Accounting Foundation Courses: 15 credits (Transitions Track Only)
SCH-MGMT 604 Financial Accounting & Reporting
This is an immersion course designed to take the student from the very basics of the financial accounting model through more advanced financial reporting topics. The student will gain an appreciation for the role of financial accounting and reporting in the economy and the capital markets and have a good grasp on many of the technical aspects of both financial accounting and financial reporting. Topics include: the role of accounting and governance of the accounting profession; the accounting cycle; revenue recognition; asset and liability recognition and measurement; measurement and reporting of income and cash flows; accounting for investments; comprehensive income; and, associated disclosure requirements. The course serves to prepare students with little or no previous accounting training to study accounting at the graduate level. (6 credits)
SCH-MGMT 606 Strategic Cost Management
Cost management information is needed to plan, direct, and control business operations. Topics include determining costs of products and services with various costing systems, cost-volume profit analysis, budgeting, and variance analysis, with a focus on using the information to implement strategy. (3 credits)
SCH-MGMT 607 Principles of Federal Taxation for Individuals and Businesses
Federal income tax law with emphasis on individual and business topics. Topics include determination of income, exemptions, deductions, credits and the taxation of business entities. Problems and tax cases involving the use of tax forms. (3 credits)
SCH-MGMT 608 Assurance Services
This course helps you develop a basic understanding of auditing theory and practice by introducing you to the objectives of auditing and the decision-making process used by auditors to accomplish those objectives. The basic financial statement audit process is discussed including the concepts of evidence, materiality, and risk. (3 credits)
MS in Accounting Required Core: 18 credits (Transitions and Professional tracks)
SCH-MGMT 605 Exploring Data Analytics for Accounting Professionals
This course provides an understanding of analytics and information technology fundamentals such as business process management, enterprise resource planning and information security. Through hands-on work with applications such as Excel, Tableau and SAP, students learn to extract and transform relevant data from an enterprise system, assess security-related issues, apply data analytic techniques, interpret results and make data-driven decisions. (3 credits)
SCH-MGMT 615 Ethics & Professional Responsibilities for Accountants
This course introduces students to important ethical issues in the context of business activities. Students will gain an understanding of the relationship between business organizations and society at large, and gain an awareness of the social and economic environments in which ethical issues arise. Students will be introduced to ethical frameworks and theories to help them develop the reasoning and analytical skills essential to addressing these important and sometimes difficult issues. The course will focus on the importance of ethics in decision-making to the long-term success of the business enterprise. (3 credits)
SCH-MGMT 705 Financial Statement Analysis
This course helps students apply their knowledge of financial accounting, business strategy, and finance in the evaluation of corporations using financial reports. Decision settings include stock evaluation, credit analysis, bankruptcy prediction, and general purpose evaluation. The course is a mixture of concepts underlying financial statement analysis and their application to real companies’ financial statements. (3 credits)
SCH-MGMT 709 Advanced Audit
Students will use audit concepts and auditing standards covered in undergraduate auditing class to further enhance their understanding of the audit environment and audit issues that professionals face. The class will center on case studies and scenarios in applying concepts and critical thinking skills in an audit context. Students will be expected to evaluate the case materials, identify important issues, and communicate those in a clear, coherent manner. Some cases will require students to work in "audit teams" and then present their audit findings to the class and professor. The class will also discuss current audit research being conducted, with a focus on research that can impact professional practice and/or professional standards. (3 credits)
SCH-MGMT 723 Advanced Topics in Financial Reporting
The fourth course in the Financial Accounting sequence providing an overview of consolidated financial statements, non-controlling interest and the consolidation process; understanding the components of comprehensive income, other comprehensive income and accumulated other comprehensive income and clean surplus; an overview of fund accounting; valuing and reporting derivatives and other complex financial instruments. The course includes a research component and an introduction to the FASB Accounting Standards Codification system requiring students to research and opine on highly-technical financial reporting cases. (3 credits)
SCH-MGMT 736 Taxes and Business Decisions Primary
focus is on the implications of current tax law and policies for business decisions. Emphasis is given to the social impact of tax expenditures, and the relevancy of tax policy for the development of economic incentives. (3 credits)
MSA Electives: 12 credits (All Tracks)
SCH-MGMT 620 Intro to Forensic Accounting
Students will learn from experienced forensic accounting practitioners and real-life case studies to develop an understanding of the fundamentals of forensic accounting, including its applications in fraud investigation, fraud prevention, corporate and regulatory compliance, litigation support and expert witness testimony. Topics will include leading practices in executing forensic assignments, relevant accounting professional standards, the regulations and legal requirements affecting engagements, the type of scrutiny encountered in courtrooms, boardrooms or other administrative venues, and the linkages between forensic accounting and auditing, internal control and corporate governance. (3 credits) *Part of the forensic accounting focus.
