Accounting for the Professional

Students in this course enhance and utilize advanced accounting research skills in order to investigate and review the current and emerging accounting issues and changes in promulgated accounting standards that could impact 21st-century business. Students examine a variety of up-to-date and relevant topical areas that are discussed in sources such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board, International Accounting Standards Board, and Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result of their studies in this course, students will be able to anticipate changes in accounting standards and analyze potential impacts for making informed decisions and recommendations to management.

Accountants and business managers must be astute and proactive in managing a business to combat the inevitable threat of operational and financial risks, including those involving credit, market, liquidity, reputation, technology, and legality. In this course, students assess the tools used by accountants and managers in managing these risks. They explore the various processes used to identify, analyze, and assess risks, and they learn the appropriate use of financial and operational controls to mitigate such risks. Additionally, students examine ways to implement techniques, such as developing a risk control matrix and using the concepts of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) framework to improve an organization's enterprise risk management.  

Regulatory compliance involves the policies and processes that organizations use to ensure that they follow the rules and regulations in place by the firms that control financial activity in a given jurisdiction. In this course, students explore the facets of regulatory compliance, focusing on the role of accounting with respect to corporate governance within an organizational setting. They also focus on how organizations build transparency into their governance and compliance systems. Students review and explore the responsibilities of management in terms of compliance and auditing and explore the complex processes of checks and balances that comprise compliance systems. Students further develop their understanding of regulatory compliance through a review of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, in addition to an evaluation of decisions made by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Corporation Accounting Oversight Board.  

In this quantitative course, students examine the process by which accounting policies are formulated and modified. Students use current research and case analyses to make critical evaluations of fundamental accounting concepts and foundations, such as revenue recognition, lease accounting, and other current issues, in light of their theoretical, empirical, practical, and political aspects. Students demonstrate their ability to use promulgated accounting literature to improve their general decision-making and communication skills in the area of accounting as they engage in functional exercises and weekly discussions.   

In this course, students are provided with tools, techniques, and insight to evaluate the potential for fraud within current operating and financial reporting systems. Students examine creative accounting techniques and red flags of fraud, such as the development of false financial statements; misuse of corporate resources; false revenue recognition; and fraud perpetrated for the benefit of third parties, shareholders, and managers. They explore special topics, such as the override of existing internal controls and absence of proper accounting documentation. Students also examine fraud audit standards, principles of legal evidence, and concepts of the Daubert Rule. Additionally, students examine strategies for identifying sources of securing evidence to prevent loss, corruption, and contamination.  

Students in this course examine current topics in international standards for accounting, including financial statement presentation, auditing, and accounting for importers, exporters, and multinational corporations to gain a comprehensive understanding of the various perspectives involved in international accounting. Students examine foreign exchange rates and markets, controlled economy accounting, social responsibility reporting, inflation accounting, and international taxation and its impact on an organization's international financial statements. Additionally, students analyze issues in accounting for multinationals, including areas of accounting and financial reporting standards. They also conduct an evaluation of international accounting harmonization efforts, including those involving accounting standards, to acquire an appreciation of the importance of comparability in regard to international financial statements.