Studying accounting is your pathway to working with clients to help them make their businesses more profitable and successful, and reduce their exposure to financial risk. With accounting you'll gain the skills you need to become a trusted business adviser and make strategic financial decisions for organisations.

Accountants can earn attractive salaries and are in demand both in New Zealand and overseas. They often work in high-level management positions where skills in financial control, decision making, legal compliance and leadership are essential.

If you enjoy working with numbers and people, and want to help businesses grow, then accounting may be a good fit for you.

In this subject, you'll learn how to prepare financial records to comply with professional reporting standards, and gain an understanding of commercial and taxation laws that apply to businesses.

A qualification in accounting can lead you into all kinds of industries, such as agribusiness, manufacturing or entertainment.

Become a professionally qualified accountant

Professionally qualified accountants are paid attractive salaries, and can work anywhere in the world.

By following a specific programme of study, you can meet the academic requirements to join either Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ), CPA Australia, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), or the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) once you graduate, and gain an internationally recognised qualification.

Qualifications

If you wish to take Accounting as your 1st Major, you'll need to enrol for either the 3-year Bachelor of Business, or the 4-year Bachelor of Management Studies with Honours.

Otherwise you can normally take it as a 2nd Major (8 papers) or Minor subject (4 papers) for any other bachelor's degree offered at the University of Waikato.

If you have never studied accounting before at university level, and wish to study towards becoming a professionally qualified accountant, graduates of any bachelor's degree may enrol for the Master of Professional Accounting, a 14-month accelerated programme.

If you'd like to gain specialist expertise through postgraduate research, take a look at our Master of Management Studies in Accounting.

Internationally recognised

You'll study at our internationally recognised Waikato Management School, which is in the top 1% of business schools globally with our prestigious Triple Crown Accreditation from AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA, placing it

Waikato is New Zealand's leading business school, ranked #1 in New Zealand for Business and Economics in the Times Higher Education World University Subject Rankings in both 2022 and 2023.

Be a business trailblazer and use your innovative thinking to help drive companies forward in a fast-paced world that is changing with a click.

Studying accounting is your pathway to working with clients to help them make their businesses more profitable and successful, and reduce their exposure to financial risk. With accounting you'll gain the skills you need to become a trusted business adviser and make strategic financial decisions for organisations.