Certified Public Accountant Pathway Advanced Certificate

Curriculum BUS.CPA.CERT (C501A)

To obtain the necessary qualifications to sit for the CPA (Certified Public Accountant) examination in Illinois, effective July 1, 2013, a candidate must have a total of 150 hours of acceptable college-level education, including at least a bachelor’s degree. At least 30 of those 150 hours must be in accounting and an additional 24 hours must be in business courses, including business ethics. Most students with bachelor’s degrees, even those with degrees in business and/or accounting, have less than the minimum acceptable qualifications in credit hours. Accordingly, this curriculum is for the students with bachelor’s degrees who are seeking the necessary qualifications in order to sit for the CPA examination in Illinois. More details are available from the Illinois Board of Examiners. Upon completion of the certificate, the student should submit transcripts to the Illinois Board of Examiners. (Fall 2018)

PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the successful completion of the Certified Public Accountant Pathway Advanced Certificate, the graduate will be able to:

  • record and analyze business transactions, and report the results in the financial statements by applying Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP);
  • distinguish between the factors for issuing an unqualified, qualified, adverse, and no opinion auditor’s report under Generally Accepted Auditing Standards;
  • compute a corporation’s taxable income, regular tax liability, and alternative minimum tax liability; and
  • describe the role and effect of ethics on the business and accounting decision making process and financial statement reporting.

NOTE: Completion of both ACC 101◊ and ACC 105◊ are program prerequisites and must be taken less than ten years ago or approved by the coordinator.

Courses

CourseCategoryCredits
ACC 251 # Intermediate Accounting I

3 credits

ACC 252 # Intermediate Accounting II

3 credits

ACC 255 # Advanced Accounting

3 credits

ACC 256 # Tax Accounting

3 credits

ACC 257 # Principles of Auditing

3 credits

ACC 266 # Cost Accounting

3 credits

ACC 270 # Corporate Tax Accounting

3 credits

ACC 271 # Research Topics in Taxation

1 credit

ACC 275 # Financial Accounting Research

1 credit

BUS 161 Business Law I

3 credits

BUS 188 Business Writing

3 credits

PHL 103 Ethics

3 credits

Total Semester Credits:32

Total Credit Hours: 32

See ACC course descriptions and BUS course descriptions.

Coordinator: Dr. William M. Griffin, Ext. 3579