Accounting is frequently described as a field in which the demand for graduates is more than the supply can deliver. Department of Labor projections, surveys and polls by both the popular press and business-oriented press, and college career planning guides and websites consistently recommend accounting as a major where the demand for graduates is generally stable and salaries are competitive. A primary goal of the program is to satisfy the academic requirements for students to sit for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam upon graduation. In many states, including Arkansas, graduates may sit for the exam with 120 semester hours, although all states require that practitioners have 150 semester hours to be eligible to receive the Certificate and Permit to Practice.
Jobs available to recipients of this degree include work as public accountants and auditors, governmental accounting and auditing, tax accountants and preparers, internal auditors, corporate accounting, corporate controllers, and other positions with a financial emphasis. Some of these positions will require specialized training beyond the bachelor’s and master’s level.
Degree Outcomes
Students will acquire an understanding of the importance of accounting which is critical in the writing of grants.
Students can function as financial reporting and cost accountants, with different specialties depending on the size of the organization.
Students have the foundational knowledge and skills to enable them to better prepare for the Certified Public Accountant examination.
Example Courses
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ACC 3103: Intermediate Accounting I
This course is the beginning of an intensive course of study of the accounting discipline, and is a pre-requisite or co-requisite for all other upper level accounting courses. Students will be exposed to the conceptual framework of accounting, which prescribes the objectives, concepts, and constraints of financial accounting and reporting. -
ACC 3213: Cost Accounting
This course introduces students to the processes of providing goods or services to end users, especially how the value output and determine appropriate pricing. Cost accounting has application to manufacturing enterprises, service organizations, and not-for -profit operations. -
ACC 4123: Auditing
This course serves as the culmination of students' accounting studies. Auditing, or attestation, is the process of determining whether financial statements and reports have been prepared and presented in accordance with the prescribed principles and procedures. Students learn how to call upon the concepts learned in their other accounting courses to make this determination.
