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The Professional Accounting Certificate

Course Requirements for the Certificate: 30 units

The following courses are required of all candidates for this certificate. Note that various courses in the certificate have prerequisite courses where a minimum grade is required. No Professional Accounting Certificate coursework (300 level or higher) may be transferred in from any institution outside of CSU, Chico. See the Accounting Department Chair for details.

Ethics Component: 9-12 units

2 courses required:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
ACCT 558 Accounting Ethics   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: BADM 300 with a grade of C or higher; completion of at least one upper-division accounting course with a grade of C or higher.
This course is designed to raise students' ability to recognize and respond to ethical issues facing the accounting profession and accounting professionals. Course learning objectives include improving students' moral reasoning and ethical decision making, understanding accountants' professional responsibilities, overviewing areas of accounting practice abuse, and developing students' communication and critical thinking skills. AICPA, IMA, and U.S. Treasury Department codes of conduct for financial accountants, auditors, management accountants, and tax accountants are emphasized along with professional responsibilities that are tested on professional certification exams. 3 hours lecture. (021180)
ACCT 568 Forensic Accounting   3.0 FS  
Prerequisite: ACCT 421, ACCT 425 both with a grade of C or higher.
This course covers key forensic accounting concepts including fraudulent financial reporting, misappropriation of assets, income reconstruction, money laundering, litigation (emphasis on damages), and business valuation. The course is designed to apply analytical accounting and communication skills to identify and present financial discrepancies and improper acts for criminal proceedings and/or civil litigation. 3 hours lecture. (021284)

1-2 courses selected from:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
PHIL 320 Ethics   3.0 SP  
An introduction to moral theory, including such figures as Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and Mill. Alternative views concerning fundamental moral questions will be explored. 3 hours seminar. (007190)
PHIL 328 Business Ethics and Social Policy   3.0 INQ  
An examination of ethical issues that arise in business decisions and the formulation of social policy involving business, e.g. employee rights, consumer and environmental protection, advertising, and affirmative action. Moral theory and alternative conceptions of justice will also be discussed. 3 hours lecture. (007226)

Accounting Related Component: 0-3 units

0-1 courses selected from:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
BLAW 415 Entrepreneurship Law   3.0 FS  
Prerequisite: MGMT 450 (may be taken concurrently).
This course presents an in-depth study of California, federal, and international laws as they affect the management of entrepreneurial and small business enterprises. Emphasis is placed on social policy dimensions as much as practical aspects of the dynamic and ever-changing relationship between government and entrepreneurial ventures. 3 hours lecture. (020569)
FINA 351 Investments   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: FINA 307.
Investments from the point of view of the individual investor, security and non-security investment, analytical techniques; industry studies, and management of the personal portfolio. 3 hours discussion. (003730)
FINA 453 Estate Planning   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: FINA 307.
To give students a basic understanding of the major methods and techniques of preserving and transmitting an individual's wealth, including gift-giving, the use of various trusts, the use of life insurance, and the proper preparation of a will. Students will be expected to be aware of the causes and consequences of an inefficient transfer of wealth and therefore must acquire a working knowledge of the institutional constraints, including the law of property, wills, and intestate distribution, the probate process, and State and Federal estate, gift, inheritance, and generation-skipping transfer taxes. 3 hours lecture. (001047)
MGMT 444 Managing Project Teams   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: MGMT 303 or faculty permission.
Creating team effectiveness and developing project management skills. Includes coverage of the nine project management body of knowledge areas required for professional certification by PMI, the professional code of ethics, and the benefits of diversity on team performance. The course requires use of information technology including spreadsheets, Web-based file storage and sharing, electronic presentations and use of project management software. 3 hours lecture. (005731)

Accounting Component: 15-21 units

Note: Select 15-21 units as needed to meet the 30 unit total requirement for the certificate.

12 units selected from:

Note: Courses may not be double counted with the Accounting Option elective courses. 6 units are allowed if both Accounting Option elective courses chosen are listed below.

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
ACCT 363 International Accounting   3.0 INQ  
Prerequisites: ACCT 321, ACCT 325 both with a grade of C or higher.
Accounting concepts, standards, and procedures for the international business environment. Topics include International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), accounting for foreign currency translations, hedging foreign exchange risk, translation of foreign currency, financial statements, accounting for changing prices, international consolidation of financial statements, segment reports, international taxation and transfer pricing, performance evaluation, international auditing, and corporate governance. 3 hours lecture. (000086)
ACCT 365 Not-for-Profit Accounting   3.0 INQ  
Prerequisites: ACCT 321 with a grade of C or higher.
Concepts, principles, and problems of fund accounting for government and non-profit organizations. The design of accounting systems for hospitals, educational institutions, and community organizations. Emphasis is on the role of accounting in making decisions in government and non-profit organizations. 3 hours lecture. (000088)
ACCT 420 Cost Managment Accounting II   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: ACCT 320 with a grade of C or higher.
Continuation of ACCT 320. See ACCT 320. Recommended for Certified Management Accountant. 3 hours discussion. (000094)
ACCT 537 Federal Income Taxation II   3.0 INQ  
Prerequisites: ACCT 325, ACCT 437 both with a grade of C or higher.
An in-depth study of business entity, individual and fiduciary taxation in a multijurisdictional environment. Advanced coverage of tax research, tax planning, and tax compliance issues. 3 hours discussion. (000102)
ACCT 556 Accounting Theory   3.0 INQ  
Prerequisites: ACCT 326 with a grade of C or higher and faculty permission.
A study of theoretical considerations in asset measurement and income determination. Emphasis is placed on the conceptual basis underlying current accounting standards. 3 hours discussion. (000100)

