Masters (Coursework)
Study at a university ranked in the top 1% in the world for accounting* and expand your depth of knowledge and career opportunities. Deakin's Master of Professional Accounting allows you to graduate with the skills to practise as an accountant, specialising in your chosen field of business.
Ready to upgrade your accounting career?
Whether you are looking to upgrade your existing qualifications or move into a new professional field altogether, the Master of Professional Accounting opens up new career possibilities. Catering to students from both accounting and non-accounting backgrounds, you will have the opportunity to complete the necessary studies to become an associate member of CPA Australia, to enter the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand to undertake the CA program, or to enter the IPA professional program.
Now is the perfect time to draw on your prior career experience and add layers of new knowledge to become a sought-after expert in your field. Some of the key areas you will study include:
Our course content is influenced by our advisory board, made up of members of peak professional bodies and active accounting professionals. This means everything you study is updated and maintained through extensive industry research. This includes the research developed by our IPA-Deakin SME research centre, which is dedicated to driving key insights for small-to-medium enterprises and by our Deakin Integrated Reporting Centre, which provides strategic and operational leadership in integrated reporting policy and technical knowledge, as well as academic and executive education and cutting-edge research.
Learn from academics who leverage their specific expertise and up-to-date research to embed progressive learning throughout your course journey, giving you the ability to work on contemporary case studies with a real-world application.
As a graduate, you will have the option to complement your primary studies in professional accounting with a specialisation in a wide range of business-related fields. Designed to meet industry demand for skilled professionals with a breadth of transferrable skills, a specialisation can help deepen your knowledge in a particular business field and benefit your future career.
Modern-day employers are seeking professionals with not only strong theoretical knowledge and expertise, but also a breadth of transferrable skills. So, whether you're wanting to build your finance skills or focus on IT, real estate or the arts, we offer the right specialisation to broaden your skill set. Some of your options include:
Not sure which specialisation to pursue? You won't have to decide until you've commenced the course, giving you the chance to explore the many options that may benefit your future career.
*QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023
The Master of Professional Accounting is constantly reviewed, and where necessary revised, to ensure it meets the most up-to-date standards and expectations of professional accounting bodies.
With real-world skills and awareness of current trends, you will be ready to hit the ground running in your chosen field.
As a graduate of this course, you can seek employment in areas of accounting such as:
* financial accounting
* auditing
* taxation
* management accounting
* public sector accounting
* forensic accounting.
As a qualified accountant, you can choose to work in a range of different settings depending on your skills and preferences, such as:
* large firms
* small public practices
* all levels of government
* law firms
* banking and financial services
* not-for-profit organisations
* educational organisations
* self-employment.
Given the fundamental shift of accountants moving towards wide-ranging advisory roles, career opportunities are also becoming available in other vocations, including roles as:
* investment advisers
* market analysts
* tax consultants
* advisers in mergers and acquisitions
* corporate recovery and insolvency
* treasury banking
* e-commerce or information technology.
The Master of Professional Accounting is typically 8, 12 or 16 credit points. The exact number of credit points you study depends on how much credit you receive as recognition of prior learning (RPL) -your professional experience and previous qualifications -which can save you time and money.
To complete the Master of Professional Accounting, students must attain a total of 16 credit points, consisting of 12 credit points of core units and 4 credit points of open electives (which may include an optional Faculty wide specialisation) plus completion of the compulsory 0-credit point module, DAI001 Academic Integrity Module. Most units (think of units as 'subjects') are equal to 1 credit point.
12
Core units
4
Elective units
16
Total units
The University aims to provide students with as much credit as possible for approved prior study or informal learning.
You can refer to the Recognition of prior learning system which outlines the credit that may be granted towards a Deakin University degree and how to apply for credit.