Master's of Accounting (iMSA)

Curriculum

The online MS in Accountancy program curriculum is designed to provide students with a relevant set of analytical skills and a consultancy mindset. Delivered by Gies’ top-ranked accounting faculty with decades of industry experience, the iMSA helps students learn to collect and process information and make high-impact strategic decisions for their organization. The iMSA is designed to be a versatile degree. It is equally feasible that a student can use this degree to prepare for the CPA exam as it is that a student can use this degree to fundamentally change how they collect, analyze, and interpret data in their professional lives.

The curriculum is divided between core accounting and analytics coursework and elective coursework. Learning takes place in several modalities: online self-paced lecture content, high-engagement live classes, and practical mastery through hands-on projects as well as in everyday job responsibilities at work.

Projects in the MS in Accounting Master's

Financial Reporting: Learners will assess the validity and completeness of a publicly-traded corporation’s financial statements and disclosures of key risks, and analyze the corporation’s potential for future financial success.

Managerial Accounting and Control: Learners will role-play as managers and identify relevant information, analyze costs and profits, and use information management tools to make a strategic business decision involving uncertainty.

Corporate Tax Strategy: Learners will identify a publicly-traded, global corporation and assess its organizational structure’s effectiveness in minimizing domestic and global tax obligations.

Business Analytics Learners will apply a multi-faceted analytics approach to assess a company’s strategic and operational risk, and identify, measure, and quantify the impact of instances of manager fraud.

High-engagement Live Courses

The iMSA was developed by top accounting faculty to build expertise in leading analytics methods, financial reporting, audit and control, and US federal taxation. This degree prepares you to sit for the CPA exam.

Learn more about the iMSA's high-engagement courses on the Gies website. You can explore the core and elective courses and discover how Gies can build your accounting knowledge.

Try a course before you apply

Ready to sample a course from the iMSA program? Explore the online self-paced lecture content through the following Specializations and courses. These courses are open for anyone to enroll in. If you are admitted to the full program, these open courses count towards your degree learning.

U.S. Federal Taxation Specialization

This Specialization introduces the U.S. federal tax system via conceptual and applied material. Learners will be able to apply basic principles to settings involving individuals, corporations, and other business entities, complete key components of major, individual U.S. federal tax returns, and identify tax-related strategies and implications of structuring transactions and organizations.

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Program Length

The iMSA program offers various specializations, including: Financial Reporting, U.S. Federal Tax, and Data Analytics. You can complete the iMSA in as few as 4 semesters (18 months) or as many as 8 semesters (36 months).