Accountantcy and finance

I dont know if this is in the right place so mods feel free to move.

what is this degree like? say its at one of the top institutions that offers it, how does it compare to a maths degree? easy in the first year, impossible in the final?

i would really appreciate it if someone on this course could respond.

thanks

Reply 1

camilesno1

Hey there, i'm just about to start my 3rd and final year of Accounting & Finance at University of Kent. It's not the top 5 for this subject area but it's certainly not the worst either. They look for about 320 UCAS points these days which is about ABB/BBB so you do need to be quite intelligent to cope with this degree.
I can't speak for other uni's but my first year was far too easy.
I did Economics Mode A (which expands on what I learnt in A-Level economics), Financial Accounting 1 (which was also fairly easy if you have done A-Level accounting), Quantitative Methods for Business & Accounting (If you have done A-Level Maths then you will find easy), Business Law (the hardest module in the first year but i expect you won't need to do a law module at uni's) and an easy computing module.
For the accounting modules the need for maths is there, but you don't need to be a whiz at it. As long as you got a B or better at GCSE you should be fine. Some Uni's (like Kent) made Quantitative Methods module compulsory which made sure everyone was upto a decent standard of maths. Things like standard deviation etc.
The 2nd year was 10x more effort. The 2nd stage of the accounting module got much much more difficult and complex. Priniciples of Finance required a high-level of maths in order to do well. This built on what was learned in the 1st year in Quantitative Methods.
The other 2 modules were easier one of which (Management Accounting) also required alot of formulas etc. to be remembered which again, means that you need to be quite good at Maths.
As for the 3rd year, i've been told by many friends who have just finished this year that it usually is much easier than the 2nd year. Of course this could be totally different depending on which Uni you go to.

Obviously this degree doesn't require masses and masses of Maths skills but you would benefit greatly from having an A-Level in Maths. If you don't then i'm sure you are likely to find a couple of the modules quite challenging.

Hope this helps somewhat :smile:

Reply 2

prash_s90

16

camilesno1

Hey there, i'm just about to start my 3rd and final year of Accounting & Finance at University of Kent. It's not the top 5 for this subject area but it's certainly not the worst either. They look for about 320 UCAS points these days which is about ABB/BBB so you do need to be quite intelligent to cope with this degree.
I can't speak for other uni's but my first year was far too easy.
I did Economics Mode A (which expands on what I learnt in A-Level economics), Financial Accounting 1 (which was also fairly easy if you have done A-Level accounting), Quantitative Methods for Business & Accounting (If you have done A-Level Maths then you will find easy), Business Law (the hardest module in the first year but i expect you won't need to do a law module at uni's) and an easy computing module.
For the accounting modules the need for maths is there, but you don't need to be a whiz at it. As long as you got a B or better at GCSE you should be fine. Some Uni's (like Kent) made Quantitative Methods module compulsory which made sure everyone was upto a decent standard of maths. Things like standard deviation etc.
The 2nd year was 10x more effort. The 2nd stage of the accounting module got much much more difficult and complex. Priniciples of Finance required a high-level of maths in order to do well. This built on what was learned in the 1st year in Quantitative Methods.
The other 2 modules were easier one of which (Management Accounting) also required alot of formulas etc. to be remembered which again, means that you need to be quite good at Maths.
As for the 3rd year, i've been told by many friends who have just finished this year that it usually is much easier than the 2nd year. Of course this could be totally different depending on which Uni you go to.

Obviously this degree doesn't require masses and masses of Maths skills but you would benefit greatly from having an A-Level in Maths. If you don't then i'm sure you are likely to find a couple of the modules quite challenging.

Hope this helps somewhat :smile:

hey do a lot of people from Kent uni make it into good careers in accounting?...and do a lot make it into the big 4?

Reply 3

Creole

2

camilesno1

*stuff*

What kind of maths is it, pure or statistical? Also do you use matrices or calculus? Any other stuff from A-level specifically? Sorry for the interrogation. :redface:

Reply 4

Redeyejedi

7

Priniciples of Finance required a high-level of maths in order to do well.

