Accounting

An associate degree in accounting is your gateway to an exciting professional occupation. With an associate degree, you can graduate with career-ready accounting skills, including basic accounting, cost accounting, taxation, computerized accounting, and managerial accounting. Our students have the option of graduating and going directly into the workforce in this high-demand industry or pursuing a bachelor’s degree at a four-year institution.

Students completing the Accounting degree program will have the skills and knowledge necessary to gain entry into careers such as accounts receivable clerk, accounting assistant, billing clerk, bookkeeper, management trainee, and payroll clerk. In addition to an accounting core, students will develop strong business skills by studying various business concepts, including management, economics and business law.

For students interested in continuing with their college education, transfer agreements with four-year institutions may be available. Call or email the department chair for details.

Students who complete the program will:

  • Demonstrate professional competence in fundamental financial and managerial accounting principles and their application.
  • Apply foundational skills in computerized accounting by operating accounting software programs and evaluating its features in comparison to other systems used in the profession.
  • Demonstrate the ability to use and analyze modern information technology, including spreadsheets and basic database.
  • Demonstrate the ability to be able to prepare a complex individual tax return.
  • Be able to prepare accurate and well-organized financial statement.
  • Be able to make the adjustments needed to create financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
  • Apply mathematical skills, reading, thinking, writing, and oral communication skills to convey ideas, information, and intentions effectively and in a manner that is appropriate to a professional organization or business.
  • Apply appropriate analytical tools and critical thinking to identify core issues, evaluate alternatives, and make informed decisions to solve problems in complex business situations.
  • Recognize ethical issues, apply ethical frameworks to analyze them, differentiate between ethical and unethical behavior and integrate ethical understanding and societal responsibility into decision-making.
  • Demonstrate professional competence of business subject matter knowledge in the core business areas of management, economics, and law. 

Degrees and Certificates

Courses

ACCT131L: Accounting I

An introduction to accounting as the language of business. The student will be introduced to the procedures necessary to record, classify, and summarize basic business transactions. The course will cover the accounting cycle for service and merchandising sole proprietorships, including: journalizing transactions in general and special journals, recording adjusting and closing entries, and preparing worksheets and financial statements. The course will also cover banking and payroll procedures.

ACCT132L: Accounting II

A more in-depth study of accounting procedures and concepts. The course closely examines balance sheet accounts, such as accounts receivable, notes receivable and payable, inventory, property plant and equipment and long-term debt. Different structures of equity are examined through the study of partnership and corporate forms of business. Financial statement analysis and the statement of cash flows are introduced. General accounting principles are introduced and applications are discussed throughout the course.

ACCT231L: Cost Accounting

Accounting for transactions and summarizing data particular to manufacturing and service environments. The course will examine in detail the three elements of cost: materials, labor and overhead, in both the job order and process cost systems. It will also cover standard cost systems, including variance analysis. The student will be introduced to cost behavior patterns and apply them to cost analysis for decision making.

ACCT235L: Managerial Finance Accounting

The study of the use of accounting information for management decision-making purposes in the manufacturing and service environments. Cost behavior and classification, as well as cost-volume-profit analysis, differential cost analysis and absorption vs. variable costing principles, will be applied to cost and volume control, pricing, and other management decisions. The student will learn to develop budgets and evaluate performance internally. Special considerations of decentralized operations and capital investment decisions will be studied. The student will be exposed to current trends in the global business environment, including the principles of activity-based costing, Just-in-Time manufacturing, and the theory of constraints.

ACCT251L: Federal Taxes

A study of Federal Income Tax regulations and reporting. The course will cover individual returns, including filing requirements and status, rules of dependency, income inclusions and exclusions, expenses, deductions and credits, capital gains and losses. Special attention will be paid to depreciation. The partnership and corporate returns will be introduced. Topics relating to tax administration and tax planning will also be covered.

ACCT273L: Introduction to Computerized Accounting

This course will introduce students to computerized accounting systems using QuickBooks Accountant and MS Excel. The accounting procedures done manually in accounting I will now be performed on the computer using accounting software that is currently being used in business and industry. Students will set up and perform routine tasks such as recording business transactions, controlling inventory, processing sales, maintaining fixed asset and depreciation schedules, and preparing payroll. Additional procedures students will perform include setting up a chart of accounts, summarizing data, generating financial reports, and banking transactions.

ACCT275L: Special Topics in Accounting

Special Topics in Accounting is a flexible, rotating elective designed to address emerging trends, evolving industry practices, and student interests within the accounting field. This course enables faculty to introduce timely, relevant, and specialized content that reflects current developments in areas such as financial accounting, managerial accounting, taxation, auditing, accounting technology, and regulatory changes.

Topics vary by semester and are selected to provide students with exposure to niche or advanced subject matter that supports both workforce readiness and continued academic study. By engaging with focused, contemporary themes, students gain insight into specialized areas that are increasingly important in today’s accounting profession.