Bachelor of Accountancy

Keen to become a professional accountant? This specialised degree will lead you to an accountancy career. You can become a member of one of the professional accounting organisations.

What will you learn?

The Bachelor of Accountancy will give you the skills needed to analyse accounting and business problems. You will gain a solid foundation in accounting and finance. You will also learn inter-personal and technical skills, knowledge and critical thinking skills. These are essential for success in todays business environment.

Your study has a solid foundation of compulsory courses, but it also provides some flexibility to choose courses for yourself.

The BAcc degree will give you an understanding of the legal and regulatory environments. You'll learn to identify and evaluate ethical dilemmas and provide logical ways to resolve them. Youll learn how best to communicate and use financial information to support business decisions.

You'll also learn the concepts and processes needed to protect and validate the integrity of accounting information.

Relevant study

Our lecturers are actively researching, bringing the most relevant developments in accounting theory and practice to your study. Massey is ranked third in Australasia and first in New Zealand for accounting research impact and productivity.

If youd like to take accountancy as part of a broader business qualification, consider the Bachelor of Business (Accountancy).

Insights

• The 2020 Student Experience Survey results for this qualification found that 75% of students on this qualification were satisfied with the teaching they have received, 81% believed assessment tasks challenged students to learn, and 83% highlighted that the qualification has given them “confidence to learn independentlyâ€.
• The 2020 Graduate Destination Survey results for this qualification found that 82% of graduates are in employment and 50% have continued in further study. The most common job title for graduated students was “Accountantâ€. Respondents indicated that 60% were earning above the New Zealand median national salary.
• Between 2018 and 2021 the average number of students enrolled in the qualification was 735 (headcount). In the 2020 academic year, 73% of students in the first year continued their studies and across the whole qualification 81% of courses were successfully completed.
• The QS World University Ranking by Subject ranks Massey in the top 200 universities worldwide in this subject area.

Key terms

Courses

Each qualification has its own specific set of courses. Some universities call these papers. You enrol in courses after you get accepted into Massey.

Course code

Each course is numbered using 6 digits. The fourth number shows the level of the course. For example, in course 219206, the fourth number is a 2, so it is a 200-level course (usually studied in the second year of full-time study).

Credits

Each course is worth a number of credits. You combine courses (credits) to meet the total number of credits needed for your qualification.

Specialisations

Some qualifications let you choose what subject you'd like to specialise in. Your major or endorsement is what you will take the majority of your courses in.

Credit summary

Course planning key

Prerequisites

Courses that need to be completed before moving onto a course at the next level. For example, a lot of 200-level courses have 100-level prerequisite courses.

Corequisites

Courses that must be completed at the same time as another course are known as corequisite courses.

Restrictions

Some courses are restricted against each other because their content is similar. This means you can only choose one of the offered courses to study and credit to your qualification.

Schedule A: Core courses (Choose 285 credits from)

There are more employment and career opportunities in accounting than there are in many other areas of study. The management of financial information underpins all business activity.

With a Massey Bachelor of Accountancy, you are equipped for a diverse range of accountancy and financial roles in almost any industry, including:

• chartered accounting firms - audit, tax, business services, or consulting
• business - financial accounting, management accounting, or financial management
• finance, banking and public sectors.

Our recent graduates have been employed by a range of companies, including the ‘big four’ international accounting and consulting firms.

• PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC)
• KPMG
• Deloitte
• Ernst & Young
• Fonterra
• Toyota
• New Zealand Post (business and industry)
• BNZ Bank (finance)
• Mid-Central District Health Board
• Audit New Zealand (public sector).

Boost your career even further

Your Bachelor of Accountancy degree will allow you to join key professional bodies. You can then further develop your technical knowledge and professional skills through applied postgraduate learning and mentored practical experience.

• Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand - representing more than 120,000 members in New Zealand and around the world.
• CPA Australia - the largest professional accounting body in Australia with membership around the globe.
• The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) - a chartered management accountant is considered to be the premier management accounting qualification you can attain globally.
• The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) supports 208,000 members and 503,000 students worldwide.