School of Accounting, Economics and Finance

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The School of Accounting, Economics and Finance brings together researchers and academics across these three disciplines to produce world leading research and teach the next generation of financial graduates.

Through high quality teaching, impactful research and the delivery of innovation projects in the UK and internationally, the School offers its expert knowledge to students, employers, and the community. The School is home to a number of professionally accredited degrees. Our practical approach to teaching and learning means our students develop core employability skills to complement their subject knowledge. They graduate as civic minded individuals, ready to have a positive impact on their chosen sector.

Our research informs policy makers and ministries across the world, and delivers outcomes that have a significant impact on addressing global sustainability issues.

As part of their degree, many of our students are working to actively benefit the community through community projects and our accountancy advice clinics, which support local charities to carry out their audits.

The School emphasises working across disciplinary boundaries through the Faculty’s inter-disciplinary centres of research excellence, most notably the Centre for Innovative and Sustainable Finance and the Centre for Blue Governance. The School also plays a lead role in the Faculty-wide Experimental Research Group.

Teaching

We offer a range of undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications. At postgraduate level, we offer a variety of delivery and study options to meet the range of needs of our students, including on-campus, distance learning, condensed timetable and block teaching opportunities.

Among our teaching staff we have accountants with years of professional experience - including from companies like Deloitte and KPMG - and economics academics who have worked in the city as traders and maintain links with policy makers. Many of our economics staff are members of the Royal Economics Society. These links give our students access to industry professionals in guest lectures and networking events, so they can gain up to date industry perspectives and insight for their discipline.

Our curriculum is shaped by our research expertise and accrediting and professional bodies. Through our expertise in behavioural economics, we can offer our economics students the ability to stand out when they graduate. And our accounting students can graduate benefiting from up to 9 professional exam exemptions, depending on the modules they choose.

Accreditations

Several of our courses are accredited by bodies including the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). These accreditations can help graduates achieve chartered status sooner.

Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

Our teaching areas

Visit our subject area page to find out more about the undergraduate and postgraduate degrees we offer.

Accounting, economics and finance courses

Build your accounting and economics skills as you prepare for your career in finance.

Discover the impact of money in society and earn the qualifications you need.

Explore courses

Our facilities and support

Bloomberg suite

Access data from the world's global financial markets and gain experience using industry standard software.

Discover our Bloomberg Suite

Women in economics

Explore our female mentoring programme in finance and meet successful and experienced female economists to mentor you during your studies.

Research

Our research explores economics and finance across the globe. Our economics research influences policy makers on subjects including decision making and using data, while our accounting research delves into the past and future of accounting and its technology.

Some of our research projects have been funded by grants won from the British Academy, British Council, DEFRA, Financial Reporting Council, European Regional Development Fund, EY Horizon 2020, Leverhulme Trust, EPSRC, and Innovate UK, amongst others.

The School has hosted a number of international conferences including the 11th International Conference of the Financial Engineering and Banking Society, and the 11th Accounting History International Conference in 2022. In 2023, the School will host the 54th Annual Conference of the Money, Macro and Finance Society. In 2024, it will host the Annual Conference of the British Accounting and Finance Association.

We are actively seeking PhD applications in contemporary accounting, economics and finance topics, and topics that address sustainability concerns in various sectors. Applications in the areas of behavioural and experimental economics, energy economics, fintech, corporate social responsibility and football finance are of particular interest.

Business and management studies results in REF 2021

65.8% of our research outputs were judged to be internationally excellent or world-leading.
100% of our impact was rated as having very considerable or outstanding reach and significance.
100% of our research environment was judged as having the vitality and sustainability to produce internationally excellent or world-leading research.
We are ranked second among modern universities by research power for Business and Management, according to .

This unit of assessment comprises our accounting, economics, finance, organisational studies and HRM, business and management, marketing, and operational research and logistics research.

Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021

Our areas of expertise

Explore the work we're doing across our areas of expertise in accounting, economics and finance.

Accounting education

Through our research, we're taking a closer look at how best to educate the next generation of accounting professionals around the world.

Accounting history

We're exploring the past of accountancy, through archives and historical documentation, to learn about the issues experienced by previous generations. Explore our accounting history research.

Applied accounting and financial management

We're investigating the behaviours, actions and responses of both providers and users of accounting information. Explore our applied accounting and financial management research.

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Banking and financial markets

Our banking and financial markets research examines the functioning of financial markets and the institutions that operate in those markets. Find out more about our research.

City of London skyline, banking district

Behavioural and Experimental Economics

We investigate how psychological, emotional and social factors affect economic decision-making.

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Corporate finance

We're working to improve our understanding of asset pricing in capital markets, especially in relation to the performance of Initial Public Offerings.

Person standing in front of screens showing financial data

Efficiency and Productivity

Through our research in this area, we're identifying inefficiency and its causes in specific sectors.

Man working with a colleague at a laptop

Fintech and microfinance

Join us in our work in helping individuals, firms, and governments learn to use FinTech to meet their needs. Explore our fintech and microfinance research.

Forensic accounting, management control and governance

We're exploring how accounting can help organisations combat financial crime, deal with the challenges of new technologies and more effectively govern themselves – to the benefit of all.

Resource Economics and Environmental Policy

We examine how economics influences the preservation and sustainability of natural resources such as aquatic ecosystems.

Monetary Policy

We explore how central banks can keep inflation low and stable by influencing how much money there is in the economy and the cost of borrowing.

Centre for Blue Governance

We're working to secure the future of our marine and freshwater aquatic environments by championing biodiversity and blue energy.
Macro and monetary policy group

We explore key issues of marco economics including inflation and employment, and are hosting the next Money Macro Society Conference — attended by the Bank of England, ONS, the National Institute of Economics and Social Research (NIESR), and maco economists.
Natural resource and energy group

We're exploring the energy crisis, energy demand, oil prices, natural resources and marine resources. Our work informs partners globally, with some of our colleagues working directly with foreign ministries.
Centre for innovative and sustainable finance

We're helping governments, organisations and society adapt to our evolving national and international financial landscape.

Our staff

Our staff includes academics and researchers with experience in policy making, trading, and accountancy experience with companies including the Big Four. Many of our academics are members of the Royal Economics Society.