Course details

Summary

The PhD is a globally recognised postgraduate research degree, the highest level of degree you can achieve. PhD students are critical, curious, creative thinkers who undertake original research over at least 3 years. As well as your supervised original research, through your doctoral programme you will have opportunities to expand and develop your personal and professional skills. Doctoral candidates present their work at local and international conferences, and are encouraged to network and collaborate with a wide range of experts in their research field.

This course is also offered at overseas and Manukau location.

Why study Accounting?

Accounting provides information for decision making. Almost every business and organisation needs accountants to measure performance and provide information for decisions.

What you will learn

You will learn how to present financial statements that can be used to assist business planning and decision making. You will also learn financial analysis techniques.

Should you wish to study accounting at postgraduate level, you will cover more advanced subjects and methods to enable you to further develop your skills, knowledge, and career options.

Areas of study

There are two areas of study: Financial Accounting and Management Accounting. Financial accounting involves consideration of the presentation of financial statements and techniques for their analysis. Management accounting explores the use of accounting data for managerial planning, decision making, and control.

Career opportunities

The study of accounting can be regarded as either a specialist professional area in itself or as a basic tool which can be applied across the broad spectrum of business or non-profit organisations.

If you study accounting at undergraduate level, you may decide to embark on a career in one of these careers:

Financial accounting: accountant or auditor in a chartered accountancy practice, industry, or the public sector.

Management accounting: business consultant or financial manager in a manufacturing, service, or consultancy organisation.

You can further develop your knowledge with postgraduate study leading to more senior or specialised career roles in both financial and management accounting.

Programme requirements

The general PhD regulations require either a bachelor’s honours degree or masters degree for entry. Both the honours degree and the master’s degree should have prepared the applicant with subject matter expertise and research skills, including at least one significant research Endeavour as part of the degree. For this reason, Masters of Business Administration (MBAs) and other general, applied degrees are often not seen as adequate preparation for PhD study, and transitional preparation may be required. Prior degree study should have been completed with distinction (generally, at A- level or above) and have prepared the applicant in the discipline in which the research is proposed. In terms of supervision, the disciplinary base of the department is broad and applicants are encouraged to check the research profiles of potential supervisors on the department website. Many staff members have identified preferred areas of PhD and masters supervision to assist students' identification of research topics.

Where could this programme take you?

Our PhD graduates are successful in a wide range of fields and careers, as well as the traditional academic research career path. The PhD gives you extensive specialist and transferable skills, which are sought after in many sectors, including industry and government, and can even help you to develop entrepreneurship skills to run your own startup.

Entry criteria

• Masters-level qualification or the equivalent of a bachelors degree with honours
• Evidence of significant research, usually undertaken as part of prior study

English language requirements:

IELTS 6.5; TOEFL (iBT) 90; TOEFL (paper-based) 575; CAE or CPE 176; PTE 58; MELAB 85.