Confirmation On Accounting Courses

[dzaloum]

Hello!

I've been scouring the forum the past few days trying to find the best options for me. I have decided to go for a BSBA in Accounting at TESU. I was originally going for Gen. Man. but since I would like to work in accounting anyway, I think a specific concentration in it would be more useful.

My question is: Is it possible to use all of the following courses to fulfill the UL AOS requirement? And would they all transfer as different courses at TESU and not duplicate? I will post the course's title and what its equivalency would be at TESU:

             Study.com unless otherwise indicated              =     TESU Expected Course (SDC = TESU transfers found here, scroll down.)

• (Accounting 201: Intermediate Accounting I         = ACC-201 Intermediate Accounting I -- LL, required)
  
• (Accounting 202: Intermediate Accounting II        = ACC-202 Intermediate Accounting II -- LL, required)
  
• Accounting 301: Applied Managerial Accounting    = ACC-301 Managerial Accounting
  
• Accounting 303: Cost Accounting                         = ACC-303 Cost Accounting
  
• Managerial Accounting (InstantCert Credit course) = ACC-312 Financial Accounting II (Found here. This is what I want to confirm.)
  
• Accounting 302: Advanced Accounting                  = ACC-401 Advanced Accounting I
  

I have not seen anyone fill the BSBA Accounting AOS requirements exactly like this. The only difference is that the Federal Income Taxation TECEP (ACC-421-TE) is always in place of the IC course. However, I have seen people posting that the IC course will come in as an UL course, and not as Principles of Managerial Accounting (ACC-102). This is incredibly useful to meet the requirement of 12 UL credits in the accounting AOS, that is, if it's possible to use this IC course. I'm assuming it will be easier than the TECEP, although it will probably take longer, it being a course and not an exam (of course, I could be wrong about both of those, so please let me know!).

Thank you for any information or advice you have on this.

[dfrecore]

Yes, that should work! I would definitely advise doing the ICC course instead of the TECEP.

[FastTrackDegree]

Federal Taxation is RA and it covers the taxation requirement if you decide to sit for the CPA exam later, not sure it's a great swap tbh. I would do both.

Also Coopersmith have a UL Forensic Accounting course that might be worth taking. Aba.com have Analyzing Financial Statements (somewhat overpriced). You should probably take at least one auditing course at TESU too. Otherwise you will have to go back later and take more credits, and even if you decide to get a masters later, it's nice to have the base requirements covered.

[dfrecore]

Federal Taxation is RA and it covers the taxation requirement if you decide to sit for the CPA exam later, not sure it's a great swap tbh. I would do both.

Also Coopersmith have a UL Forensic Accounting course that might be worth taking. Aba.com have Analyzing Financial Statements (somewhat overpriced). You should probably take at least one auditing course at TESU too. Otherwise you will have to go back later and take more credits, and even if you decide to get a masters later, it's nice to have the base requirements covered.

Not everyone who works in accounting or gets a BSBA/Accounting degree wants to sit for a CPA exam - you can easily become an accounting analyst, an accounting manager, a payroll manager, an internal auditor, etc.  There are LOTS of accounting jobs out there where a simple BSBA will do (and many that don't require a BSBA at all).

All of that to say if you want to become a CPA, you should consider that when planning your degree, to get the extra credits you may require later on (or get a MS in Accounting).  For everyone else, don't worry about it.
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The Taxation TECEP is not easy (and it's open book!), so unless you're very familiar with the concepts, it can take a very long time to study and pass this exam.

If you need RA credits and want to do accounting courses, you're better off at a CC, or else doing courses through Univ of Northern Alabama Accounting Career Completion Program ($545/course).  They have 11 accounting courses, 9 of which are UL:
AC297P: Principles of Accounting I
AC298P: Principles of Accounting II
AC361P: Financial Reporting I
AC362P: Financial Reporting II
AC363P: Financial Reporting III
AC366P: Management Accounting
AC462P: Federal Income Taxation I
AC465P: Federal Income Taxation II
AC463P: Financial Statement Auditing I
AC467P: Financial Statement Auditing II

[dzaloum]

Yes, that should work!  I would definitely advise doing the ICC course instead of the TECEP.

Thank you for letting me know your thoughts. I really appreciate it.

Federal Taxation is RA and it covers the taxation requirement if you decide to sit for the CPA exam later, not sure it's a great swap tbh. I would do both.

Also Coopersmith have a UL Forensic Accounting course that might be worth taking. Aba.com have Analyzing Financial Statements (somewhat overpriced). You should probably take at least one auditing course at TESU too. Otherwise you will have to go back later and take more credits, and even if you decide to get a masters later, it's nice to have the base requirements covered.

