conditions for this course you must also meet the University’s General Entrance Requirements.
Applicants must be able to satisfy the University's general admissions requirements in one of the following ways:
Applicants must:
(a) have gained
(i) a second class honours degree in an accounting discipline or better from a university of the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, or from a recognised national awarding body, or from an institution of another country which has been recognised as being of an equivalent standard; or
(ii) an equivalent standard (normally 50%) in an accounting discipline in a Graduate Diploma, Graduate Certificate, Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma or an approved alternative qualification;
and
(b) provide evidence of competence in written and spoken English (GCSE grade C or equivalent).
Alternatively, applicants must demonstrate their ability to undertake the course through the accreditation of prior experiential learning.
English language requirements for international applicants
The minimum requirement for this course is Academic IELTS 6.0 with no band score less than 5.5. Trinity ISE: Pass at level III also meets this requirement for Tier 4 visa purposes.
Ulster recognises a number of other English language tests and comparable IELTS equivalent scores.
In this section
Accounting specialists with knowledge of accounting, finance and the business environment are always in great demand. The combination of subjects you will study on this course will provide you with a sound basis to become a future business leader. The knowledge you will acquire will enable you to work in any industry sector and across all areas of business including financial reporting, accounting, finance, taxation or management in public, private or not-for-profit organisations.
The analytics element of the programme is essential to prepare graduates for their professional career by enabling them to ‘add value’ to the business decision making processes within an organisation or for a client business. Graduates will gain practical understanding of and expertise in the use of analytics tools to enable them to help businesses uncover valuable insights within financial information, identify process improvements to help businesses increase efficiency, and to ensure the better management of exposure to risk.
Due to the exemptions available, you will also be a step ahead in your professional accountancy training. On successful completion of this course, you will only be required to undertake a three year training contract and will only have two more examinations to undertake to become a Chartered Accountant.
Visit Tuition Fees 2023/24 for more details on the price of this course.
Prizes are awarded each year on the programme from Chartered Accountants Ireland, MCI Accountants and HireIQ. A scholarship is also available from Inspired Corporate Advisory.
Prizes are presented at our annual Prize-Giving Event each Autumn, when students and their guests attend along with academic staff, sponsors and other key employers.
All students on the programme who graduate with an MSc International Accounting with Analytics graduate at our Winter Graduation Ceremony in December. If students exist the programme with a PG Diploma International Accounting with Analytics, they will graduate at our Summer Graduation Ceremony.
It is important to remember that costs associated with accommodation, travel (including car parking charges) and normal living will need to be covered in addition to tuition fees.
Where a course has additional mandatory expenses (in addition to tuition fees) we make every effort to highlight them above. We aim to provide students with the learning materials needed to support their studies. Our libraries are a valuable resource with an extensive collection of books and journals, as well as first-class facilities and IT equipment. Computer suites and free Wi-Fi are also available on each of the campuses.
There are additional fees for graduation ceremonies, examination resits and library fines.
Students choosing a period of paid work placement or study abroad as a part of their course should be aware that there may be additional travel and living costs, as well as tuition fees.
See the tuition fees on our student guide for most up to date costs.
We know that choosing to study at university is a big decision, and you may not always be able to find the information you need online.
Please contact Ulster University with any queries or questions you might have about:
For any queries regarding getting help with your application, please select Admissions in the drop down below.
For queries related to course content, including modules and placements, please select Course specific information.
We look forward to hearing from you.
