Faculty
Lindsey DiFiore
Jorge E. Scarpin
Ronald G. Twedt
The accounting major equips students with the skills to analyze, record, and communicate financial information. The curriculum covers core principles like financial statements and then progresses to managerial accounting for strategic decision-making. Graduates gain analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills, making them highly sought after in various industries and opening doors to diverse career paths.
The accounting major offers two concentrations: general and public accountancy. Students must take supporting and foundation classes prior to enrolling in upper-division courses (300 and 400 level). The instructor may grant permission for students to take one foundation or supporting class with upper-division courses concurrently.
Experiential learning is available through internships and PEAK experiences. These experiences complement the classroom and prepare students for their careers.
ACCT 390 Academic Internships taken for credit are 1-12 credits (up to 12 credits toward graduation; up to 3 credits toward completion of an accounting major).
Students are strongly encouraged to purchase a relatively new laptop. For those purchasing with a PC platform, any Intel Core i5 processor with 8GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive will be sufficient. Students are required to install (and have available on a computer, preferably a laptop) a recent release of Microsoft Office. Students can download Office 365 for free using Concordia credentials.
Courses
An introductory study of financial accounting. The course addresses the preparation of financial information and the communication of that information to interested users, with a focus on the use of financial statements. The course also introduces basic financial accounting theory and develops analytical skills in understanding and using financial information.
The second course in accounting focuses on management's use of financial information. Topics covered include cost category concepts, job order costing, process costing, standard costing, performance analysis, accounting for business segments, and their cost and budgeting.
This course addresses federal income tax issues that affect business decisions and operations. Students will learn about the nature of taxation, taxation of business activity, taxation of property transactions, tax issues in comparing and selecting business entity types, tax planning techniques and strategies, and financial accounting for income taxes.
This course focuses on the development of generally accepted accounting principles as applied to complex transactions of asset and liability valuation and revenue and expense measurement. The emphasis of the course is on the preparation and analysis of accounting information available to investors, creditors and other external users.
A continuation of ACCT 355 - Intermediate Accounting I. This course includes specialized financial accounting issues, such as leases and earnings per share calculations.
This course presents system design concepts and processes that determine an understanding of basic control structures. Specific accounting cycles and computerized transaction processing systems will be discussed. Control applications for both manual and computerized systems including database systems are presented. Open only to accounting majors and accounting minors.
Cost Accounting focuses on the development and analysis of cost information used by management decision makers to evaluate and improve company performance. It includes product cost analysis, profitability planning, performance analysis and emerging cost strategies.
Courses covering various topics of interest in this particular discipline are offered regularly. Contact department or program chair for more information.
This course addresses financial accounting and reporting issues for state and local governments and for private not-for-profit entities. The course will examine the objectives and financial activities of these entities, relevant accounting standards, and the reporting process used to communicate activity and status to interested users of financial information.
This course builds upon ACCT 331, Tax Accounting I. Course topics include individual taxation, intersections of individual and business taxation, and multiple jurisdiction issues (international, state and local). Students will also build upon planning strategies from ACCT 331, develop tax research skills, and address issues in professional practice and ethics.
This course introduces students to the international dimensions of accounting, financial reporting and financial control. As global business grows and cross-border investing increases in scope, international accounting knowledge becomes much more important for students entering the accounting profession. This knowledge is critical to preparing and understanding financial statements that comply with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
A study of special topics in financial accounting, including (1) accounting for business mergers and consolidations, subsequent activity, and the resulting consolidated financial statements; (2) accounting for U.S.-based organizations that carry on activity and operations in non-U.S. currency.
This course integrates all required accounting courses, statistics, law and finance into the development of fundamental auditing principles. The course includes auditing concepts, exposure to the mechanics of auditing financial statements, a cursory knowledge of professional standards and an exposure to legal and ethical responsibilities of CPAs in fulfilling their responsibilities to clients and society.
This course provides an opportunity for individual students to conduct in-depth study of a particular topic under the supervision of a faculty member. Contact the department or program chair for more information.
This course provides an opportunity for individual students to conduct research in a specific area of study, completed under the direction of a faculty mentor. Specific expectations of the research experience to be determined by the faculty. Repeatable for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.