A List of the Best Accounting Degree Courses Offered by Top Ranked Private Universities & Colleges in Malaysia

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Presently, Malaysia has about 7.5 million Accountants. The country requires another 60,000 Accountants to fulfill Vision 2020. The Financial sector stands as one of the largest sectors in Malaysia with more than 300,000 people employed. This sector is made up by professionals in the Accounting, Banking, Economics, Finance, Insurance and Statistics and Taxation sub-sectors. An important industry for the country, it contributes up to 11 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The role of the financial sector is envisioned to continue growing to be a key driver and catalyst of Malaysia’s economic progression.

A career in Accounting can give you high salaries if you are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills. Therefore, you should choose a reputable top university in Malaysia to study the Accounting & Finance degree. With so many universities and colleges in Malaysia offering the accounting degree course, students after SPM, O-Levels, UEC, A-Levels or STPM need to choose the best university that would equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills to succeed in the competitive workforce.

Part of finding the right college or university in Malaysia for you will be picking out the criteria that matters to most to you, and then seeing if any of the top private colleges or universities in Malaysia that you’re looking at fit those criteria. Choosing a university to study in Malaysia is one of the most important decisions you will make in your life. Your decision will be influenced by many criteria such as the reputation & ranking of the university, accreditation of its courses, the suitability of the course against your academic results and career goals, tuition fees, quality of lecturers, facilities, friends & family, and more.

Furthermore many of the top private universities in Malaysia offer similar Accounting & Finance courses therefore making your decision a challenging one! To help you develop a good list of criteria, you need to talk to the right counselors or education consultant who are knowledgeable and experienced.

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Top Accounting & Finance Universities in Malaysia

Choosing the best university or college that fits you for the accounting and finance course, you should look at the course content to see if it meets your career goals, ranking of the partner university if you want to work overseas, an English-speaking environment, campus facilities, lecturers’ experience, reputation of the university, student culture at the university, location, fees and internships.

If you want to work for the Big 4 Accounting Firms – KPMG, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young, you will need to achieve great results and be able to communicate well in the English language. Other top accounting firms in Malaysia that you can work for are BDO, Grant Thornton, Baker Tilly MonteiroHeng, DFK International and Halim & Lee.

There are many jobs out there for accounting & finance graduates but there is much competition because many students are taking this course. Therefore, students must choose the best university for the accounting & finance course so that you can gain the edge when they go out to look for work.

With so many universities and colleges in Malaysia offering the accounting degree course, students after SPM, O-Levels, UEC, A-Levels or STPM need to choose the best university that would equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills to succeed in the competitive workforce.

Students interested in taking the accounting degree at top private universities in Malaysia can consider the list below. Each private university has its own strengths and uniqueness that would fit you and equip you to be successful in your future career as an accountant in Malaysia.

1. University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
2. Heriot-Watt University Malaysia
3. Monash University 
4. Taylor’s University
5. Multimedia University (MMU)
6. University of Wollongong UOW) Malaysia KDU, Utropolis Glenmarie
7. First City University College
8. HELP University
9. Asia Pacific University (APU) 
10. UOWM KDU Penang

Top Universities for Accounting & Finance in Malaysia

ACCA Exemptions for Accounting or Accounting & Finance Degrees in Malaysia

Presently, Malaysia has about 7.5 million Accountants. The country requires another 60,000 Accountants to fulfill Vision 2020. All Accountants have to abide by a strict code of ethics and maintain high professional standards.

All practising accountants must register with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA). The Accountant Act, 1967 recognises an Accountant as one who is a member of MIA. MIA members can either be registered as Registered Accountants, RA(M) or Public Accountants, PA(M).

Generally, an Accounting degree from a private university in Malaysia can gain exemptions until the final 5 papers of the ACCA. A maximum of nine papers at the Fundamentals level of the ACCA Qualification can be awarded.

