CPA Pathways Graduate Certificate

Expand your technical knowledge and skills in financial accounting, taxation, and accounting data analytics in the CPA Pathways Graduate Certificate program. In as little as eight months, you’ll not only build the expertise needed to excel as a Certified Public Accountant—you’ll get ready to sit for the Uniform CPA Exam.

You’ll learn from a global network of experts, including world-class faculty and a well-connected body of University of Illinois accounting alumni who can provide professional insights and advice. You’ll complement your tech knowhow by building in-demand business capabilities like critical thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving.

Gaining knowledge is only half the battle in the modern business world; application is equally important. So, you'll focus on real-world projects and work samples that demonstrate your advanced skills and help you stand out to current and potential employers.

To ensure our program’s curriculum reflects the latest requirements, our accounting faculty regularly reviews the contents of the CPA Exam.

The courses in this certificate program can be applied toward the education requirements for the Uniform CPA Examination®, and are fully stackable toward the full [Master of Science in Accountancy](https://www.coursera.org/degrees/imsa) (iMSA), [Master of Business Administration](https://www.coursera.org/degrees/imba) (iMBA), and [Master of Science in Management](https://www.coursera.org/degrees/ms-management-illinois) (iMSM) degree programs at University of Illinois’ Gies College of Business.

Course 1: Auditing (Core Course)
- __Core course option.__ This course provides an intensive conceptual and applied introduction to auditing in society. It focuses on concepts and applications related to financial-statement auditors’ professional responsibilities, as well as major facets of the audit process, including risk assessment and audit reporting. (2 or 4 credit hours)

Course 2: Advanced Financial Reporting (Core Course)
- __Core course option.__ This course covers accounting for business combinations (ASC 805), the preparation of consolidated financial statements (ASC 810), and other related topics including, but not limited to: step-by-step acquisition, deconsolidation, segments reporting, and the goodwill impairment test. (4 credit hours)

Course 3: Taxation of Business Entities (Core Course)
- __Core course option.__ This course provides an introduction to the U.S. federal income taxation of corporations and their shareholders and an introduction to the U.S. federal income taxation of pass-through business entities, including Subchapter S corporations, partnerships, and limited liability companies. (4 credit hours)

Course 4: Professional Responsibilities and Ethics for Accountants (Core Course)
- __Core course option.__ This course covers key principles of accountants’ professional responsibility in their jobs, organizations, and careers, and adopts both theoretical and practical perspectives of the role of ethics and morals within the accounting discipline. (3 credit hours)

Course 5: Financial Statement Analysis and Valuation (Core Course)
- __Core course option.__ This course examines the tools and techniques of financial statement analysis and company valuation from the perspective of investors and creditors; emphasizes theoretical and empirical properties of financial ratios as well as valuation methods used in practice. (4 credit hours)

Course 6: Machine Learning for Accounting (Elective)
- __Elective option.__ This course introduces machine learning algorithms and their applications in accounting problems. It covers classification, regression, clustering, text analysis, time series analysis. (2 credit hours)

Course 7: Accounting Analytics Applications (Elective)
- __Elective option.__ This course develops students’ knowledge regarding the role, methods, and implications of business and data analytics in accounting via real-world applications of fundamental and advanced analytics principles. (1 credit hour)

Course 8: Corporate & Commercial Law (Elective)
- __Elective option.__ This course focuses on contracts and employment law. You will learn about several important legal concepts that affect businesses, as well as business organizations, business financing, and governmental regulation. (4 credit hours)

Course 9: Data Toolkit: Business Data Modeling & Predictive Analytics (Elective)
- __Elective option.__ This course is focused on developing a business analytic mindset. You will then be exposed to various tools to perform tasks including extracting, transforming and loading (ETL) data to conduct exploratory data analytics (EDA). (4 credit hours)

Course 10: Data Analytics Applications in Business (Elective)
- __Elective option.__ This course develops students' knowledge regarding the role, methods, and implications of business and data analytics in business. Application opportunities span multiple areas of business. (2 credit hours)

Course 11: Infonomics (Elective)
- __Elective option.__ This course provides a non-technical perspective on and methods for monetizing, managing, and measuring information as if it were any other kind of corporate asset. (4 credit hours)