University Catalog 2025-2026

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Accounting

The Jenkins Master of Accounting (MAC) program provides exceptional education and real-world experience that equip students to take their careers to the next level. Whether pursued on campus and in-person or taken entirely online, the program’s curriculum is designed to provide students with a broad understanding of accounting and business practices, as well as a rigorous technical accounting education. Students have the choice of two tracks (public accounting or business and industry) to meets the needs of their career goals in the accounting profession. They can choose to complement these core courses with specializations in Enterprise Risk Management, Information Technology, or Tax Strategy.

The curriculum is focused on both preparing you for the CPA exam and developing real-world skills, and learning doesn’t stop in the classroom. MAC students can study abroad, lead financial literacy courses on campus or in the community, work with real companies in practicum exercises and take advantage of innovative learning opportunities.

Master's Degree Requirements

Students that choose the Public Accounting Track, complete an 11-course sequence that includes eight graduate-level Accounting courses and three elective courses (31 total credit hours). The Business and Industry Track includes six graduate-level accounting courses and four electives (30 total credit hours). The curriculum is designed to provide a broad-based professional education. Students have the opportunity to focus their education by choosing one of our three optional specializations: enterprise risk management, information technology or tax strategy. These specializations provide an additional depth of knowledge that can give students a leg up as they enter their chosen profession.

Scholarships

MAC scholarships are merit-based and are made possible through a partnership between sponsoring CPA firms, the NC State Graduate School, alumni and the Poole College of Management’s Department of Accounting. All students who submit an application no later than February 1st are considered for a scholarship award. Recipients of MAC scholarships are selected based on their scholarship, leadership, service, experience, presence and integrity. Scholarships range from $6,000 to $13,000.

More Information

Accounting Program Website

Distance Website

 

Admission Requirements

Admission to the MAC program is competitive. The best-qualified applicants will be accepted up to the number of spaces available for new students. The Admissions Committee evaluates candidates on three criteria:

  • undergraduate academic record and grade point average;
  • GMAT score*;
  • "Engagement & Leadership" -- relevant activities and/or work experience, student athletics, volunteer work/community involvement, study abroad, in-person MAC interview, overall presence, leadership experience and integrity.

[*A GMAT score is no longer mandatory but a high submitted score can improve your chances to earn more scholarship funds.]

We accept applications starting in the fall but encourage interested applicants to apply early to be eligible for our many scholarship and fellowship opportunities.

Individuals with a Bachelor's degree in any major may apply to the program; however, any applicant without a Bachelor's degree in Accounting must complete a series of undergraduate Accounting prerequisites before qualifying as a MAC degree candidate. These prerequisites are available to take online.  More complete information can be found on the MAC website. 

Applicant Information 

  • Delivery Method: On Campus, Online, Hybrid
  • Entrance Exam: GMAT
  • Interview Required: Yes

Application Deadlines

On-Campus MAC

  • October 1: Those interested in a January program start
  • December 1: Early admission deadline
  • February 1: Deadline for MAC scholarship and fellowship consideration
  • March 1: Final admission deadline

Online MAC

  • October 1: Those interested in a January program start
  • December 1: Early admission deadline
  • February 1: Second admission deadline
  • March 1: Final admission deadline

Fellowships (On-campus)

As a part of the admissions process, applicants may be considered for Jenkins Graduate School's merit-based MAC fellowships. Students may qualify for a firm-sponsored or an academic fellowship. A fellowship may provide financial support for educational expenses and also may include an offer of employment upon graduation (firm-sponsored option).  All required application materials must be submitted by the February 1st application deadline to be considered for a fellowship.

Degrees

Faculty

Full Professors

  • Mark S. Beasley
  • Marianne Bradford
  • Katherine Ann Krawczyk

Associate Professors

  • Nathan Goldman
  • Christina Lewellen
  • Rob Whited

Practice/Research/Teaching Professors

  • Ernest Carraway
  • Heather Cozart
  • Jennie Dirienzo
  • Tom Dow
  • Bonnie Hancock
  • Ericka Faye Kranitz
  • James Scalise
  • Scott Showalter
  • Kathy Zuravel

Assistant Professor

  • Carlyle Burd

Courses

ACC 501  Financial Accounting for Decision Makers  (1 credit hours)  

Methods used by accountants record to economic events such as operating, investing, and financing activities, in the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows. Analysis of financial statements and disclosures. Impact of accounting standards and managerial incentives on the financial reporting process. Restricted to MBA students.

