Developing Non-Technical Skills for Accountants

Lectures and workshops; Virtual Phase: 18 october - 30 October 2026 (12 coil a 3 hours, including role-play exercises and case-based challenges), Physical Phase: 9 - 13 November 2026 (full-day programme in Cork, including live cases, attendance at the International Accounting event and presentations to accounting managers)

Programme Lead: Dr. Ruth Vance Lee

Academic mentors from the partner universities and industry professionals; local professionals delivering content at MTU's International Accounting Day; qualified accounting managers providing feedback on student presentations. 

Compliance with national and EU accreditation standards and with the ECHE.

Undergraduate or graduate students who are studying accounting modules

Twelve virtual COIL sessions, starting in September 2026, organised around six themes:

• Communication & Influence: clarity in financial storytelling and stakeholder engagement
• Leadership & Teamwork: collaborative leadership styles and managing diverse teams
• Critical Thinking & Problem-Solving: structured reasoning applied to ambiguous business challenges, using universal design techniques
• Adaptability & Innovation: navigating change, digital transformation, resilience and future-of-work scenarios
• Ethics & Professional Integrity: trust and accountability in decision-making; establishing the accountant's moral compass through Croí
• Cross-Cultural Competence: working effectively in international and multicultural contexts

Five-day mobility hosted in Cork, Ireland, in November 2026, timed to coincide with International Accounting Day.

Activities:

• Live cases designed to test and refine non-technical skills in real-world settings
• Attendance at MTU's International Accounting Day event, where local professionals deliver content and help students acquire non-technical skills
• Presentation of work to qualified accounting managers, followed by feedback

Project types:

• Business Challenges: role-play scenarios requiring negotiation, persuasion and decision-making under pressure
• Charity & Social Enterprise Cases: applying empathy, ethical reasoning and communication skills to socially impactful projects
• Cross-Cultural Collaboration: multinational team projects highlighting cultural awareness, adaptability and inclusive leadership

The virtual COIL sessions develop the six non-technical competencies through scenarios and case studies; during the mobility week students test and refine these competencies in live cases and multinational team projects, and present the results to accounting managers. 

Participation in MTU's International Accounting Day, offering networking with local accounting professionals. 

To strengthen the non-technical skills that are essential for accountants in today's global business environment – communication, teamwork and leadership, ethics and adaptability – and to develop business acumen, critical thinking and problem-solving. The programme complements participants' technical accounting knowledge and prepares them for leadership roles in diverse organisations.

• Challenge-based learning
• Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL)
• Role-play exercises and simulations
• Case studies and live cases
• Multinational team projects
• Mentoring by academic staff and industry professionals; feedback from accounting managers

• Live cases completed during the mobility week in real-world settings
• Charity and social enterprise cases with real social impact
• Presentation of work to qualified accounting managers, with feedback
• Participation in MTU's International Accounting Day with local professionals

Virtual component (COIL sessions):

• Communication & Influence: clarity in financial storytelling and stakeholder engagement
• Leadership & Teamwork: collaborative leadership styles and managing diverse teams
• Critical Thinking & Problem-Solving: structured reasoning applied to ambiguous business challenges, using universal design techniques
• Adaptability & Innovation: navigating change, digital transformation, resilience and future-of-work scenarios
• Ethics & Professional Integrity: trust and accountability in decision-making; establishing the accountant's moral compass through Croí
• Cross-Cultural Competence: working effectively in international and multicultural contexts

Physical component (Cork):

• Live cases: business challenges, charity and social enterprise cases, cross-cultural collaboration projects
• International Accounting Day event with local professionals
• Presentations to accounting managers and feedback

By the end of the programme, participants will be able to:

• Communicate financial insights effectively to non-specialist audiences
• Demonstrate leadership and teamwork in diverse, cross-cultural settings
• Apply ethical reasoning and integrity to complex business dilemmas
• Show adaptability and resilience in dynamic organisational environments
• Solve problems and make decisions with confidence beyond technical accounting tasks

• Communication & Influence: demonstrated in presenting financial insights to non-specialist audiences and to accounting managers
• Leadership & Teamwork: demonstrated in multinational team projects and live cases
• Critical Thinking & Problem-Solving: demonstrated in case studies and ambiguous business challenges
• Adaptability & Innovation: demonstrated in decision-making under pressure and in change scenarios
• Ethics & Professional Integrity: demonstrated in ethical reasoning applied to business dilemmas and charity/social enterprise cases
• Cross-Cultural Competence: demonstrated in multinational team collaboration

1. Participation in the virtual COIL sessions (25%): attendance, contribution to discussions and completion of online tasks across the twelve sessions.
2. Teamwork and cross-cultural collaboration in live cases (25%): contribution to multinational teams, leadership and inclusiveness during the mobility week.
3. Quality of the live case solution (20%): structured problem-solving, decision-making and ethical reasoning applied to the business challenge, charity or social enterprise case.
4. Final presentation to accounting managers (20%): clarity of communicating financial insights to non-specialist audiences, persuasiveness, and response to questions and feedback.
5. Individual reflection (10%): short written reflection on the competencies developed (communication, leadership, ethics, adaptability, cross-cultural competence).

ECTS grading scheme. The programme awards 3 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System).

Supervised online and onsite without identity verification.

Online courses.

Students studying accounting modules at a partner institution (any cycle) and, where foreseen, academic and administrative staff. Students on an Erasmus+ exchange during the same period cannot take part with Erasmus+ funding.

Students studying accounting modules; commitment to complete both the virtual and physical components. 

Nomination by UAB

Students are selected at the sending university

Start of the virtual component: September 2026. Physical component: five days in Cork in November 2026, aligned with International Accounting Day.

Participants with special needs or fewer opportunities are encouraged to inform UAB and the organisers at the time of nomination, so that reasonable accommodations can be discussed in advance with MTU’s Disability Support Service, which also supports incoming Erasmus students, and so that Erasmus+ top-up funding for participants with fewer opportunities can be requested through UAB.

Zoom 

Students shall organize transport and accommodation, 2 dinners as well as the coffee breaks are offered by the organisers.

Self-organised

Apply at the sending university