A placement programme at The University of Manchester is giving accounting and finance students the opportunity to apply what they have learned to real-world problems, while providing practical support to local charities.

The Social Responsibility Placement Programme led by Dr Nooch Kuasirikun, Associate Professor at Alliance Manchester Business School, was launched in summer 2025 to connect postgraduate accounting students with registered charities in Manchester.

The programme has grown from two charities taking part in its first year to five in its second, with students volunteering around one day a week over a four-to-six-week period between late June and July. Their work has included helping charities organise financial information, analyse expenditure and donations, improve reporting and develop tools to support their financial management.

Participating charities have praised the students for their professionalism, reliability and ability to work independently while responding to the organisations’ needs. In one case, students helped a charity organise a year’s worth of expenditure and work through four years of donations in preparation for a Gift Aid claim. Another group developed a new tool designed to save staff time, improve financial reporting and help the charity identify potential financial risks at an earlier stage.

For the students, the placements have provided an opportunity to see how their accounting knowledge can be applied outside the classroom.

Several students have highlighted their satisfaction at seeing work they had produced being used by organisations in the community. One student said it was particularly rewarding to know that a dashboard they had created would continue to be used by the charity after their placement had ended.

The placements have also enabled students to develop practical skills including Excel automation and data processing, while gaining experience of working with organisations operating with limited resources.

Working with charities has given the students an insight into some of the different pressures involved in managing finances in the voluntary sector, where financial sustainability has to be balanced with an organisation’s social mission.

Dr Nooch Kuasirikun, who leads the programme, said the experience demonstrated the wider contribution that accounting expertise can make: “Working with charities gives students the opportunity to apply their skills to real challenges while seeing the difference that good financial management can make to organisations serving their communities.”

The programme is expected to expand further, with the organisers hoping to involve more Manchester charities and students in future placements.

• Charities interested in taking part in the next programme, which is due to take place in June and July 2027, can contact Kirsty.Hutchison@manchester.ac.uk and/or nooch.kuasirikun@manchester.ac.uk to discuss potential accounting tasks that students could undertake.