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

ACC 502  Managerial Accounting for Decision Makers  (1 credit hours)  

Foundational knowledge in managerial accounting for decision making. Internal uses of accounting information for decision making within the organization. Identification of revenue and cost information to conduct break-even analyses, assign product costs, complete operational budgets, assess performance, and complete other management decision-making processes. Restricted to MBA students.

Prerequisite: ACC 501

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

ACC 508  Advanced Commercial Law  (3 credit hours)  

A study of law and regulation as a structure in which to develop business goals and strategies. Students will examine those elements of law and regulation that are a context for ethical business behavior. Students will also study the provisions oflaw and regulation including case-law that must be followed as a part of the strategic planning process and in the process of implementing business methods and procedures.

Prerequisite: MAC Program

Typically offered in Spring only

ACC 510  Advanced Financial Accounting  (3 credit hours)  

Study of complex financial reporting topics affecting U.S. corporations. Focus on the underlying business rationales associated with transactions/events triggering the complex financial reporting issue. Topics will include international accounting, consolidations, mergers and acquisitions, derivatives, SEC reporting, and other emerging issues.

Prerequisite: MAC Program

Typically offered in Spring and Summer

ACC 519  Applied Financial Management  (3 credit hours)  

A study of key business decision made and tools used by CFOs in their executive management roles. Students will focus on managerial analysis tools (e.g., business plans; budgeting) and finance issues (e.g., funding alternatives, treasury, and cash management). The course will include management skills related to the CFO, such as negotiations, leadership, delegation, interactions with boards, etc.

Prerequisite: MAC Program

Typically offered in Fall and Summer

ACC 520  Advanced Management Accounting  (3 credit hours)  

A study of how accounting and operating information is used in management planning and decision making. Students will apply advanced costing models and design and evaluate management decision making information systems. Topics will include issues that are appropriate for consideration by executive management and the board of directors.

Prerequisite: MAC Program

Typically offered in Spring only

ACC 530  Advanced Income Tax  (3 credit hours)  

A study of the tax consequences of business, financial, and personal wealth-planning transactions. Students will examine the economic or legal context of transactions along with the non-tax motives of the transacting parties. The course will consider the efficiency of tax strategies in terms of their impact on net cash flows and other financial reporting effects.

Prerequisite: MAC Program

Typically offered in Fall only

ACC 531  Taxes and Business Strategy  (3 credit hours)  

Importance of tax consideratoins in business decisions. Framework for understanding how taxes affect business strategy and financing decisions in a wide variety of settings.

Typically offered in Spring only

ACC 533  Accounting and Tax Research  (3 credit hours)  

A study of research methods, procedures and tools used to develop solutions to technical and policy-oriented business problems. Students will consult various competent authorities on taxation, accounting, auditing, and general business in the development of business problem solving techniques.

Prerequisite: MAC Program

Typically offered in Fall only

ACC 534  Essentials of Personal Financial Planning  (3 credit hours)  

The course will provide a high-level overview of the profession of Personal Financial Planning. As such, the focus will be on both the basic financial planning competencies and the broad subject matter of the profession. The course will expose students to the four core personal financial planning areas of estate, risk management, investments, and financial independence. In addition, the general principals of personal financial planning will be explored. These principals include statement of financial position, spending plans and personal financial ratios.

Restriction: Master's in Accounting program

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

ACC 535  Jurisdictional Taxation  (3 credit hours)  

This course will focus on the tax implications of cross-jurisdictional and multi-jurisdictional business activities from a state and international standpoint. We will also evaluate how the international provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 impacted multinational corporations' effective income tax rates.

R: ACC 530 Advanced Income Taxation

Typically offered in Spring only

ACC 538  Corporate Tax Matters  (3 credit hours)  

This course will primarily provide you with the skills needed to prepare and understand a corporate income tax provision. You will gain firsthand experience in reading and evaluating an income tax footnote as provided in a company's Form 10-K so as to gain an understanding of their income tax positions, effective tax rate, deferred taxes, and other pertinent tax information. In addition, you will learn the detailed tax technical rules related to the recognition of income and the deduction of business expenditures in a corporate environment.

Typically offered in Fall only

ACC 540  IT Risks and Controls  (3 credit hours)  

A study of how business strategies use information technology (IT) as an efficient enabler of redesigned core business processes. Students will focus on how the use of IT affects risk management by eliminating certain risks and introducing others. Students will examine IT control solutions used to address IT risks and will address issues affecting assurance engagements related to IT systems.

