BSc Accounting and Finance with Placement Experience

Compulsory modules

Management Information

Explore the techniques, principles and underlying concepts relating to the analysis of management information – including the examination of costs, revenues and profits. You'll gain experience of the approaches used in today’s businesses and understand how they fit together to provide an overview of a business’s performance.

Introduction to Business

Explore a variety of international businesses, their stakeholders, and the environments in which they operate. You'll study key business concepts, theories and models, enabling you to understand and analyse contemporary businesses. The use of case studies, and a focus on current events in the business world, will ensure that you develop commercial awareness.

Introduction to Accounting

Develop a sound understanding of the techniques of double-entry bookkeeping, and learn how to apply its principles in recording accounting transactions, adjusting financial records, and preparing non-complex financial statements.

Introductory Securities and Markets

Explore financial institutions, credit risk, maturity transformation and liquidity, plus the economics of banking and types of money including cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currencies. Focus on sustainable finance and its important contribution to achieving Net Zero by 2050.

Introductory Finance/Trading Simulation I

Get an overview of the role the financial system plays in the economy. Discuss the main players in the system, the instruments they trade, and the trading prices. Focus on capital markets and the private and public financial institutions participating in these markets

Introductory Quantitative Techniques for Business & Finance

Discover a range of quantitative techniques that are commonly applied in business, finance and management. You'll learn about introductory statistics and mathematical techniques that are necessary for a good understanding of financial theories and which are vital to develop and understand the models used in business and finance.

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/2025 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. 

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

Compulsory modules

Financial Accounting

Study the various International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), along with the related accounting concepts you'll need to understand in order to prepare single entity and consolidated financial statements.

Further Management Accounting

Gain insight into financial information techniques, principles, and concepts for organisational decision-making, planning, and control. Understand theories, technical language, and practices within the business context, including contemporary management accounting developments.

Corporate Finance

Focus on corporate value: its measurement, and its maximisation through corporate financial decisions, growth strategies, and governance practices. Get a good grounding in corporate finance theory and an appreciation of the related empirical evidence.

Portfolio Management

Examine the issues involved in understanding the investment market, constructing an optimal investment portfolio, evaluating the performance of that portfolio, and adjusting its composition through time. Develop a detailed knowledge of the theoretical underpinnings and the practical techniques required to form and manage portfolios of assets.

Optional modules

Business Strategy for Accountants 

Enhance your current knowledge and analyse an organisation and its environment, evaluate its current position and performance from both a financial and a non-financial perspective, evaluate the likely consequences of strategic choices and recommend strategies.

Personal Tax

Enhance your knowledge of the UK tax system and calculate income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax and inheritance tax for individuals in given scenarios.

An Introduction to the Management of Information Systems

Explore the fundamental concepts and theories that underpin the design, implementation, control, evaluation and strategic use of information systems in business.

Assurance in Context

Discover the nature and purpose of audit and assurance and gain a practical understanding of the work undertaken by assurance providers. You’ll examines the stages of the audit process, considering the work done by the assurance provider at each stage. The importance of assurance in achieving good corporate governance, and its wider political, economic and social context will also be considered.

Sustainable Finance

Learn about the basics of Sustainable Finance, covering applications in financing and investment activities. You'll explore the Environmental, Social and Governance factors, and will discuss the relevant policies and international regulations.

Trends in Finance

Contextualise current issues and debates in finance by placing them in the historical evolution of finance. Understand how finance has evolved over time and where it may develop in the future.

Programming for Finance

Learn about Object Oriented Programming using Python as the main programming language, and use the learning outcomes for data processing and applications in Finance. Discover the basics of programming, including class, objects, datatypes, conditional statements and loops, processing data from files, receiving inputs and displaying relevant outputs.

Climate Change and Finance

Explore the consensus on climate change and its societal impacts, focusing on how finance can address and adapt to these challenges amidst increasing demand for sustainable investments and regulatory changes integrating climate targets.

FX and International Debt Markets

Study the international debt markets, equip yourself with the tools to analyse and compare products, and determine trading and hedging strategies. Develop an understanding of the products and practices of international money and bond market cash instruments and bond futures.

Personal Finance

Gain an understanding on common financial decisions you might face. It covers budgeting, borrowing, credit scores, mortgages, pensions, savings, investments, insurance, government support, regulations, taxation, and ethical considerations. It encourages you to reflect on managing your personal finances effectively.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. 

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

placement year

Compulsory modules

Advanced International Financial Reporting

Explore advanced topics in financial reporting, as well as the theories that underpin financial accounting, and examine how these contribute to current financial reporting and practice. You'll gain knowledge and understanding of a number of International Financial Reporting Standards.

Business and Professional Ethics

Examine the moral norms of international accounting, investment and financial management. Within the business world, the overwhelming preoccupation with money and profit introduce a variety of conflicting moral pressures. Using real-world scenarios, you'll explore the ethical questions raised and develop the analytical, reflexive and decision-making skills to tackle a range of moral issues.

Management of Risk

Develop techniques to measure and manage market and credit risks in banks. Explore recent developments in bank regulation. Develop critical risk management skills that are indispensable for anyone willing to undertake a career in the financial sector.

Derivative Securities

Explore derivatives markets and their products through theories and practical trading strategies. Become equipped with the essential knowledge to continue studying the advanced derivatives pricing model and practicing trading with derivatives.

Optional modules

Advance Management Accounting

Gain further understanding of the role of management accounting in organisational decision making, planning, control and performance management.

Accounting Project

Deepen your understanding of key issues in accounting or business. Under supervision, you’ll conduct research, which may stem from readings or work experiences, to enhance your research skills and comprehension of the process.

Business Tax

Learn about the main areas of UK taxes applicable to businesses, including income tax, capital gains tax, corporation tax, national insurance and VAT. 

Information Systems and Digital Business

Explore key concepts, theories, techniques, and issues in developing information systems solutions for digital business. Understand the importance of aligning business and IT strategies through an understanding of the structure and function of information processed by IT systems from both business and technical perspectives.

Project Management

In this hands-on module, you'll work on project-based group activities to develop a practical understanding of the tools and techniques used in project management. You'll also explore the core theories that underpin the project management process.

Forensic Accounting

Gain a critical understanding of financial fraud, including its context, necessary conditions, detection, and investigation methods. Learn to design and implement effective preventive and detective control mechanisms.

Private Equity and Venture Capital

Develop your appreciation of the practical aspects of investing by private equity and venture capital firms, understand the dynamics between the venture capital investor and the entrepreneur, and the practicalities of raising private equity and venture capital funds from institutional investors.

Research Project

Choose a finance question that is of interest to you, and produce a Research Project that addresses your question.

Finance & Occupational Pensions

Gain a detailed knowledge of the biggest group of global institutional investors (pension schemes), and the real-world problems they face. This is an applied course with little mathematical content.

FinTech and Cryptocurrencies

Learn about fintech, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain. Gain an understanding of how and why firms are implementing blockchain technology in their day-to-day business as well as the challenges they face.  

Bond and Money Markets

Explore the economic drivers and relationships between bond, money markets and central bank monetary policies, and the impact of key economic drivers on the pricing, trading strategies and portfolio management for bonds and money market instruments.

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/2025 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. 

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.