Dr. LEE Hua, Head of the Department of Accounting, pointed out that the programme curriculum and content are reviewed and updated regularly to keep up with changing market needs. In 2019/2020, two streams entitled Professional accounting as well as Corporate accounting and finance were established to strengthen students’ competitiveness.
Dr. LEE said that the Department aims at developing students’ professional skills, so that they can apply their professional knowledge in business contexts. Accordingly, the Department has strengthened information technology and data analysis and offered three new courses including “Managing Business Information System and Applications”, “Business Analytics and Statistics” as well as “Workshop in Spreadsheet Skills for Statistical Analysis”. These courses cover Excel, VBA and other software widely used in practice. The Department also encourages students to choose electives related to data analytics in the General Education Programme to further enhance their technical and practical skills.
Apart from the curriculum, the Department also seeks to improve students’ employability and competitiveness in the following ways. The Department strives to maintain professional recognition. The Programme offered by the Department of Accounting is accredited by Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA), Associations of Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA), Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), and Certified Practising Accountant Australia (CPA Australia) etc. Accounting graduates are exempted from specific professional examination papers. Additionally, the Department has offered “Internship in accounting” starting from 2019 as an elective. Students can learn about how to apply accounting knowledge to accounting-related work environment. Further, the Department has organized Accounting Celebrity Workshops since 2020 and invited local and overseas experts from Big 4 CPA firms to provide a speech. For instance, Derek Lai, Vice-Chair of Deloitte China talked about debt restructuring, while Andrew Fuh, Managing Partner of Ernst & Young Taiwan, shared the current picture of accounting and auditing in Taiwan with students.
In addition, the Department is proactive in helping students to join Study Aboard programme so as to widen their horizons. In the past three years, students went on exchange at world famous universities, such as Peking University and University of Melbourne. The Department also encourages students to attend various business case competitions. Year 4 student SO Ching Sum, Victor was second runner-up in the EY Young Tax Professional Competition (Hong Kong Final) 2021, and served a six-week internship at EY’s tax department. For students who would like to further their studies, the Department provides academic consultation and helps them to apply for master’s programmes at both local and overseas universities. In recent years, accounting graduates have been admitted to master’s programmes of world-renowned institutions, such as the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Singapore Management University, and the University of Sydney. All of the above will enhance students’ professional competitiveness. According to a survey among HKSYU graduates, the employment rate of graduates from the Department of Accounting, takes the lead. From 2017 to 2019, the employment rate within three months after graduation was 95%, 93% and 87% respectively (excluding those pursuing further studies).
Dr. LEE indicated that besides teaching, staff members are actively pursuing their research papers. Some have won funding from RGC’s Faculty Development Scheme to conduct empirical research on accounting in capital markets. Also, three colleagues are working with overseas scholars and receiving funding from RGC’s Inter-Institutional Development Scheme to research on accounting information quality and data analytics.
Source：50th Anniversary Special Issue