The School of Accountancy, one of the larger academic departments at the University of the Free State, offers modules in the following areas:

• Financial Accounting 
• Management Accounting and Financial Management
• Auditing and Corporate Governance
• Taxation

A significant focus of the School is on the offering of academic programmes to educate aspiring professional accountants.  The School has a long history, and has evolved from a Department of Accounting, into a Centre for Accounting, and more recently into a School of Accountancy – as the size and complexity of its offerings has grown.

The vision of the School is to be an innovative, transformative and responsive Accountancy educator of choice, recognised for:

- The value added in the development of its students, enabling them to contribute meaningfully to the advancement of the economy and society; 
- The objective, research-based, contribution made to addressing the challenges facing the accounting / auditing profession and accounting education; and 
- Being connected with its stakeholders and responsive to their needs.

The ‘value added’ that the School offers its students in the development of their knowledge, skills and values is possible due to the:

• Highly qualified, experienced and committed academic staff complement;
• Interactive ‘student-centred’ teaching and learning model that is applied;
• Effective bursary and support initiatives at the School (i.e. Thuthuka and Intrabas);
• Well-designed programmes that are accredited by the leading professional accounting bodies that operate and are recognised both nationally and internationally, including:

- SA Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) – who have awarded our Chartered Accountancy programmes the best possible accreditation rating;
- Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA);
- Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA); and
- SA Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA).

These accreditations further attest to the fact that our programmes are relevant to the working world, including the changes required in the world being transformed by the 4th Industrial Revolution, and are of a very high quality.

The ‘research’ initiatives undertaken by the staff and students of the School are diverse.  However, consistent with the professional accountancy orientation of our academic programmes, a significant focus is on ‘accounting education’ – which enables us to leverage off the latest thinking and ideas in improving our academic offering.

The School of Accountancy also benefits from its engagement with a strong network of stakeholders, including:

• Students – to ensure that our pedagogical (teaching and learning) interventions are responsive to the needs of the student and his/her challenges;
• Employers / accountancy profession – to ensure the quality of our programmes and specifically that our graduate attribute profile continues to meet their requirements;  
• Professional bodies – to ensure that we understand, and contribute to the resolution of, the major challenges facing the professions;
• The academic community – to ensure that we collaborate with our peers at other universities (locally and internationally) in areas of mutual interest; and
• Alumni – who are important role-models for our students, ambassadors for our University and School, and supporters of our programmes, initiatives, and students. 

The School of Accountancy prides itself on the successes attained by its graduates / alumni – many of whom hold leadership positions in the accountancy profession, commerce and industry and in the public sector.