Financial Reporting Specialization

Ethics for Accountants examines standards of professional conduct and business practices required for accounting professionals. This course will discuss the necessity of applying ethical principles in the application of accounting principles, tax preparation, and attest services to clients. Moreover, the learner will explore how to apply ethical reasoning, various cognitive processes, professional skepticism and ethical decision-making related to situations involving corporate governance and moral dilemmas. Finally, this course will include discussions of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) Statements on Standards for Tax Services and the Institute of Management Accountants’ (IMA) Statement of Ethical Professional Practices.

Data Analytics for Accountants I introduces basic concepts and various tools and techniques used in the field of data analytics for accounting. Learners will summarize data analysis definitions and models for the accounting field, explore data mining techniques and the extract-transform-load (ETL) process and create a presentation from accounting data results. This course presents a survey of concepts that provides learners with a basic understanding of how data analytics is used in accounting.

Governmental and Nonprofit Accounting provides learners with the skills and knowledge required to practice accounting for governmental and nonprofit entities: analyzing and recording transactions, financial statement preparation in accordance with Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) standards, and communication.

Data Analytics for Accountants II equips students with the skills needed to analyze and present data to make reliable forecasts and propose strategies. Accountants are no longer limited to being the chroniclers of an organization’s profits and expenses; they now leverage the power of data to predict the future and advise leaders on appropriate actions. This course will emphasize auditing, managerial accounting, tax accounting and financial reporting as the learner completes a professional scenario that requires predictive analysis and presenting a course of action. As part of the Master of Accounting program, this course will cover content that appears in the data analysis portions of the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Management Accountant (CMA) exams. Data Analytics for Accountants I is a prerequisite for this course.

Fraud and Forensic Accounting provides learners with an in-depth understanding of how fraud and forensic investigations are part of the accounting profession. This course covers the various types of fraud and their impact on organizations, as well as the detection, investigation, and prevention of fraud. This course also introduces the role of forensic accountants in the legal system and the use of forensic accounting techniques in financial investigations. The course will include scenarios and hands-on exercises to provide learners with practical experience in detecting and investigating fraud.

Advanced Auditing reviews basic auditing concepts, including (1) planning the audit: identifying, assessing, and responding to the risk of material misstatement; (2) specialized audit tools: attributes sampling, monetary unit sampling, and data analytic tools; (3) completing a quality audit; and (4) reporting on financial statement audits. The second part of the course dives into an application of auditing through (1) understanding how to audit an acquisition and payment cycle and (2) applying the knowledge learned through the acquisition and payment cycle to the revenue cycle in a performance assessment.

Accounting Research and Critical Thinking provides learners the skills and knowledge to research and add validity to accounting reports, resolution of issues, and procedural arguments: critical thinking, communication, research strategies, and database resources.

This course prepares students for the communication challenges in organizations. Topics examined include theories and strategies of communication, persuasion, conflict management, and ethics that enhance communication to various audiences.

D554: Advanced Financial Accounting I prepares students to engage in an expanding business world by teaching complex accounting and specialized skills required to accommodate the advanced accounting needs of many industries. Being able to apply financial standards using professional judgment to a variety of business situations is crucial for success in the business world. This course builds student’s accounting knowledge by focusing on advanced financial accounting topics such as consolidations, partnership accounting, allocations, adjustments, and eliminations.

Corporate Financial Analysis teaches the analysis of topics in financial management, including financial statement analysis and strategic corporate decision-making related to valuation, risk, capital structure, investment decisions, and performance. This course helps learners develop an understanding of the process financial managers and financial analysts face when making strategic decisions designed to improve an organization’s efficiency. There are no prerequisites for this course.

Advanced Financial Accounting II builds upon the topics covered in D554: Advanced Financial Accounting I. It provides students with a deeper understanding of advanced financial accounting topics such as foreign currency transactions, hedging, annual and interim reporting, and partnership accounting. This course will equip students with the necessary skills to prepare essential accounting records for partnerships, translate foreign currency financial statements, and explain reporting requirements for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).