There are two paths for students who choose accounting as a concentration. Most accounting students plan for a career in accounting and work toward obtaining professional certification shortly after completing their degree; i.e. CPA, Certified Public Accountant and/or Certified Management Accountant (CMA). Other students, not interested in an accounting career, choose an accounting concentration to obtain an understanding of the financial activities of the firm. They then apply this understanding to a career outside of the accounting profession itself. For example, a student might go on to law school or use his or her accounting knowledge to enhance a career in Finance or another field.
All business students enroll in two accounting courses during their sophomore year: BSAD 060, Financial Accounting, and BSAD 061, Managerial Accounting. These courses provide an introductory foundation for the accounting program. Students in the Professional Accounting Concentration then begin taking courses in the fall semester of their junior year.
Concentration Courses
Course # - Description
117 - Business Law I
118 - Business Law II
161 - Intermediate Accounting I
162 - Intermediate Accounting II
260 - Financial Statement Analysis
263 - Accounting and the Environment
264 - Introduction to Federal Taxation
265 - Accounting Information Systems
266 - Advanced Accounting
267 - Auditing
268 - Cost Accounting
Occasionally, special advanced topics in Accounting courses are offered under the course number BSAD 195, 196 or 295.
ALL of these courses must be completed for the Professional Accounting Concentration. Students should enroll in the Intermediate Accounting sequence in the Junior Year to prepare for Advanced Accounting and Auditing which are senior year requirements. Advanced Accounting satisfies both the Upper Level Core quantitative methods requirement and the Professional Accounting Concentration requirement.
Completion of the Professional Accounting Concentration fulfills the academic requirements to sit for the CPA examination in the State of Vermont. The requirements to sit for the CPA examination vary among states, so students who plan to sit for the examination outside of Vermont are advised to contact the state's Board of Accountancy to obtain current requirements. (See
www.aicpa.org for addresses and additional information).
A student concentrating in Accounting but not in Professional Accounting must complete 12 credit hours of upper level accounting classes (BSAD 161 is required and BSAD 162 is recommended). The concentration should be developed with the advice and approval of an accounting faculty advisor. It is especially important for students interested in the CMA to talk to an advisor about course selection. Only upper level courses may be included in the 12 credit hours; therefore, Business Law I or II cannot be a part of the concentration.
Careers in accounting include auditing, tax, governmental accounting, and corporate accounting or a combination of these areas. Recent accounting graduates are currently employed in all of the "Big Five" international firms, many regional and local CPA firms, and by government and industry.
Faculty in Accounting: