Accounting in Singapore is offered by many universities and colleges. A degree in accounting in Singapore would typically focus on the quantitative aspects of an accountant’s job such as accounting for incomes and expenses under a set of financial reporting standards or auditing public companies’ financial statements to ensure compliance with those standards. This can be contrasted against master’s degrees which are known as education or research programs.
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This institution is a research-driven university. It has two separate schools of accountancy: the NUS Business School (NBS) and the NUS School of Accountancy (SOA). The SOA is considered to be the only professionally-accredited accountancy school in Singapore, while NBS was accredited by AACSB in 2009.
The largest private university in Singapore is also one of the newest, launched in 2008. It offers an undergraduate accounting degree as well as a Master of Accounting that requires one year of full-time study after graduation. The department also offers a Ph.D. program, with specializations such as finance and strategic management accounting.
SUTD is the only university in Singapore that offers a full-time Master of Accountancy degree. The 3-year, full-time program combines accounting, finance, and management subjects and places particular emphasis on management accounting.
This was the first university in Singapore to offer a graduate accounting program. The department also offers both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. The undergraduate program is a 3-year course leading to a Bachelor of Accountancy, while the Master of Accounting is available in both full-time and part-time modes and lasts for one year.
Due to a limited supply of qualified accountants, demand for accountants remains high: there is a huge demand for qualified accountants across the globe. According to an article on SmartBrief, “there could be as many as two million unfilled jobs in the U.S. alone that require at least a bachelor’s degree”.
According to the most recent statistics published by the International Accounting Bulletin (IAB), certificate holders earn a median salary of $67,000 and those with BAs around $80,000. Meanwhile, master’s degree holders can expect to earn around $90,000.
Students intending to pursue a career in accounting should consider pursuing either an undergraduate degree or a postgraduate qualification. An undergraduate degree will provide students with fundamental knowledge of finance and accounting which are foundational skills in the field of accounting. Students with an undergraduate business degree will often have an advantage when they enter the job market since they will have developed other soft skills such as communication, team-working, and other work-related skills that are equally important in delivering high-standard work.
Students should plan their course of study based on their own timeline and whether the degree is to be pursued for postgraduate studies, part-time studies, or full-time studies.
The cost of attending university in Singapore is borne by the student and is not limited to a certain amount. The general average tuition fee for undergraduates at NUS is $8,132 per semester in 2017/18 while SMU charges $6,838 per semester. In addition to this, each student pays an additional $812 Mandatory Uniform Fee (MA$).
