Accounting

Accountants play an important role in the operation of every business, government agency, and nonprofit organization. Accountants compile and summarize financial information and present it to shareholders, lenders, management, and regulatory agencies. Accountants must ensure that the information is prepared in accordance with both legal regulations and accepted standards of accounting. One challenge that accountants face is being able to communicate complex financial information in a way that is accurate yet understandable by those who use the information.

Students considering a major in accounting should be able to analyze and summarize data, and should have good math skills and an interest in working with numbers. However, accountants must also have excellent oral and written communication skills so that they can effectively present and explain the relevance of complex financial information.

Overview of the Accounting Program

Like all students in the School of Management, accounting majors take the University general education courses and a set of core business classes that provide the students with a broad business foundation. These foundation courses include math, economics, accounting, finance, marketing, law, ethics, information systems, and management. Accounting majors also take additional hours of upper-level accounting classes during their junior and senior years. Students need 124 hours to graduate, with the hours completed in the following areas:

• General education 30
• Pre-business core (freshman year) 9
• Business core 42
• Major requirements 26
• General electives 17

Total hours 124

Accounting Internships
One important feature of the accounting major at Capital is the internship program. Potential employers interview qualified students on campus in the spring of their junior year for internships that begin in January of their senior year. Students work full-time on their internships for 8-10 weeks, and then return to campus to complete their accounting coursework during the final seven weeks of the spring semester. Not only do the students gain valuable work experience during their internships, but they receive both course credit and financial compensation.

Accounting Courses

Students who major in accounting gain exposure to a wide range of accounting specialties. Accounting majors take courses in financial, managerial, governmental, and tax accounting, and auditing and business law.

For many courses, faculty emphasize the case approach, in which students solve complex cases that are intended to reflect “real world” situations. Students typically work on these cases in teams, and regularly practice their communication skills by making class presentations and completing written assignments.

Accounting Faculty
All of our full-time accounting faculty are CPAs with years of business experience. The faculty has a record of scholarship, including research and publishing, but the main focus of all faculty is on teaching. One of these faculty members will serve as your academic advisor once you declare a major in accounting.

Careers in Accounting
After graduation, our students gain employment in a variety of business, government, and nonprofit organizations. Some of the more common choices include careers in public, management, and governmental accounting.

• Public Accounting
Public accountants can work in large, international accounting firms, in smaller regional or local firms, or as sole proprietors. Public accountants provide services such as auditing, tax planning and compliance, or management consulting. Most public accountants become licensed as Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), which involves passing a rigorous exam and gaining practical work experience. In order to take the CPA exam, an individual must complete 150 semester hours of college credit.

• Management Accounting
Accountants who work for an individual corporation or nonprofit organization are generally considered management accountants. They could be employed in positions such as cost accountant, internal auditor, tax specialist, controller, or treasurer. Some management accountants become licensed as Certified Management Accountants (CMAs), which involves passing a rigorous exam.

• Governmental Accounting
All government agencies employ accountants in a variety of roles. Accountants work for local or state governments, or in branches of the federal government, such as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Four-Year Sample Schedule for the Accounting Major

Freshman – Fall Semester UC 110 College Reading & Writing – 3 UC 200 Cultural Pluralism in American Society – 3 ECON 100 Introduction to Political Economy – 3 BUS 101 Introduction to Business – 3 MATH 120 College Algebra – 3	Sophomore – Fall Semester UC 210 Fine Arts – 3 UC 220 Religious Foundations & the Bible – 3 ECON 200 Economic Principles – 3 BUS 240 Business Statistics – 3 BUS 211 Financial Accounting – 3 BUS 201 Personal Development – 1	Junior – Fall Semester UC 310 *Humanities – 3 BUS 321 MIS – 3 BUS 346 Business Law – 3 BUS 319 Governmental Accounting – 3 BUS 311 Intermediate Accounting – 4	Senior – Fall Semester UC 410 *Ethical Issues– 3 BUS 410 Leadership and Ethics – 1 BUS 445 Operations Management – 3 BUS 413 Income Tax Accounting – 3 BUS 417 Auditing– 3 BUS 450 Business Policy – 3
15 hours	16 hours	16 hours	16 hours
Freshman – Spring Semester UC 120 Oral Communication – 3 UC 150 Global Awareness – 3 BUS 160 Business Calculus – 3 Elective – 3 Elective- 3	Sophomore – Spring Semester UC 240 *Science & Technology in Society – 3 BUS 231 Marketing – 3 BUS 213 Managerial Accounting – 3 BUS 310 Introduction to Finance – 3 Elective – 3	Junior – Spring Semester BUS 301 Professional Development II – 1 BUS 280 International Business – 3 BUS 342 Organizational Behavior – 3 BUS 312 Intermediate Accounting II – 4 BUS 347 Business Law II – 3	Senior – Spring Semester BUS 415 Cost Accounting – 4 BUS 411 Advanced Accounting – 4 Elective (Internship) – 6
15 hours	16 hours	14 hours	14 hours