Could you tell me how hard this was?? And what kind of level of maths was regarded as a "high level of maths". I have the option to do a similar module..i have already done a bit of finance (DCF, non-discounted cash flow, NPV, WACC, IRR, Rights issues, bond and stock valuation) and want to go further, but im not sure if I should if it could put a potential 2i in doubt.

Thanks

Reply 5

stupanico

2

Finance does get a bit harder, but I find it really easy. CAPM, Modigliani and Miller, Efficient Market Hypothesis etc, I find this part the most interesting. We will do Portfolio Theory and Options Pricing in the second yr so Im looking forward too it!
To Adthegreat, we did calculus and other pure maths in Quant Methods, matrices was in textbook so some place do do it. Bayes' Theorem and other stats were included in our course. Ordinary Least Squares etc are included next yr.

Reply 6

camilesno1

prash_s90

hey do a lot of people from Kent uni make it into good careers in accounting?...and do a lot make it into the big 4?

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that for Business type subjects Kent has one of the best Degree ----> Job percentages in the country.
Yes alot do get into the top 4. I know someone who started with Ernst & Young in Luxembourg this week.
Kent students also get accepted for placement years at the likes of PWC, IBM, BAE Systems and big well-known places. It does help that one of the top guys at PWC came from Kent so that's a plus point.

Just a note though. Whatever people say about "the first year not counting" is a load of rubbish. Most firms ask what you got in the first year to determine whether to accept you or not (or offer an interview for a placement year anyway).

Reply 7

camilesno1

Redeyejedi

Could you tell me how hard this was?? And what kind of level of maths was regarded as a "high level of maths". I have the option to do a similar module..i have already done a bit of finance (DCF, non-discounted cash flow, NPV, WACC, IRR, Rights issues, bond and stock valuation) and want to go further, but im not sure if I should if it could put a potential 2i in doubt.

Thanks

Well the first proper finance module I did (Principles of Finance) covered just that. The main focus really was on NPV, WACC and IRR and alot of the module covered stock portfolios, having to calculate the expected RoR and standard deviations of upto 3 stocks.
I found the module extremely challenging but ALOT of revision got me 63%. The module convenor (who is also the Kent Business School Director) told us that many people fail this module every year. It's hard work but considering you have already covered the likes of DCF, NPV and WACC I can't see there being too many problems.
If you're after a good 2i though there could be other "easier" modules to take but that's totally down to personal preferences

Reply 8

camilesno1

Adthegreat

What kind of maths is it, pure or statistical? Also do you use matrices or calculus? Any other stuff from A-level specifically? Sorry for the interrogation. :redface:

The quadratic formula crops up a few times and standard deviation does alot!
I would say it's a mix of both pure and statistical because you need the pure for graphs etc and statistical for....well the rest.
Apart from the 2 things mentioned above, there isn't alot specifically from A-level (bare in mind I finished A-level in 2005) so the subject may of changed a fair bit.
From personal experiences and others who did A-level maths it's certainly a set-up from what you did at A-Level. It's not mind boggling stuff but it certainly does challenge you and this is probably the module (Principles of Finance) that required more references to equations etc. in books.
If you want to know more specifically then do reply!

Reply 9

Creole

2

I'd love to know more.

I really love maths and am worried I won't be utilising my skills if I don't use them. I know Economics use Partial Differential Equations, which are above me at the moment, but i'd love to have a reason to learn them other than personal interest. If you want, PM me the nitty gritty details.

Reply 10

camilesno1

Well the nitty gritty details I probably couldn't tell you. After lazing around all summer (since May) my brain has lost all finance knowledge, but what I can is that, if Maths is what you really love doing and want to do, I would be worried that as you said, Finance might not make the best use of your maths skills. Yes it does involve alot of numbers and equations (and accounting ratios) and what not but a large portion of Finance is sitting, reading text books and learning the theory (especially when it comes to things like Bonds. and don't get me started on Modigliani & Miller!).
Obviously all this is just based on my views of 1 finance module at Kent Uni but i'm sure there are other modules, Mathimatical ones that are really going to test your skills in Maths.
Apologies for numerous spelling mistakes in previous posts. It's getting late :cool:

Accountantcy and finance

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