Faculty: Chelsea Dye (chair), Charlotta Farr, Jennifer Harrison, Dara Hoffa, Michael Malmfeldt
Accounting (B.A. and B.S.) Learning Goals
The Accounting Program offers both a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting. Students who wish to sit for the Uniform Certified Public Accounting (CPA) examination will need to complete additional graduate hours in business and accounting. The learning goals for both the B.A. and B.S. Accounting programs are:
- Demonstrate knowledge of relevant professional standards and the regulatory environment within the core accounting areas:
a) Financial Accounting
b) Cost Accounting
c) Tax
d) Audit
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- Use technology to facilitate and enhance accounting and financial reporting processes.
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- Perform research skills and methodology using appropriate and relevant standards, rules, laws and principles required to make sound business judgments.
- Communicate clearly and concisely when conveying relevant financial and related non-financial information so that decision makers can make informed decisions.
Program Requirements
To fulfill the requirements for the major in Accounting, students must complete the courses outlined below and maintain a minimum 2.3 GPA in all coursework required by the program. Students are also required to complete the ETS Major Field Test in Business before they are eligible to graduate.
Students who wish to qualify to sit for the CPA examination are required to complete additional graduate work in business and accounting. Students are encouraged to meet with their program advisor for specific requirements. Information on the MBA or MAcc program admission requirements is found in the Graduate section of this catalog.
Students must meet the college-wide graduation requirements in addition to the Accounting major:
- WCore requirements
- 30 upper division hours
- 124 total hours
Undergraduate Business Core
Students in all business majors (with the exception of flight operations and some economics programs) complete a common undergraduate core designed to develop skills in all functional areas of business.
There are two components to the common undergraduate core: the lower-division requirements, and the upper-division requirements. Since many of the lower-division core requirements are prerequisites for upper-division core requirements, students should work to complete lower-division courses early in their programs. Upper-division core requirements should be taken when prerequisites are met. Prerequisites are noted in the table below.
| REQUIREMENT DESCRIPTION | CREDIT HOURS |
PREREQUISITES | |
| I. Core Lower Division Courses | 25 | ||
| ACCT 213 | Financial Accounting (3) | BUSI 102* or BUSI 101A and BUSI 101B | |
| BUSI 101A | Business Fundamentals I: Communicating (3) | ||
| BUSI 101B | Business Fundamentals I: Calculating (3) | MATH 101 or above | |
| BUSI 200 | Applied Business Math and Modeling (3) | BUSI 102* or BUSI 101A and BUSI 101B | |
| BUSI 225 | Business Law and Ethics (3) | BUSI 102* or BUSI 101A and BUSI 101B | |
| ECON 253 | Elementary Macroeconomics (3) | MATH 101 or above | |
| ECON 263 | Elementary Microeconomics (3) | MATH 101 or above | |
| Choose one of the following courses: | |||
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| II. Core Upper Division Courses | 23-25 | ||
| ACCT 313 | Managerial Accounting (3) | ACCT 213 | |
| BUSI 300 | Information Technology (3) | BUSI 200 | |
| BUSI 350 | Business Fundamentals II: Integrative Core (2) The ETS exam is administered in BUSI 350. For ETS information, click here | ACCT 313; BUSI 225, 300; DATA 150 or 220; ECON 263; FINC 300; MGMT 305, MGMT 309; MKTG 300. | |
| BUSI 440 or BUSI 441 or BUSI 442 |
Business Fundamentals III: Internship (1-8) Business Practicum (2-4) Business Portfolio (2) |
BUSI 350, junior or senior standing, and signed approval from the Practice/Exp Director. | |
| (Transfer students must complete a min. of 15 Westminster credit hours or obtain permission of instructor prior to completing an internship for credit.)
All business majors are required to complete BUSI 440 or BUSI 441 or BUSI 442. |
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| FINC 300 | Business Finance (3) | BUSI 200 and ACCT 213 | |
| MGMT 305 | Principles of Management (4) | BUSI 102* or BUSI 101A and BUSI 101B | |
| MGMT 309 | Operations Management (3) | BUSI 200 | |
| MKTG 300 | Principles of Marketing (3) | BUSI 102* or BUSI 101A and BUSI 101B | |
| TOTAL REQUIRED HOURS | 48-50 | ||
* BUSI 102, Business Fundamentals I: Transfer Student, is only an option for transfer students or student majoring in arts administration; all other students should take BUSI 101A and BUSI 101B.
