Online CPA Prep. Certificate Program | Northwestern SPS - Northwestern School of Professional Studies

Introduction to Financial Accounting covers the foundational concepts of accounting and the fundamental basics of financial statements, allowing students to identify, measure, and record accounting information, as well as communicate that information to external users. Specific topics will include the accounting cycle, accrual accounting, receivables, inventory and cost of goods sold, depreciation, debt vs. equity financing, and stockholders' equity. By the end of this course, students will be proficient in preparing financial statements and applying key ratios to analyze specific financial information. Students will join group discussions, complete online homework assignments and individual projects, and complete online examinations.

This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will be added to tuition.

A continuation of the introduction to accounting, with emphasis on providing relevant and timely accounting information and analysis to managers for use in planning, decision making, and controlling strategic operational objectives. Topics include the classifications of costs and different ways of reporting and analyzing those costs; the operating budgeting process; capital budgeting; and job-order, standard, process, and activity-based costing systems. To enhance the overall understanding of the textbook material, practical business references will be made through the use of videos and selected article reading.

Prerequisite: ACCOUNT 201 Introduction to Financial Accounting or similar knowledge is expected.

This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will be added to tuition.

Introduction to the field of taxation, with attention to individual income taxation. Gross income, capital gains, deductions, and alternate tax methods. IRS forms used. Prerequisite: ACCOUNT 202.

This course is conducted completely online. A technology fee will be added to tuition.

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.

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.

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.