Accounting
Please note: Before scheduling classes, check with the department to
determine the availability of courses for the upcoming semester or visit
the Accounting website.
The Accounting major helps students acquire the skills to measure and communicate an organization’s economic activities.
Accounting is the formal system of collecting, organizing, and reporting the financial data used to make economic decisions. The data shed light on current financial status and liquidity, as well as past profitability and funds-generating capability. Its users include corporate shareholders, lenders, management, employees, research organizations, and taxing and regulatory agencies.
Many different types of economic decisions require accounting data. One major use of accounting data is to inform outsiders (interested people who do not have direct access to corporate records) of the firm’s economic status and progress. By contrast, the firm’s management requires data that will aid in controlling operations and evaluating performance. Outside agencies often collect accounting data for tax collection and other social and economic policy purposes.
The accounting major at the Wharton School focuses on the user of accounting data. Most courses in the department stress concepts, procedures and applications with a view to the student understanding how accounting information is generated and its reliability in analysis. Most accounting majors are preparing for careers in which accounting data are used extensively. The department’s flexible curriculum also allows interested students to take the required courses toward certification as a CPA (certified public accountant) or CMA (chartered management accountant). As the specific course requirements for these certificates vary from state to state and usually exceed the minimum requirements for a Wharton MBA major, students who seek professional certification should seek the advice of the Accounting Department adviser as early as possible to plan their programs.
Requirements for the Major:The specific courses that are required for an accounting major are designated by the department and cannot include the introductory core courses, ACCT 620/621 and ACCT 622.
Each accounting major is required to take one course in financial accounting (currently ACCT 742). In addition, a major is required to take three additional credit units from all of the graduate courses offered by the department. Courses taken to satisfy the accounting major cannot be taken on a pass/fail basis.
From time to time an individual student wishes to pursue a course of study that extends beyond the coursework offered by the department. In that case, the student will elect an independent study course. A maximum of one credit unit of independent study may be counted toward the accounting major, but only when both of the following conditions have been satisfied:
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1. The student has obtained the agreement of an Accounting Department faculty member to supervise the independent study.
2. Written approval of the department Chair is received, indicating that the proposed project does represent: (1) a quantity and quality of work equivalent to a full semester in class course, and (2) the subject matter is indeed advanced work not covered in regularly scheduled Accounting Department courses.
3. FNCE 728 cannot be presented for major credit in addition to an independent study.
Note: Core courses ACCT 620/621 and ACCT 622 do not count toward the major, but are prerequisite to all other courses in the department.
- a) Required course:
ACCT 742 Problems in Financial Reporting- b) The equivalent of three credit units from the following:*
- ACCT 705 Tax Planning and Administration **
ACCT 718 Auditing
ACCT 743 Accounting for Mergers, Acquisitions, and Complex Financial Structures
ACCT 897 Taxes and Business Strategy
FNCE 728 Corporate Valuation
- *Choose any three credit units from the list. As described above, under approved circumstances, an independent study within the Accounting Department may be substituted for one of the three course units.
**This course is the most relevant tax course the department offers for those wishing to sit for the CPA exam.
- Anyone planning to sit for the CPA Exam should take ACCT 743, which covers about 20% of the Financial Accounting and Reporting section of the Exam.
MBA Advisor: Brian Bushee (telephone: 215.898.4872; email: bushee@wharton.upenn.edu)
ACCT 620
Financial Accounting
Description: See description in Core section.
ACCT 621 (.5 cu)
Accelerated Financial Accounting
Description: See description in Core section.
ACCT 622 (.5 cu)
Fundamentals of Managerial Accounting
Description: See description in Core section.
ACCT 705
Tax Planning and Administration
Description: Presents an overview of the Federal tax raising system and its impact on the planning and conduct of business operations. Draws on the disciplines of business finance, public finance, and accounting as they relate to taxation.
Format: Midterm and final.
Prerequisites: Accounting 620, 622.
ACCT 718
Auditing
Description: This course includes a consideration of the role of the auditor, the organization of the accounting profession, and the current audit environment. It introduces the student to generally accepted auditing standards, professional ethics, and legal liability. A conceptual theory of auditing is discussed and practical examples of auditing techniques and work programs are used to illustrate the application of the theory. The course also covers the auditor’s reporting standards and uses case studies and professional journal articles as bases for discussion and analysis.
Prerequisite: ACCT 620/621 or equivalent.
ACCT 742
Problems in Financial Reporting
Description: This intensive one-semester course focuses on how to extract and interpret information in financial statements. The course adopts a user perspective of accounting by illustrating several specific accounting issues in a decision context.
Format: Discussions, lectures on advanced topics, problems and cases. Daily preparation of cases and reading assignments. Comprehensive final exam. Some instructors may choose to grade homework, class participation, and case write-ups.
Prerequisites: ACCT 620/621 or waiver. ACCT 620/621 must have been completed; it cannot be taken concurrently with ACCT 742.
ACCT 743
Accounting for Mergers, Acquisitions, and Complex Financial Structures
Description: This class studies how complex financial structures account for their activities. Primary emphasis is on the application of purchase accounting for mergers and acquisitions, the equity method for investments, and preparing and interpreting consolidated financial statements. Other topics covered include translations and remeasurements for nondomestic investments, and earnings per share calculations for complex financial structures. Tax considerations and acquisition strategies are of only peripheral interest in this class, and students who are concerned primarily with those topics are advised to seek a different elective.
Format: Lectures and quizzes, class participation, and satisfactory performance on quizzes.
Prerequisites: ACCT 620/621 or its equivalent.
ACCT 897
Taxes and Business Strategy
Description: The objective of this course is to develop a framework for understanding how taxes affect business decisions. Traditional finance and strategy courses do not consider the role of taxes. Similarly, traditional tax courses often ignore the richness of the decision context in which tax factors operate. The key themes of the framework – all parties, all taxes and all costs – are applied to decision contexts, such as investments, compensation, organizational form, regulated industries, financial instruments, tax-sheltered investments, mergers and acquisitions, multinational, and multistate. The ultimate goal is to provide a new approach to thinking about taxes (and all forms of government intervention) that will be valuable even as laws and governments change.
Format: Lecture and case discussions.