Major Requirements
2024 - 2025 Catalog
Accounting major leading to a BS degree
A major in accounting leading to a Bachelor of Science degree requires at least 45 credits, as follows:
- ACCT 100
- ACCT 231, 332, and 333
- ECON 100 and FIN 221
- Three credits from BIOL 201, BUS 202, CBSC 250, ECON 202, POL 202, MATH 118, SOAN 218
- Six credits from ACCT 310, 311, 330, 358, 360
- Nine credits from BUS 200- or 300-level courses, excluding BUS 202
- Nine credits from the following: ACCT 200- or 300-level course not previously counted for credit; FIN 300-level course; ECON 215, 271
To satisfy the CPA education requirements for the State of Virginia, students must:
- Complete all five courses listed in Group 5 (two courses will satisfy Group 5 and the remaining three will satisfy Group 7 requirements), and
- Take six additional credits of coursework in business, economics, or finance.
For additional information, visit https://boa.virginia.gov/cpa-exam/requirements.
- Required course:
- ACCT 100 - Introduction to Accounting
Credits 3 An introduction to accounting for both internal and external purposes. Students cover the fundamental principles of financial accounting (external) and an introduction to how companies process financial information in order to disclose it to the public. The course also investigates how managers prepare information for internal purposes (managerial accounting). Financial accounting is guided by external requirements, while managerial accounting generally is not.
- Required courses:
- ACCT 231 - Corporate Financial Reporting
Credits 3 Prerequisite ACCT 100 and at least sophomore class standing An examination of the principles of financial accounting applied to financial statement presentation and the underlying treatment of cash versus accrual accounting, present-value analysis, earnings per share, investments, and equity.
- ACCT 332 - Intermediate Financial Reporting I
Credits 3 Prerequisite ACCT 231 An examination of the principles of financial accounting by gathering evidence through the accounting research process as well as exploring revenue recognition, cash, accounts receivable, inventory, and property, plant, and equipment.
- ACCT 333 - Intermediate Financial Reporting II
Credits 3 Prerequisite ACCT 332 and at least junior class standing An examination of financial reporting issues that cover operating and long-term liabilities, income taxes, pensions, leases, and cash flows. The course also continues using the Accounting Standards Codification to explore accounting questions.
- Additional required courses:
- ECON 100 - Introduction to Economics
FDR SS1 Social Science - Group 1 Distribution Credits 3 Economics is the study of how a society (individuals, firms, and governments) allocates scarce resources. The course includes a survey of the fundamental principles used to approach microeconomic questions of consumer behavior, firm behavior, market outcomes, market structure, and microeconomic policy, and macroeconomic questions of performance of the aggregate economy, including unemployment, inflation, growth, and monetary and fiscal policies. Open only to students who have not taken ECON 180, ECON 180A, ECON 101 and/or ECON 102. Retake allowed only with instructor consent and if space allows after the first round of registration.
- FIN 221 - Managerial Finance
Credits 3 Prerequisite ACCT 100 and ECON 100, 180, or 180A A study of finance from a managerial perspective emphasizing the primary goal of the firm as stockholder wealth maximization. Emphasis is on decisions relating to the acquisition of assets and funds and internal management-financial analysis, planning and control, working capital management, capital budgeting, sources and forms of long-term financing, financial structure and the cost of capital, and valuation.
- Three credits from:
- BIOL 201 - Statistics for Biology and Medicine
Credits 3 Prerequisite BIOL 111, 113, and either a Biology major, Neuroscience major, or Data Science minor This course examines the principles of statistics and experimental design for biological and medical research. The focus is on the practical and conceptual aspects of statistics, rather than mathematical derivations. Students completing this class will be able to read and understand research papers, to design realistic experiments, and to carry out their own statistical analyses using computer packages.
- BUS 202 - Fundamentals of Business Analytics
Credits 3 Business analytics allows for the conversion of raw data into actionable real-world insights. We'll build a foundation of knowledge in the fundamentals of statistics and data science using business data to formulate key metrics. We'll use a programming language to summarize and visualize data, interpret patterns, infer population parameters, explore relationships among variables, and make forecasts. No prior programming experience is expected.
