Overview
Recent disruptive technological innovations such as Big Data Analytics, Blockchain Automation, and Business Financial Technology, lead to profound changes within the modern business environment. Consequently, accounting and business finance professionals are challenged to develop new hybrid skillsets and attributes that will enable them to thrive within the sphere of the emerging 5th industrial revolution. The MSc Accounting and Business Intelligence is designed for students who have an academic background in accounting, business analytics, and financial management. The structure of the programme makes it particularly relevant to the needs of accounting graduates and newly qualified accounting professionals who aim to pursue careers within the new hybrid accounting specialisms and who aim to operate within the new and increasingly popular business models that are a by-product of modern, fast-paced technological innovations.
Completing this course successfully will help you develop the attributes required to progress faster through the business hierarchy and will allow you to secure highly sought-after positions such as Chief Financial and Technology Officer, Chief Financial Information Officer, Forensic Accountant, and International Tax Consultant, in addition to the more mainstream career pathways in accounting and auditing. The combination of the above attributes will also help you develop the necessary aptitude that leads to a successful pursuit of further studies at PhD level.
In addition to an intellectually challenging and robust learning experience, this programme will also provide you with the opportunity to apply classroom-learned theory and concepts at the workplace through an optional placement, subject to you being able to secure a suitable role within an organisation.
This course is accredited by AACSB and is recognised by the Chartered Institute of Taxation as relevant to its ADIT qualification.
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Course content
The Accounting and Business Intelligence MSc consists of six compulsory and six optional modules (of which, you would select two), a dissertation, and an option to undertake placement. The six compulsory modules foster the development of a set of specialist post-graduate attributes in accounting, hybridised with a strong conceptual understanding of business intelligence and business financial technology.
The optional modules are designed to encourage personal learning and development in the fields of Professional Consultancy, International Business Strategy, Creative and Forensic Accounting, Digital Creativity and Entrepreneurship. These modules enable students to personalise their studies and develop specialist skills in line with their own interests and career aspirations.
The dissertation, which is a core module, enables learners to consolidate their skills through the conception and execution of a research-oriented project, that requires synthesis of theoretical concepts with empirical evidence and evaluation of relevant implications for practice.
Compulsory
- Corporate reporting, governance, and sustainability
This module provides you with an opportunity to learn and develop a thorough and critical understanding of contemporary theories and applications related to financial and non-financial reporting, sustainability, and governance.
- Accounting for Strategic Management and Control
This module aims to enable you to appraise theories of strategic management accounting and control. Through this module, you will be able to evaluate how these theories contribute to strategy formulation, implementation, and sustainability.
- International Taxation Policy and Practice
In this module, you will have an opportunity to explore the world of international taxation, and how it impacts multinational corporations. Key concepts covered in this module include transfer pricing, double tax treaties, and so on.
- Business Financial Technology
This module enables you to develop advanced critical awareness of business financial technology and appraise its practical implications for accounting. You will also gain a deeper understanding of disruptive technologies, in the accounting and finance sectors, such as blockchain technology.
- Business Intelligence
In this module, you will explore some of the most significant technologies associated with business intelligence, big data, and data analytics. You will also gain a deeper understanding on how to these technologies are applied in the corporate sector.
- Understanding Business and Management Research
This module facilitates a comprehensive grasp of research methods in the accounting field. The provided learning materials establish a strong foundation for the dissertation project in MG5636.
- Dissertation (Accounting and Business Intelligence MSc)
This module requires students to research and write a thesis of 12,000 words. The dissertation should involve undertaking either qualitative or quantitative research, involving a research problem in the field of accounting.
Optional
- Creative and Forensic Accounting
This is a module where you have an opportunity to develop critical awareness of theories, methods of practice, and contemporary issues within the creative accounting and fraud environment. You will also be able to appraise the relevance and limitations of forensic accounting and fraud investigation techniques, with particular emphasis on sustainability and regulatory contexts.
- Digital Creativity and New Media Management
This module defines creativity within the context of innovative and entrepreneurial firms. It seeks to analyse creativity at individual, group, organisational, urban and national levels, delineating its vital role in fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in dynamic environments.
- Current Issues in AccountingStudying the main theories and methods used in accounting research so as to be able to think critically, and effectively convey complex ideas or arguments.
- Professional Consultancy in Business Intelligence and Social MediaDevelop consultancy and advisory skills, practical skills and technical competencies with new media while working collaboratively to undertake an authentic task. Students also will be given the opportunity to practise and evaluate realistic decision-making in a simulated business environment.
- Creativity, Entrepreneurship and InnovationThis module aims to define creativity within the context of innovative and entrepreneurial firms. It seeks to analyse creativity at individual, group, organisational, urban and national levels, delineating its vital role in fostering innovation and entrepreneurship.
