What is Accounting?
Financial accounting records, classifies, summarizes, interprets, and communicates financial information for investors, managers, lenders, and tax authorities for the purpose of decision making. This information is presented in the form of four primary financial statements: the balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, and the statement of stockholders equity. Publicly traded companies are required to have their financial statements audited by Certified Public Accountants (CPA's) to verify they are prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The field of managerial accounting deals with extracting relevant information from the details of the accounting system and supplementing that with estimates of the future and non-financial information to make decisions that create value for the firm.
The accounting program at the University of Cincinnati is designed to prepare students for careers in public and corporate accounting through a rigorous course of study. This includes general education requirements, basic courses in all business disciplines, accounting courses, and career exploration/development courses. Most states require 30 semester hours of accounting and a total of 150 semester hours of college credit in order to become a CPA. But each state has different requirements on which courses and other requirements to become a CPA. For more detailed information is available at: https://nasba.org/stateboards/.
Many Accounting majors intern or co-op. The most common professional experience is working for a large, mid-sized or small public accounting firm. Professional experiences in public accounting firms are often in the auditing or taxation service lines. Experiences in public accounting firms typically open the door for numerous career paths. Accounting majors not seeking public accounting opportunities often intern or co-op in the accounting department of a company or organization.
Graduates of the UC program can find career opportunities in public and/or corporate accounting. Employers include national/international public accounting firms (Big 4), regional/local public accounting firms, financial services firms, manufacturing firms, and retailers, in addition to others. Examples of jobs include CPA's in public auditing, tax or consulting, managerial/cost accountants, internal revenue agents, tax consultants, internal auditors, financial executives, and accounting professional in governmental and/or non-profit organizations. Companies who have hired Accounting students and grads include Clark Schaefer Hackett, Anthem, Barnes Dennig, Cincinnati Bell, Deloitte, EY, Great American Insurance Group, Phillips Edison, and PwC.