BUS 202 will count towards the statistics requirement of both the business administration and accounting majors (currently also satisfied by POL/INTR 202, ECON 202, MATH 118, etc.). It will also count towards the statistics requirement of the Data Science minor. As is the case with POL/INTR 202, etc., BUS 202 serves as a pre- or co-requisite for FIN 221. Due to contact overlap, students may take only one of the following courses for degree credit: BUS 202, POL/INTR 202, ECON 202, MATH 118. Students who have already taken CBSC 250 should not take any of these other courses.
- CBSC 250 - Statistics and Research Design
Credits 4 Prerequisite any CBSC course and at least sophomore class standing Students learn about the design and analysis of psychological research, with particular emphasis on experimentation. Students learn statistical inference appropriate for hypothesis testing, and they use standard statistical packages to analyze data. Laboratory course.
- ECON 202 - Data Analytics for Economics
Credits 3 Prerequisite ECON 100, 180, 180A, or both ECON 101 and ECON 102 Fundamentals of probability, statistics, estimation, and hypothesis testing and ending with an introduction to regression analysis. The topics are critical for success in upper-level economics electives and are important for careers that rely on empirical research in the social sciences. Students engage in a dialogue between theory and application and learn to think formally about data, uncertainty, and random processes, while learning hands-on methods to organize and analyze real data using modern statistical software. Not open to students with credit for BUS 202 or POL/INTR 202.
- POL 202 - Applied Statistics
Credits 3 Not open to students with credit for BUS 202, ECON 202, INTR 202, CBSC 250, or MATH 118. An examination of the principal applications of statistics to allow students to develop a working knowledge and understanding of applied statistics in the social sciences (politics, sociology, and economics), and accounting and business. Topics include descriptive statistics, probability, estimation, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis.
- MATH 118 - Introduction to Statistics
FDR FM Math and Computer Science Foundation Credits 3 Elementary probability and counting. Mean and variance of discrete and continuous random variables. Central Limit Theorem. Confidence intervals and hypothesis tests concerning parameters of one or two normal populations.
- SOAN 218 - Basic Statistics in the Social Sciences
Credits 3 Introductory statistics course designed to help students become good consumers of statistics, but especially geared for students interested in sociology, archeology, and anthropology. Topics include descriptive and inferential statistics, sampling, and regression analysis. Students also get practical experience with cleaning and analyzing real world secondary data.
- Six credits from:
- ACCT 310 - Accounting Information Systems
Credits 3 Prerequisite ACCT 231 and at least junior class standing An introduction to the information systems used in accounting, including the flow of data from source documents through the accounting cycle into reports for decision makers; the principle of internal control; flowcharting and systems narratives; and use of computers and database systems in accounting information. Students have hands-on experience implementing and using accounting information systems.
- ACCT 311 - Financial Statement Analysis
Credits 3 Prerequisite ACCT 231 and at least junior class standing Students work to prepare an industry and a company analysis. Through presentations, written analyses and extensive work using computer spreadsheets and databases, students learn to analyze and interpret financial statements of publicly traded companies.
- ACCT 330 - Strategic Cost Management and Analysis
Credits 3 Prerequisite ACCT 100 This course focuses on the use of cost information in planning and control decisions. Topics include budgeting, performance evaluation, and alternative ways to measure costs to meet different management objectives.
- ACCT 358 - Individual Income Taxation & Financial Planning
Credits 3 Prerequisite ACCT 100 and at least junior class standing This course focuses on the tax and non-tax factors to consider when managing personal/family financial affairs. Topics include tax-subsidized savings and investment vehicles, deductions, and credits for individuals and families, executive compensation and fringe benefits, real estate ownership, and intergenerational giving.
- ACCT 360 - Auditing
Credits 3 Prerequisite ACCT 332 and at least junior class standing This course examines auditing and its role in a market economy. Course content focuses on the market for audit services, audit planning, evidence gathering, and reporting.
- Nine credits from:
- Nine credits from the following:
BUS 200- or 300-level courses, except for BUS 202
ACCT 200- or 300-level course not previously counted for credit; FIN 300-level course; ECON 215, 271