This course provides students with an understanding of how accounting and other information necessary to assess a firm’s economic status is created, packaged, and disseminated to a company’s management team and external users such as investors, customers, analysts, and the financial media. The course also covers academic writing used in the program and information literacy required for research.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

• Evaluate methods used to communicate complex accounting concepts
• Interpret how effectively annual reports communicate an organization’s objectives
• Develop different communication strategies for all stakeholders
• Employ multimedia, hypermedia, and electronic literature resources to gather and distribute accounting and business knowledge and information
• Employ clear writing and speaking skills appropriate to the audience
• Capture ideas, data, and relationships visually

This course covers how accounting leaders assist a company in making strategic financial decisions and explores the relationship between ethics and leadership. Students learn behaviors to accelerate high performance and create an ethical environment.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

• Develop a definition of ethical leadership that encompasses social responsibility and civic engagement
• Use tools for conflict resolution, managing diversity, and building teams
• Evaluate team strategies to enhance team productivity
• Analyze organizational theories to manage strategically
• Assess the congruence between personal norms and ethical principles
• Demonstrate respectful engagement with others’ ideas, behaviors, and beliefs
• Apply diverse frames of reference to decisions and actions
• Resolve issues based on evidence weighed against relevant criteria

This course uses data analytic processes and models to identify, translate, test, and communicate financial information. Students learn to identify data quality and reliability and to explore problem-solving through statistical data analysis.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

• Explain why data analytics matters to accountants
• Apply and translate accounting data
• Analyze and visualize data sets of an organization
• Develop and interpret results of KPIs and financial analysis
• Interpret and evaluate using the IMPACT approach
• Prepare text mining and sentiment analysis on financial statement data
• Communicate financial reporting data in a professional and engaging manner

Prerequisite(s): ACCT 620 and ACCT 630

This course identifies developing areas in accounting and encourages students to research the issues, think critically, evaluate alternatives, and communicate conclusions orally and in writing. The course addresses the role of the contemporary accountant, international accounting standards, the future of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (F.A.S.B.), standard setting and regulation, ethics, and other developing issues.

Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:

• Examine and summarize the role that the accountant plays as a strategic business partner
• Analyze the historical and current accounting standard setting process
• Compare International Standards to US GAAP
• Research and summarize current and emerging accounting issues
• Analyze the current Congressional business tax rulings
• Communicate conclusions with clarity and coherence

Prerequisite(s): ACCT 510 or AC 303