Skip to main content

Courses

The Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) (BCom) Accounting major is designed for students interested in becoming a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), and for students who want to develop a strong foundation in accounting. The program provides all the courses needed to meet the requirements of the CPA Professional Education Program (CPA PEP). In addition to covering all the knowledge requirements for the CPA, our Accounting major places heavy emphasis on the skills and abilities needed to obtain a CPA and to be a successful professional accountant. The university’s Bachelor of Commerce Accounting major, combined with the graduate diploma in Accounting has been accredited by CPA Ontario for advanced standing in the CPA PEP. Completing the minimum requirements for the Accounting major does not make a student eligible for admission to the CPA Professional Education Program. Admission to the CPA PEP requires completion of the requirements set out by CPA Ontario.

Accounting Major

  • Requirements

    To be eligible for the honours Bachelor of Commerce degree, students must successfully complete 120 credit hours, including all courses outlined in the following program map.

    Students starting the program before September 2017 have different requirements and the courses required would be as follows:

    Core courses (60 percent required in each course and 65 percent GPA)

    Non-core courses (50 percent required in each course)

  • BUSI 1130U - Introduction to Financial Accounting
    Financial accounting is concerned with the production of information about an economic entity and communicating that information to people who want or need the information for making decisions. This course is designed to provide an understanding of the financial statements so that students can be informed and skilled users of accounting information. The course focuses on uses of accounting information for different decisions and from different stakeholder perspectives, and considers the economic and behavioural effects that accounting treatments have on users and preparers. There is an emphasis on interpreting, analyzing, and understanding information.
  • BUSI 2130U - Intermediate Financial Accounting I
    The first of a three-course sequence that covers many of the nuts-and-bolts topics needed for a thorough understanding of financial accounting and reporting. Intermediate Financial Accounting I addresses the conceptual foundations of contemporary accounting and develops the technical aspects of accounting. Topics covered include the accounting environment, conceptual framework, the accounting cycle, the cash flow statement, and revenue and expense recognition. All topics are covered from the perspectives of IFRS and ASPE and from the perspectives of users and preparers of financial information. Ethical and professional responsibilities are integrated into course topics. The course also develops critical thinking and problem-solving skills through the use of case analyses. Intermediate Accounting I is required for our university’s Accounting major and minor, but is also open to students in other majors and the general BCom who would like to know more about accounting.
  • BUSI 2180U - Introduction to Managerial Accounting
    This course is an introduction to managerial accounting concepts with a focus on cost derivation and decision-making. The course is problem solving based and stresses both a manager’s and an accountant’s perspective on accounting information. Application of techniques is stressed. Students will learn to evaluate techniques based on their appropriateness for specific decisions. Application of concepts and development of critical thinking skills are crucial aspects of the course.
  • BUSI 3110U - Introduction to Taxation
    The basic concepts and techniques of income taxation and applications to personal tax are examined.
  • BUSI 3120U - Advanced Taxation
    The basic concepts and techniques of income taxation and applications to corporate tax are examined.
  • BUSI 3130U - Intermediate Financial Accounting II
    The second of a three-course sequence that covers many of the nuts-and-bolts topics needed for a thorough understanding of financial accounting and reporting. Topics covered include revenue and expense recognition, cash and receivables, inventory, capital assets, shareholders’ equity and restatements, and strategic investments and goodwill. All topics are covered from the perspectives of IFRS and ASPE and from the perspectives of users and preparers of financial information. Ethical and professional responsibilities are integrated into course topics. The course also develops critical thinking and problem-solving skills through the use of case analyses. Intermediate Accounting II is required for the university’s Accounting major and minor and is open only to students in the Accounting major and minor.
  • BUSI 3131U - Intermediate Financial Accounting III
    The third of a three-course sequence that covers many of the nuts-and-bolts topics needed for a thorough understanding of financial accounting and reporting. Topics covered include financial instruments, leases, pensions, and post-retirement benefits, income taxes, earnings per share, and financial statement analysis. All topics are covered from the perspectives of IFRS and ASPE and from the perspectives of users and preparers of financial information. Ethical and professional responsibilities are integrated into course topics. The course also develops critical thinking and problem-solving skills through the use of case analyses. Intermediate Accounting III is required for the university’s Accounting major and minor and is open only to students in the Accounting
  • BUSI 3170U - Auditing Standards and Applications
    This course focuses on the standards, theory and applications underlying the functions and responsibilities of external and internal auditors. The theory of audit evidence and basic techniques are used to provide an understanding of auditing methodology and procedures. The auditor’s responsibility beyond the financial audit and current developments in auditing are also examined. Review engagements are also examined. Students are expected to complete and present a research paper or project.
  • BUSI 3180U - Intermediate Managerial Accounting
    This is the first of two managerial accounting courses (BUSI 3180U and BUSI 4180U) in the Accounting major/minor that builds upon the content and skills obtained in BUSI 2180U. BUSI 3180U is a problem-solving and case course that develops the concepts, decision-making, and skills a managerial accountant needs. Students will evaluate techniques based on their relevance to specific decisions. Application of concepts and development of critical thinking skills are crucial aspects of this course.
  • BUSI 4130U - Advanced Financial Accounting
    This course examines complex financial reporting topics. Topics covered include investments in equity securities, business combinations, consolidations, translation and consolidation of foreign operations, international accounting, and accounting for not-for-profit and government entities. All topics are covered from the perspectives of IFRS and ASPE. Ethical and professional responsibilities are integrated into course topics. The course also develops critical thinking and problem-solving skills through the use of case analyses. Advanced Financial Accounting is required for the university’s Accounting major and minor and is open only to students in the Accounting major and minor.
  • BUSI 4180U - Advanced Managerial Accounting
    This course develops problem-solving and decision-making skills for managerial accounting applications. Topics include: cost concepts and analysis; cost accumulation for product costing and variance analysis; cost analysis for decisions involving alternatives; advanced manufacturing technology and accounting concerns are addressed including activity-based costing; target costing; international approaches to cost management; quality control; benchmarking; life cycle costing; the balanced scorecard and new performance measures; business strategy and competitive positioning; the value chain and competitor analysis; generic strategies and control systems design; responsibility accounting and organizational architecture. Cases and problems are used. Students are expected to apply their quantitative tools when analyzing case and problem situations.

