MS in Accounting Analytics
The MS in Accounting Analytics degree offers an enhanced focus on the technology skills and business analytics software vital for today's data-rich environment. Meanwhile, the program is still grounded in the accounting, auditing, and financial reporting background necessary to sit for the CPA Exam.
Our MS in Accounting Analytics is a STEM-designated program, which means international students are eligible to apply for 36 months of Optional Practical Training, allowing employers to potentially hire international students for up to three years instead of only one.
Accountants with analytics expertise are prepared to work with the wealth of available financial data to inform and guide business decisions. These professionals are also uniquely prepared to engage in fraud detection and auditing using machine learning and data mining techniques when complex, computer-driven financials are the norm.
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Curriculum
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Learning Outcomes
Required Accounting Core
ACCO 6001 – Accounting Professional Communication (1 credit)
Waived if completed at their undergraduate institution
An introduction to specific communication skills currently desired in the accounting profession, including business writing, presentation skills, active listening, giving/receiving feedback, team dynamics, and proposing persuasive recommendations for improvement.
ACCO 6511 Taxation – Corporations, Partnerships
Partnership and corporation income tax laws studied for proper treatment of various types of income, deductions, the consequences of ownership interests and the application of various tax rates to taxable situations.
ACCO 5060 Accounting Analytics
An overview of how to use data to formulate and solve business and accounting problems. Topics include data cleaning, data visualization, regression analysis, and basic programming skills. Substantial application of analytic techniques in accounting, including those in financial, managerial, audit, and tax.
ACCO 6520 Advanced Corporate Issues
Study of business combinations (mergers, consolidations, and acquisitions of net assets of common stock). Construction of consolidated financial statements, including analysis of inter-company transactions. Introduction of international accounting issues. Basic accounting for not-for-profit organizations
ACCO 6535 Fraud Examination and Analytics
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ACCO 6065 Advanced Accounting Analytics
6535: An analysis of how and why fraud is committed, how fraud can be deterred, and how data analytics and behavioral science combine to investigate fraud and reach a resolution. Basic forensic techniques and data analytics tools will be used to discover patterns, anomalies, trends, and outliers. Students will develop an increased awareness of fraud and the circumstances in which it arises. Students will learn techniques for detecting and preventing fraud. Students will measure, collect, analyze, and investigate fraud data, reporting their findings
6065: Provides understanding and hands-on experiences on the use of data analytics in the financial statement audit, including how to identify potential audit risks. Incorporates the use of analytics software to access data sources, clean and prepare data, perform a variety of analyses and then deploy the results to operationalized in the audit context. Working with a popular programming language and learning how it can be used to perform specific financial statement audit procedures.
Required Business Analytics Core
MBA 6100 Business Analytics or COSC 6520 Business Analytics
Provides a structured and effective way of tackling a wide range of managerial problems using analytics. Introduces students to basic concepts in business analytics and several quantitative techniques that are important for the practical analysis of a broad range of business problems and widely accepted by the practitioners. These techniques provide a framework to support managerial decision making. Lectures cover the topics in sufficient details to make one feel comfortable in their use. Also stresses the importance of critical thinking skills to make sound managerial decisions, to apply ethical reasoning to business situations and to communicate effectively in business settings.
COSC 6510 Business Intelligence
Foundational topics in business intelligence. Includes properties and benefits for business intelligence and methodology for the development of business intelligence solutions. Examines technology employed for managing data and creating visualizations and dashboards. Topics include developing a business case, evaluating performance and managing data. Presents overview of data architectures commonly used in business intelligence solutions and includes exercises using common techniques for prediction and time series analysis.
An introduction to the ethical and social consequences of collecting, curating and analyzing data in academia, public and private contexts. A socio-technical stance is taken in unpacking issues of algorithmic biases, fairness, transparency and accountability.
