B.S. in Accounting: Curriculum

Through Microsoft Excel, students will be led through an exploration of a powerful spreadsheet program. After a review of the basic commands and functionality, students will be challenged to manipulate specific data for informative reporting that is visually, accurately and dynamically representative of the learning objective. To accomplish this task advanced formulas, search strategies, and data analysis tools will be incorporated into learning projects including mastery of Pivot Tables and Pivot Charts. Further studies will include strategies for managing large data sets, linking and importing external data, mitigating security issues, and working toward automation. Upon completion of the course, students will have sufficient preparation if they wish to take the Microsoft Excel Expert Exam for the Microsoft Office Specialist Certificate.

Learn what it means to be an entrepreneur while exploring foundational concepts in management, marketing, economics, and finance/accounting. Create a full business plan for a small business in class, making daily decisions about the business in a dynamic environment.

This course examines the administrative and common law regulation of business. Constitutional Law, Title VII and product liability are covered. Students also examine contract law and the Uniform Commercial Code provisions on sales and secured transactions.

This course will illustrate the dynamic integration of America within the global economy by focusing on the microeconomics issues such as the role of multinational corporations, antitrust policy, and strategic trade policy. The course will first introduce students to basic microeconomics theory such as market structure (perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly), factor markets, the role of government in the global economy, welfare reform, environmental policy and trade, and exchange rate policy. The course will then illustrate the global dimensions of domestic microeconomics policy.

Understanding human behavior begins with understanding yourself. Learn how your personality type or learning style affects the way you process information and make decisions. Use projects, small group discussions, and class activities to discern the best way to build teams and manage people, who have different styles of leadership, motivation, and problem-solving. This course dives into management functions, motivation styles, team building, and change management concepts.

This course provides an introduction to the study of marketing in business and other organizations. Topics that will be addressed in this course include the marketing environment, marketing ethics, information gathering, product development, pricing strategies, distribution strategies, the promotional mix, decision making, nonprofit marketing, social marketing and international marketing. (Prerequisite: junior standing)

Learn the key aspects and best practices of data analysis by exploring the fundamentals of gathering and analyzing data. Create visualizations and dashboard reports utilizing large data sets associated with an industry of choice, such as, finance, health, sports, criminal justice, among others. Microsoft Excel and Tableau will be utilized throughout the course for data visualizations while a basic understanding of the R and Python languages will be explored. A basic understanding of statistical measures may be helpful for this course but not mandatory for successfully mastering these concepts.

Students are introduced to the principles of financial accounting. Topics explored include the accounting cycle, transaction analysis, journal entries, adjustments, financial statement preparation and analysis, and closing entries. Students learn the basics of common financial statement accounts, including current assets, fixed assets, current liabilities, long-term debt, equity, revenue, and expense are covered. (Students must earn a minimum grade of C in order to progress to ACC 202 and ACC 311

Students dive into the role managerial accounting plays in planning, directing, and controlling operations. Topics include cost classifications and cost behavior, cost/volume/profit analysis, responsibility accounting, allocation methodologies, budgets, cash flow, and time value of money for capital budgeting decisions. Students must earn a minimum grade of C in order to progress to ACC 413 Cost Accounting. (Prerequisite: CSC 210 and minimum grade of C in ACC 201)

This course explores the basics of financial management. Topics include the capital markets, the cash budget, pro forma statements, analysis of financial statements, and the time value of money. Students also complete a research project. It is highly recommended that students take MAT 110 or have a basic understanding of statistics before taking this course.(Prerequisites: Minimum grade of C- in ACC 201 or ACC 384)

Intermediate Accounting I builds on the foundation of the ACC201 Principles course to scaffold the student up into higher levels of understanding of financial accounting and reporting. Intermediate I begins the student’s journey to deeper learning required for the Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) section of the CPA exam. Students analyze complex financial accounting and reporting issues, apply financial accounting measurements to revenue and expense, inventory valuation, fixed and intangible assets, as well as a more in-depth study of the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows. (Prerequisite: CSC 210 and minimum grade of C in ACC 201)

Continuing the learning from Intermediate I, students engage in deeper learning of the asset, liability, and equity section of the balance sheet. Additional learning focuses on revenue recognition, pension expense and liability, leases, error correction, and the direct and indirect methods of preparing the statement of cash flows. (Prerequisite: CSC 210 and minimum grade of C in ACC 311)

Students work extensively with business ownership scenarios, including cases which require use of the equity and acquisition method of accounting. Students practice using consolidation worksheets, along with consolidation entries to create consolidated financial statements for two or more entities given various ownership patterns. Accounting for the creation, operation, and dissolution of partnerships, as well as estate and trust accounting is covered. (Prerequisite: CSC 210 and minimum grade of C in ACC 311)

Students learn the ethical and legal responsibilities of the auditor and explore the topics of the preparation of the audit program and working papers for the audit of the financial statements in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS). (Prerequisite: CSC 210 and minimum grade of C in ACC 311)

Cost Accounting builds on the foundation of ACC 202 and introduces students to intermediate and advanced scenarios and case studies for managerial decision-making, creating “what if” scenarios, and using Excel modeling to quantify various outcomes. Cost Accounting provides an extended study of budgeting and the budgeting process. Students prepare, measure, and analyze capital budgeting projects using Excel. (Prerequisite: CSC 210 and minimum grade of C in ACC 202)

Students study the application of federal income tax law primarily to individuals and secondarily to corporate and partnership tax law. Tax law as public policy shapes the format of the class discussions. To provide students a broad view of taxes they briefly research the incomes tax laws of three states and one additional country. (Prerequisites: CSC 210 and minimum grade of C in ACC 311)

Learn to construct a strategic plan for a business aligning the vision, mission, and strategic objectives, while developing concrete action plans for success. Incorporate performance analysis using strategic decision-making tools and write recommendations that reflect critical and ethical thinking. This course brings the skills, tools, and analysis learned throughout the program together into a culminating capstone project; thus, this course should be taken at the completion of the major. (Prerequisite: BUS 388, ACC 201 or ACC 384, and a minimum grade of C- in at least two 400-level courses in the major.)