Curriculum | Online Master's in Accounting (MSA)

Curriculum Details

30 TOTAL CREDITS REQUIRED

Our 30-credit-hour M.S. in Accounting degree curriculum has been carefully designed to prepare graduates to excel in public, private, or governmental organizations. Through our faculty of experienced accounting experts, you’ll learn to apply accounting principles to drive financial success and maintain ethical accounting practices.

As you learn, you’ll be preparing to sit for the CPA exam and completing the 30 hours of coursework required for CPA licensure in most states. You will complete 24 credit hours of required courses and then select six (6) credit hours of elective courses to suit your career goals.

The curriculum course abstracts on this page are meant to provide a high-level course overview and subject to change based on term, faculty, and/or institutional requirements. View the official course descriptions as written in the Utica University Academic Catalog and in adherence to regional compliance. Select the appropriate Graduate Catalog from the dropdown.

Major related requirements

ACC 503 Advanced Corporate Tax Credit Hours: 3

You will study federal tax regulations and their application to the taxation of the partnerships, corporations, estates and trusts.

ACC 563 Forensic Accounting Credit Hours: 3

In this survey course, you’ll review the history, accrediting bodies, and certifications of forensic accounting. Specific types of financial crimes will be examined and specialty areas of forensic accounting will be introduced.

ACC 601 Seminar in Advanced Managerial Accounting Credit Hours: 3

Examine managerial accounting, decision and control models, and planning and control during uncertain conditions. You’ll also explore contemporary issues in cost management.

ACC 602 Seminar in Professional Accounting Practice Credit Hours: 3

You’ll study Accounting theory and its implications for professional ethics, measurement, financial statements, and current topics including but not limited to consolidations, off-balance sheet debt, and reporting fraud.

ACC 607 Financial Statement Analysis Credit Hours: 3

Learn to estimate firm equity value using financial statement information. You’ll use financial statement numbers to estimate future revenue, earnings, cash flow, and other value metrics. Statement information will also be used to recognize sustainable and transient earnings and cash flow components. You’ll examine prominent financial statement analysis strategies.

ACC 613 Advanced Auditing Credit Hours: 3

You will review advanced auditing topics with emphasis placed on the practical aspects of auditing financial statement transaction cycles and account balances. You’ll complete a practice case, gain an understanding of current events in the accounting profession, and further develop both technical and “soft” skills in preparation for professional careers.

ECN 607 Quantitative Analysis for Management Credit Hours: 3

Learn about scientific approaches to decision-making including descriptive and inferential statistics. You’ll study probability distributions, confidence intervals, hypothesis and hypothesis testing, as well as analysis of variance and process control.

FIN 613 Advanced Corporate Finance Credit Hours: 3

Examine strategic financial decisions made by corporations and individuals. You’ll analyze financial models for valuing stocks, bonds, and derivative instruments such as options, forwards, futures, and swaps to provide an infrastructure for making strategic financial decisions. You’ll also examine capital budgeting, project evaluation, working capital management, credit policy, debt policy, dividend policy, leasing policy, growth policy, and compensation policy.

Electives

ACC 604 Seminar in Assurance and Forensic Auditing Credit Hours: 3

Learn about the control and auditing of mainframe and networked information systems. You’ll also explore the assessment of audit risk, assurance methods, and the causes, consequences, and prevention of audit failure.

ACC 605 Financial Reporting and Analysis Credit Hours: 3

Learn to analyze and interpret financial statement information. You’ll explore how to analyze a firm’s financial performance and accounting methods, forecast the firm’s future pro forma financial statements, and estimate the intrinsic value of the firm.

BUS 517 Small Business Innovation Credit Hours: 3

In this introduction to domestic and global business models that have evolved over the last 30 years, you’ll examine one of the most disruptive periods in modern business history and connect the thinking to current and not-yet-established models.

BUS 607 Brand Analytics and Marketing Credit Hours: 3

An introduction to big data challenges, trends, and applications within the marketing and communications environment. The course examines how big data algorithms and mining techniques provide strategic communication analysis, insight, and options for organization action. This course provides strategies to manage big data for effective marketing communication and relationship building with key publics.

BUS 611 Principles and Practices of Leadership I Credit Hours: 1.5

Examine the posture of the modern leader in a contemporary organizational setting. In this part I course, you’ll explore topics including creative instruction and case studies.

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BUS 612 Principles and Practices of Leadership II Credit Hours: 1.5

Explore the posture of the modern leader in a contemporary organizational setting. You’ll examine the relationship between leaders and organizations through creative instruction and case studies.

