Taken together, the Fundamentals of Accounting Certificate Program and the Advanced Accounting Certificate program consists of up to 12 units (equivalent to 30 semester hours). These two certificate programs are designed for post-baccalaureate students who need to complete the accounting course requirements included in the educational requirements for the Illinois CPA Exam. (Students planning to take the CPA Exam in a jurisdiction other than Illinois should refer to the related educational requirements for the related jurisdiction.)
The Advanced Accounting Certificate program is also designed for accounting and other business professionals who require an in-depth knowledge of accounting for career advancement in their fields. The courses in this certificate program provide in-depth, advanced coverage of a wide range of topics, including those relating to intermediate accounting, managerial cost accounting, corporate income tax, auditing, international accounting, and research and communication.
Advanced Accounting post-baccalaureate certificate students will demonstrate an understanding of:
Accounting theory, concepts, and practices with special attention to the analysis of special problems that arise in applying these underlying principles
The field of taxation with particular attention to the field of business and corporate taxation at the Federal level
The use of cost data in planning, controlling, and evaluating organizational activities and in making business decisions in manufacturing and service organizations
Generally accepted auditing principles and standards governing auditing, attestation, and other services performed by external and internal auditors
Areas of the law relating to fraud examination and litigation services, apply investigative skills to collect, analyze, and evaluate evidential matter, and interpret and communicate findings
Accounting issues confronting companies operating in a global environment
The nature of research performed by accountants, use various databases to conduct research, and interpret and communicate findings
Required Courses
Depending on previous accounting coursework, students are required to complete four to eight* of the courses listed below.
ACCOUNT 210 Intermediate Accounting I
ACCOUNT 211 Intermediate Accounting II
ACCOUNT 308 Income Tax II
ACCOUNT 310 Managerial Cost Accounting
ACCOUNT 340: Nonprofit and Governmental Accounting**
ACCOUNT 350 Auditing I
ACCOUNT 360 Auditing II
ACCOUNT 390 Topics: Forensic Accounting
ACCOUNT 390 Topics: Data Analytics in Accounting**
** Prior to the 2021-2022 academic year, the SPS accounting curriculum instead included the following two courses: ACCOUNT 390 Topics: Research & Communication and ACCOUNT 390 Topics: International Accounting. If a SPS student has successfully completed one or both of these accounting courses it will count towards the IBOE 30 SH Accounting Course requirement (as well as towards the SPS Online CPA Accounting Certificate Program).
Notes
As described in the Illinois Uniform CPA Examination Requirements, effective January 1, 2023, a candidate with a baccalaureate degree can be approved by the Illinois Board of Examiners (IBOE) to sit for the Uniform CPA Exam upon earning 120 semester credit hours (SH), including 24 SH of accounting courses (with at least one course in Audit and one course in Tax) and a minimum of 12 SH of business courses.
A candidate cannot legally identify as a CPA designation until they are licensed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. (Until then, a candidate can only say they “successfully completed the CPA Exam” on their resume.) That license is granted after certification by the IBOE and one year of experience. In order to be certified by the IBOE, in addition to passing the CPA Exam, candidates must have a total of 150 SH, including 30 SH of accounting courses (with at least one course each in Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Tax, and Audit) and a total of 24 SH of business courses (with at least 3 SH of business ethics and 2 SH of business communications). Candidates must also pass the AICPA Ethics Exam.
As outlined in the Northwestern University template approved by the IBOE, students who have completed this certificate will have met the accounting requirements described above. That template also describes how students can meet the business communication and business ethics requirement. Students who require additional business courses should consider completing the Business Essentials Certificate. Alternatively, students may choose to take other business courses offered by the School of Professional Studies.
Approximately two terms before completing this certificate, students are advised to complete the first four “Preliminary Steps” listed in the IBOE “Checklist Overview.”
While all jurisdictions require at least 150 hours for licensure, the requirements to sit for the CPA Exam and/or become licensed may differ slightly from those in Illinois. A student who plans to apply to sit for the CPA Exam in another jurisdiction should check with that’s jurisdiction’s Board of Accountancy for details. To help candidates decide where to apply to sit for the CPA Exam and/or where to become licensed, the AICPA has established a CPA Mobility Tool.
A Northwestern University unit (4 quarter hours) is equivalent to 2.67 semester hours. To determine the semester hour equivalent of total courses taken at Northwestern, multiply the total units by 2.67.
The Illinois Board of Examiners will round 2.6 semester hours or greater up to 3 semester hours.
Additional Information
Students should have substantial academic experience in basic accounting or equivalent accounting knowledge before beginning the Advanced Accounting post-baccalaureate certificate. Recommended prerequisites are:
ACCOUNT 201 Introduction to Financial Accounting
ACCOUNT 202 Introduction to Managerial Accounting
ACCOUNT 208 Income Tax I
The courses above can be completed in the online certificate program Fundamentals of Accounting, and are in the curriculum for the online CPA Accounting program.
Advanced Accounting Program Tuition
Post-baccalaureate students at Northwestern's School of Professional Studies pay per course. For more information about financial obligations and tuition, please visit the tuition page.
Admission for the Online Advanced Accounting Certificate Program
In addition to completing an online application, you'll also need to submit a few supplemental materials. A list of requirements for admission including application deadlines and tips on how to apply can be found at the admission page.
Advanced Accounting Registration Information
Whether you're a first-time registrant or current and returning student, all students register using our online student registration and records systems. Important information about registering for courses at SPS, including registration timelines and adding or dropping courses in which you are already enrolled, can be found on the Registration Information page.
