Posted at 3:59 AM Sunday, August 15, 2010 by Khan

Online Accounting Bachelor's Degree Programs

There is an extraordinary number of online bachelor's degrees in accounting available to students today and these range from the degrees where the core course concentration is in accounting to those where the core course concentration is in a related financial field, like business administration, with a specialization concentration in accounting.

General Information about Online Bachelor's Degrees in Accounting

Students have a large number of online universities and colleges to choose from as online accounting bachelor degrees are one of the most popular degrees and hence was one of the first to be offered as part of a distance learning syllabus. An accounting curriculum is also extremely suited to distance learning as it requires no great practical involvement on the student's side and no demonstration of technique on the instructor's side like, say, courses in the culinary arts.

Bachelor's degrees will take four years to complete should a student study on-campus and another advantage of distance learning is that a student can accelerate the learning process by studying at his own pace - and from the comfort of his own home - and thus obtain his qualification far more quickly. As students will also not be required to pay for accommodation or traveling expenses, they will be able to save a great deal of money by studying online and will also be able to continue working while they do so. A great many career opportunities will also open up for the student who has a bachelor's degree in accounting, or, alternatively he or she can decide to study further using the bachelor's qualification as a basis for specialized study in accounting.

Bachelor's degrees in accounting can also have several different specializations, and an accounting concentration can itself be a specialization, and accounting courses are usually found being presented in conjunction with the following:

1. Courses in auditing;
   
2. Courses in business administration;
   
3. Courses in business studies;
   
4. Courses in management (including organizational management); and
   
5. Courses in financial management.

There are also several areas of specialization within the accounting field and these include:

1. Managerial accountancy;
   
2. Public / general accountancy;
   
3. Government / non-profit accountancy;
   
4. Tax accountancy; and
   
5. Auditing / forensic accountancy.

Specific Online Bachelor's Degrees in Accounting

Bachelor of Science in Accounting: Walden University

This general accounting degree is aligned with the standards set by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and serves to provide students with a strong accounting basis with which to proceed to specific areas of specialization. Students are required to complete a Capstone Course in order to integrate and solidify all the information provided in this program, and selected individual courses include:

1. Auditing and Internal Controls;
   
2. Information Systems in Enterprise;
   
3. Managerial Accounting: Introduction to Financial Planning and Analysis; and
   
4. Federal Taxation: Individual Taxation.

Further information concerning this, and other, online degree programs can be obtained directly from Walden University at their website (http://www.waldenu.edu/) or by calling them on 1-866-492-5336.

Bachelor of Business Administration - Accounting and Financial Management: Westwood College

This degree can be earned in three years as opposed to the usual four, due to Westwood's Accelerated Learning Program. Students with this qualification will be able to utilize common business technology while conducting business ethically in a global environment and individual courses include:

1. Leadership and Managerial Decision Making;
   
2. Financial Reporting:
   
3. Accounting for Non-profits and Government; and
   
4. Budgeting.

Students can contact Westwood College directly if they would like to receive further information about this online degree and the college's distance learning department can be reached through their website (http://www.westwood.edu/) or at 1-800-281-2978.

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration - Accounting: Sullivan University

This program investigates how basic accounting and tax principles apply to all types of businesses and prepares students for managerial positions where they will utilize their leadership and entrepreneurial expertise. The program consists of 180 total credit hours, which include accounting concentration, core concentration and elective courses. Examples of these courses include:

1. Introduction to Statistics;
   
2. Microcomputer Applications for Business;
   
3. Principles of Business Law; and
4. Federal Taxation.

Anyone who is interested in obtaining further information regarding this program can contact Sullivan University directly at 2100 Gardiner Lane, Louisville, KY 40205 (tel: 1-866-755-7887 and website: http://www.sullivan.edu/).

Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Management - Accounting Specialization: Ashford University

The organizational management portion of this program stresses subjects like ethics, human resource management and group dynamics and combines these with an accounting specialization that enables students to apply organizational management principles to the day-to-day running of an accounting firm. Courses included among the organizational management subjects include:

1. Contemporary Social Problems and The Workplace;
   
2. Personal and Organizational Ethics;
   
3. Group Behavior in Organizations; and
   
4. Strategic Planning.

Those who are interested in obtaining further information about this program can contact Ashford University directly at 400 North Bluff Boulevard, Clinton, Iowa 52732 (tel: 1-866-711-1700 and website: http://www.ashford.edu/home/).

