Accounting

In Depth

Business and non-profit organizations are looking for graduates who can:

Communicate effectively
Work with others from diverse backgrounds
Think critically and strategically
Understand their organization’s place in the global market
An accounting degree, complemented by the liberal arts core curriculum, fosters these skills and provides the foundation for career-long success.

The required courses in the accounting program build steadily on one another, culminating in a research-based seminar. Classmate and community partnerships are an integral part of our accounting discipline, as are the development and application of presentation skills.

To become a Certified Public Accountant (i.e. licensed to practice accounting professionally) will require a Bachelor’s degree and a total of 150-academic credits in all states. Although there is some variation among states as to specific courses needed within the 150 hours, the accounting major curriculum at Saint Michael’s can be readily augmented by existing courses to meet the content specifications. To accumulate additional credit hours toward the 150 hour requirement, some students use advance placement credits from high school, summer course work/summer internships performed for academic credit, etc. Others pursue a one-year Master’s degree in accounting or business in graduate school after receiving their Saint Michael’s Bachelor’s degree. Saint Michael’s has agreements with a number of graduate programs to set up potential graduate pathways for our accounting graduates.

There are also many other accounting-oriented career opportunities in corporations, government agencies and non-profit organizations that do not require licensing as a CPA and are therefore not subject to the 150-credit hour requirement.

Accounting Learning Outcomes 

Special Opportunities

Develop and apply the lessons and skills you learn in the classroom by being the financial leader in student organizations or a teacher’s assistant or tutor in the accounting program. Small class sizes, particularly in upper level courses, contribute strongly to student development and the close personal relationships between professors and students.

Graduate Accounting Programs

To provide post-graduate opportunities for students in both Business Administration and Accounting, the Department has developed a number of agreements with colleges and universities (e.g., Northeastern, University of Vermont) that will allow facilitated admission for our alumni into graduate accounting programs. Contact Professor Steve Doyon for details.

Study Abroad

Our business administration program offers excellent opportunities to gain experience in the global marketplace through overseas study. Typically, about 30% of accounting majors study abroad.

Sigma Beta Delta Honors

Saint Michael’s hosts a chapter of the Sigma Beta Delta Honors Society to honor outstanding academic achievement and scholarship by students studying business, management and administration. Sigma Beta Delta has more than 250 chapters nationwide. The society’s principles include wisdom (Sigma), honor (Beta), and the pursuit of meaningful aspirations (Delta).

Watch the 2020 Virtual Sigma Beta Delta Induction Ceremony here

Careers

After graduation, our majors go on to careers like:

• Accountant
• Audit Associate
• Tax Associate
• Audit Services
• Accounts Payable Representative
• Investment Administrator

The accounting program at Saint Michael’s prepares students for careers in a broad cross-section of organizations, including public accounting firms; small and large corporations; government and non-profit organizations; and further study in accounting and business. The coursework, along with the student’s advisor and other support services at Saint Michael’s, guides students through a rigorous and gratifying program that will help them realize their ambitions.

Graduates of the Saint Michael’s accounting program can be found as partners in national, regional and local public accounting firms, as chief financial officers for large and small businesses and non-profit organizations, as internal auditors in businesses and governments, lawyers practicing corporate, tax and estate law, as accounting teachers and professors, and as successful professionals in many other related positions.

Our recent accounting graduates are employed at firms like:

• AIG Insurance Management
• Aon
• BDO
• CBIZ
• Crowe
• Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
• EY
• Fidelity Investments
• Hanover Insurance Group
• Gallagher, Flynn & Company
• Idea Nuova Global
• Johnson Lambert
• Kittell Branagan & Sargent
• KPMG
• McSoley McCoy & Co.
• National Life Group
• New England Federal Credit Union
• PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
• Riperian
• RSM
• Sapers & Wallack
• State Street Corporation
• Tyler, Simms & St. Sauveur

Internships

The accounting program has a long history of successful internship placements with local organizations and accounting firms and uses its network of well-placed alumni to find excellent opportunities with larger market accounting firms for its students.  Internship sites for accounting students include:

PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRMS

• Crowe
• Deloitte
• EY (Ernst and Young)
• Gallagher, Flynn & Company
• JohnsonLambert
• KPMG
• McSoley & McCoy
• PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers)
• RSM
• Tyler, Simms & St. Sauveur

OTHER INTERNSHIP SITES for accounting students include:

• Aon Insurance Managers – Vermont
• Burton Snowboards
• Keurig Green Mountain Coffee
• Morphotrust USA
• National Life Group of Vermont
• Northwestern Mutual
• Pandora Media
• UBS Financial