3-15 units selected from:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
ACCT 363 International Accounting   3.0 INQ  
Prerequisites: ACCT 321, ACCT 325 both with a grade of C or higher.
Accounting concepts, standards, and procedures for the international business environment. Topics include International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), accounting for foreign currency translations, hedging foreign exchange risk, translation of foreign currency, financial statements, accounting for changing prices, international consolidation of financial statements, segment reports, international taxation and transfer pricing, performance evaluation, international auditing, and corporate governance. 3 hours lecture. (000086)
ACCT 365 Not-for-Profit Accounting   3.0 INQ  
Prerequisites: ACCT 321 with a grade of C or higher.
Concepts, principles, and problems of fund accounting for government and non-profit organizations. The design of accounting systems for hospitals, educational institutions, and community organizations. Emphasis is on the role of accounting in making decisions in government and non-profit organizations. 3 hours lecture. (000088)
ACCT 420 Cost Managment Accounting II   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: ACCT 320 with a grade of C or higher.
Continuation of ACCT 320. See ACCT 320. Recommended for Certified Management Accountant. 3 hours discussion. (000094)
ACCT 422 Accounting Controls and Asset Management for Small Business   3.0 FS  
Prerequisite: ACCT 202, MINS 301; ACCT 321 or MGMT 450.
Examination of internal controls and asset management issues for small businesses. Conceptual accounting issues and problems are emphasized. Students use software to illustrate accounting applications. 3 hours lecture. (020328)
ACCT 451 Simulation Accounting Laboratory   1.0 -6.0 FS  
Prerequisites: ACCT 421 and Accounting Faculty Course Coordinator permission.
Laboratory experience with accounting simulation programs. The student interacts with a simulated environment via computer facilities or other laboratory situations. This course does not count as an elective within the Accounting Option. You may take this course more than once for a maximum of 6.0 units. Credit/no credit grading. (000091)
ACCT 521 Advaned Accounting Information Systems   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: ACCT 321 with a grade of C or higher.
Extension of the concepts covered in ACCT 321. Detailed analysis of corporate and information technology governance, including the COSO and COBIT standards; requirements analysis, construction and advanced statistical analysis of large scale accounting data warehouses; investigation of accounting information systems fraud and associated breaches of professional ethics and related methods of prevention and detection. 3 hours discussion. (020338)
ACCT 530 Planning, Control, and Performance Evaluation From An Enterprise Resource Planning Perspective   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: ACCT 320, ACCT 325 both with a grade of C or higher.
This course provides students with an in-depth view of an enterprise wide planning and control system. A comprehensive case study is created by student teams representing the value chain areas of procurement, production, and sales. Coverage includes concepts of responsibility centers, product costing, product prices, and performance reporting. 3 hours seminar. You may take this course more than once for a maximum of 6.0 units. (000104)
ACCT 537 Federal Income Taxation II   3.0 INQ  
Prerequisites: ACCT 325, ACCT 437 both with a grade of C or higher.
An in-depth study of business entity, individual and fiduciary taxation in a multijurisdictional environment. Advanced coverage of tax research, tax planning, and tax compliance issues. 3 hours discussion. (000102)
ACCT 551 Information Technology Auditing   3.0 SP  
Prerequisites: ACCT 421 with a grade of C or higher.
An applied approach to attest and assurances services of IT auditors. The course emphasizes the assessment of internal and computer controls in order to identify key risks within accounting cycles. Students gain knowledge of appropriate data processing methods as well as segregation of incompatible IT functions in the system. Within several accounting cycles, students test, application, security, and general controls to identify key audit concerns and focus audit effort on "most important assertions." The assessment of application controls involves a review of input, processing, and output controls. Students assess factors that contribute to IT fraud, identify seeded fraud schemes, and respond to seeded fraud-related detected misstatements. Methods of information system maintenance and configuration for stronger controls are covered. 3 hours seminar. (000099)
ACCT 556 Accounting Theory   3.0 INQ  
Prerequisites: ACCT 326 with a grade of C or higher and faculty permission.
A study of theoretical considerations in asset measurement and income determination. Emphasis is placed on the conceptual basis underlying current accounting standards. 3 hours discussion. (000100)
Catalog Cycle:15