University College Dublin

Programme Overview
The programme is designed for top graduates who have majored in business, accounting and finance and who wish to pursue a career in accounting, corporate finance, management consulting, and taxation either within the profession or with local or multinational companies. Our focus is not just on the development of technical skills but also on the development of complex problem-solving, critical thinking and softer people skills in our graduates. Over the past five years, alumni of the Master of Accounting programme have consistently performed significantly better than the average in the Final Admitting Examination of Chartered Accountants Ireland.

The Master of Accounting is the leading, longest-established accounting-specialist Master's degree in Ireland. It has been widely recognised for the quality of its graduates and the accelerated career trajectory that they take, both within Ireland and internationally. Our alumni have gone on to become partners in the Big Four accounting firms or CEOs/CFOs in publicly-listed companies. Consequently, its outstanding reputation is widely recognised within business circles.

What will I learn?
The overall aim of the programme is to instill a systematic and rigorous knowledge of accounting and its related disciplines. Strong emphasis is placed on developing critical thinking, communication and team building skills that successful graduates will require to progress through professional training and gain rapid access to senior management positions in their future career.

The programme provides:
1. A functional and technical level of competence above that demanded by professional accounting bodies' professional syllabus, in the areas of financial accounting, management accounting, finance, auditing and taxation.

2. Development of analytical and synthesis skills enabling graduates to apply the necessary accounting knowledge to comprehend and solve accounting problems.

3. The ability to use the required IT tools, decision-making and evaluation processes and professional development skills to report financial information effectively to businesses.

How will I benefit?
Successful completion of this programme provides graduates with a significant head-start in the accounting profession, due to the high level of academic rigour within the curriculum and the excellent reputation of the course in the eyes of recruiters.

A significant IT dimension to the curriculum encourages a full command of the tools required for the profession and nurtures a hands-on approach to learning within the classroom. It exposes students to the risks facing businesses today of cyber security and the necessary steps required to alleviate such risks.

The acquisition of knowledge and skills that meet the requirements of professional accounting bodies for entry into their final examinations. For example, our Master of Accounting graduates perform consistently better in the Chartered Accountants Ireland final admitting examinations.