Critical Classes for Accounting Majors
- Federal Income Tax
- Auditing Principles
- Intermediate Financial Accounting
- Accounting Analytics
- Cost Accounting
A Bachelor’s in Accounting is often viewed as a one-way ticket to full-time employment. Most prospective students, however, are unaware of the common classes that future CPAs take. So, what can you expect your accounting college career to include?
Federal Income Tax
Arguably, earning a Bachelor’s in Accounting is impossible without taking a few tax-related courses. The most important one is some variation of the federal income tax system. Its importance is unparalleled comes as everyone in the United States must file taxes. Thus, knowing exactly how the system is set up allows accounting students to develop a real-life skill applicable every tax season. As far as the material covered, this course will touch on everything from the current IRS laws to the actual math problems related to ambiguous tax cases.
Auditing Principles
Auditing is considered the main opponent of tax when it comes to accounting-related career choices. Meaning, those who do not want to specialize in taxation will likely do some form of auditing. This part of the profession deals with an analysis of the financial statements that verifies all the information that the company is displaying. Auditors hold companies accountable when it comes to truthful financial reporting. The class itself will teach students how to review data and determine if it is consistent with the assurance standards. Additionally, some data analytics may be introduced.
Intermediate Financial Accounting
Regardless of one’s specialization, there are a few accounting classes that every undergraduate student must take. One of those is the financial accounting course for advanced students. Just like the beginner course that teaches some basic concepts about journal entries, this class looks at many timeless concepts in accounting. Moreover, the students will have to become very skilled with:
- account ledgers
- trial balances
- the creation of financial statements
Given the amount of material that must be covered in this course, almost all programs have two intermediate accounting courses that run consecutively.
Accounting Analytics
Before earning a bachelor’s in accounting, you will have to learn how to navigate tools that allow data research and calculations. The most widely adopted program is Microsoft Excel. In fact, it is so efficient that almost all schools teach prospective accountants how to navigate it. For students, this means learning how to create complex formulas that help find financial ratios and statistics. Also, learning to use Excel can be quite useful. Many accountants use it in their daily life to manage:
- investments
- assets
- payments
- time value of money, and much more
Cost Accounting
After taking financial accounting for beginners, you will do some form of managerial accounting. Once you reach upper-level courses, however, cost accounting replaces managerial and takes you one step further. For those unfamiliar, this is a class where the students are taught how to calculate important numbers pertaining to:
- inventory
- shipping
- profits
- costs, and more
In a sense, the material will teach future CPAs important ways that they can help businesses manage their finances better. Also, they will obtain the necessary skills to increase efficiency within their companies.
Concluding Thoughts
Other classes that you may see include:
- corporate taxation
- financial statement analysis
- ethics
- research, and more
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this profession is growing at the rate of 10 percent per year. The Bachelor’s in Accounting is an excellent entry point to the field. However, without the aforementioned five courses, your bachelor’s degree in accounting would be quite futile.
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