Accounting and Business Finance with Data Analytics

Why choose the Graduate School of Business

In the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2025, our business and management courses rank in the top 10 in their subject field for teaching; skills development; organisation and feedback; sense of community; and dissertation experience.

Real-world challenges through authentic assessments, industry collaboration and your choice of Master’s final dissertation.

The course includes core data analytics units designed to help you upskill within your current role or change career direction.

About the course

The MSc in Accounting and Business Finance with data analytics provides a comprehensive understanding of contemporary accounting and business finance, positioning students for key roles in financial management and strategic decision-making. The key career area it leads to is diverse, encompassing roles such as financial analysts, accountants, and financial managers, making it a valuable investment for professional growth and success.

The integration of data analytics units like data modelling and computer networks and security into this MSc course enriches the curriculum by preparing students for the evolving landscape of financial data management. This multidimensional approach equips graduates with the technical skills and strategic mindset necessary to navigate the intersection of finance and technology, making them well-rounded and adaptive professionals in the field.

For further course information, contact Mohamed Saeudy at mohamed.saeudy@beds.ac.uk

Facilities and specialist equipment

Cutting-edge business suite with £300K of industry-standard technology, tailored to crucial finance and data practices such as analytics, big data and data mining
Up-to-date financial databases and statistical software including FAME; Eikon; Stata; and SPSS
Access to learning resources and immersive simulations from Harvard Business Publishing
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) trading room providing worldwide ‘stock-market’ data for a realistic investment experience
Business pods, boardroom areas and IT suites designed to mirror a professional office environment

Industry links

Benefit from our links with accountancy’s ‘big four’: Ernst & Young; KPMG; PwC; and Deloitte as well as professional bodies such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, who invite students to their networking events and visit the University as conference speakers.

Your student experience

Peer-informed academic learning model with an emphasis on active collaboration and employability tailored for the modern workplace: develop critical thinking, analytical research, leadership and self-management skills through structured peer discourse and academic guidance, all while gaining specialised knowledge.

Delivered in six-week blocks with 24/7 access to learning resources and opportunities.

Live projects are integrated into the curriculum. Our strong industry links and collaborations offer students real-world experience. Engage with real firms in your classroom, solve real issues, build your competencies, confidence and networks.

Take advantage of industry speakers, industry events and career-development opportunities studying close to London.

Choose to specialise further by undertaking your dissertation in an area that sparks your interest, applying your learning to solve complex problems.

Learn from academic experts with strong industry experience and links.

Benefit from high levels of study support from careers, study skills and student support experts.

Aligned with the Principles of Responsible Management Education’s (PRME) sustainable development goals (SDG).

Course Leader - Dr Mohamed Saeudy

I am the PG Portfolio Leader for Accounting, Finance, Economics and HRM, Faculty PRME Lead, and Research Leader of the Centre for Contemporary Accounting, Finance and Economics Research (Res CAFE) at the University of Bedfordshire. I am interested in contemporary research in Corporate Governance and Sustainability Accounting. My research interest centres on how accounting practices may help business institutions to be more sustainable. My work has focused on developing organisational lenses to understand accounting for sustainable development practices in different organisational settings e.g. small and medium size businesses and higher education institutions.

Find out more about Dr Mohamed Saeudy

Studying our Accounting and Business Finance with Data Analytics MSc course will equip you with the comprehensive knowledge and skills you need around key areas of accounting, business finance and management. Our unit in Financial Reporting and Performance Management will provide you with the skills to read and interpret published financial statements where you will also engage in ‘Financial Information Analysis’. Here, you will learn to identify and extract critical information within annual corporate reports while considering how it is impacted by regulations, concepts and standards, and how this affects its usefulness in decision-making.

You will explore this further in our Financial Markets and Investments unit, that will provide you with knowledge of global financial markets, the importance of liquidity, the distinction between exchange versus OTC markets, primary and secondary markets and the role of intermediaries in their various forms. This relates to our unit in Advanced Management Accounting, where you will be equipped with the key tools and techniques used to make decisions, maximise revenue and minimise cost in management. You will combine management accounting and financial planning to make effective management decisions and drive successful businesses.

In the data analytics portion of this course, you will be introduced to the principles of data mining in the context of business and management in our Applied Data Analytics unit. You will explore common text mining, data mining and data analytics methods and learn to apply this to real-world datasets to solve business problems. Within this unit, you will be equipped with the industry skills to use SAS Viya – a cloud-enabled analytics engine that supports coding, visual interfaces, advanced analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Aside from this, you will explore the principles of Knowledge and Information Management for effective management in a variety of business settings. This unit will discuss the role of data, knowledge and information in strategy, data analytics and organisation decision making. Similarly, you will be introduced to the tools and techniques within Business Intelligence and Data Utilisation to design, plan, implement and manage strategic decision making to maximise a company’s success.

Furthermore, you will develop a critical and informed understanding of business environments and the business opportunities within them in our Strategy unit. Here, you will be introduced to a range of tools and concepts for strategic analysis and business modelling that will allow you to assess the strategic position of business organisations, formulate strategies, evaluate options and implement strategic decisions. Finally, you will complete our Capstone unit that will allow you to bring theory and practice together and research a topic of your interest that is relevant to your field of study. To help you with this, you will be introduced to the processes and techniques of research methods while working with a research supervisor to develop your ideas.

Your assessments prepare you for career tasks and activities, developing your employability skills and industry-specific knowledge. Your assessments build your competencies and confidence with a strong emphasis on authentic assessment, including a mix-of:

Live projects, working on real-world industry projects
Group and individual assessments
Presentations
Industry reports
Reflexive work

There are no exams in this course.

The capstone of your course is a dissertation, developing an individual independent piece of work under supervision. This challenging, enjoyable and rewarding experience enhance your conceptual and analytical skills, as well as research and data management expertise.

Careers

As a graduate of this course, you will have the skills to take up career opportunities across a variety of business areas including assurance and audit; financial accounting; taxation; corporate finance; corporate insolvency and recovery. You will be able to work as a financial analyst; finance manager; corporate treasurer; and credit controller, to mention just a few of the potential roles.

This course also provides an excellent pathway for further academic study at either MPhil and PhD level.

Fees for this course

UK

The total fee for a 2-year taught Master's degree for the Academic Year 2025/26 is £13,000. You can apply for a loan from the Government to help pay for your tuition fees and living costs. Visit gov.uk/postgraduate-loan

Alternatively if you have any questions around fees and funding, please email admission@beds.ac.uk