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Sunday, August 15, 2010
by Khan
Online Accounting Degree Program
An accounting degree relies heavily on mathematics, computer science, business, communication, and statistics. Certificate programs are designed for students who have already completed an undergraduate degree and wish to acquire accounting skills. Such programs will offer these courses almost exclusively. In addition to subject matter coursework, degree programs will also have general education requirements to fulfill.
Job seekers with accounting degrees have a variety of opportunities, but for those who wish to have a successful accounting career, it is imperative to keep up with industry standards and new technology. Professionals already in the industry continue to seek extra training, enroll in refresher courses, and develop specialized skills to stay competitive. Online college courses and degree programs allow flexibility and accessibility for students who are already working professionals, stay at home parents, or traditional students who prefer a virtual education environment and the ability to work at their own pace.
Certificate Programs in Accounting
Full list of Bachelor's Programs in Accounting
Full list of Masters Programs in Accounting
Public Accountants perform a wide range of accounting, auditing, tax, and consulting activities. Some offer advice on the benefits of different HR based programs and employee benefits. Some advise about the advantages or disadvantages of business decisions as they relate to taxes. Some advise on the design and usability of various accounting and data processing systems, as well as the choice of controls to safeguard assets. External auditors are accounts who audit clients' financial information, informing investors and authorities of the efficacy of the reporting. There are also public accountants who specialize in forensic accounting: the investigation of financial crimes such as embezzlement, securities fraud, bankruptcies, etc. They often appear as expert witnesses during trials, and work closely with law enforcement.
Managerial Accountants sometimes called cost, industrial, or corporate accountants record and analyze the financial information of the companies they work for. The responsibilities which may be assigned to them include, performance evaluation, budgeting, and cost and asset management. Management accountants are usually part of executive teams. They are involved in strategic planning and/or the development of new products, and analyze and interpret financial information that corporate executives need. They also prepare financial reports.
Government Accountants and auditors maintain and examine the records of government agencies, auditing private businesses and audit individuals whose activities are subject to government regulations or taxation. Accountants working in the public sector ensure that revenues are received and expenditures are made in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
Internal Auditors verify the effectiveness of their organization's internal controls. They check for mismanagement, waste, and/or fraud, examining and evaluating management procedures and internal controls. They also review the efficiency, effectiveness, and compliance of company operations with corporate and government policies and regulations.
A qualification in financial accounting also equips a person for higher level managerial positions including president and vice president of finance in public sector businesses. Average annual salaries will differ depending on position, level of expertise and also on which firm an accountant is employed with:
What Is Accounting?
Accounting is the system we use for identifying, recording, and summarizing economic information. Accountants ensure that companies keep accurate public records, are efficient, and that they comply with their legal financial requirements. They analyze varied financial information and communicate it to various entities such as businesses, clients, and federal, state, and local governments.What You Can Expect To Learn With An Accounting Degree
Accounting degrees are extremely popular as there are so many career opportunities available for those with accounting qualifications. Online accounting degrees are also gaining in popularity as can be seen by a quick review of just one of the distance learning websites, which lists 128 available online accounting degrees. These degrees range from the broad associate degrees to the highly specific doctoral degrees and also include everything in between. Accounting as a discipline is also particularly suited to online study as most tasks are almost completely computer based.An accounting degree relies heavily on mathematics, computer science, business, communication, and statistics. Certificate programs are designed for students who have already completed an undergraduate degree and wish to acquire accounting skills. Such programs will offer these courses almost exclusively. In addition to subject matter coursework, degree programs will also have general education requirements to fulfill.
Job seekers with accounting degrees have a variety of opportunities, but for those who wish to have a successful accounting career, it is imperative to keep up with industry standards and new technology. Professionals already in the industry continue to seek extra training, enroll in refresher courses, and develop specialized skills to stay competitive. Online college courses and degree programs allow flexibility and accessibility for students who are already working professionals, stay at home parents, or traditional students who prefer a virtual education environment and the ability to work at their own pace.