I guess what I'm wondering now is, for someone who just wants a BSBA, would I have "more" job opportunities by getting a BSBA in GM than in Acc (besides the opportunity to sit for the CPA exam), but be limited to more "basic" jobs? 

Federal Taxation is RA and it covers the taxation requirement if you decide to sit for the CPA exam later, not sure it's a great swap tbh. I would do both.

Also Coopersmith have a UL Forensic Accounting course that might be worth taking. Aba.com have Analyzing Financial Statements (somewhat overpriced). You should probably take at least one auditing course at TESU too. Otherwise you will have to go back later and take more credits, and even if you decide to get a masters later, it's nice to have the base requirements covered.

Not everyone who works in accounting or gets a BSBA/Accounting degree wants to sit for a CPA exam - you can easily become an accounting analyst, an accounting manager, a payroll manager, an internal auditor, etc.  There are LOTS of accounting jobs out there where a simple BSBA will do (and many that don't require a BSBA at all).

All of that to say if you want to become a CPA, you should consider that when planning your degree, to get the extra credits you may require later on (or get a MS in Accounting).  For everyone else, don't worry about it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Taxation TECEP is not easy (and it's open book!), so unless you're very familiar with the concepts, it can take a very long time to study and pass this exam.

If you need RA credits and want to do accounting courses, you're better off at a CC, or else doing courses through Univ of Northern Alabama Accounting Career Completion Program ($545/course).  They have 11 accounting courses, 9 of which are UL:
AC297P: Principles of Accounting I
AC298P: Principles of Accounting II
AC361P: Financial Reporting I
AC362P: Financial Reporting II
AC363P: Financial Reporting III
AC366P: Management Accounting
AC462P: Federal Income Taxation I
AC465P: Federal Income Taxation II
AC463P: Financial Statement Auditing I
AC467P: Financial Statement Auditing II

 
"There are LOTS of accounting jobs out there where a simple BSBA will do (and many that don't require a BSBA at all)."
I have a similar question to the one I asked above: Do you mean a BSBA in anything (like GM) or specifically a BSBA in Accounting, just not a CPA? (by "simple," do you mean any BSBA, or do you just mean "not being a CPA." ?)

I'm mainly wondering if the difference between BSBA GM and BSBA Acc is not as important as the difference between BSBA (in anything) and CPA. Am I wrong to interpret FastTrackDegree's advice as to steer me away from going with the BSBA Acc using these sources? I would then consider going with a BSBA GM, just because it seems to have less "requirements." I know his point was to take Acc courses that would better prepare me, but those courses are really not an option for me, besides maybe Coopersmith or the TECEP; they are still more expensive than the ICC, but still much less than a TESU class. (I will be using LL TECEPs in Gen Ed's for RA so I shouldn't need RA from Fed Tax.) To me, a BSBA GM feels like limiting myself to a very generic degree that might allow for a basic job in any field, but no field to "excel" in. I would rather be "pigeon holed" into a degree in a specific field where I will have more expertise than someone who can do anything, but doesn't have a concentration in, say, accounting. The only reason I can think of why that wouldn't be the case is if the BSBA/Acc doesn't actually give me any advantage over BSBA GM and I will be able to get a majority of jobs with a BSBA in anything, and for the more advanced jobs all they really look for is the CPA (which you do need the concentration in Accounting for, but I am not leaning towards getting certified). As far as "expertise" goes, employers wouldn't know what courses I used, only that somehow I did it and the university gave me the degree.

Please let me know if I'm right on any of this.

[FastTrackDegree]

You should go look at job postings and see what they are looking for. And compare GM with non-CPA Accountants. In my experience a lot of Accounting jobs are CPA or EA (good option, without education requirements) prefered, even outside Public Accounting and Taxation. A lot of firms will also only hire you if you have 150 credits aleady, and some have more requirements like a high GPA, specific schools or a master degree. It also depends on where you are in your career, and what kind of connections you have...

The good thing with Accounting is that you could probably get into GM without too much hassle, the other way around would be a lot harder. I think it's a lot more flexible if you want to have your own business too.

You are looking at 2-3 courses depeding on the state, and the only one that can't be tested out is Auditing. Some states will also consider Intermediate Accounting as UL. It's up to you, but it really don't make much sense to skip the Taxation course for the average person, unless you have some specific situation that we can't know about.

A BSBA in GM will be a lot less work, but it seems like a degree you would get if you area already in management too me. Or you just need to check a box.

[dfrecore]

If you enjoy accounting, make that your major so you can take courses you enjoy more. My concentration was in HR/OM simply because I already had a few courses, and it was easy to get the rest. I did not like the GM option of 3 areas - it seemed stupid to me. But there's no downside either way.

There are plenty of non-CPA accounting jobs that don't require even a concentration in accounting - a BSBA will do.

I would spend very little time worrying about this.