Prerequisite: MAC Program

Typically offered in Fall only

ACC 541  Enterprise Resource Planning Systems  (3 credit hours)  

Foundational knowledge in ERP systems: industry terminology, technical details, business process redesign and process mapping, and the ERP life cycle (planning, package selection, implementation, and maintenance). Hands-on with SAP ERP system (accounting, sales and distribution, purchasing and inventory management, warehousing, and production). Additional hands-on with SAP Cloud Analytics for data visualization and UiPath robotic process automation (RPA) software. Course required along with MBA526 in order to earn the SAP University Alliances Certificate.

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

ACC 542  Advanced SAP  (1 credit hours)  

Advanced SAP is structured around a configuration case made available through the SAP University Alliances. The course provides instruction on how to configure a blank/relatively empty SAP client into the following SAP modules: Financial Accounting (FI), Controlling (CO), and Materials Management (MM); Production Planning (PP) or Sales and Distribution (SD). After completing configurations and entering master data, students will test their work by executing SAP business processes . Upon completion of this one credit hour course (and MBA 515), students will receive the SAP University Alliances Certificate.

Prerequisite: ACC 541 or Corequisite: ACC 541

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

ACC 544  Business Process Management for the Accounting Professional  (3 credit hours)  

The course is a "hands-on" process management context how transactions flow through the enterprise to manage, measure, and report performance and how the consequences of design and system alternatives may enhance performance.

Masters of Accounting Majors Only

Typically offered in Spring only

ACC 545  Information Technology Audit  (3 credit hours)  

Organizational managers and board members recognize the importance of effectively managing information technology (IT) assets - to meet business objectives and to thoughtfully manage IT related business risks. This course examines the key principles related to auditing information technology processes and related controls, and is designed to meet the increasing needs of audit, compliance, security, and risk management professionals. There are no required prerequisites for this course, however, it is helpful to have had ACC540.

R: PCOM Graduate Students

Typically offered in Spring only

ACC 550  Advanced Auditing  (3 credit hours)  

A study of the impact of business risks on the design and performance of audit procedures to detect material misstatements in financial statements. Students will be exposed, through a case-based approach, to significant business issues related to audit planning, risk assessment and auditor response, corporate governance, reporting, and other significant business issues affecting audit professionals in their first years of employment.

Prerequisite: MAC Program

Typically offered in Spring and Summer

ACC 570  Enterprise Risk Management  (3 credit hours)  

Integrated approach to managing the risks that can prevent an organization from achieving its objectives, both financial and non-financial. Core elements of an effective enterprise risk management process. Links to management strategy. Risk assessment methodologies.

Typically offered in Fall only

ACC 571  Executive Presence and Effective Communication  (3 credit hours)  

C-suite executives need to demonstrate "executive presence" which include leadership traits that center around strong communication skills, gravitas, broad business acumen, and overall appearance and authenticity. The objective of this course is to help position students for promotions into executive leadership positions by demonstrating an "executive presence" that signifies they are ready to engage with C-Suite executives and boards of directors. This graduate course is designed to develop and enhance students' executive-level presence in how they present themselves and interact with individuals serving at the C-Suite and board levels. This includes effective communication skills, focusing on both written and oral communication, effective presentation strategies (in-person and virtual), strategic mindset and dialogue, and overall executive poise. The focus of the course will be on C-suite executives and Board of Directors, emphasizing how leaders communicate the critical dimensions of risk management in relation to organizational strategies to both internal and external stakeholders.

Prerequisite: MBA 518

Typically offered in Spring only

ACC 572  Reporting for ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance)  (1 credit hours)  

Explores the history of reporting on ESG (environmental, social and governance) metrics, current state of reporting on ESG, sources for guidance/standards for reporting on ESG, structures needed to support ESG reporting and developing a business case for reporting ESG metrics.

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

ACC 580  Data Analytics in Accounting  (3 credit hours)  

This course provides an opportunity to learn and apply various data analytics techniques to a business case to support management's decision making. This course utilizes analytics tools and technology in an advisory context. Specifically, you will be learning and using Excel, Access and PowerBI tools, as well as Word to summarize your analysis. Soft skills are essential in today's environment. This course also helps to strengthen these skills including written communication (formal and informal), critical thinking and data analytics.

R: MAC or MBA Program

Typically offered in Fall and Summer

ACC 581  Strategic Risk Analysis Using Excel  (1 credit hours)  

This course explores the use of data analysis techniques and tools that are useful for organizing and categorizing large volumes of information for use by executives to make strategic business decisions. The course exposes students to various Excel techniques through a business case to support management's decision making and focuses on how data analysis can be used to inform management and the board about top strategic risk issues.

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

ACC 582  Forecasting and Scenario Planning Using Monte Carlo Simulation  (1 credit hours)  

This course explores how forecasting and scenario planning are used to support management's decision making. The course focuses on how data analysis techniques and tools are useful for organizing and categorizing large volumes of information for use by executives to make strategic business decisions and it exposes students to Monte Carlo Simulation and Optimization techniques to support strategic business decisions. The course then focuses on communicating this information to inform management and the board about top strategic risk issues.

