Applied Accounting

Meets the California Board of Accountancy Educational Requirements in Accounting Subjects

This program is a Division of Continuing Education offering not affiliated with the Paul Merage School of Business nor does it award Merage degree credits.

The Applied Accounting Certificate Program teaches students the accounting standards and principles needed to carry out the fundamental tasks of the accounting occupation – providing information to clients by preparing, analyzing, and verifying financial documents. This continuing education program is also designed to meet the accounting subjects' educational requirements for students preparing to sit for the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination (CPA Exam) without seeking an advanced degree.

Who Should Enroll

• College graduates who need additional accounting subject courses to meet educational requirements for CPA exam
• Accounting and Finance Managers
• Budget and Financial Analysts
• Internal Auditors
• Professionals considering the CPA Exam
• Anyone planning to pursue a career in accounting

Program Benefits

• Select individual courses or participate in the entire certificate program to satisfy accounting subject educational requirements for the CPA Exam
• Acquire a comprehensive set of accounting competencies
• Interpret and create financial statements and reports for use in making business decisions
• Solve complex accounting and business problems in practice

Eligibility and Requirements

Apply to become a candidate for the program: A Declaration of Candidacy is required to establish candidacy in this program. Complete the application and pay the application and candidacy fee of $125 (non-refundable). Learn more about the benefits of becoming a candidate. Candidacy is not required to enroll into individual course in a program.

A candidate in the program is awarded a certificate upon the successful completion of ten (10) required courses totaling 45 quarter units, each with a letter grade of “C” or better. Students with a bachelor’s degree that includes coursework in accounting, may petition to waive up to two (2) required courses* by submitting a petition to transfer form along with the required supplemental documents. All requirements must be completed within five (5) years after the student enrolls in their first course. To receive the Certified Digital Certificate after completing all the program requirements, students must submit the Request for Certificate to initiate the certificate audit process. Students not pursuing the certificate are welcome to take as many individual courses as they wish.

*Petition courses must be completed within the past 5 years. Contact FinancePrograms@ce.uci.edu for approval of courses older than 5 years.

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