- International Business Strategy
This module communicates the forces that shape the operating environments of organisations, nationally and internationally. Upon completing this module, students will be able to systematically apply business management theories, concepts and techniques to central international business activities such as foreign entry.
This course can be studied 1 year full-time, 2 years full-time with placement or 16 months full-time with placement, starting in September. Or this course can be studied 15 months full-time, 27 months full-time with placement or 19 months full-time with placement, starting in January.
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Read more about the structure of postgraduate degrees at Brunel
Careers and your future
Built upon the core advanced features of the professional accountancy domain, our Accounting and Business Intelligence MSc will equip you with a unique set of expertise, that is currently in increasing demand. It fosters the development of a strong conceptual understanding of business intelligence, innovation, entrepreneurship and business financial technologies in addition to exploring current issues in such areas as corporate governance, international taxation, management and financial accounting. Armed with the ability to appraise both theoretical and applied perspectives on modern business models’ operation and sustainability, you will be able to apply a range of specialist skills to the organisations in which you will operate as a modern accounting professional.
As a masters graduate you’ll be equipped to enter a number of job roles, including: Auditor; Financial Accountant; Management Accountant; Financial Technology Associate; Business Intelligence Analyst; International Tax Consultant; Forensic Accountant; Business Consultant; Financial analyst; Financial Controller.
UK entry requirements
- A 2.2 (or International equivalent) in a degree in Accounting, Accountancy, Finance, Financial Management, Investment Management and Banking. Applicants with other degree subjects that include a substantial component including study of accounting, accountancy, finance, financial management, investment management and banking are encouraged to apply and will be considered according to their own merits.
EU and International entry requirements
If you require a Tier 4 visa to study in the UK, you must prove knowledge of the English language so that we can issue you a Certificate of Acceptance for Study (CAS). To do this, you will need an IELTS for UKVI or Trinity SELT test pass gained from a test centre approved by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) and on the Secure English Language Testing (SELT) list. This must have been taken and passed within two years from the date the CAS is made.
English language requirements
- IELTS: 6.5 (min 6 in all areas)
- Pearson: 59 (59 in all subscores)
- BrunELT: 63% (min 58% in all areas)
- TOEFL: 90 (min 20 in all)
You can find out more about the qualifications we accept on our English Language Requirements page.
Should you wish to take a pre-sessional English course to improve your English prior to starting your degree course, you must sit the test at an approved SELT provider for the same reason. We offer our own BrunELT English test and have pre-sessional English language courses for students who do not meet requirements or who wish to improve their English. You can find out more information on English courses and test options through our Brunel Language Centre.
Please check our Admissions pages for more information on other factors we use to assess applicants. This information is for guidance only and each application is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Entry requirements are subject to review, and may change.
Fees and funding
2024/25 entry
UK
£13,750 full-time
International
£25,000 full-time
More information on any additional course-related costs.
Fees quoted are per year and are subject to an annual increase.
See our fees and funding page for full details of postgraduate scholarships available to Brunel applicants.
Scholarships and bursaries
Teaching and learning
At Brunel Business School (BBS), you will experience a rich and engaging on-campus learning environment. Our modules are delivered through engaging lectures, and in most modules, through seminars that allow for interactions in smaller groups. Additionally, you will have access to a wide range of resources on Brightspace, our online learning platform, including PowerPoint slides, video recordings, and peer-reviewed academic publications that align with the module learning objectives. Moreover, BBS students benefit from a range of support and opportunities from our dedicated staff and faculty, such as:
- Extra-curricular activities designed to enhance your skills and expand your network, such as social events, guest speakers and industry visits/field trips (please note these may vary within programmes)
- A dedicated Student Experience Team to provide pastoral care
- A dedicated ASK Academic Skills support team to help you understand and address coursework requirements
- Personalised tutoring and wellbeing advice to support your academic and personal development
- Employability guidance and career planning from our in-house director.
Assessment and feedback
The assessment is designed to enable you demonstrate your standard of competence on the programme’s learning outcomes. In conjunction with appropriate feedback, it aims to incorporate crucial authentic elements that foster deep learning, self-direction, consolidation of experiences, relevance of skills to professional practice, problem solving, and peer interaction.
Implementation of the programme’s assessment strategy is achieved through a diverse set of methods and elements that include unseen examinations and MCQ tests/quizzes, essay/report writing, individually assessed group debates, individually assessed group presentations, case study analysis (alone and in teams), dynamic cumulative assignments that enable synthesis and achievement of learning objectives over longer periods of time, individually assessed role play, and writing of reflective accounts.
Finally, by working on a dissertation, you will be exposed to the challenges of developing a coherent and outcome oriented major piece of independent research that will help you develop original approaches in solving complex unstructured business problems.
Read our guide on how to avoid plagiarism in your assessments at Brunel.
