The origin and development of the School of Accountancy and Business (SAB) at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) can be traced back to the two streams of accountancy education at tertiary level provided by the former Department of Accountancy of the Nanyang University (NU) and the Department of Commerce of the Singapore Polytechnic, founded in 1956 and 1959 respectively. A chronological account of the development of the Nanyang Business School is presented as follows:
| 1956 | Bachelor of Commerce (Accountancy) was first offered at Nanyang University in the Yunnan Garden Campus. |
| 1959 | Diploma of Accountancy was started in Singapore Polytechnic. |
| 1964 | University of Singapore agreed to award the Bachelor of Accountancy degree to Singapore Polytechnic graduates. |
| 1969 | Singapore Polytechnic’s School of Accountancy merged with Department of Business Administration to form the School of Accountancy and Business Administration at the University of Singapore (Bukit Timah Campus). |
| 1971 | Nanyang University’s Accountancy degree was accorded recognition by the Singapore Society of Accountants (same basis as the Bachelor of Accountancy from University of Singapore). |
| 1978 | A Joint Campus was set up at Bukit Timah to promote closer ties between Nanyang University and University of Singapore. Students of Arts, Social Sciences, Science, Accountancy and Business Administration of the two Universities studied the same courses and were examined by the same internal and external examiners. |
| 1980 | Nanyang University and the University of Singapore merged to form the National University of Singapore (NUS) at the Kent Ridge Campus. |
| 1981 | An Act was passed to set up Nanyang Technological Institute (NTI) at the Yunnan Garden Campus. |
| 1987 | The School of Accountancy (SOA) was established at NTI, when the Accountancy programme was moved over from NUS’s Faculty of Accountancy and Business Administration. NTI graduates continued to receive the Bachelor of Accountancy (B.Acc) degree conferred by NUS until 1991. |
| 1989 | SOA admitted its first batch of undergraduates for the Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) degree. SOA was also renamed the School of Accountancy and Commerce (SAC). |
| 1990 | A wide range of business specializations such as Actuarial Science, Banking, Marketing and Human Resource Management were being offered to the undergraduates. To reflect more accurately the increasing range of specialized business courses offered by the School, SAC was renamed the School of Accountancy and Business (SAB). |
| 1991 | NTI was inaugurated as the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), a full fledged University with a legislated mandate to award degrees. The Bachelor of Commerce was changed to the Bachelor of Business (B.Bus) degree. The MBA programme was launched with specialization in Accountancy. |
| 1994 | Launch of the Doctoral programme by research. |
| 1995 | SAB was renamed the Nanyang Business School (NBS). |
| 1998 | Launch of the M.Sc (Managerial Economics) programme and the Nanyang Fellows programme. |
| 1999 | Launch of the M.Sc (Financial Engineering) programme, a joint collaboration with Carnegie-Mellon University. |
| 2000 | Launch of Asian Business Case Centre (ABCC) in collaboration with Richard Ivey School of Business. Launch of redesigned Doctoral programme with coursework and thesis. |
| 2001 | First intake of Accountancy students into a revised Bachelor of Accountancy curriculum under Project Discovery collaboration with University of Illinois (UC). |
| 2002 | Launch of Nanyang Business Review. |
| 2003 | Launch of the Nanyang EMBA programme, a joint collaboration with Shanghai Jiaotong University. |
| 2004 | NBS formally accredited by the European Foundation for Management Development (efmd) and its accreditation body, EQUIS; the first Singapore business school to receive acknowledgement for the rigour and quality of its programmes by the EQUIS quality label. Nanyang MBA programme debuted at #93 on Economist Intelligence Unit’s ranking for 100 best MBA programmes around the world; the only Singapore business school to make it on this list. Cornell-Nanyang Institute (CNI) set up to create a joint Master of Management in Hospitality Management programme (MMH). |
| 2005 | NBS formally accredited by the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) for both its business and accounting programmes; the first Singapore business school to receive AACSB’s acknowledgement for the rigour and quality of its programmes. Launch of NTU-Waseda double MBA degree programme in Management of Technology – the first time a Japanese university offered its degree programme outside Japan. Launch of Berkeley-Nanyang Advanced Management Programme (BNAMP) - UC Berkeley’s first Advanced Management Program Berkeley in Asia Nanyang MBA programme ranked 83rd, up ten notches. The only Singapore business school on EIU’s list of 100 best MBA programmes around the world. |
| 2006 | Launch of Singapore’s only double degree in Business and Engineering. Nanyang MBA programme ranked the best offered by a Singapore university, top 3 among Asian universities & 77th in the world on EIU’s list of 100 best MBA programmes around the world. |
| 2007 | Nanyang MBA programme debuted at 67th in the world, best in Singapore and Top 3 in Asia Pacific by Financial Times’ (FT) listing of the top MBAs in the world. NTU recognized as CFA Program Partner Institution by CFA Institute, a highly regarded global professional body that awards the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) credential. Professor Jitendra V. Singh, former Vice Dean at the Wharton School joined NTU as Dean of Nanyang Business School. Nanyang MBA ranked 72nd in the world and the top MBA programme offered by a Singapore business school on EIU’s list of 100 best MBA programmes around the world. |
| 2008 | Nanyang MBA programme jumped 21 notches up to 46th position to become the first Singapore business school to reach World Top 50 in FT’s World Top 100 MBA Programmes ranking. Launch of the Double Honours Degree in Accountancy & Business Programmes. |