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

ACC 583  Communicating Risk Information Using Tableau  (1 credit hours)  

This course provides an introduction as well as hands-on experience in data visualization. It introduces students to design principles for creating meaningful displays of quantitative and qualitative data to facilitate managerial decision-making. Students develop an understanding of the fundamentals of communication and alignment around concepts that are required for effective data presentation and it provides an overview and develop an introductory level of competency on the use of the Tableau software tool that can be used for data visualization.

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

ACC 584  Root Cause Analysis: Interpreting Data for Decision-Making  (1 credit hours)  

This course considers the use of analytics in decision-making in a variety of settings (e.g., business, public policy, personal). Students will discuss the importance of properly identifying causal relationships when using data to make well inform decisions and be able to identify potential threats to reliable causal inference that commonly arise.

R: Graduate standing and restricted to students in PCOM in graduate programs: MBA, MMA, and MRA.

Typically offered in Spring only

ACC 588  Special Topics in Accounting  (1-6 credit hours)  

Course objectives dependent upon unique circumstances motivating offering of course. Timely curriculum innovation the primary motivation. Departmental consent required.

Typically offered in Fall and Spring

ACC 590  Special Topics in Accounting  (1-6 credit hours)  

Presentation of material not normally available in regular courses offerings or offering of new courses on a trial basis.

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

ACC 600  Managerial and Career Effectiveness  (1 credit hours)  

Knowledge and skills needed to advance professional accounting career. Strategic communication of self and ideas in professional and classroom settings. Diagnosis of organizational culture. Impression management and appropriate business behavior. Leadership of individuals, group dynamics, and team building.

Prerequisite: MAC Program

Typically offered in Fall only

ACC 601  Applied Accounting Profession Laboratory  (1-6 credit hours)  

This course provides students with practical experience in various technical aspects of accounting, such as auditing, taxation, financial accounting, and reporting. The course will work with the student's employer or business/nonprofit partner to apply hands-on experience for variable course credit. The student work experience will be in cooperation with an entity external to the institution, generally under the supervision of an employee of the given external entity.

Prerequisite: MAC Program

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

ACC 605  Excel Essentials: A New Professionals Guide to Spreadsheet Fundamentals  (3 credit hours)  

This course is part of the AICPA-NASBA Experience, Learn and Earn Program. Excel Essentials: A New Professionals Guide to Spreadsheet Fundamentals will provide non-degree credits contributing to the semester hour requirement for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification/licensure.

R: Undergraduate Degree in Accounting; Non-Degree Students Only

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

ACC 607  Communication Strategies for Accountants  (3 credit hours)  

This course is part of the AICPA-NASBA Experience, Earn and Learn Program. In the highly complex and technical accounting world, professionals must communicate accurately and concisely with clients and regulatory agencies. This course provides a comprehensive look at communication strategies, styles, and techniques, both written and oral, that will benefit an accounting professional.

R: Undergraduate Degree in Accounting; Non-Degree Students Only

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

ACC 610  Advanced Topics in Financial Accounting and Reporting  (3 credit hours)  

This course is part of the AICPA-NASBA Experience, Learn and Earn Program. Advanced Topics in Financial Accounting and Reporting will provide non-degree credits contributing to the semester hour requirement for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification/licensure.

R: Undergraduate Degree in Accounting; Non-Degree Students Only

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

ACC 630  Independent Study  (1-3 credit hours)  

Advanced topics not otherwise included in curriculum by advanced graduate students on a tutorial basis. Determination of credits and content by participating faculty in consultation with Director of Graduate Programs. Departmental consent required

Typically offered in Spring only

ACC 635  Topics in Advanced Taxation for the Accounting Professional  (3 credit hours)  

This course is part of the AICPA-NASBA Experience, Learn and Earn Program. Topics in Advanced Taxation for the Accounting Professional will provide non-degree credits contributing to the semester hour requirement for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification/licensure.

R: Undergraduate Degree in Accounting; Non-Degree Students Only

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer

ACC 650  Topics in Advanced Auditing for Accounting Professionals  (3 credit hours)  

This course is part of the AICPA-NASBA Experience, Learn and Earn Program. Topics in Advanced Auditing for Accounting Professionals will provide non-degree credits contributing to the semester hour requirement for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification/licensure.

R: Undergraduate Degree in Accounting; Non-Degree Students Only

Typically offered in Fall, Spring, and Summer