Focuses on the major processes, frameworks and relational mechanisms within the corporate structure that ensure the effective, efficient and protected use of information systems and technologies, investments in IS, assets, systems, processes and human capital resources. Reviews structures around how organizations align IS strategy with business strategy to ensure that companies stay on track to achieve their strategies and goals and implement solid and repeatable methods to deliver, support and measure an IS organization’s performance. Generally viewed as a Board of Director’s or executive level responsibility, information systems governance is best deployed as part of the IS practice and culture
Electives
- 6 credits of accounting electives required
This program has rolling admission, which means you may apply any time before the following dates:
Fall 2024 – August 12
Spring 2025 – January 6
Summer 2025 – May 5
Fall 2025 – August 14
International students should apply by the following deadlines due to the need to allow enough time to secure proper visa requirements.
Fall semester – May 1
Spring semester – October 1
The application requires the following:
- A completed or nearly-completed bachelor's degree in accounting (or equivalent accounting course work which is typically 21 hours of U.S. GAAP based accounting courses – this includes 6 hours of Principles courses, Intermediate Accounting, Cost Accounting, Advanced Accounting, one course in Taxation, and one course in Accounting Information Systems) from an accredited college or university. Students without an accounting degree but have completed significant core accounting courses in US GAAP (typically 6-7) will also be considered.
- A completed online application form and $50 fee, waived if you attend an online info session
- Official transcripts from all current and previous colleges except Marquette1
- Minimum 2.750 GPA
- For applicants with a GPA below 3.000, official test scores from the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) or Graduate Records Exam (GRE). See the GMAT/GRE policy. Marquette's GMAT/GRE institution code is: 1448
- Essay questions on the application form
- Resume or job profile
- Two letters of recommendation if applying for financial aid
- Possible interview
Additional requirements for international students:
- GMAT or GRE test score if the applicant's undergraduate institution is not AACSB accredited.
- Official TOEFL score or other acceptable proof of English proficiency
- Two letters of recommendation
- Possible interview
- Transcript evaluated by a transcript evaluation service. Within the online application, applicants may provide a copy of the transcript evaluation received. Marquette accepts course-by-course evaluations from the following services:
If admitted, final official transcript evaluations must be sent to the Marquette University Graduate School directly from the transcript evaluation service used for your course-by-course evaluation.
1 Upon admission, final official transcripts from all previously attended colleges/universities, with certified English translations if original language is not English, must be submitted to the Graduate School within the first five weeks of the term of admission or a hold preventing registration for future terms will be placed on the student’s record.
As part of the assurance of learning, each program defines and collects data on learning outcomes; statements of the knowledge, skills and attitudes that we want our graduates to possess. We use them for continuous improvement and they are the criteria on which organizations such as AACSB evaluate our accreditation.
The following are the current learning outcomes for the Master of Science in Accounting Analytics, as well as the MSAA Certificate.
- Apply critical thinking to accounting issues and solve applied/analytical business problems
- Demonstrate effective analytical communication skills
- Demonstrate competency in the preparation of accounting data for analysis
- Apply ethical reasoning to accounting/business/data issues
- Demonstrate competency in utilization of accounting analytic tools
For each goal the following are the measurable learning outcomes that are assessed on a regular cycle for assurance of learning.
For the goal --- Apply critical thinking to accounting issues and solve applied/analytical business problems:
- Identify business problems appropriate for accounting analytics
- Identify the critical elements of the accounting problem/issue
- Analyze the data/information of the accounting problem/issue
- Derive relevant conclusions about the accounting problem/issue
For the goal --- Demonstrate effective analytical communication skills
- Organize the correct information for an accounting/business report
- Develop the appropriate content for an accounting/business report
- Use appropriate writing mechanics
- Use visualization skills to communicate results of data analyses
For the goal --- Demonstrate competency in the preparation of accounting data for analysis:
- Develop the ability to extract, transform, and load (ETL) data to get it ready for analysis
- Utilize software to clean and format data to get it ready for analysis
For the goal --- Apply ethical reasoning to accounting/business/data issues:
- Demonstrate awareness of ethical issues surrounding fraud examination and forensic analytics
- Critically apply ethical reasoning to an accounting/business situation
- Choose an appropriate course of action based on ethical standards
- Evaluate multiple stakeholders perspective in the accounting/business situation
- Demonstrate correct steps in ethically preserving data
For the goal --- Demonstrate competency in utilization of accounting analytic tools:
- Identify tools appropriate for business problems
- Utilize various techniques to build models related to accounting problems
