Graduate Curriculum

General Requirements

A student's graduate coursework includes the last 30 hours of the 150-Hour Program. Each student must take at least 15 hours of coursework at the 8000-level as a graduate student; of these 18 hours, a minimum of 12 hours must be 8000-level accountancy courses. The other 6 hours of 8000-level course work may be any combination of 8000-level business courses, MBA courses, or tax courses at the Law School, as approved by the Director of the 150-Hour Program. A graduate student must maintain a graduate GPA of at least a 3.0 to avoid being placed on probation. If a student is placed on probation, the student has one semester to raise his/her GPA above a 3.0 in order to continue in the graduate level of the 150-Hour Program. To graduate, a student must have a graduate GPA of at least a 3.0. At the graduate level, nine hours is considered full-time.

Specialization Opportunities

Graduate students may use their accountancy electives and business electives to complete an emphasis in information systems or taxation. These are the two formal specialization tracks.

Upon completing the requirements listed below, a student will receive a Graduate Certificate issued from the Graduate School in either information systems or taxation.

The Information Systems Certificate requires that a student complete 18 hours of information systems courses (of which a mimimum of 12 hours must be in graduate courses). Examples of graduate-level courses that qualify as information systems courses are:

Accountancy 8358 Systems Analysis & Design
Accountancy 8408 Advanced Accounting Information Systems
Accountancy 8414 Information Systems Assurance and Control
Accountancy 8428 Data Warehousing and Data Mining
Management 8440 Topics in E-Commerce
Management 8420 Decision Support Systems
Management 8430 Information Systems Implementation
Management 8460 Systems Applications and Development

The Tax Certificate requires that a student complete 18 hours of courses in taxation (of which a minimum 12 hours must be in graduate courses).

The required accountancy courses include:

Accountancy 7373 Taxation of Business Entities (or Accountancy 4373)
Accountancy 8423 Tax Research & Judgment
Accountancy 8453 Tax Issues & Analysis

The additional 6 hours of graduate-level taxation coursework may be taken at the University of Missouri-Columbia Law School by utilizing the graduate business electives. Examples of courses offered at the Law School are:

Law 5375 Basic Federal Income Tax
Law 5465 Corporate Tax
Law 5815 Partnership Tax
Law 5550 Estate & Gift Tax
Law 5915 International Tax

A student is not required to pursue a certificate in information systems or taxation. A student may choose to take courses in both areas. Students may also utilize their business electives to obtain an emphasis in an area of business such as management, marketing, or finance. If a student is interested in taking MBA finance courses, the prerequisite for these courses is Finance 4010 or 7440. If a student is interested in taking MBA marketing courses, the prerequisite for these courses is Marketing 4000 or 7460.

Courses to Consider Taking at the Graduate Level

Accountancy Courses
Here is a list of accountancy courses, along with their descriptions, for students to consider taking at the graduate level. Keep in mind that this list may change each semester, depending upon enrollments and faculty availability.

Required Courses:

7365 Governmental Accounting and Budgeting (3). Introduction to government and not-for-profit accounting. Principles of fund accounting, budgeting, auditing, and financial reporting in government and not-for-profit entities. Prerequisite: 3326.

7384 Auditing Theory and Practice I (3). Introduction to the auditing profession, assurance function, and generally accepted standards for conducting audits. Prerequisites: 3328 and 3346.

8450 Accounting and Business Strategic Analysis (3). Capstone course in the Master of Accountancy program. Emphasis on case analysis to develop critical thinking and analytical skills in the use of accounting reports for broad-based business analysis. Prerequisites: 3346 or equivalent and graduate standing.

Accountancy Electives:

7373 Taxation of Business Entities (3). Federal income taxation of corporations and shareholders, partnerships, and S corporations. Prerequisite: 7353.

7940 Professional Accounting Internship (3-6). Provides full-time professional accounting work experience. See Director of 150-Hour Program for requirements to receive credit. Graded on S/U basis only.

