Accounting and Business Advisory Services M.S.

Degree: Master of Science
https://www.towson.edu/cbe/departments/accounting/programs/accounting-business-advisory/

Program Director: Charles Russo
Phone: 410-704-5336
Email: crusso@towson.edu

The Master of Science in Accounting and Business Advisory Services at Towson University is a joint program with the University of Baltimore. This program is designed to meet two important educational objectives.

First, when combined with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, the program allows students to earn the additional units necessary to meet the 150-hour requirement to sit for the Uniform Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam in Maryland and many other states. The CPA exam includes four sections: Auditing & Attestation (AUD), Business Environment and Concepts (BEC), Financial Accounting & Reporting (FAR) and Regulation (REG). Students planning to take the CPA exam will be best served by a program of study, such as our BS in Accounting and this graduate program, that emphasizes the same subject matter as the exam.

Second, by incorporating courses in the related disciplines of financial management and information technology, the program complements and expands the technical skills acquired in an undergraduate accounting education.

Graduates of the M.S. in Accounting and Business Advisory Services program will have the flexibility needed to accelerate their public accounting careers or pursue careers in other areas such as management accounting, internal auditing, accounting for governmental or other nonprofit entities, and management consulting.

NOTE: Since this program is jointly operated with the University of Baltimore, the tuition, fees and grading system for students are the same as at the University of Baltimore. Contact the Student and University Billing Office for more information.

Accelerated Bachelor's-Master's Program 

Requirements to be a CPA in Maryland (and in all but two of the other states) include 150 hours of post-secondary education. To provide a seamless process for Towson students to achieve the 150 hours, a program that combines the Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and the Master’s degree in Accounting and Business Advisory Services (Accelerated Bachelor’s-Masters Accounting Program) is offered.

Admitted accounting majors may apply for the accelerated Bachelor’s-Masters Accounting Program in the second term of their junior year and be admitted prior to their senior year. Students can apply to the graduate M.S. in Accounting and Business Services Program in their senior year, but are not officially admitted to the graduate program until the second term of their senior year. Student must complete a graduate application with the Admissions office. In order to be admitted to the Bachelor’s-Master’s Accounting program, the student must be an admitted undergraduate accounting major with at least one term of residency in the university. The student also must take the GMAT and achieve a minimum score of 400 and have a GPA of at least 3.00.

9 units of graduate-level courses can be counted toward both the undergraduate and graduate programs. A bachelor’s degree is awarded after all the bachelor’s degree requirements are met, normally in the fourth year. The undergraduate accounting elective is fulfilled by taking any three of the required or elective graduate accounting courses in lieu of the free elective and two Accounting electives. 

Admission Requirements

The minimum requirements for admission to the joint graduate program in Accounting and Business Advisory Services at Towson University and the University of Baltimore are a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university**, and a 3.00 minimum undergraduate GPA for full admission and a 2.75 for conditional admission. Admission to the program will be based on undergraduate academic performance and scores on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) or the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). ***

Non-immigrant International Students

Program Enrollment: F-1 and J-1 students are required to be enrolled full-time. The majority of their classes must be in-person and on campus. See the list of programs that satisfy these requirements, and contact the International Student and Scholars Office with questions.

Admission Procedures: See additional information regarding Graduate Admission policies and International Graduate Application online.

**See Exceptions to Policy in Graduate Admissions.

*** This GMAT or GRE requirement will be waived for students with a baccalaureate degree in business or accounting from an AACSB-accredited university who graduated with a GPA of 3.5 or greater.

Prerequisite Courses

The following list of undergraduate accounting and non-accounting classes are required to be completed before enrolling in graduate courses required as part of the M.S. in Accounting and Business Advisory Services program.

Required Accounting Courses
ACCT 201
& ACCT 202		PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING
and PRINCIPLES OF MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING		6
Select two / three of the following:6-9
ACCT 301
INTERMEDIATE ACCOUNTING I
ACCT 302
INTERMEDIATE ACCOUNTING II
ACCT 303
INTERMEDIATE ACCOUNTING III
ACCT 341MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING I3
ACCT 361TAX ACCOUNTING I3
ACCT 401AUDITING I3
Required Non-Accounting Courses
ECON 201MICROECONOMIC PRINCIPLES3
ECON 205STATISTICS FOR BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS I3
or MATH 231 BASIC STATISTICS
FIN 331PRINCIPLES OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT3
LEGL 226BUSINESS LAW3
MNGT 482BUSINESS ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY3
or PHIL 371 BUSINESS ETHICS
This ethics requirement can also be met by taking PHIL 563 as part of graduate electives.
Elective Courses9
Select three of the following:
ACCT 300
ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEMS
BUSX 301
BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS
or COMM 131
 PUBLIC SPEAKING
or COMM 215
 INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
EBTM 350
BUSINESS ANALYTICS
ECON 202
MACROECONOMIC PRINCIPLES
MKTG 341
PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING
MNGT 361
LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
Total Units45-48

Degree Requirements

Completion of a minimum of 30 units beyond the undergraduate degree of which a minimum of 18 units should be in 600-level courses or above designed primarily for graduate students. (This is an AACSB requirement.)