A maximum of nine papers at the Fundamentals level of the ACCA Qualification can be awarded. To preserve the integrity and rigour of the ACCA Qualification and to ensure that all students share a common experience, ACCA does not award any exemptions at the Professional level.

Should you have a relevant degree from an ACCA-accredited institution in Malaysia, you may be granted exemptions of up to all 9 Papers at the Fundamentals Level. No exemptions are awarded at the Professional Level.

ACCA PROFESSIONAL LEVEL (Final 5 papers)
Essentials Module
P1        Governance, Risk and Ethics
P2        Corporate Reporting
P3        Business Analysis

Options Module (any 2 papers)
P4        Advanced Financial Management

P5        Advanced Performance Management
P6        Advanced Taxation
P7        Advanced Audit & Assurance

Professional Recognition for Accountants in Malaysia

• Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), UK
  Upon completion of the BA (Hons) Accounting & Finance degree, students are eligible for exemption from a maximum of 9 papers.
• Certified Practising Accountant (CPA), Australia
  Upon completion of the BA (Hons) Accounting & Finance degree, students are exempted from the Foundation Level and they can proceed with the Professional pathway (6 subjects).
• Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA)
  Upon completion of the BA (Hons) Accounting & Finance with 3 years relevant working experience plus completion of Professional qualification (ACCA or CPA), students are eligible to apply for membership of the MIA.

INTRODUCING THE ACCA ACCELERATE PROGRAMME

All over the world, employers are seeking out ACCA members to take their organisations into the future. That’s because the ACCA Qualification creates strategic thinkers who understand business needs.

The good news is that when you join the Accelerate programme, you get to leap ahead on your journey to becoming an ACCA member – a chartered certified finance professional.

That’s because what you learn on your degree will count towards your ACCA Qualification. So by the time you graduate, you could have completed all the ACCA exams.

And the really great news is you can save considerable money by paying a reduced registration fee, discounted exemptions and special subscription fees. Please note that exemptions must be claimed before the waiver expiry date and at least one exam must be taken before the waiver expiry date.

WHAT’S IT LIKE STUDYING ON THE ACCA ACCELERATE PROGRAMME?

Your university course is ACCA accredited, so it’s already aligned with our approach. In addition, you’ll get to study towards your final ACCA Professional-level exams, if you have the correct exemptions. You should check with your course leader to see if your course has conditional or non-conditional exemptions.

This means you’ll enter the workplace as an ACCA affiliate. You could become a qualified ACCA member in as little as 36 months after you graduate.

And all the while you’re studying with us, you’ll have access to free study resources and the ACCA Careers Job Board. You’ll be part of a worldwide community of ACCA students.

What is the ACCA Accelerate Programme?

The programme allows undergraduate students the option to take Professional ACCA papers (maximum 5
ACCA papers) before or after graduating from their degree course.

Students who sign up for the ACCA’s ACCELERATE PROGRAMME would enjoy many benefits, amongst them being:

• Expedited pathway to becoming an ACCA member. Complete some or all of the ACCA papers before
  graduating.
• FREE initial registration fees. Your initial ACCA registration fee of GBP79 will be waived
• FREE annual subscription fees – two years including graduating year subscription fee of GBP170 will be waived
• DEFERRED exemption fees – You need to only pay the exemption fee two years after graduation.
• Membership in the exclusive Accelerate club that will provide access to events and promotion by ACCA.
• Access to employers in the form of: Employer Fair at ACCA events, Trips to employers, Talks and
  Activities organised by employers.
• Self-improvement opportunities from workshops conducted by ACCA.
• Networking opportunities with students from various universities, employers and prominent
  ACCA members.
• Receive Student Accountant Direct alerts — you will receive e-alerts such as career advice, study tips and ACCA news straight into your inbox.

