Accounting
The Department of Accounting at Queen's Business School brings together expertise in accounting, accounting change, budgeting, governance, performance management and reporting in not-for-profit and public sector organisations.
We provide excellent research-led teaching to undergraduates, postgraduates and working professionals, and our staff regularly consult with financial and policy-making institutions such as the UK and Republic of Ireland Governments and the Bank of England.
for Graduate Outcomes (Accounting and Finance)
Times & Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023for Accounting & Finance
Complete University Guide 2025
- Head of Department of Accounting: Dr Danielle McConville
- MAcc Advanced Accounting Programme Director: Professor Martin Quinn (years 1-3), Brenda Clerkin (year 4)
- MSc Accounting, Finance and Analytics Programme Director: Dr Bibek Bhatta
Our supportive research environment fosters meaningful engagement with the non-academic world and facilitates the pursuit of high-quality publications. Research by colleagues in our Department of Accounting has appeared in leading peer-reviewed scholarly journals including Abacus, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Accounting Forum, British Accounting Review, Financial Accountability & Management, and the Journal of Business Ethics and Public Administration.
Queen’s Business School hosts an active community of doctoral students in Accounting and related disciplines. Each student is supervised by at least two members of academic staff.
Prospective students who do not yet have the requisite background in Accounting to pursue PhD research directly are encouraged to apply for our MSc Accounting and Finance programme, which embeds core research training skills throughout the degree.
Latest Publications
Debate: Which is more useful to local government representatives—the annual budget or financial statements?
- Martin Quinn
- Julie Bertz
- Elaine Stewart
A history of accountancy. A history of Irish chartered and certified public accountants
- Martin Quinn
- Brenda Clerkin
- Brid Murphy
Debate: Response to ‘Studying the regulatory space of public sector audit—the historical turn’ and the need for local government accounting history
- Martin Quinn
- Julie Bertz
- Elaine Stewart
Burns and Scapens' framework: a 25-year review of insights, challenges, and prospective directions
- Sameh Farhat Ammar
- Martin R.W. Hiebl
- Martin Quinn
Content analysis in local government accounting – a literature review and empirical insights
- Martin Quinn
- Julie Bertz
Accounting Research Project Spotlight
Based upon research undertaken by Professor Ciaran Connolly and Dr Elaine Stewart, Chartered Accountants Ireland’s position paper, 'The Reform of Ireland's Public Sector Accounting', examines key changes involved in the Irish Government’s planned public sector accounting reforms.
Drawing on the views of representatives from government departments, agencies, and advisory organisations and individuals, the position paper recognises the ambition of the planned reforms. Appropriate and timely, they are a significant statement of intent by the Irish Government to modernise its public sector accounting practices.
Professor Martin Quinn, together with colleagues at University College Cork and the University of Groningen, is currently researching efforts by Irish credit unions to engage in social impact reporting. The credit union sector on the island of Ireland has approximately €19.5 billion in net assets and is a vital source of community finance. Given their co-operative nature and founding principles, credit unions are in a strong position to deliver financial services in a more socially aware manner. Yet presently, performance metrics of credit unions are highly financial, being driven mainly by regulatory requirements.
The accounting, reporting, governance and regulation in the UK and Republic of Ireland's charity sectors was reframed by research conducted by Professor Ciaran Connolly and Professor Emeritus Noel Hyndman. This included contributions towards developing current and future Statements of Recommended Practice (SORP) and producing Northern Ireland’s legal reporting requirements.
Click here to read more about shaping the regulation of charity accounting and reporting research.