Accounting Minor

  • Requirements
    Students can apply to have a business minor added to their program in the winter semester of their second year in the program. Admission is competitive and based on performance in the program as well as previous business courses. Students must have a minimum 2.3 GPA (C+ average on a 4.3 scale) to be considered as well as at least a C+ average in Marketing in the Information Technology Sector (for Marketing minor) or Introduction to Project Management (for the Operations Management or Game Production Management minors). Students will be notified by their academic advisor by the end of May in their second year if they are accepted into their desired minor program.
  • BUSI 1130U - Introduction to Financial Accounting
    Financial accounting is concerned with the production of information about an economic entity and communicating that information to people who want or need the information for making decisions. This course is designed to provide an understanding of the financial statements so that students can be informed and skilled users of accounting information. The course focuses on uses of accounting information for different decisions and from different stakeholder perspectives, and considers the economic and behavioural effects that accounting treatments have on users and preparers. There is an emphasis on interpreting, analyzing, and understanding information.
  • BUSI 2130U - Intermediate Financial Accounting
    The first of a three-course sequence that covers many of the nuts-and-bolts topics needed for a thorough understanding of financial accounting and reporting. Intermediate Financial Accounting I addresses the conceptual foundations of contemporary accounting and develops the technical aspects of accounting. Topics covered include the accounting environment, conceptual framework, the accounting cycle, the cash flow statement, and revenue and expense recognition. All topics are covered from the perspectives of IFRS and ASPE and from the perspectives of users and preparers of financial information. Ethical and professional responsibilities are integrated into course topics. The course also develops critical thinking and problem-solving skills through the use of case analyses. Intermediate Accounting I is required for our university’s Accounting major and minor, but is also open to students in other majors and the general BCom who would like to know more about accounting.
  • BUSI 2180U - Introduction to Managerial Accounting
    This course is an introduction to managerial accounting concepts with a focus on cost derivation and decision-making. The course is problem-solving based and stresses both a manager’s and an accountant’s perspective on accounting information. Application of techniques is stressed. Students will learn to evaluate techniques based on their appropriateness for specific decisions. Application of concepts and development of critical thinking skills are crucial aspects of the course.
  • BUSI 3130U - Intermediate Financial Accounting II
    The second of a three-course sequence that covers many of the nuts-and-bolts topics needed for a thorough understanding of financial accounting and reporting. Topics covered include revenue and expense recognition, cash and receivables, inventory, capital assets, shareholders’ equity, and restatements, and strategic investments and goodwill. All topics are covered from the perspectives of IFRS and ASPE and from the perspectives of users and preparers of financial information. Ethical and professional responsibilities are integrated into course topics. The course also develops critical thinking and problem-solving skills through the use of case analyses. Intermediate Accounting II is required for the university’s Accounting major and minor and is open only to students in the Accounting major and minor.

Accounting Electives

  • Elective Courses

    Students in the Accounting major must complete 10 elective courses as a part of their degree requirements. The electives are divided as follows:

    • Three general electives (9 credit hours). A general elective is considered a course outside of business (i.e., without the BUSI prefix).
    • Three business electives (9 credit hours) in business courses outside of one’s major.
    • Four open electives (12 credit hours). Open electives can be either general or business electives.

    A maximum of two (6 credit hours) of these electives can consist of courses within one’s major.