8358 Systems Analysis and Design (3). The systems development process, including modeling, diagramming, controls, and implementation, with emphasis on business process modeling, REA (Resources, Events, Agents) modeling, and creating an enterprise resource planning (ERP) prototype. Prerequisite: 2258. CECS 1040 or 1050 is also recommended (Winter semester).

8408 Advanced Accounting Information Systems (3). Emerging concepts and technologies relating to accounting information systems (AIS), with an emphasis on E-Business. Prerequisite: 3328. CECS 1040 or 1050 is also recommended.

8414 Information Systems Assurance and Control (3). A combination of control theory, concept application, demonstration of actual practice, and student research to develop an understanding of the concepts and practices used in the design, development, or assurance of information systems (IS) controls. Prerequisites: 3328 and 7384 (Winter semester).

8419 International Accounting (3). Introduction to accounting regulations and practices outside of the U.S., accounting regulation for foreign registrants on the NYSE and NASDAQ, international accounting standards and international management control issues. Review of cultural frameworks, transfer pricing methods, and international accounting standards. Prerequisites: 3346 and 3347 (Fall semester).

8423 Tax Research and Planning (3). Development and application of professional tax research and planning skills.  Focus is on formulating solutions to realistic tax cases and the communication of results. Prerequisites: 7373 (or concurrent enrollment in 7373). (Fall semester)

8428 Data Warehousing and Data Mining (3). Enterprise-wide view of data and transaction-processing.  Concepts and techniques of data warehousing and data mining of business-critical data. Prerequisite: 3328 or department consent.

8436 Financial Accounting Theory and Practice III (3). Addresses a series of special financial accounting topics including income taxes, pensions, leases, business combinations, consolidated statements, and foreign currency translation. Prerequisite: 3346.

8448 Emerging Issues in Accounting Information Systems (3). Development of understanding of process of implementing systems.  Development of configuration and business process integration in ERP system. Prerequisite: 3328.  (Fall semester)

8453 Tax Issues and Analysis (3). Critical evaluation of major tax areas subject to debate and reform.  Strategic focus on optimal response to various tax policies. Prerequisite: 7373.  (Winter semester)

MBA Courses
The list of MBA courses changes each semester. Please see the Director of the 150-Hour Program during pre-registration to obtain a list of courses. The following courses are frequently offered:

Management Courses:
Management 7380 Organizational Behavior
Management 8310 Advanced Human Resource Management
Management 8340 Organizational Theory and Design
Management 8360 Negotiations
Management 8420 Decision Support Systems (counts towards IS concentration)
Management 8430 Information Systems Implementation (counts towards IS concentration)
Management 8440 Topics in E-Commerce (counts towards IS concentration)
Management 8450 Information Resource Management (counts towards IS concentration)
Management 8460 Systems App/Bus App Development (counts towards IS concentration)

Finance Courses: (Note: To be eligible to take an upper-level Finance MBA course, you must have taken the prerequisite, which is Finance 4010 or 7440.)
Finance 8070 Security Markets & Investments
Finance 8330 Investment Policy and Portfolio Management
Finance 8340 Derivative Financial Securities
Finance 8410 Advanced Financial Management
Finance 8440 Financing Multinational Business
Finance 8510 Management of Financial Institutions

Marketing Courses: (Note: To be eligible to take an upper-level Marketing MBA course, you must have taken the prerequisite, which is Marketing 4000 or 7460.)

Marketing 8050 Marketing Strategy
Marketing 8350 Business to Business Marketing
Marketing 8720 International Marketing

Law School Courses
The list of Law School tax courses changes each semester. The Law School sets up its list of offered courses once a year. The Director of Masters Programs distributes a list to students each semester; the listing of law school courses in the Schedule of Courses is NEVER correct. Here is a sample of the law courses that are frequently offered:

Law 5325 Advanced Tax (2 credits)
Law 5375 Basic Federal Income Tax
Law 5465 Corporate Tax
Law 5555 Estate Planning and Taxation
Law 5675 International Tax (2 credits)
Law 5815 Partnership Tax
Law 5915 Tax Research (1 credit)