Focus on Management Accounting and Boost Your Career
When you pursue a Masters in Accounting with an added focus on managerial accounting, you’ll be prepared to boost your résumé and meet your career goals. Management accounting leans into using accounting informational internally to support organizational efficiency and processes. Budgeting, projections, data driven decision making, and analysis are all key parts of management accounting.
Within WGU’s Master of Accounting program you will learn critical accounting skills that will prepare you for the CPA exam, but a specialization in management accounting can help prepare you for specific roles in management accounting, as well as for the CMA exam. You can learn specific skills surrounding cost analysis, budget planning, risk management, and compliance.
Courses in the Management Accounting Specialization
The M.S. Accounting degree program is an all-online program that you will complete through independent study with the support of WGU faculty. You will be expected to complete at least 8 competency units (WGU's equivalent of the credit hour) each 6-month term. (Each course is typically 3 or 4 units). There’s no limit on the number of units you can complete each term, so the more courses you complete, the quicker you can finish your program.
10 Courses
Program consists of 10 courses
At WGU, we design our curriculum to be timely, relevant, and practical—all to help you show that you know your stuff.
Skills For Your Résumé
As part of this program, you will develop a range of valuable skills that employers are looking for.
- Financial Management: Managed operational budgets, financial statements, statistical reports, cost analyses, and annual reports, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
- Detail Oriented: Evaluated accounting process performance at a granular and measurable level.
- Strategic Management: Conducted financial and strategic analysis to inform and support strategic and business planning efforts, facilitating informed decision-making and goal attainment.
- Process Improvement: Analyzed process maps to identify opportunities for process improvements, driving operational efficiency and effectiveness.
- Information Systems: Identified system data and the hardware or software components required to meet business needs, ensuring alignment with organizational objectives and technology infrastructure.
- Governance: Effectively communicated risk tolerance levels to all front-line business managers, fostering a comprehensive understanding of risk management objectives and strategies.
Career Opportunities
When you pursue a Masters in Accounting with a focus on managerial accounting, you can enhance your résumé and be prepared for your career. Our industry-relevant curriculum is designed to help you move forward with experience and knowledge that is immediately applicable in your work. Some of the job titles and industries you may be qualified for include:
Job Titles
- Staff accountant
- Accounting manager
- Financial analyst
- Treasurer
- Controller
Industries
- Large and small companies
- Government
- Nonprofits
- Startups
- Technology industries
- Healthcare industries
$78,000
Average salary for accountants is $78,000 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
4%
Average job growth for accountants from 2022-2032 is expected to be 4% according to the BLS.
Why WGU?
Earning Potential
According to a 2023 Harris Poll, just two years after graduation, WGU grads report earning $22,200 more per year, and that amount increases to $30,300 four years after graduation.
On Your Schedule
No class times, no assignment deadlines. You are in charge of your learning and schedule. You can move through your courses as quickly as you master the material, meaning you can graduate faster.
Entirely Online
The accounting master's degree at WGU is 100% online, which means it works wherever you are. You can do your coursework at night after working at your full-time job, on weekends, while you're traveling the world or on vacation—it's entirely up to you.