Find out more about the Advanced Accounting Certificate Program
Course Descriptions
Program Courses:
Course Detail
Intermediate Accounting I <> ACCOUNT 210-DL
Accounting theory and concepts; analysis of special problems
that arise in applying these underlying concepts to financial
accounting. Accounting information as a basis for decisions by
management, stockholders, creditors, and other users of financial
and accounting reports. Prerequisite: ACCOUNT 202.
This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee
will be added to tuition.
This course covers the accounting problems of a corporation's
valuation, cost allocation, stockholder equity, and long-term debt;
leases, pension plans, and income tax allocations; financial
statement construction, effect of errors, cash and other funds, and
issues relating to the analysis of financial statements; the
present-value concept. Prerequisite: ACCOUNT 210.
This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will
be added to tuition.
This course is a continuation in the field of taxation with
particular attention to the field of corporate and business
taxation at the Federal level. Corporate formation and capital
structure, corporate income tax, other corporate levies,
consolidated tax returns, partnerships, and S-corporations are
among the topics covered. Some IRS forms will be used, but the
emphasis will be upon a deeper understanding of federal tax law.
Prerequisite: ACCOUNT 208 (Income Tax I).
This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee
will be added to tuition.
Managerial uses of cost data in planning, controlling, and
evaluating organizational activities and in making business
decisions. Topics include discussion of activity-based costing,
standard costs, inventory costing, and review of cost allocation
techniques. In addition, contemporary topics, including pricing
decisions, balanced scorecard, and capital budgeting techniques
will be discussed, along with ethical and behavioral issues
addressing both manufacturing and service sectors. Prerequisite:
ACCOUNT 202.
This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will
be added to tuition.
Governmental and Nonprofit Accounting <> ACCOUNT 340-DL
This course introduces the fundamentals of accounting for
government and nonprofit organizations. Topics include fund
accounting, financial transactions and recording, budgeting, and
concepts and principles underlying the financial reports of
government and nonprofit organizations. In addition to preparing
students for experience in the field, this course is designed to
prepare students to complete requirements for the Illinois CPA
examination or other state CPA exams.
NOTE: This course is a required component of two different
certificate programs: the Online CPA (Certified Public Accountant)
Preparation Certificate Program and the Online Advanced Accounting
Certificate Program. Students who have already completed
significant coursework in accounting may also take this course to
complete requirements for the Illinois CPA examination or CPA exams
in other states.
This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee
will be added to tuition.
Auditing Principles and Procedures provides the foundational
concepts of balance sheet audits, allowing students to exercise the
role of an external auditor, identifying audit risks, determining
appropriate audit techniques and evidencing, and executing audits
of primary financial areas present at most companies. Students will
be confronted with common ethical issues faced by auditors, issues
of auditor independence, fraud risks, and audits of key accounting
cycles such as cash, accounts receivable, inventories, accounts
payable, debt and capital. By the end of this course, students will
be proficient in recognizing audit risks at both, the client and
financial statement line level, writing engagement letters, and
communicating results to auditees. Students will join group
discussions, complete online homework assignments, research and
write papers on various topics, and complete online quizzes and
examinations. Students are highly encouraged to share articles and
their own experiences related to auditing and auditors as part of
their assignments.
This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will
be added to tuition.
Auditing II builds on foundational audit concepts and applies
them to real-life situations including the understanding and
analysis of company financial statements. The course also
introduces a number of internal control frameworks and standards,
explores alternatives to the traditional financial statement audit,
compares and contrasts the roles of the external and internal
auditor, and considers whether auditors can be truly independent.
By the end of this course, students will be proficient in analyzing
financial statements, including understanding a company’s strengths
and weaknesses, as well as whether a company presents a good
investment opportunity. Students will also be able to design audit
procedures to prevent or detect fraud and will have an
understanding of the differences between IT controls and manual
controls. Students will join group discussions, complete online
homework assignments, research and write papers on various topics,
participate in group projects and complete online quizzes and
examinations. Students are highly encouraged to share articles and
their own experiences related to auditing and auditors as part of
their assignments.
This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will
be added to tuition.
Topics: Data Analytics for Accounting <> ACCOUNT 390-DL
This course is designed for post-baccalaureate students who will
be taking the CPA Exam which will include testing for data
analytics skills or students who are interested in a digital and
data-driven mindset and the use of data analytics.
In today’s business world, every company is a data company.
Every day, terabytes of data affecting business activities and
financial results are collected and stored. To be effective,
accountants must understand how to identify the relevant portion of
this data and analyze it to drive better business decisions.
This course has two main parts. Students explore how data
analytics works and be able to explain data analytics and its
impact on business and accounting in Part One. They learn how to
effectively engage with data scientists to define business
problems, analyze data, answer questions, and address business
problems.
Part Two of the course has students applying data analytics
methods and models to real-life use cases in the fields of
managerial accounting, financial accounting and reporting, audit,
and tax. Through these use cases, students learn to effectively use
data analytics tools and techniques to communicate the results of
their analysis through data visualization and written reports.
This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee
will be added to tuition.
This course is designed for students who wish to explore the
forensic accounting profession. Students completing this course
will have a basic understanding of forensic accounting, research,
and investigative skills and will become knowledgeable about areas
of the law relating to fraud examination and litigation services.
The skills they develop will enable students to collect evidence,
identify red flags of fraud, analyze financial information, develop
investigative techniques, and interpret and communicate their
findings.
This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will
be added to tuition.
This course covers accounting issues uniquely confronted by
companies involved in international business. The primary focus of
the course is to provide an overview of international accounting by
drawing on real business problems, economies, and finance in order
to understand what is contained in and how to develop and interpret
financial reports. The course includes fundamental financial
accounting concepts and methods across countries.
This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will
be added to tuition.
