The Honours Program offered by the School of Accounting provides students with analytical and empirical research skills that are highly valued by employers. Honours graduates are highly sought after by consulting, accounting, investment banking and government organisations.

Of course, the Honours Program is an excellent grounding for anyone interested in an academic career, but it is certainly not the case that the skills developed in the program are only "academic". Almost all sectors of business and government today are seeking students with greater analytical and empirical skills than the "standard" undergraduate program can provide. With its small number of studentsand high level of staff contact, the Honours Program in Accounting provides the opportunity for students with a strong existing record to further develop their skills.

By the time students complete the program, they will have acquired the five skills of:

1. Critical thinking.
2. Researching a topic in depth, critically analysing this and projecting future outcomes in the relevant area.
3. Solving complex problems, especially in the application of logic and reasoning.
4. Skills in applied empirical research.
5. Knowledge of the latest research theory and frameworks for understanding professional problems facing the accounting discipline.

Benefits of the Honours Program in Accounting

The Honours Program in Accounting is guided by Professors who are international leaders in their fields. Each of these Professors has strong links at high levels in industry that benefit students. As part of the Honours program students work on cutting edge industry problems. As a result, the training students get equip them for a range of jobs and options that many undergraduate students would not be able to avail themselves of. These are often in management consulting, investment banking, accounting, academia or overseas study. Furthermore, the skills that students acquire provide them with competitive advantage for the rest of their lives.

Features of the Honours Program in Accounting

The program consists of two semesters. Prior to the start of the semester, students will complete statistics, writing, library research and database use workshops. During first semester, students must complete four subjects. These subjects will teach students the skills outlined above and will enable them to complete the Honours thesis in semester 2.

Details of the subjects offered in the Honours program can be found in the Faculty of Business Handbook (website).

The Honours Thesis in Accounting

The second semester will see the student working closely with a Professor and a senior researcher on an industry-based project. This will involve searching the literature for what has been written about the problem, formulating ideas about how the problem can be fixed, and finally fixing the problem. This process is written up in a thesis under the supervision of the staff that the student is working with.

The Honours Thesis is not some sort of a long essay. Rather, it is a project which requires the student to demonstrate the application of analytical and empirical research skills required through the subjects completed during the first semester of the program.

Topics are normally selected in consultation with academic staff. Some examples of recent topics supervised by School of Accounting staff include

• Causes and consequences of voluntary disclosure.
• Corporate governance and firm valuation.
• Costs of going public.
• Demand for non-audit services.
• Development of winning e-business strategies.
• Disclosure policies of firms making initial public offerings.
• Explanation of takeover premiums.
• Internal efficiency gains generated by B2B strategies.
• Impact of audit firm mergers on audit fees.
• Impact of litigation on audit fees.
• Price cutting following audit switches.
• The role of the board of directors in monitoring companies.
• Valuation of dot com companies.
• Valuation of initial public offerings.
• Valuation of internet companies.
• Risk management.
• Performance evaluation of information systems.

Further Information on the Honours Program

Student intake for the Honours program in Accounting is fifteen students per year.

Honours Students are eligible to Austudy (or equivalent) within DEST guidelines. Students will be able to avail themselves of part-time teaching and research assistance work within the School of Accounting. There will also be research opportunities in working with industry partners of research in the School through the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) or SIRCA.

For more information, please contact David Brown.

More information on the honours program can be found on the Faculty honours pages (website)