About this Course

The Summer Intensive Certificate in Accounting consists of the following seven upper-level accounting courses compressed into ten weeks.

Intermediate Financial Accounting I, II and III

These three courses are worth four credits each. Each course explores the role of the accountant in providing financial accounting information to parties external to a business enterprise.

The first course provides a brief review of basic journal entries and financial statement preparation, then goes on to examine the concepts underlying financial accounting. These concepts are applied to various accounting contexts throughout the remainder of the course sequence. Although the primary emphasis is on U.S. accounting standards (GAAP), we will also identify substantive differences between GAAP and international accounting standards. 

Topics include:

• Accounting process
• Financial statements
• Conceptual framework
• Revenue recognition
• Accounting for cash, receivables and inventory
• Accounting for property plant and equipment and intangible assets
• Investments in securities
• Current liabilities and contingencies
• Long-term debt, leases and pensions
• Income taxes
• Stockholders equity and earnings per share

Audit

This four-credit course examines the importance of auditing in today’s financial markets. We’ll explore the auditor’s professional and ethical responsibilities and the issues auditors face in performing a high-quality audit. 

Topics include:

• Audit reports on financial statements
• Audit reports on the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting
• Various ways auditors can gather evidence.
• The role of professional skepticism in evaluating audit evidence
• The AICPA Code of Professional Conduct
• Auditor Independence Rules
• How to successfully plan an audit by prioritizing risks
• Audit of sales and receipts, purchases and disbursements, and payroll cycle 

Taxation

This four-credit course establishes a basic framework for examining how tax implications affect business decisions. You’ll learn to determine after-tax profit or loss from business and investment transactions, and to think strategically about tax effects in order to shape optimal business transactions.

Topics include:

• Tax rates
• Taxation of compensation and fringe benefits
• Deductions
• Assets – buy and sell
• Capital gains and losses
• Installment sales
• Like-kind exchanges

Cost Accounting

This four-credit course defines the terms and concepts used by internal management to aid in planning, directing and controlling. We’ll cover applying analytical tools and technical skills in a variety of management decisions, including costing, pricing, product design and mix, improving productivity and performance measurement. You’ll learn to use accounting data to identify and analyze alternatives, with the goal of maximizing economic benefits to a firm.

Topics include:

• Cost terminology and cost flows
• Job order and process costing systems
• Cost-volume-profit analysis
• Activity-based costing and management
• Flexible budgets and variance analysis
• Decision making with costs
• Cost allocation
• Performance measurement