Degree
Online Master's of Accounting (iMSA)
Overview
Class Central Tips
Become an analytics-minded professional with a fully online master’s from a top-ranked accounting powerhouse.
The University of Illinois’ Gies College of Business, consistently ranked among the nation's top three accounting programs, is a revered destination for accounting education globally.
The online Master of Science in Accounting (iMSA) provides students with skills in analytical thinking, data mining, and strategic accounting. The accounting degree is intentionally flexible to address the needs of today’s students: whether they seek to begin their career as an accountant, become a CPA, improve their standing in the accounting field and become a CFO, or want to leverage analytical skills in their existing non-accounting career.
Master's Degree in Accounting
The accounting industry is undergoing rapid change. New accountants need to become proficient in leading analytical techniques and tools; programming in Python and R, data mining, statistical analysis and regression. All of this on top of a traditional accounting education.
The iMSA meets these needs with instruction from some of the very best accounting faculty in the world. Graduates from our program are in high-demand because they possess the most sought-after skills. Our alumni have gone on to become world-renowned founders of businesses, CEOs, CFOs, accounting firm partners, entrepreneurs, and other business leaders.
The iMSA is flexibly designed to meet the needs of the modern day student; whether you want to transition into accounting, sit for the CPA exam, become a CFO, or apply leading analytics skills into your existing career.
Courses
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This course is the first course in a five-course Financial Reporting Specialization that covers the collection, processing, and communication of accounting information (via financial reports) about economic entities to interested parties (i.e., managers and external stakeholders such as stockholders and creditors). To gain the most relevant knowledge from these courses, learners should have taken a basic accounting course prior to this Specialization (which can be done through Coursera courses, such as any accounting course from the Fundamentals of Accounting Specialization: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/accounting-fundamentals). This Specialization focuses on accounting concepts, principles and theory with an emphasis on problems that arise in applying these concepts for external reporting purposes. Specific emphasis is placed on measurement of assets, liabilities, equities and income, as well as disclosure of additional information that may assist users understand the financial reports.
After a brief introduction to the course, we will spend time understanding the overall financial accounting structure and standards as well as review the fundamental accounting process used to prepare the financial statements, which will establish a framework for the study of the concepts in the remaining courses in the Financial Reporting Specialization. In this course, we will begin our review of key information included in the Balance Sheet and Income Statement and their related financial disclosures. The Statement of Cash Flows will be introduced briefly with more discussion to follow in later courses of the Specialization. Also, we will provide a cursory review of key concepts involving time value of money as we will finish this course with focus on revenue recognition, including discussion of the new revenue standard. We will review the general approach for recognizing revenue, special issues affecting revenue recognition including long-term construction contracts. In addition, we will discuss and review common ratios used in profitability analysis.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, consistently ranked as one of the nation's top three accounting programs, now offers a master’s in accounting at a very affordable tuition rate and is completely online. The iMSA is a full Master of Accountancy program and students graduate with an MS that is highly recognized. Try an open course or two, then apply for admission into the credit-bearing version as you may be eligible to take credit-bearing courses during the application process. If you are missing any prerequisites for the full degree, you can complete Coursera courses to demonstrate readiness and strengthen your application for the iMSA. For more information on this exciting iMSA online program, refer to this link: https://www.coursera.org/degrees/imsa -
**NOTE: You should complete the Accounting Analysis I: The Role of Accounting as an Information System course or be familiar with the concepts taught there before beginning this course.**
This course is the second course in a five-course Financial Reporting Specialization that covers the collection, processing, and communication of accounting information (via financial reports) about economic entities to interested parties (i.e., managers and external stakeholders such as stockholders and creditors). To gain the most relevant knowledge from these courses, learners should have taken a basic accounting course prior to this Specialization (which can be done through Coursera courses, such as any accounting course from the Fundamentals of Accounting Specialization: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/accounting-fundamentals). This Specialization focuses on accounting concepts, principles and theory with an emphasis on problems that arise in applying these concepts for external reporting purposes. Specific emphasis is placed on measurement of assets, liabilities, equities and income, as well as disclosure of additional information that may assist users understand the financial reports.
