The Bachelor of Accountancy, also known as Bachelor of Accounting, is the principal

academic degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions often offer degrees at various levels, usually divided into und ...

accountancy Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys ...

in several countries, and is often the only (undergraduate) degree recognised for subsequent practice as a professional accountant; see

First professional degree A professional degree, formerly known in the US as a first professional degree, is a degree that prepares someone to work in a particular profession, practice, or industry sector often meeting the academic requirements for licensure or accreditatio ...

. It is abbreviated as B.Acy., B.Acc., or B. Accty.. It is also sometimes titled Bachelor of Accounting Science (B.Acc.Sci.) or "Baccalaureus Computationis" (B.Compt.). The B.Acy. is extremely specialized: the

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...

requires study sufficient for professional practice (often at the major-level) in

financial accounting Financial accounting is a branch of accounting concerned with the summary, analysis and reporting of financial transactions related to a business. This involves the preparation of Financial statement audit, financial statements available for pu ...

management accounting In management accounting or managerial accounting, managers use accounting information in decision-making and to assist in the management and performance of their control functions. Definition One simple definition of management accounting is th ...

auditing An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon." Auditing al ...

, and

taxation A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal person, legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to Pigouvian tax, regulate and reduce nega ...

. The curriculum also includes intermediate coursework in

business law Commercial law (or business law), which is also known by other names such as mercantile law or trade law depending on jurisdiction; is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of persons and organizations engaged in ...

and

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

, and general coverage of

management theory Management science (or managerial science) is a wide and interdisciplinary study of solving complex problems and making strategic decisions as it pertains to institutions, corporations, governments and other types of organizational entities. It is ...

, and

business mathematics Business mathematics are mathematics used by commercial enterprises to record and manage business operations. Commercial organizations use mathematics in accounting, inventory management, marketing, sales forecasting, and financial analysis.J. Oli ...

and

business statistics Statistics (from German: ', "description of a state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a scientific, industrial, or social ...

. The degree is thus not to be confused with a B.B.A. in Accounting or B.Com. in Accounting, which are general business degrees with accounting as an area of concentration; for discussion, see . Some programs allow for specializations in topics such as Tax Accountancy, Auditing or

Forensic Accountancy Forensic accounting, forensic accountancy or financial forensics is the specialty practice area of accounting that investigates whether firms engage in Accounting scandals, financial reporting misconduct, or financial misconduct within the workpla ...

. Due to the specialised nature of the B.Acy., it is a professional degree course that is offered infrequently. In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, it is likely to be a four-year undergraduate degree. In other parts of the world, such as

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, it will be a three-year

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

degree. In

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, it is a two-year course that can be taken after qualifying in

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

only for students who obtain exceptional grades in their previous course. Most

public universities in South Africa In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

offer the degree or a variant, often as a postgraduate Honours degree. After completion of the Bachelor of Accountancy, students typically go on to work as accountants in industry, and/or pursue professional accountant status. When the degree is recognized for this purpose, graduates will therefore pursue the CPA or C.A. (or other) designations, and thus take up "articles" at an

accounting firm An accounting network or accounting association is a professional services network whose principal purpose is to provide members resources to assist the clients around the world and hence reduce the uncertainty by bringing together a greater numbe ...

accredited for training, so as to meet the relevant work experience requirements, and will then also sit the associated Professional Examination. Note that in the

, a bachelor's degree in accountancy is generally not sufficient for practice as a professional accountant. Also, employers in industry generally prefer to hire applicants with a master's in accountancy (or an M.B.A. with a concentration in accounting) and/or with professional certification. Accountancy graduates intending to work as accountants will therefore commence with the Master of Accountancy; an accelerated program, or an advanced program allowing for specialized / additional elective work, is typically available to these students.eg
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References

See also