“On the one hand, we prepare students to advance further in their professional career or to continue their studies in the relevant fields. On the other hand, we facilitate students’ participation in the relevant professional qualifying examinations,” says Tan. “Their understanding of the conceptual and practical issues relating to both accounting and finance disciplines is going to be nurtured in the teaching and learning process.”

The school works with several international professional accounting bodies, which periodically review the programme’s structure and widen the range of exemptions from professional examination. They include the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), CPA Australia, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and the Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) Institute. Graduates can apply for exemptions on a number of papers and certificates, as well as operational and management-level exams.

The school is among just 1 per cent of business schools worldwide with triple accreditation by the US-based Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS).

The programme covers a wide variety of topics at a comprehensive level to ensure students gain an in-depth understanding of both fields. There is a special emphasis on practical applications of the theory, particularly in the context of the Hong Kong and non-US markets.

“For example, we introduce the cases and examples on Asian and European corporations. We introduce international accounting standards and taxation. We also invite renowned experts to give seminars and workshops on global development of fintech, investment and auditing fields,” says Tan.

Students have assignments, group projects, presentations and final examinations. New electives are also introduced, such as “financial technology” and “financial regulations and compliance”. Some students participate in internships with international accounting firms and financial services companies.

The School of Business’ career services section is dedicated to accelerating students’ career growth and can assist by helping them develop a professional portfolio by taking part in a wide range of customised career development events and coaching. They help students to stay abreast of market information and expose them to international opportunities.

Frequent events are organised to enable students and alumni to meet up and network across cohorts and programmes, and even with external parties. Alumni also attend events to share their experiences and pass on practical ideas to junior fellows.

For those who prefer a single-focus accounting programme, the University of Hong Kong offers a straightforward master of accounting (MAcct) with an interesting array of courses that take participants to the next level on their career ladder. The advanced courses deliver wide-ranging and up-to-date information about the latest developments in the profession and expand students’ knowledge about related fields, such as finance, law, professional ethics and strategic planning and their connection to the accounting profession.

“Students will be exposed to an array of core and elective courses, including corporate governance, accounting theories, strategic management and international taxation,” says professor Hui Kai-wai, programme director, MAcct. “The programme will help postgraduate students to develop their analytical skills and conceptual knowledge, so that they will be better prepared to take the [professional] qualification examinations either locally or overseas.”

He says that students who did not study accounting for their undergraduate degree or were only able to do it as a minor, which is not sufficient for taking the relevant professional examinations, will find the programme useful in fulfilling their interests and developing their careers in accounting and finance.

The venerable university, which ranks 25th on the QS World University Ranking, offers this highly regarded programme as a qualified programme accredited by ACCA, CPA, CIMA and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Accountants (HKICPA). The programme also reaches out to corporations who are quality employers in the accounting field for continuous quality enhancement.

“The recent collaboration with KPMG brought the firm’s analytic technologies and real-life business experience to our students with a wide range of programmes and activities, such as courses, seminars, workshops, mentorships and internships, helping students gain academic and practical knowledge from the firm,” Hui says. “Not only will our students acquire a knowledge of the latest analytics tools, they also gain academic and practical knowledge from industry practitioners.”

Designed to be a top-tier postgraduate programme with the needs of the employers in mind, through the taught postgraduate structure, the MAcct allows students to take courses from other disciplines and is regularly updated with new elements in the course structure. Recent developments include strategic leadership and business analytics. The programme team adopts cases and education materials from global sources and focuses on offering students advanced training, international insights and global perspectives. This can happen in alliance with international strategic partners, such as ACCA and CIMA, by accessing their instruction material which is developed with an international audience in mind, or via the programme’s professional network and activities, such as international conferences. There are also internship and job opportunities at multinational companies.

“Today, our business focus should never stay on one single country; we should look at business from an international perspective. It is thus essential for the students to demonstrate their knowledge and ability to their potential employers in a multinational setting or culture and grasp opportunities,” Hui says.

The school’s well-established industry connections and alumni network are the most important assets and not easily accessible at other universities. The close connections may bring in exclusive internships and recruitment opportunities.

Applicants with a good academic performance are welcome to apply to this one-year programme. Students will have to complete eight core and four elective courses for 96 credits, with an attendance rate of 70 per cent. Alumni can audit one programme per year.

Students keen to be trained to see the wider picture beyond accounting and become successful business professionals will be interested in the practical and academically rigorous master of science in accounting programme (MSAC) offered by the University of Science and Technology (HKUST).

This young university and its business school founded in 1991 have won many accolades in their short existence. The school is rated No. 1 in the world in the Times Higher Education Young Universities Ranking 2019, clinched second position in the QS Top 50 Under 50 2020 list and was named “Asia’s youngest but most respected business school” in the Financial Times.

“We are young, dynamic and very well respected for the quality of our programmes and the impact of our research. Our programmes are highly regarded for their cutting-edge design and delivery, and are consistently ranked among the very best in the world by the international media,” says Tony Shieh, associate professor of business education and academic director of the MSAC programme.

The MSAC has been accredited by ACCA, CPA, HKICPA and CIMA as well as by the US-based AACSB International and EQUIS, and the degree offered is recognised worldwide.

According to Shieh, the course offers specialised knowledge in accounting. With that, graduates can offer major contributions to their companies and projects. They will have considerable insight into accounting, finance, treasury, taxation, auditing, business consulting, and corporate strategic planning.

Most of the students are fresh graduates, with about 20 to 30 per cent having work experience. Applications are welcome from accounting and non-accounting majors with an interest in accounting and related fields.

The course requirement is 30 credits within the one academic year course, which enables students to enter the HKICPA qualification programme. It also prepares them to enter the related fields of finance, information systems, international business and investment.

Shieh explains that the course is more intensive than usual master’s degrees in accounting, and students need to take 15 subjects to graduate. This includes electives that allow them to learn about the related fields of finance and business.

He says, “We aim to provide students with access to professional careers to become successful business professionals across different business functions and master their own success.”

As the requirements for using accounting analytics techniques in the industry are continuously growing, the school decided to add a new accounting analytics concentration to the MSAC programme. Those who join the programme will have to take four electives in accounting analytics as part of the programme requirements.

This unique concentration equips students with the most up-to-date data analytics tools to examine big data and answer accounting- and finance-related questions. The courses are conducted by executives from the Big 4 accounting firms, Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and they can join a related internship programme.

HKUST not only works with the Certified Public Accountancies (CPA), it also has close working relationships with other professional institutions and corporations to offer internships to their students. The company executives share experience and industry insights with students. The MSAC also has a careers service that helps students to advance in their careers after graduation.