Financial Accounting (certificate)

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Official Title of Certificate: Financial Accounting, Certificate

Award: Certificate

Code: CRT.BPA.FIN-ACCT

Total Credit Hours: A minimum of 51

About the Business Administration Department

Purpose: Intended for students who already have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher and who wish to complete the individual course requirements to sit for the Maryland Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam.

CPA Exam Requirements

Those initially applying to sit for the CPA exam in Maryland must qualify by (1) holding a bachelor’s degree in any discipline from an accredited college or university; (2) completing 150 credit hours; and (3) completing a minimum of 51 credit hours in accounting and related business subjects, including certain required courses.

Certificate Graduation Requirements

To graduate with a certificate, students must have demonstrated eligibility for ENG 101 or ENG 101A . Refer to Academic Regulations on Graduation Requirements .

Entrance/Admission Requirements

Entrance Requirements

Since the state requirements are subject to change and since many of the courses are offered only once each year because of limited demand, the student should meet with the chair of the business administration department before starting this study.

Planning Tool: Two-Year Sequence of Courses

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Certificate Requirements: 51 credits

BPA 138 - Business and Professional Ethics 3 credit hours
BPA 201 - Financial Accounting 3 credit hours
BPA 202 - Managerial Accounting 3 credit hours
BPA 241 - Intermediate Accounting 1 3 credit hours
BPA 242 - Intermediate Accounting 2 3 credit hours
BPA 262 - Tax Accounting 3 credit hours
* Minimum requirement mandated by state Board of Public Accountancy; however, BPA 264 - Advanced Tax Accounting , is strongly recommended for sufficient coverage of material tested on the CPA examination.
BPA 263 - Auditing 3 credit hours

Choose three of the following

BPA 217 - Small Business Accounting 3 credit hours
BPA 245 - Advanced Accounting 3 credit hours
BPA 261 - Cost Accounting 3 credit hours
BPA 264 - Advanced Tax Accounting 3 credit hours
It is recommended that students choose BPA 245, BPA 261 and BPA 264 as their three accounting electives.

Choose seven of the following

In at least five of the following nine (9) subjects: statistics, economics, corporation or business finance, management, business law, marketing, quantitative methods, computer science/information systems and business communication:

BPA 125 - Principles of Marketing 3 credit hours
BPA 142 - Principles of Management 3 credit hours
BPA 162 - Business Communications 3 credit hours
ECO 232 - Business Statistics 3 credit hours
(formerly listed as BPA 232)
OR
MAT 135 - Statistics 3 credit hours
BPA 255 - Accounting Information Systems 3 credit hours
BPA 256 - Financial Management 3 credit hours
ECO 211 - Principles of Economics 1 3 credit hours
ECO 212 - Principles of Economics 2 3 credit hours
ECO 233 - Data, Sampling, and Analytics 3 credit hours
OR
MAT 235 - Introduction to Data Science 4 credit hours
LGS 253 - Business Law 1 3 credit hours
(formerly listed as BPA 253)
* Minimum requirement mandated by state Board of Public Accountancy; however, LGS 254 - Business Law 2 or BPA 254 - Business Law 2, is strongly recommended for sufficient coverage of material tested on the CPA examination.
LGS 254 - Business Law 2 3 credit hours
(formerly listed as BPA 254)

Program Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

Apply appropriate accounting terminology, principles and framework to organizations.
Organize and prepare professional accounting communications in written form.
Solve complex accounting problems.
Apply analytical and critical thinking skills to business decisions.
Apply ethical reasoning to business decisions.

This program aligns with the college’s core competencies.

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