Online Accounting Certificate Programs
Job seekers with accounting degrees have a variety of opportunities, but for those who wish to have a successful accounting career, it is imperative to keep up with industry standards and new technology. Professionals already in the industry continue to seek extra training, enroll in refresher courses, and develop specialized skills to stay competitive. Online college courses allow flexibility and accessibility for students who are already working professionals, stay at home parents, or traditional students who prefer a virtual education environment and the ability to work at their own pace.Certificate Programs in Accounting
- Davenport University: Certificate in Forensic Accounting http://www.davenport.edu
- Golden Gate University: Graduate Certificates in Accounting http://www.ggu.edu
- Northeastern University: Certificates in Accounting and Advanced Accounting http://www.neu.edu
- Regis University: Graduate Certificate in Accounting http://www.regis.edu
- Southern New Hampshire University: Graduate Certificate in Accounting http://www.snhu.edu
- Strayer University: Undergraduate and Executive Graduate Certificates in Accounting http://www.strayer.edu
- TUI University: Graduate Certificates in both Governmental and Managerial Accounting http://www.tuiu.edu
- University of West Florida: Certificate in Professional Accountancy http://www.uwf.edu
Online Accounting Associate Degrees
An associate degree, which is an undergraduate degree, will take an on-campus student approximately two years to complete. Completing the degree could take online students a lot less time, however, as they can study at their own pace and from familiar surroundings. A typical associate degree's curriculum is also extremely wide as a degree at this level only serves to give a student an overview of his chosen field. The following are only two of the available online accounting associate degrees.Associate of Science in Accounting: South University
In order to be allowed to enroll for this degree, a student must have a sufficiently high score on either the SAT I (Scholastic Assessment Test), the ACT (American College Test) or the CPTs (College Entry-Level Placement Tests). The curriculum has been specially designed to give a student an understanding of overall accounting principles including:- How to prepare a cash flow statement;
- The basics of cost accounting;
- Accounting procedures for merchandising; and
- How to work with balance sheets, financial statements and income statements.
Associate of Arts in Accounting: University of Phoenix
An arts degree on the associate level with a specialization in accounting will give students a firm grounding in critical thinking, analytical writing and information utilization. Accounting concepts that will be touched on will include ethical issues, economics and management, and typical courses will consist of:- Financial reporting: peeking under the financial hood;
- Accounting ethics: keeping it clean;
- Survey of accounting: the maze of numbers; and
- Introduction to finance: harvesting the money tree.
Online Accounting Bachelor's Degrees
A bachelor's degree is also an undergraduate degree and will usually take the on-campus student four years to complete. This process could, however, again be accelerated if a student studies online. At this level, degree curriculums will begin to show a slightly greater specificity as students start to move towards the areas that they will be specializing in with their master's and doctor's degrees.Bachelor of Science in Accounting/Auditing - Forensic Accounting: Kaplan University
Kaplan has developed an innovative 100% web-based course structure that gives students an incredible amount of flexibility with their online studies. This degree not only consolidates the basic accounting principles that students acquired on the associate level, it also introduces them to the affiliated fields of law, management and economics from an accounting viewpoint. Typical courses in this degree's curriculum include:- Cost accounting;
- Advanced forensic accounting;
- Accounting fraud examination concepts; and
- Auditing.
Bachelor of Science in Business with a Concentration in Accounting: University of Phoenix
Phoenix University also offers online accounting degrees on the bachelor's level and this degree's function is to consolidate the core competencies taught on the associate level as well as to introduce students to new concepts like statistics and organizational behavior. Representative courses include the following:- Management: theory, practice and application;
- Organizational ethics and social responsibility;
- Critical thinking: strategies in decision making; and
- Organizational behavior and group dynamics.
Full list of Bachelor's Programs in Accounting
- Athens State University: BS in Accounting http://www.athens.edu
- DeVry University: BA in Business Administration with an Accounting Specialization http://www.devry.edu
- Excelsior College: BS in General Accounting http://www.excelsior.edu
- Franklin University: BS in Accounting http://www.franklin.edu
- Indiana State University: BA in Business Administration with an Accounting Emphasis http://www.indstate.edu
- Indiana Wesleyan University: BS in Accounting http://www.indwes.edu
- Liberty University: BS in Accounting http://www.luonline.com
- Limestone University: BS in Business Administration with an Accounting Concentration http://www.limestone.edu
- Mountain State University: BS in Accounting http://www.mountainstate.edu
- Peru State College: BS in Accounting http://www.peru.edu
- Regis University: BS in Accounting http://www.regis.edu
- Southern New Hampshire University: BS in Accounting http://www.snhu.edu
- Strayer University: MBA Accounting http://www.strayer.edu
- Thomas Edison State University: BSBA in Accounting http://www.tesc.edu
- University of North Western Ohio: BS in Accounting and BS in Accounting with CPA track. http://www.unoh.edu
- University of Phoenix: BS in Business with an Accounting concentration. http://www.phoenix.edu
- Upper Iowa University: BS in Accounting http://www.uiu.edu
Online Accounting Master's Degrees
A master's degree is the lowest degree offered on the graduate level and, depending on how long a student takes to complete his or her thesis, generally takes about two years to complete. Studying online could shorten this process and would also cost much less than studying on-campus. There are quite a few accounting master's degree programs available online and exactly which one a student will choose will depend on his or her area of specialization.Master of Science in Accountancy: University of Phoenix
This degree is one of two master's degrees offered by the University of Phoenix, with the other being the Master of Business Administration with a Concentration in Accounting. The new subjects that are introduced to students at this level include financial reporting, not-for-profit and government accounting as well as auditing. Examples of the specific courses contained in this degree consist of:- Managerial accounting and legal aspects of business;
- Internal control systems;
- Accounting theory and research; and
- Communications for accountants.
