Accounting

Department WebsiteDepartment EmailAdvising

The Department of Accounting offers a program for accounting majors that will prepare students for careers in professional accounting, industry and government. The Department also offers courses in financial and managerial accounting and information systems for all Commerce students.

CPA Accreditation

The University offers all of the prerequisite courses for the Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation. Commerce graduates with a major in accounting may choose certain accounting and free electives to complete all prerequisite requirements before graduation for entry into the CPA Professional Education Program. Details of these courses are available from the academic advisor, Chairperson of the Department or the CPA Atlantic website.

MBA (CPA Stream)

The MBA (CPA Stream) program allows students to complete an  MBA while receiving advanced standing in the CPA Professional Education Program.  Students who complete the MBA (CPA Stream) program will be eligible to write the CPA professional common final examination on completion.  Details can be found in the Graduate Academic Calendar.

The Bachelor of Commerce is a well-established, foundational degree and requires the requirements listed below alongside general graduation requirements.

Major in Accounting 

Upon completion of 45 credit hours, Commerce students with a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 may elect to declare a major in Accounting. (In exceptional circumstances, students may also be admitted to the major by permission of the Chairperson.)  

Note: Students are advised that possession of the minimum qualifications does not guarantee admission to a particular academic program. Limits to the number of students who can be in a particular program at any one time exist and depend very much on the number of faculty members available in a particular academic unit.

Course Planning: Students with an interest in the Accounting major are encouraged to seek advising early from an Academic Advisor, Department advisor, or Chairperson of the Department. Interested students may choose to take Introductory Financial Accounting (ACCT 2241) in the second semester of their first year if prerequisites are met for their intended upper level electives.

To assist students, the Year 3 and Year 4 course requirements for an Accounting major and the core BComm degree program requirements are listed below.      

Plan of Study Grid

Third Year		Credit Hours
ACCT 3323	Management Information Systems 1	3
ACCT 3335	Intermediate Managerial Accounting 1	3
ACCT 3350	Financial Accounting Foundations 1, 2	3
ACCT 3351	Intermediate Financial Accounting I 1	3
FINA 2360	Business Finance I	3
FINA 3361	Business Finance II	3
MGMT 3480	Ethical Responsibilities of Organizations	3
Select nine credit hours of non-Commerce electives		9
	Credit Hours	30
Fourth Year
ACCT 3352	Intermediate Financial Accounting II 1, 2	3
ACCT 4470	Accounting Seminar 1	3
Select nine credit hours of Accounting electives 3, 4, 5		9
MGMT 4489	Strategic Management	3
Select three credit hours of non-Commerce electives		3
Select nine credit hours of free electives 4, 5		9
	Credit Hours	30
	Total Credit Hours	60

1	To complete a major in Accounting, students must attain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.2 in the 3rd and 4th year ACCT courses.
2	It is recommended that students who are considering pursuing a professional accounting designation and/or cooperative Education take Financial Accounting Foundations (ACCT 3350) and Business Finance I (FINA 2360) in Year 2 and take Intermediate Financial Accounting I (ACCT 3351) and Intermediate Financial Accounting II (ACCT 3352) in Year 3.  In Year 2, students would defer 3 credit hours in ECON electives and 3 credit hours in non-Commerce electives until Year 3.
3	Bus Applications Programming (CISY 2320), Database Programming (CISY 3326), Info Systems Proj & Practice (CISY 4435), Financial Accounting Theory (ACCT 3345), International Accounting (ACCT 3357) or any 4000 level course in Accounting not used to fulfill other requirements may be used to satisfy this requirement.
4	Students cannot receive credit for any of Planning and Control (ACCT 3332), Cost Mgt: Measurement Sys (ACCT 3333), Cost Management: Systems Evaluation (ACCT 3334), (ACCT 3341), Intermediate Financial Accounting II (ACCT 3342), or Financial Accounting Analysis (ACCT 3343) towards accounting electives or free electives if they major in Accounting.
5	Students are advised to consult with the Departmental advisor when choosing electives if they plan to pursue a professional accounting designation.

Students with a grade below C in Introductory Financial Accounting (ACCT 2241), Introductory Managerial Accounting (ACCT 2242), Financial Accounting Foundations (ACCT 3350), Intermediate Financial Accounting I (ACCT 3351) or Intermediate Financial Accounting II (ACCT 3352) are advised against pursuing an Accounting major.