Bachelor of Science in Accounting
| REQUIREMENT DESCRIPTION |
CREDIT HOURS |
PREREQUISITES |
| I. Undergraduate Business Core | 48-50 | |
| Please refer to Undergraduate Business Core for requirements. | ||
| II. Major Requirements | 27 | |
| ACCT 350 Intermediate Accounting I (4) – offered fall | ACCT 213 | |
| ACCT 360 Intermediate Accounting II (4) – offered spring | ACCT 350 | |
| ACCT 374 Cost Accounting (4) – offered spring | ACCT 313 | |
| ACCT 454 Auditing (4) – offered fall | ACCT 360 | |
| ACCT 467 Accounting Information Systems (4) – offered fall | ACCT 313 and BUSI 300 | |
| ACCT 474 Individual Income Taxation (4) – offered fall | ACCT 313 | |
| ACCT 495 Advanced Accounting (3) – offered spring | ACCT 360 | |
| TOTAL HOURS FOR THE B.S. ACCOUNTING PROGRAM | 75–77 |
Note: All students must complete 124 hours of coursework to graduate, 30 hours of which must be upper division (300 level or above). Students may need to take other courses to complete the college hours requirement. Please refer to the Undergraduate Degree Requirements section of this catalog for information about restrictions when completing a major and a minor or two majors.
Bachelor of Arts in Accounting
| REQUIREMENT DESCRIPTION |
CREDIT HOURS |
PREREQUISITES |
| I. Undergraduate Business Core | 48-50 | |
| Please refer to Undergraduate Business Core for requirements. | ||
| II. Bachelor of Arts Requirements | 12 | |
| Students completing the Bachelor of Arts option (B.A.) must complete either: | ||
| a. A declared academic minor other than a Business minor or | ||
| b. Twelve credit hours of a single world language or | ||
| c. Eight credit hours of a single world language and either: | ||
|
||
| See World Language Requirement for equivalencies, AP and CLEP credit policy. | ||
| III. Major Requirements | 27 | |
| ACCT 350 Intermediate Accounting I (4) – offered fall | ACCT 213 | |
| ACCT 360 Intermediate Accounting II (4) – offered spring | ACCT 350 | |
| ACCT 374 Cost Accounting (4) – offered spring | ACCT 313 | |
| ACCT 454 Auditing (4) – offered fall | ACCT 360 | |
| ACCT 467 Accounting Information Systems (4) – offered fall | ACCT 313 and BUSI 300 | |
| ACCT 474 Individual Income Taxation (4) – offered fall | ACCT 313 | |
| ACCT 495 Advanced Accounting (3) – offered spring | ACCT 360 | |
| TOTAL HOURS FOR THE B.A. ACCOUNTING PROGRAM | 87–89 |
Note: All students must complete 124 hours of coursework to graduate, 30 hours of which must be upper-division (300 level or above). Students may need to take other courses to complete the college hours requirement. Please refer to the Undergraduate Degree Requirements section of this catalog for information about restrictions when completing a major and a minor or two majors.
Recommended Plan of Study for Accounting (B.A. and B.S.)
Starting Business as a First-Year Student
| Fall Semester | Spring Semester | |
| Freshman Year | WCORE 1 WCORE 2 BUSI 101A (LC) BUSI 101B (LC) |
WCORE 3 WCORE 4 DATA 150 OR DATA 220 ACCT 213 |
| Sophomore Year |
WCORE5 |
ECON 263 |
| Junior Year |
MKTG 300 |
BUSI 350 |
| Senior Year |
ACCT 474 |
ACCT 495 |
| Fall Semester | Spring Semester | |
| Freshman Year | WCORE 1 WCORE 2 WCORE 3 |
WCORE 4 WCORE 5 WCORE 6 |
| Sophomore Year |
BUSI 101A BUSI 225 |
BUSI 200 |
| Junior Year |
ACCT 313 |
BUSI 350 |
| Senior Year |
ACCT 474 |
ACCT 495 |