Master of Accountancy in Government Accounting: Rutgers Business School
This is an extremely specialized degree - which Rutgers says is the only available online degree in government accounting - that concentrates on government financial management, auditing and accounting. It is also extremely flexible and students can insert elective courses from several other master's degree programs into this degree's curriculum. Typical courses included in this degree are:- Governmental budgeting systems;
- Design and development of information systems;
- Government accounting and auditing; and
- Public sector auditing.
Full list of Masters Programs in Accounting
- Golden Gate University: MAc in Accountancy http://www.ggu.edu
- Liberty University: MAc in Accountancy http://www.luonline.edu
- Northwest Missouri University: MBA with Accounting Emphasis http://www.nwmissouri.edu
- Sacramento State University: MAc in Accountancy http://www.csus.edu
- State University of New York: MAc in Accountancy http://www.sunyit.edu
- U Maryland University College: Variety of Accounting and Finance MS programs. http://www.umuc.edu
- Keller Graduate School of Management: MS in Accounting and Financial Management
http://www.keller.edu
- University of Texas at Dallas: MS in Accounting and Information Management http://www.utdallas.edu/
- University of Tulsa: Master of Taxation http://www.utulsa.edu
Online Accounting Doctoral Degrees
A doctoral degree is the highest level of education available on the graduate level and each doctoral degree is usually extremely specialized. Here students have the opportunity to choose the exact courses they want to specialize in so that they can find a position or teach in that specific field after graduation. To complete a doctoral degree, students have to write a dissertation, which is similar to their having to complete their thesis in order to qualify for their master's degree.Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration - Advanced Accounting Specialization: Northcentral University
This degree aims to qualify students in specific areas like forensic analysis and economic outcomes so that they can fully understand all aspects of accounting and auditing as they relate to non-profit organizations, higher education institutions and public and private enterprise. The accounting specialization courses that are offered as part of this degree include:- Business environment and concepts;
- Advanced accounting and fraud examination techniques;
- Advanced forensic accounting theory and practice; and
- Financial accounting and reporting.
Doctor of Philosophy in Business - Accounting Specialization: Capella University
The courses that form part of this doctoral degree are divided into core courses, specialization courses in accounting and elective courses. Students will also undergo a Doctoral Comprehensive Examination at the end of the course in order to obtain the PhD qualification. The specialization and elective courses are those that comprise the accounting aspect of the degree's program and include courses like the following:- Survey in managerial accounting (specialization course);
- Survey in financial accounting (specialization course);
- Accounting information systems (elective course);
- International accounting (elective course).
Career Opportunities and Salary Scales
Accountant Job Options
The four major fields of accounting are government accounting, public accounting, managerial accounting, and internal auditing.Public Accountants perform a wide range of accounting, auditing, tax, and consulting activities. Some offer advice on the benefits of different HR based programs and employee benefits. Some advise about the advantages or disadvantages of business decisions as they relate to taxes. Some advise on the design and usability of various accounting and data processing systems, as well as the choice of controls to safeguard assets. External auditors are accounts who audit clients' financial information, informing investors and authorities of the efficacy of the reporting. There are also public accountants who specialize in forensic accounting: the investigation of financial crimes such as embezzlement, securities fraud, bankruptcies, etc. They often appear as expert witnesses during trials, and work closely with law enforcement.
Managerial Accountants sometimes called cost, industrial, or corporate accountants record and analyze the financial information of the companies they work for. The responsibilities which may be assigned to them include, performance evaluation, budgeting, and cost and asset management. Management accountants are usually part of executive teams. They are involved in strategic planning and/or the development of new products, and analyze and interpret financial information that corporate executives need. They also prepare financial reports.
Government Accountants and auditors maintain and examine the records of government agencies, auditing private businesses and audit individuals whose activities are subject to government regulations or taxation. Accountants working in the public sector ensure that revenues are received and expenditures are made in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
Internal Auditors verify the effectiveness of their organization's internal controls. They check for mismanagement, waste, and/or fraud, examining and evaluating management procedures and internal controls. They also review the efficiency, effectiveness, and compliance of company operations with corporate and government policies and regulations.
Accountant Salaries
Some extremely specialized accounting fields have developed over the last few years and no longer are accountants confined to adding up lists of figures. Among the more popular fields are forensic accounting, tax compliance and consulting, auditing and management accounting. Not-for-profit accounting is also a field on its own as is government accounting. Within each of these fields lie a considerable number of individual careers including the iconic tax specialists, accountants, internal auditors and cost analysts.A qualification in financial accounting also equips a person for higher level managerial positions including president and vice president of finance in public sector businesses. Average annual salaries will differ depending on position, level of expertise and also on which firm an accountant is employed with:
- Entry level: $55,000 (Big 4) and $60,000 (other firms);
- Jr staff accountant: $54,500 (Big 4) and $60,000 (other firms);
- Sr staff accountant: $80,000 (Big 4) and $70,000 (other firms);
- Manager: $102,500 (Big 4) and $85,000 (other firms); and
- Sr manager: $116,000 (Big 4) and $115,000 (other firms).
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