Master of Science in Management: Accounting

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Accounting Specialization Description

The accounting specialization covers a broad range of accounting related studies, especially in the areas of:

• Financial accounting, fraud detection, and accounting ethics
• Management accounting
• Government and nonprofit accounting
• Auditing process
• Income taxation
• Accounting information systems
• Accounting policy, combine in-depth studies in management science and accounting.

Professional Certification

Successful completion of the accounting specialization may satisfy the education requirements of candidacy for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) examination. Educational requirements to sit for the CPA exam vary among states. Students are responsible for staying abreast of the current requirements of the state in which they will sit for the exam or practice professionally.

Articulation Agreement

Students who complete their undergraduate degree at UMUC with a major in accounting and pursue the MS in accounting and financial management, accounting and information systems, or management with a specialization in accounting can reduce the total coursework for the graduate degree by up to 6 credits (two courses) and complete both degrees with a total of 150 credits of coursework. More information is available in the Articulation Agreement.

Academic Preparation

Students interested in the accounting specialization must have completed 15 credits of accounting coursework, with a grade of C or better in each course, prior to enrolling in any graduate level accounting course.

Career Path

The MSM program prepares graduates for a number of entry-, mid-, and high- level positions, as determined by a student’s work experience.

Depending on a student’s background and an employer’s criteria, graduates of the Accounting specialization may qualify for these positions:

• Public Accountant or Auditor
• Accounting Manager
• Internal Control/Forensics Accounting Specialist
• Management Accountant
• Government Accountant or Auditor
• Internal Auditor
• Financial, Budget, or Management Analyst
• Fraud Examiner

Partnership

An articulation agreement between The Graduate School and The Undergraduate School allows students who completed their undergraduate degree at UMUC with a major in accounting to reduce their total coursework for the graduate degree by up to 6 credits (two courses) and complete both degrees with a total of 150 credits of coursework.

The Graduate School will accept the following toward the completion of the MS in accounting and financial management, accounting and information systems, or management with a specialization in accounting for a maximum of 6 credits:

• Both ACCT 410 Accounting for Government and Not-for-Profit Organizations and ACCT 425 International Accounting in lieu of ACCT 665 Selected Topics in Accounting: International, Government, and Nonprofit Accounting
• Both ACCT 427 Advanced Auditing and ACCT 433 Audit and Control of Information in lieu of ACCT 612 Auditing Process

The substitutions listed above are the only substitutions possible. Credits eligible for sharing must have been completed no earlier than four years before the beginning of graduate studies. A minimum grade of B must be earned in each of the undergraduate classes for the credits to be accepted at the graduate level.

Requirements

Recommendations

Students who have not taken a finance course recently are strongly encouraged to take UCSP 620 and UCSP 621 prior to taking MGMT 640.

Students who have not had any recent statistics use should take UCSP 630 prior to taking MGMT 650.

Students who wish to improve their graduate writing skills may take COMM 600, Academic Writing for Graduate Students (3).

Core Required Courses

UCSP 615 Orientation to Graduate Studies at UMUC (0), to be taken within the first 6 credits of study

• MGMT 610 Organizational Theory (3)
• MGMT 615 Intercultural Communication and Leadership (3)
• MGMT 640 Financial Decision Making for Managers (3)
• MGMT 650 Statistics for Managerial Decision Making (3)

Capstone Course: MGMT 670 Strategic Management Capstone (3)

Clustered Course Option

MGMT 630 Organizational Theory and Behavior in a Global Environment (6) is a six-credit course. Students who receive credit for MGMT 630 may not receive credit for MGMT 610 or MGMT 615.

Core Rules

1. MGMT 610 must be taken within the first 6 credits of the MS in Management program.
2. Students must complete 24 credits, including other core requirements, before enrolling in MGMT 670.
3. MGMT 640 and MGMT 650 should not be completed simultaneously.
4. MGMT 640 is prerequisite to FIN 610 in the Financial Management specialization.

Accounting (ACCT) Specialization Required Courses

• ACCT 610 Financial Accounting (3)
• ACCT 611 Management Accounting (3)
• ACCT 612 Auditing (3)
• ACCT 608 Fraud Examination and Accounting Ethics (3)
• ACCT 614 Accounting Information Systems (3)
• ACCT 613 Federal Income Taxation (3)
• ACCT 665 Selected Topics in Accounting: Combined Entities, Multinational, Government, and Nonprofit Accounting (3)

Specialization Rules

1. ACCT 610 must be taken prior to any other graduate accounting courses.
2. Students must have completed 15 credits of undergraduate accounting work with a grade of C or better before enrolling in graduate level accounting courses.
3. Students may be accepted into the degree program with less than the required 15 credit hours, but should take the undergraduate credit hours while they take the core courses.