Accounting and finance

Job options

Jobs directly related to your degree include:

• Chartered accountant
• Chartered certified accountant
• Chartered management accountant
• Chartered public finance accountant
• Company secretary
• External auditor
• Forensic accountant
• Stockbroker

Jobs where your degree would be useful include:

• Actuary
• Arbitrator
• Business development manager
• Data analyst
• Economist
• Licensed conveyancer
• Management consultant
• Mortgage adviser
• Procurement manager
• Retail banker
• Tax adviser

Remember that many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here.

Work experience

Gaining work experience is an important part of working towards professional qualifications and building your employability. Completing a finance internship, industrial placement or work shadowing opportunity will show potential employers that you have the practical skills and commercial awareness they're looking for.

If your course didn't include a work placement, you can still build relevant experience through part-time work, vacation roles or volunteering. Look for a role in a field that interests you and consider contacting a local accountancy firm or the finance department of an organisation to ask about opportunities. Experience that shows you have strong organisational skills, as well as the ability to work with numbers, data and budgets, will be helpful.

Search for placements and find out more about work experience and internships.

Typical employers

There are many job opportunities across the finance sector, with major employers such as:

• accountancy firms
• building societies
• high street banks
• insurance companies
• investment banks
• management consultancies
• public sector employers.

Large multinational accountancy firms are among the biggest graduate recruiters. They often use large-scale recruitment campaigns to attract high-achieving graduates and typically have competitive entry requirements. However, there are also opportunities in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which may specialise in a particular type of work, industry or local area.

Public sector jobs are available across the UK, with many roles based in major cities.

Most organisations have finance teams, so finance and accounting skills are useful across most sectors.

Find information on employers in accountancy, banking and finance, business, consulting and management, and other job sectors.

Skills for your CV

Accounting and finance degrees develop specialist knowledge of accounting practices, business, industry and finance.

In addition to gaining subject-specific and technical knowledge, you'll also develop valuable transferable skills, including:

• an understanding of how business organisations operate
• numerical and quantitative skills
• problem-solving and analytical skills
• oral and written communication skills
• the ability to present arguments clearly and negotiate effectively
• an awareness of global business issues, and language skills, particularly if you study European or international finance
• enterprise and entrepreneurial skills.

Further study

Accounting and finance graduates often move into roles that require further professional finance qualifications to progress.

Popular options include:

• Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) qualification
• Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) qualification
• Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
• Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) professional qualification
• Professional Banker Diploma.

As an accountancy graduate, you may may be eligible for exemptions from some examinations, depending on the modules and credits completed as part of your degree.

Some postgraduate courses train you to work in a more specialised area of the financial allow you to specialise further in a particular area of the financial industry, such as an MSc in actuarial science. It's also possible to study for a PhD in specific areas of finance, such as banking or financial statistics.

For more information on further study and to find a course that interests you, see Masters degrees and search for postgraduate courses in accountancy and finance.

What do accounting and finance graduates do?

More than half (58%) of accounting and finance graduates are working as chartered and certified accountants (29%), finance and investment analysts and advisers (9%), financial administrative occupations (8%), bookkeepers, payroll managers and wages clerks (8%) and taxation experts (4%).

Find out what other accounting and finance graduates are doing 15 months after finishing their degrees in What do graduates do?

Graduate Outcomes survey data from HESA.

Find out more

• Association of International Accountants (AIA)
• Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA)
• Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
• Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)