The Importance Of Accounting And Finance

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In this essay, I will explore what accounting and finance is and why I have chosen to study it at the University of Birmingham. Accounting and finance are two separate disciplines that have some similar characteristics. The main difference between accounting and finance is that finance focuses on the present and future whereas accounting focuses on the past (Aspillera, 2014). The University of Birmingham is amongst the top providers for accounting and finance due to its credibility, infrastructure and status making it one of the best routes towards a successful career.
Accounting is “the art of recording, classifying and summarising business transactions” (Raun, 1962). The field of accounting covers a broad range of topics, and thus a single
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Business is a sector that I have had an interest into for a long time due to the wide range of content and opportunities available. I first began studying business at GCSE level; following this I also studied it at A-Level achieving an A* in both. My passion for business alongside my ability to succeed in this subject impacted heavily on my degree choice. I feel that accounting and finance links business with a career as accountants work with businesses making it a great choice for me. The first time I experienced working in an accounting environment was when I took part in a discovery program with KPMG in July 2015. This program gave me a clearer understanding of what accountancy is and what accountants do. It was from this moment that I knew that accounting and finance was an interesting field in which I wanted to gain in-depth knowledge about. Accounting and finance is a large sector that can lead to many opportunities. In the UK, there are 4 main large employers for accountants: PWC, Deloite, EY and KPMG, with PWC being the largest employer for graduates since 2004 (Birchall, 2016, pp.12-20). For careers in finance there are also many employers in the top 20 for graduates including; J.P Morgan, Goldman Sachs and HSBC (Birchall, 2016, p.12). This demonstrates that a degree in accounting and finance would be useful to provide many options for the future as there is a large …show more content…
The city of Birmingham has lots to offer; from a wide range of culinary choices, to the bullring at the heart of the city centre and the amazing nightlife. Birmingham is full of different places to visit and attractions to see making it the place to be. As the University of Birmingham is local to me this enabled me commute to university which made it easier for me from a financial perspective and to settle into university life. Birmingham has a good network of transport; there are many bus stops located around campus and it is “the only UK university to have its own railway station on campus” (Getting here- University of Birmingham, no date). Because of this, Birmingham University is conveniently accessible even when you do not live on campus. Being a student from Birmingham I was also eligible to apply to the University of Birmingham through the university’s A2B scheme. This scheme was one of the reasons I chose Birmingham as it recognised that not everyone comes from a background that is experienced in higher education and that because of this it can be more difficult for certain people to receive help and support when it comes to higher education. The A2B scheme was helpful as it provided me with the chance to learn more about the university through visits to the university and talks from certain members of staff which helped explain how things worked at university and all the

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