When you enroll at Susquehanna, you’ll be paired with an advisor and application tool to guide you in your course planning and scheduling. The following is an excerpt from the complete course catalog. Enrolled students follow the requirements of the course catalog for the academic year in which they declare each major and/or minor, consult with their advisor(s) and the Academic Planning Tool.
Accounting Studies
The Department of Accounting offers a major in accounting as well as a minor in accounting (for students pursuing a degree outside of the Sigmund Weis School of Business) and a minor in professional accounting (for students pursuing a degree in the Sigmund Weis School of Business).
Learning Goals
- Analyze risks using appropriate frameworks and professional judgment related to the use of accounting information in business decision making.
- Identify and apply appropriate professional frameworks to record transactions and analyze data for business decision making.
- Identify and utilize relevant technology and tools to efficiently and effectively perform data analysis to support business decision making.
- Identify appropriate content and then clearly and objectively communicate accounting information for business decision making.
- Apply standards of professional conduct to business decision making.
Honors in Accounting
The departmental honors program encourages and recognizes superior academic performance in accounting. To graduate with departmental honors, candidates must complete the following:
- Apply for and be accepted into the program during their junior year,
- Maintain a GPA of 3.50 in the department and 3.50 overall,
- Submit a satisfactory research paper based on the completion of 4 semester hours of ACCT-502 during their senior year, and
- Present their research to the faculty and at Senior Scholars Day.
Departmental honors may be taken separately from or in conjunction with the University’s Honors Program.
150 Semester Hour Option
Accounting majors who intend to become licensed CPAs need to complete at least 150 semester hours of college- level education. This is a requirement for membership in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA),and it is a requirement of the licensure processes enacted by individual state boards of accountancy.
Susquehanna University accounting majors work with their academic advisers to earn 150 semester hours over their four years. Students usually earn an average of 18 hours per semester and complete a for-credit summer internship.
Students apply for CPA candidacy in the state where they intend to practice, and they should be knowledgeable about the applicable requirements for their expected licensing jurisdiction.
The Major in Accounting
A major in accounting requires the successful completion of the Business Foundation and the accounting courses listed below. No grade below a C- will be accepted toward graduation for foundation courses. Students who earn a grade below C- in a foundation course must retake the course during the next semester that it is offered.
The accounting course descriptions (provided below) identify course prerequisites. The catalog also suggests an order for completing courses within the Business Foundation and the accounting major.
First-semester students in the Sigmund Weis School of Business also enroll in MGMT-195 Global Business Perspectives (four semester hours). This course provides an introduction to liberal studies and college life, an overview of business functional areas, career opportunities and the Sigmund Weis School curriculum. This course satisfies the First Year Seminar requirement of the University’s Central Curriculum.
Double-counting restriction
No student may declare more than one major in the Sigmund Weis School of Business. Students who wish to study an additional subject area of the Weis School’s curriculum should consult their advisor about declaring an academic minor.
Business Foundation Courses
Year 1
4 or 2 MGMT-195 Global Business Perspectives or MGMT-138 Fundamentals of Business
4 ECON-201 Principles of Macroeconomics
4 ECON-202 Principles of Microeconomics
4 Choose from:
MGMT-202 Business Statistics
MATH-108 Introduction to Statistics
MATH-180 Statistical Methods
PSYC-123 Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences
Year 2
4 INFS-174 Data Collection and Modeling
4 ACCT-200 Financial Accounting
4 ACCT-210 Legal Environment
2 INFS-233 Data-Driven Decision Making
4 MKTG-280 Marketing
4 MGMT-240 Principles of Management
4 MGMT-105 Introduction to Professional Development
Year 3
4 ACCT-330 Managerial Accounting
4 FINC-340 Corporate Financial Management
Year 4
4 INFS-472 Data Insight and Visualization
4 MGMT-400 Business Policy and Strategy
4 MGMT-404 Global Business Ethics
Requirements for the Major in Accounting
2 ACCT-220 Introduction to Taxation
4 ACCT-301 Intermediate Accounting I
4 ACCT-302 Intermediate Accounting II
2 ACCT-305 Federal Taxation
4 ACCT-309 Accounting Information Systems
4 ACCT-415 Advanced Accounting
4 ACCT-420 Auditing
4 ACCT-430 Advanced Managerial and Cost Accounting
To satisfy the major course requirements, courses must be completed with a grade of C- or better.
For the purposes of calculating the required 2.00 minimum GPA in the accounting major, the Accounting Department uses the following courses: ACCT-220 Introduction to Taxation, ACCT-301 Intermediate Accounting I, ACCT-302 Intermediate Accounting II, ACCT-305 Federal Taxation, ACCT-309 Accounting Information Systems, ACCT-415 Advanced Accounting, ACCT-420 Auditing and ACCT-430 Advanced Managerial and Cost Accounting. An accounting student must take at least 50 percent of these courses at Susquehanna.