In this course, we will begin our review of key asset categories underlying the Balance Sheet concepts that were introduced in the previous course. We will begin our trek down the Balance Sheet by reviewing cash and receivables, which are normally the two assets listed first. We will continue our trek down the Balance Sheet by looking at inventory and long-Lived Assets, which are normally two of the largest asset values. We will review the measurement and reporting issues involving Inventories and the corresponding cost of goods sold expense in the Income Statement. In the latter half of this course we will conclude our review of key asset categories by looking at both tangible and intangible long-lived assets that are so vital to the production of goods and services. This will entail discussion of both acquisition and disposition of property, plant and equipment as well as cost allocation. Next, we will discuss possible impairment of these assets as well as the proper treatment of expenditures made after acquisition. Lastly, we will review how to identify and account for Investments.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, consistently ranked as one of the nation's top three accounting programs, now offers a master’s in accounting at a very affordable tuition rate and is completely online. The iMSA is a full Master of Accountancy program and students graduate with an MS that is highly recognized. Try an open course or two, then apply for admission into the credit-bearing version as you may be eligible to take credit-bearing courses during the application process. If you are missing any prerequisites for the full degree, you can complete Coursera courses to demonstrate readiness and strengthen your application for the iMSA. For more information on this exciting iMSA online program, refer to this link: https://www.coursera.org/degrees/imsa -
This course is the first course in a five-course US Federal Tax Specialization. It covers and focuses on the U.S. federal tax system as it relates to individuals, employees, and sole proprietors. Key concepts covered include gross income and items that are statutorily included or excluded in it, personal and business expenses that qualify as tax deductions, and the differing tax treatments for employees versus self-employed taxpayers. Unlike many other introductory courses in tax and as part of this course’s comprehensive wrap-up, learners will be provided with practical and tangible experience reporting both income and expenses on the main individual tax return used in the US, Form 1040.
If you have enjoyed this course, consider enrolling in our online graduate Accounting program. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, consistently ranked as one of the nation's top three accounting programs, now offers a master’s in accounting at a very affordable tuition rate and is completely online. The iMSA is a full Master of Accountancy program and students graduate with an MS that is highly recognized. Try an open course or two, then apply for admission into the credit-bearing version as you may be eligible to take credit-bearing courses during the application process. If you are missing any prerequisites for the full degree, you can complete Coursera courses to demonstrate readiness and strengthen your application for the iMSA. For more information on this exciting iMSA online program, refer to this link: https://www.coursera.org/degrees/imsa -
This course is the third course in the five-course Financial Reporting Specialization. This course begins with a discussion of current liabilities and contingencies and continues with long-term debt and bonds. The course next explores accounting model for leases, both lessees and lessors, and a discussion on deferred tax assets and liabilities. Participants will learn the latest accounting standards including the new accounting model for leases effective for public companies in 2019 and private companies in 2020.
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This course is the fourth course in a five-course Financial Reporting Specialization. This course focuses on the recognition, measurement and subsequent accounting for equity, pensions, share-based compensation and cash flows utilizing the FASB Accounting Standards Codification and other resources.
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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. In the U.S. financial-statement audits and related services generally are provided by Certified Public Accountants (CPAs). To succeed in this course, you should anticipate engaging in critical thinking and thoughtful communication about audit professionals' decision environments, decision processes, and deliverables. Additionally, you should understand the macro-level learning objectives in each of the course's weekly modules.
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This course provides a continuation of the intensive conceptual and applied introduction to auditing in society begun in Auditing I: Conceptual Foundations of Auditing. It focuses on a conceptual framework that is applied by audit professionals to assess, evaluate, and manage audit risks and evidence.
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