Whether you’re thinking about a career in public or private accounting or accounting as a major or minor, Simpson prepares you with all the tools for the trade.

Our small accounting class sizes allow for individual attention from faculty. Simpson teaches the skills necessary to be successful in today’s competitive job market. Graduates with a major in Accounting may apply to take the Certified Public Accounting (CPA) exam in Iowa.

We’ve seen our graduates succeed in the real world because of their Simpson education coupled with internships along the way. Our proximity to Des Moines and ongoing connections with Simpson alumni combine for outstanding opportunities for internships.

Accounting Major

Students will complete twelve courses plus the Capstone as follows:

Required:

• Econ 100 Principles of Economics
• Econ/Math 135 Elementary Statistics
• Acct 201 Introduction to Accounting
• Acct 250 Introduction to Accounting Systems
• Acct 341 Intermediate Accounting I
• Acct 342 Intermediate Accounting II
• Acct 343 Advanced Accounting Topics
• Acct 353 Cost Accounting
• Acct 354 Individual Taxation
• Acct 358 Auditing
• Magt 131 Management Concepts
• Magt 231 Business Law and Business Ethics I

Capstone:

• Acct 385 Capstone in Accounting

A student who majors in Accounting with the CPA Concentration may not also major in management.

CPA Concentration

Students will complete five courses as follows:

Required:

• Magt 232 Business Law and Business Ethics II
• Magt 333 Organization & Behavior
• Econ 239 Corporate Finance
• CIS 145 Management Information Systems and Business Intelligence
• Elective: Choose one 300-level Accounting Course

 

Accounting Minor

Students will complete five courses as follows:

Required:

• Acct 201 Introduction to Accounting
• Acct 250 Introduction to Accounting Systems
• Acct 341 Intermediate Accounting I
• Acct 342 Intermediate Accounting II
• Elective: Choose one 300-level Accounting Course*

*All prerequisites must be taken to achieve the minor designation. This may result in more than 18 hours of course credits to fulfill the minor.

Simpson College requires students to complete at least 128 semester hours of coursework prior to graduation. Students who graduate with a major in Accounting may apply to take the Certified Public Accounting (CPA) exam in Iowa. Upon acceptance, students may sit for the CPA exam; however, students who pass the Iowa exam must have accumulated a total of 150 semester hours of college credit before they will be awarded a CPA certificate. State accounting boards differ in their certification requirements, so students are advised to determine individual state requirements. This requirement exceeds the Simpson College graduation requirements for Accounting majors by 22 credits. Students may complete the 150 hours in four years at Simpson, in more than four years at Simpson, or in a master’s program at another institution. The department has completed articulation agreements with other institutions to ease the transfer process and to reduce graduate level requirements. See the department chair for information on these combined BA/MBA, BA/MS, and BA/MA programs.