Accountancy BACC

Bachelor of Accountancy

The Knauss School of Business offers a program leading to the degree of Bachelor of Accountancy. The program prepares students for careers in public accounting, accounting within industry, and governmental accounting as outlined in the accountancy program mission statement shown below:

The mission of the USD accountancy program is to develop accountants – through the use of personalized, innovative teaching methods developed by faculty who are active in the production and dissemination of knowledge – who have the skills to become professionally certified accountants and compete in a diverse and fast-changing global professional environment.

The degree program allows students to select an option within the accountancy concentration that fits their career goals. These options allow students to acquire both accountancy skills and skills from specified business fields that are highly related to accountancy. Students should consult with an accounting faculty advisor about their career goals before selecting a concentration option.

The Knauss School of Business is accredited by the AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The Bachelor of Accountancy program also holds AACSB accounting program accreditation.

Combined Bachelor of Accountancy/Master of Science in Accountancy or Bachelor of Accountancy/Master of Science in Taxation programs

Students may enroll in BACC/MACC or BACC/MTAX Combined Programs. Students in these combined programs may receive up to 12 semester hours of credit to double count toward both the BACC undergraduate and MACC/MTAX graduate degrees. This double counting process is only applicable to students in a combined program. If student should graduate with a BACC degree only (without having been admitted to the BACC/MACC or BACC/MTAX combined program) and return later for a MACC/MTAX degree, then the student will not be able to retroactively double count these courses and would need to complete 30 semester hours to earn the MACC/MTAX degree.   

There are specific allowable double counting courses, which are listed in the Accountancy major section. Prerequisites must be met in order to take these courses. Permission to register for these specific cross-listed courses as a BACC only student must be approved by the Academic Director of Graduate Accountancy Programs.

Students interested in a combined Bachelor of Accountancy/Master of Science in Accountancy or Bachelor of Accountancy/Master of Science in Taxation programs should consult the Graduate Catalog for program details.

Professional Accountancy Examinations

Students in the Bachelor of Accountancy program should consult with an accounting faculty advisor about the courses to prepare for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Examination, the Certification in Management Accounting (CMA) Examination, graduate work in fields of study related to accountancy, or specific fields of government employment. 

The California State Board of Accountancy permits a student to sit for the CPA Exam when the Bachelor's degree is conferred, but requires 150 semester hours to complete the entire CPA certification for license. The California State Board of Accountancy will count any double counted course once as the State Board does not double count units posted to the two degrees. That means if a student enrolls in a combined program and completes the full 12 semester hours of allowable double counting for his or her USD degrees, the student may only have 142 semester hours that could be counted toward the 150 semester hour requirement. Please be aware of this as it is possible to complete both degrees as part of the combined program and the student may be up to 8 semester hours short of the 150 required semester hours to become a CPA in California. Each student should verify the requirements in the state for which they wish to be certified. 

Undergraduate BACC students interested in meeting the 150 semester hours requirements to become a CPA are strongly encouraged to consider the combined program option. CPA laws in a majority of states have recently been changed to required 150 semester hours of university credit to receive a CPA certificate. Additional information on this requirement is available from most State Boards of Accountancy.