Required Courses 1
ACCT 740ADVANCED TOPICS IN ASSURANCE SERVICES 13
ACCT 752ADVANCED TOPICS IN ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS 1, 23
FIN 605FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 11.5
FIN 625CORPORATE FINANCE 11.5
Additional Accounting and Ethics Courses 39
Select three of the following:
ACCT 630
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING
ACCT 680
TAXATION OF ENTITIES
ACCT 720
DESIGN OF MANAGERIAL COST AND CONTROL SYSTEMS
PHIL 563
BUSINESS ETHICS 5
Other Electives12
Select four of the following:
Accounting 3,5
ACCT 695
INDEPENDENT RESEARCH IN ACCOUNTING
ACCT 697
GRADUATE ACCOUNTING INTERNSHIP
ACCT 730
FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYTICS AND VALUATION
ACCT 750
FORENSIC ACCOUNTING
ACCT 770
SEMINAR IN CURRENT TOPICS IN ACCOUNTING
ACCT 780
SUSTAINABILITY ACCOUNTING
Electronic Business and Technology Management 4
EBTM 602
INTRODUCTION TO SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
EBTM 604
INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT MANAGEMENT
EBTM 625
PROJECT LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNICATION
EBTM 715
PROJECT COST ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
EBTM 720
SUPPLY CHAIN ANALYTICS
Applied Information Technology 4
AIT 600
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE
AIT 610
SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
AIT 612
INFORMATION SYSTEMS VULNERABILITY AND RISK ANALYSIS
AIT 614
NETWORK SECURITY
AIT 632
DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Professional Writing 4
PRWR 619
GRANT AND COMMUNITY WRITING
PRWR 621
BUSINESS WRITING
Finance 6
FIN 700
FINANCIAL REPORTING
FIN 705
ADVANCED FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
FIN 715
INVESTMENT ANALYSIS
FIN 720
GLOBAL FINANCE
FIN 725
RISK MANAGEMENT
FIN 735
FINANCIAL MODELING
FIN 750
REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
FIN 770
ENTRPRENEURIAL FIANANCE AND VENTURE CAPITAL
FIN 780
BUSINESS VALUATION
FIN 797
SPECIAL TOPICS IN FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Management Information Systems 6
INSS 641
LEADERSHIP OF THE IT FUNCTION
INSS 650
NETWORKING AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
INSS 651
DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
INSS 671
SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
INSS 765
E-COMMERCE TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS
Total Units30

Other graduate courses in areas such as applied information technology, economics, management, marketing, etc., may also be chosen after consultation with the graduate director depending on the student’s career goals and professional needs.

1

Courses offered at Towson University and University of Baltimore.

2

INSS 605-IT for Business Transformation, offered by University of Baltimore, may be substituted.

3

 Additional courses are available from University of Baltimore.  Consult with the Program Director to determine if they are appropriate for you.

4

 Courses offered at Towson University only.

5

 Available as an elective only to students who have not taken an equivalent course in their undergraduate program.

6

Courses offered at University of Baltimore only.

CPA Examination

A student must have also completed the specific courses required to sit for the Certified Public Accountant examination in Maryland, which would normally be taken during the student’s undergraduate studies (see Prerequisite Course section). A student who has not completed these courses prior to admission to the M.S. in Accounting and Business Advisory Services program will develop a plan to satisfy these requirements in consultation with the graduate director. This can be expected to add to the total number of units needed to earn the degree.

  1. Students will be able to conduct a comprehensive spreadsheet analysis and offer an interpretation of financial accounting data relating to the performance and standing of a business entity.

  2. Students will be able to conduct research and make a recommendation on how different financial reporting theories and practices are applied in resolving issues in financial accounting.

  3. Students will be able to use application software to extract, manipulate and summarize accounting and related data from a relational database or comparable data source.

  4. Students will be able to design, generate and interpret financial accounting reports enabling effective decisions to be made based on their analyses.

  5. Students are able to identify and analyze ethical making recommendations for resolving those issues by applying relevant professional standards of conduct and behavior.