ACCA will support students of ACCELERATE accredited programmes with the following:

• Free initial registration fee
• Free annual subscription fee of up to two years after graduation (inclusive of graduation year)
• Deferred exemption fee payment (up to 24 months after graduation)

Suggested accounting pathway for students in Malaysia with weak English

However, as we all know, the standard of English in Malaysia has dropped a lot. Some students thinking of going for accounting go into CAT and then the ACCA not realising that both are external papers and marked by the UK examiners

Therefore, although these students may be capable in their knowledge but their weakness in the English language to write properly during the exams will lead them to fail these papers. Furthermore, the final 5 papers of the ACCA are not easy and if you attempt these papers while you are too young, can be challenging.

I would suggest that students go into an accounting degree programme first where the degree is exempted from the 9 papers of the ACCA. Upon graduation, you find a job and then take the final 5 papers of the ACCA to become a professional accountant.

In choosing the university or college for the degree, you should go for a university where the students

speak English mostly.

Research by Star newspaper has shown that graduates with good command of the English language tend to get a higher salary (25%) and faster promotion.

A lot of students like the easy way out and choose colleges and universities that are cheap and lacking in quality and facilities thinking that as long as they just get the qualification, they are alright.

They forget that if the quality of the university is low, the student’s quality will also be low when they graduate. You won’t have the necessary knowledge and skills to succeed in the working world. Not being able to speak English well, you won’t be able to become a manager in a Multi National Company.

The management will not ask you to give a presentation if you cannot speak well and furthermore how are you going to be able to write a report? When you become an auditor, you will need to communicate with your client in English as well as your report.

Pathway to Becoming a Professional Accountant in Malaysia

Presently, Malaysia has about 7.5 million Accountants. The country requires another 60,000 Accountants to fulfill Vision 2020.

After SPM, with 5 credits, students can go into the Foundation in Business for a year and then continue into the degree for 3 years. The other way is to go for the Diploma in Business or Diploma in Accounting for 2 years and then enter into the Degree in Year 2 to finish that in another 2 years. You will need at least 3 credits in your SPM to join the diploma. After your degree, you can find a job and then take the final papers of the ACCA part time.

Setting up a Public Practice in Malaysia

Public practice is governed by the Act, the Rules and the By-Laws (On Professional Ethics, Conduct and Practice) of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

Under the Act, the person must be a member of the Institute, and is prohibited from public practice through a body corporate save where this is allowed by other statutes for limited areas of public practice, namely tax.

A member, in most instances, is allowed to be engaged in public practice as a sole practitioner or in partnership only with another member(s) as the Act and By-Laws prohibits the sharing of profits with non-members. All firms in public practice are described as firms of chartered accountants (or licensed accountants, where applicable).

Only members registered as chartered accountants with valid practising certificate can describe and hold themselves out as chartered accountants in public practice and are able to set up firms providing public practice services. Members in public practice may carry out public practice services such as accounting, audit, liquidation, tax and other related services. However, the practice of audit, liquidation and tax are licensed under other legislation.

Increased Demand for Well Trained Accountants in Malaysia

More accountants are needed for Malaysia to achieve Vision 2020 and be known as a high-income nation, said Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) president Johan Idris.

“For a country to have a mature capital market, it needs accountants because we provide confidence and assurance. We have a role to play to ensure that the capital markets are robust and forward-looking,”

To-date, the statutory body has just under 30,000 registered members. This is in comparison to Singapore, which has a similar number of members registered for a population of roughly five million.

“Australia, with a population of about 28 million, has about 100,000 members,” he said.

He added that the quality of education was important because it equated to the future supply chain of accountants in Malaysia. Accounting firms are constantly on the lookout to hire competent accounting graduates.

“Suitable candidates are hard to find. MIA can talk to the minister responsible for this, in terms of how we want to bring the accounting profession to the next level,” he said.

Johan highlighted that more importance should be placed on improving the level of competency in the English language.

“Accounting is about communicating financial statements and what you have done to the public at large.

“If you aren’t able to communicate well and if your supply of graduates doesn’t have a strong command of the language, then you would not be as strong as what you ought to be,” he said. He added that while Bahasa Malaysia unified the country, English was still the language of commerce.