Curriculum

Curriculum
The Master of Science in Accounting 12 month part-time program is delivered in a hybrid (online and in-class) format that allows participants to work full-time while attending classes.
Schedule
The part-time hybrid format classes meet via Zoom in the evenings for two hours on Mondays/Wednesdays. Additionally, students meet face-to-face on Saint Mary’s campus in Moraga on alternate Saturdays.
Course Descriptions
The first in a two-course series in intermediate financial accounting, designed to deepen the students’ understanding of financial reporting practices and principles. The topical coverage includes an in-depth treatment of the elements of the income statement and the asset section of the balance sheet. Attention is given to examples of current reporting practices and to the study of the reporting requirements promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.
The second in a two-course series in intermediate financial accounting. The topical coverage includes an in-depth analysis of current and long-term liabilities, stockholder’s equity, earnings per share calculations, the revenue recognition principle, accounting for income taxes, pension accounting, lease accounting, and the statement of cash flows.
This course focuses on the accounting and financial reporting issues of governmental units, not-for-profit organizations, colleges and universities, and some health care entities. The course covers fund accounting and financial reporting for state and local units under GASB Statement No. 34 and not-for-profit accounting principles.
This course examines the legal implications of business transactions, particularly as they relate to
accounting, auditing and financial reporting. In addition, students are required to apply the knowledge
gained to evaluate the economic substance of client transactions, including purchase agreements, loans
and promissory notes, sales contracts, leases and commitments. Oral and written communication skills
and professional research skills are emphasized.
This advanced course focuses on how managers generate and use accounting information within their organizations for planning and controlling operations, making short and long-term decisions, and evaluating and rewarding personnel. The content includes topics such as C-V-P analysis, budgeting, variance analysis, and differential cost analysis. A variety of pedagogical techniques, including cases, projects, and student presentations are used to discuss real world managerial accounting issues.
Data has proliferated in business and managers and accountants need to understand the implications for decision-making and tap into the data to provide better insights into a firm/client/customer/supplier, etc. This course is intended to provide students with an understanding of data analytic thinking and terminology as well as hands-on experience with data analytics tools and techniques. Students should leave this course with the skills necessary to translate accounting and business problems into actionable proposals that they can competently present to managers and data scientists. The focus of this class is on concepts as well as various data analysis tools such as Advanced Excel, Weka, Tableau/Power BI, IDEA Audit Software, iXBRLAnalyst, Structured Query Language (SQL) using SAS, Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio, Excel 2016, and MySQL, and Python, and more.
The first part of this course reviews accounting for business combinations. The rest of the course covers accounting for multinationals, foreign currency transactions, segment reporting, and partnerships – formation, operations, changes in ownership interests, and liquidation.
This course examines the concepts and laws related to federal taxation of individuals, trusts, estates, and gifts. It is also designed to give students the tools and techniques to identify, understand and evaluate tax planning opportunities. Oral and written communication skills are emphasized.
This course focuses on advanced topics related to the auditing standards promulgated in the U.S. for audits of public companies, private companies, governmental entities, not-for-profit entities and employee benefit plans. In addition, the course focuses on the standards promulgated by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and the differences between these standards and U.S. auditing standards. It also focuses on the application of accounting and auditing skills to detect financial discrepancies and the presentation of fraud cases for criminal proceedings and litigation.
The Advanced Accounting Information system course will focus on IT architecture components and the use of cloud-based models for IT infrastructure, platforms, and services. In addition, the course will focus on the business processes they enable and controls over processing integrity. The course will also cover System availability and IT change management.
This course examines the concepts and laws related to federal taxation of partnerships, C corporations, S corporations, and tax-exempt organizations. It is also designed to give students the tools and techniques to identify, understand and evaluate tax planning opportunities. Oral and written communication skills are emphasized.
This capstone course focuses on identifying, researching and appropriately resolving situations that might be unethical or a violation of professional standards. Oral and written communication skills and professional judgment are emphasized.