SCH-MGMT 621 Fraud Examination & Investigation
In this class, students will develop an understanding of the key elements of an investigation of an allegation of fraud, using real-life case studies as the backdrop for the course. Students will work in groups to conduct an investigation, employing skills in interviewing, research, analysis of accounting and non-accounting evidential matter. The workshop will address challenges in structuring an investigation, iterative problem-solving, data analysis and other forensic accounting techniques and communication of results. The course will also discuss the corporate governance and management challenges in managing the response to fraud incidents and whistleblower allegations and the implications for professionals with responsibility for business management, financial reporting, taxation, auditing, consulting and enforcement roles. The course will conclude with a courtroom-style presentation ofinvestigation findings and cross-examination. (3 credits) *Part of the forensic accounting focus. Prereq: SCH-MGMT 620
SCH-MGMT 635 White Collar Investigations
The course will be a study of the relevant federal laws concerning both public accounting and publicly traded companies, and the intersection of those laws with white collar fraud investigations. The course will also emphasize approaches to white collar investigations, including through the application of forensic accounting. (3 credits) *Part of the forensic accounting focus.
SCH-MGMT 645 Principles of State & Local Tax
This course teaches students how to use state and local tax concepts, and how to make better organizational and investment decisions as tax professionals. The course focuses on strategic tax planning for enterprises as they are formed, operated, acquired, and liquidated. It will enhance the student's insight with regard to the integration of regulatory costs into management decision making. (3 credits) *Part of the taxation focus. Pre-Req: SCH-MGMT 736
SCH-MGMT 651 Taxation of Partnership and Limited Liability Companies
This class provides an in-depth analysis of one of the most popular pass-through entity, the partnership. The life-cycle of the partnership from the creation to the sale or dissolution of the partnership will be studied. In addition, partnership allocations of profit and losses, basis issues, partner distributions, deduction of losses and several other items will be studied in this class. (3 credits) *Part of the taxation focus. Pre-Req: SCH-MGMT 736
SCH-MGMT 652 Research of Federal Income Taxation
Students will have the opportunity to develop their tax research skills through practical exercises. The class will expose students to primary sources, including the Internal Revenue Code, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations and the FASB Codification through the use of sample case studies and the use of research and practice tools used by many tax practitioners. Students will also learn how to communicate the results of their tax research through various methods used by professionals. Current tax developments will be addressed in the class as well. (3 credits)*Part of the taxation focus. SCH-MGMT 697XX Principles of State & Local TaxThis course teaches students how to use state and local tax concepts, and how to make better organizational and investment decisions as tax professionals. The course focuses on strategic tax planning for enterprises as they are formed, operated, acquired, and liquidated. It will enhance the student's insight with regard to the integration of regulatory costs into management decision making. (3 credits) *Part of the taxation focus. Pre-Req: SCH-MGMT 736
SCH-MGMT 697RC Cybersecurity Risk Management
Cybersecurity risk continues to evolve at a rapid pace. It is essential for accounting professionals to have a broad understanding of cybersecurity and how cyber risks affect an organization. It is equally imperative to be able to identify, assess, and evaluate the necessary controls to mitigate the risk of a compromise. This introductory course will teach students how to leverage various types of cybersecurity risk management frameworks to accurately assess an organization’s overall cybersecurity maturity. (3 credits)
SCH-MGMT 706 Financial Management of Nonprofit Organizations
This course examines the generally accepted accounting principles applicable to governmental entities (as issued by GASB) as well as accounting principles applicable to notfor-profit entities (as issued by FASB). The focus will be on the financial statements and reports prepared by state and local governments and financial reporting for the wide array of not-for-profit entities with an emphasis on the contrast of these entities with for-profit accounting. (3 credits)
SCH-MGMT 797AV Data Analysis & Visualization
This course builds upon the content covered in 704- Exploring Data Analytics for Accounting Professionals, by continuing to develop the skillset and approaches needed to be an analytically-minded accounting professional. Students will learn how to assess and communicate business problems, to evaluate and analyze data and to develop and effectively present data-driven recommendations. (3 credits) Pre-Req: SCH-MGMT 704
SCH-MGMT 797ET Emerging Financial Reporting and Auditing Topics
Taught by a recently retired audit partner at a Big4 firm, this class provides an overview of topics that students will experience as staff associates entering the profession. The class will cover topics such as financial reporting and analysis with focus on accounting policy elections, error corrections, non-GAAP financial measures and risk of earnings management, SEC rules and regulations, including recent SEC trends, the IPO process and the role of auditors, auditing trends that staff associates will be exposed to and other professional development skills that will assist with the transition to the profession. (3 credits) Prereq: SCH-MGMT 723. This class is recommended for students who have completed a minimum of 12 credits towards the MSA degree.