Prerequisite: BUS 611

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BUS 627 Digital Marketing Credit Hours: 3

Learn how to take a multi-tiered approach to media audience/market analysis, including a deep examination of the rise of niche products and an introduction to data-driven methods, in order to recognize changes in the contemporary business climate. Top-down, deliberate theories that once applied to the development of audiences/markets are now replaced by real-time shifts that must be evaluated and capitalized upon immediately in order to realize success.

Prerequisite: BUS 517

BUS 637 Small Business Funding Credit Hours: 3

Gain an understanding of the importance of multiple revenue streams in order to establish a sound and successful strategy for an existing or emerging product or organization. Since technology will continue to alter the means of income generation as smaller and diverse payment methods continue to evolve, companies must adapt to changing markets and realize opportunities for success on the local and global stages through data-driven assessment and application.

Prerequisite: BUS 517

BUS 641 The Global Consumer, Markets and Logistics I Credit Hours: 1.5

Explore how the supply of goods and services has been significantly impacted by the evolution of the internet and a global economy in this part I course.

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BUS 642 The Global Consumer, Markets and Logistics II Credit Hours: 1.5

In Part II, explore how the supply of goods and services has been significantly impacted by the evolution of the world wide web and a global economy.

Prerequisite: BUS 641

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BUS 647 Venture Implementation Credit Hours: 3

Apply learning from your industry-specific experience or the other three courses (BUS 517, 627, 637) in the Entrepreneurship specialization. This course serves as an accelerator environment for either a student or a team’s product, service, or organization.

Prerequisite: BUS 517 or Permission of Instructor

DSC 607 Data Mining Credit Hours: 3

Develop an understanding of theoretical concepts and methods in the field of data mining. Explore data mining methods used for prediction and knowledge discovery in databases by using programming software to analyze real-world data.

DSC 609 Machine Learning Credit Hours: 3

Understand the key machine learning algorithms and their applications to real-world problems. Learn theoretical foundations and empirical applications of machine learning with hands-on programming assignments and projects.

DSC 611 Data Visualization Credit Hours: 3

Become an effective data storyteller by creating rich visuals to represent and communicate data analysis.

FCM 603 Management for Fraud Prevention and Detection Credit Hours: 3

Explore the development of counter-fraud technology, including proactive programs and tools for fraud detection and prevention in face-to-face transactions, e-commerce, and e-business. Examine models of production of fraud prevention and detection products.

FCM 623 Advanced Fraud Investigation and Analysis Credit Hours: 3

Types of criminal fraud, methods used to detect and analyze occurrence of fraud, techniques of fraud investigations, interviewing and interrogation, file and case management, interaction with external investigation, regulations, and law enforcement.

FCM 627 Fraud Management: Risk and Compliance Credit Hours: 3

Become familiar with the principles and practices of compliance and operational risk assessment and mitigation. You’ll also examine the management of fraud prevention detection and investigation.

FCM 632 Information and Communication Security Credit Hours: 3

Study the issues and concepts related to the protection of information and information systems. You’ll explore the threats and vulnerabilities that can impact communication, and the methods of securing communications, information systems, and computer technology. Examine the legal, ethical, and privacy issues related to information security.

MGT 617 Corporate Ethics Credit Hours: 3

Ethical issues and dilemmas that contemporary business professionals face in the performance of their duties.

RMI 610 Insurance and Risk Management for Today’s Professional* Credit Hours: 3

Learn how to identify, measure, control and mitigate the different types of non-speculative risks faced by businesses and individuals.

*Utica College students can waive their choice of up to two of the national CPCU exams by completing these courses with a grade of B or better. The equivalent exam for RMI 610 is CPCU 500 Managing Evolving Risks.

Prerequisites: BUS 652

RMI 620 Property and Casualty Risk Management for Business* Credit Hours: 3

Gain an understanding of Property/Casualty (P/C) insurance and risk management issues for both commercial concerns and the individual or family. You’ll analyze, compare, and contrast these P/C issues for each type of stakeholder.

*Utica College students can waive their choice of up to two of the national CPCU exams by completing these courses with a grade of B or better. The equivalent exam for RMI 620 is CPCU 557 Survey of Commercial Insurance.

Prerequisite: BUS 652

RMI 630 Insuring and Managing Risk for the Person* Credit Hours: 3

Explore the many risk management and insurance issues individuals must deal with in today’s world. You’ll examine life and health insurance, disability income insurance, retirement, and investment and financial planning.

*Utica College students can waive their choice of up to two of the national CPCU exams by completing these courses with a grade of B or better. The equivalent exam for RMI 630 is CPCU 555 Personal Risk Management and Property – Casualty Insurance.

Prerequisite: BUS 652

RMI 640 Managing Risk Across the Enterprise Credit Hours: 3

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) is the process firms use to identify, measure, manage, and disclose key risks. You’ll explore the theory and process of identifying risks and their impact on the value of the firm.

Prerequisite: BUS 652

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