Bachelor of Science: Accounting / Information Systems: Southern New Hampshire University

This program combines information technology with accounting and students who qualify will be able to design and maintain online accounting systems. Classes in accounting and IT theory will be combined with real-life work situations to give students a chance to practice what they learn. Individual courses are divided between BS core courses, business core courses and accounting / IT majors and include:

1. Business Systems Analysis and Design (business core course);
   
2. Applied Finite Math (BS core course);
   
3. Computer Platform Technologies (accounting / IT major); and
   
4. Object Oriented Analysis and Design (accounting / IT major).

Further information regarding enrolling for this degree program can be obtained directly from SNHU at 2500 N River Road, Manchester, NH 03016 (tel: 1-800-668-2211 and website: http://www.snhu.edu/).

Bachelor of Science in Accounting: Strayer University

This degree aims at providing students with a broad overview of the field of accounting so that they can then choose exactly which areas they would like to specialize in. Subjects covered in this degree with include the core courses, the major (accounting) courses and the general studies courses and 180.0 minimum total hours are required to qualify. Courses include:

1. Microcomputer Applications for Accountants (core course);
   
2. Non-profit / Municipal Accounting (major);
   
3. Advanced Federal Taxation (major); and
   
4. Communication for Business and the Professions (general studies).

Those interested in enrolling for this degree should contact Strayer University directly at P O Box 1310, Newington, VA 22122 (tel: 1-888-378-7293 and website http://www.strayer.edu/).

Bachelor of Science in Business Management - Accounting: LA College International

This is a practical degree that takes into account the developing world of e-commerce and students graduating with this qualification will have practical skills in areas like record keeping, cost accounting, payroll, accounts payable and financial statement analysis. These skills prepare a student for careers in both the public and private sector and individual courses include:

1. Corporate / Partnership Taxation;
   
2. Financial Planning and Management;
   
3. Creating a Business Plan; and
   
4. Search Engine Marketing.

Those who are interested in finding out more about this program can contact LA College International at 3200 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90010 (tel: 1-800-218-7274 and website: http://www.lac.edu/).

Bachelor of Science in Accounting - Auditing/Forensic Accountancy: Kaplan University

Kaplan's basic BS Accounting comes with several course concentrations, including public accountancy, tax accountancy, government/non-profit accountancy and managerial accountancy. The auditing/forensic accountancy program specializes in teaching students the analytical and investigative skills required to recognize fraud as committed against both individuals and companies and representative courses include:

1. Accounting Fraud Examination Concepts;
   
2. Advanced Forensic Accounting;
   
3. Auditing; and
   
4. Cost Accounting.

Interested parties can obtain further information concerning this degree program, as well as those with the other specialization areas, by contacting Kaplan University directly either through their website (http://talent.kaplan.edu/home.aspx) or at 0-800-987-7734.

Career Opportunities and Salary Scales

Students holding accounting degrees - even relatively low level ones like bachelor's degrees - find it extremely easy to obtain employment in fairly lucrative positions. A bachelor's degree in accounting is also the ideal stepping-stone to a further qualification, which includes a master's degree or a doctorate, and which could be obtained through online study while holding down a lower level accounting job. Students holding bachelor's accounting degree qualifications can look forward to finding jobs as assistant bookkeepers, auditors and staff accountants and there are also countless areas that they could specialize in including tax consulting or compliance, bankruptcy, financial planning and forensic accounting.

A quick search on one of the many online accounting job databases will bring up jobs for people with accounting qualifications with such diverse titles as property claims adjustor, financial administrative specialist (billing) and accounts receivable clerks. Studies have been undertaken to determine the average annual salaries paid to those in lower level accounting positions and the results include:

1. Entry level staff accountant with 5 years experience: $34,000;
   
2. Assistant bookkeeper with 5 years experience: $25,000;
   
3. Associate auditor with 5 years experience: $44,000;
   
4. Property claims adjustor with 5 years experience: $42,000;
   
5. Billing / posting clerk with 5 years experience: $25,000;
   
6. Accounts receivable clerk with 5 years experience: $30,000.

Conclusion

A bachelor's degree in accounting is a qualification that can lead to many opportunities, both in the job market and should a student wish to further his or her studies. Accounting is also particularly suited for online study as the student needs little more than a quiet place to study, a computer and a few textbooks or online lesson plans. As distance learning is also much more cost-effective and time-effective than on-campus learning, obtaining an online bachelor's qualification in accounting is the way to go.

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