Business Major: Accounting Option (B.A.)

The Accounting Option is offered in response to the growing demand for accounting graduates in public accounting firms as well as in industry. Many local public accounting firms have expressed that with an expected high retirement rate among “baby boomers”, there appears to be a need for graduates with robust accounting credentials. Representatives from well-known CPA exam prep course firms expressed the opinion that accountants are in high demand and the unemployment rate in this industry is very low.

The Accounting Option offers students the necessary courses to enable them to sit for the CPA exam, which is one of the major steps in obtaining a CPA license. The requirements for sitting for the CPA exam in the State of New Hampshire are a bachelor’s degree, 24 credits in business subjects, and 30 credits in accounting subjects. The Accounting Option within the Business program provides these required credits.

This program also provides the students an opportunity to seek professional accounting positions in corporate environments. Students would be encouraged to take the CMA (Certified Management Accountant) exam, leading to this desirable certification.

For more information, contact Yvette Lazdowski, program coordinator or contact the Office of Admissions, (603) 641-4150.

This degree plan is a sample and does not reflect the impact of transfer credit or current course offerings. UNH Manchester undergraduate students will develop individual academic plans with their professional advisor during the first year at UNH. Please note that not all accounting courses are offered every semester or even every academic year.

Sample Course Sequence

Degree Requirements

All Major, Option and Elective Requirements as indicated.
*Major GPA requirements as indicated.

Major Requirements

Students must complete 128 credits to graduate. Each required course must be completed with a minimum grade of C-. Students must attain a minimum GPA of 2.0 in major courses required for graduation. Majors cannot use BUS 430, ECN 411, or ECN 412 to satisfy both Discovery Program and major requirements. Transfer students must complete at least half of their credits in the major and the 8-credit capstone experience (BUS 705 and either BUS 750 or BUS 760) in-residence at UNH Manchester.

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Experiential learning is required prior to the last semester at the University. BUS 690 Business Program Internship satisfies this experiential learning requirement.

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Business Capstone Experience (two courses: BUS 705 Business Ethics and one senior business seminar [BUS 750 Business Capstone Senior Seminar - Internship or BUS 760 BUS SR SEM - Research Project] fulfills the Discovery Program capstone requirement for business majors and is taken during the senior year).

Note: Because this is a bachelor of arts program, students must fulfill a language requirement. Efforts will be made to enhance fluency through subsequent courses and community experiences.

At the conclusion of the Business program, students should be able to demonstrate:

• Apply breadth and depth of knowledge about business and economic concepts, theories and methodologies, especially in the sub-field concentrations of accounting, finance, management, business ethics, leadership, organizational behavior, human resources, marketing/sales, statistics, business computer/software applications, and business data analytics, and how these varying fields are inter-related and complementary.
• Apply critical thinking skills to the qualitative and quantitative analysis of data through working knowledge of office suite products such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, PowerBI or Tableau, including analysis of the data’s impact on business decision making in local, national, and global business situations.
• Information literacy, including the ability to find, retrieve, analyze, and communicate information from online or traditional venues in the fields of business, economics, accounting, finance, management, human resources, entrepreneurship, leadership, organizational behavior, marketing, and business ethics.  
• Effective interpersonal writing and presentation skills in all types of business and professional communications: memoranda, case studies, analytical reports, data visualizations, slide presentations, and project reports, along with the ability to convey this information with audiences in the private and public sectors, including the ability to lead discussion groups and multi-task project teams.
• Professionalism in the workplace, including sensitivity to cultural differences and an appreciation for the diversity of human experience and perspectives, as well as an understanding of the meaning of engaged citizenship as members of an ethical business community.