Accounting

Degrees Offered:
Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

Overview

If you’re considering a career in public or private accounting, Barton’s accounting major is designed for you. Here, you’ll master accounting and business principles through individualized instruction, one-on-one help sessions, and group-learning activities. At the same time, you’ll have the added benefit of Barton’s liberal arts focus, which emphasizes reading, writing, and critical thinking. This means that at Barton you’ll get both a broad education and the specialized knowledge that employers find especially attractive.

Special Features

You can gain practical experience in accounting and help others at the same time. Barton accounting majors provide free tax preparation assistance to people in the community as part of the Voluntary Income Tax Assistance Program.

We offer specific elective courses—Non-Profit Accounting, Advanced Accounting, Current Topics in Accounting—that will help you prepare for the CPA exam.

Barton’s business faculty offer an unsurpassed level of personal attention. Every semester, you’ll meet with your individual advisor to discuss your class scheduling as well as general issues concerning your progress and well-being.

Many of the School of Business faculty have work experience in their field of expertise and are active in professional organizations on a regional and national basis.

Course Information

All of Barton’s business classes have active learning components that let you engage the material in ways that go beyond merely listening to a lecture. Depending on the class, you might be involved in role-playing, simulations, experiments, group work, and off-campus experiences.

As an accounting major, you’ll take a sequence of courses in intermediate-level financial accounting that encompasses the theory and application of professional standards for business. Other courses round out your education by showing you how accounting relates to economics, marketing, management, and finance.

Courses required for the major are:

• Principles of Accounting I
• Principles of Accounting II
• Intermediate Accounting I
• Intermediate Accounting II
• Intermediate Accounting III
• Cost Accounting
• Auditing
• Federal Income Taxation I
• Federal Income Taxation II
• Economic, Social, and Business Statistics
• Managerial Communications
• Principles of Microeconomics
• Managerial Finance
• Principles of Management
• Marketing Management

Other accounting courses include:

• Fundamentals of Individual Income Taxes
• Managerial Accounting
• Non-Profit Accounting
• Accounting Information Systems
• Advanced Accounting
• Individual Research Problems in Accounting
• Current Topics in Accounting

Scholarships and Financial Aid

The School of Business grants a variety of endowed scholarships to majors in the Business School during their junior and senior years. These scholarships are given to students who excel in the classroom and are active on campus. Some of these scholarships include:

• The Andrews Scholarship Fund, awarded by the business faculty to students demonstrating superior scholarship, leadership in club activities, service, and future promise in their chosen major.
• The Gretchen B. Boyette Endowed Scholarship, awarded to students with financial need who are pursuing a major in the School of Business.
• The Gary F. Singleton Scholarship, awarded to business students on the basis of character, ability, scholarship, leadership, and need.
• The Larry W. Staley Memorial Scholarship, given to handicapped students and business students with financial need.
• The C. Buren Williford Family Scholarship, awarded to a full-time student pursuing a degree in the School of Business.

Internships

We encourage all of our majors to gain real-world experience through an internship, usually during your junior or senior year. Hands-on learning opportunities not only enhance your education. They also improve your chances of getting a job—in many instances, internships lead to full-time positions with the business.

Recent examples of internships held by Barton accounting majors include:

• Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunnier, LLP
• Holden, Moss, Knott, Clark, Copley, & Hoyle, CPA
• Wilson County Department of Social Services
• Physicians East, PA
• Nomaco, Inc.
• Merrill Lynch
• Donnie Prince Agency
• Red Cross
• Bridgestone/Firestone
• BB&T
• Alliance One
• The Planning Group
• PSNC Energy

Career Opportunities

Because of the recent passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the demand for accountants has increased greatly throughout the country. The starting salaries are excellent and the career potential is virtually unlimited. Our accounting majors have accepted a variety of offers in both public and private positions.

With your accounting degree from Barton, you may also decide to earn an MBA or a graduate degree in accounting or another field. Recently, our students have been accepted to programs at:

• University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
• North Carolina State University
• East Carolina University
• Virginia Commonwealth University
• University of Tennessee

Clubs and Organizations

Students in Free Enterprise promotes economic and business education, and engages in activities that demonstrate the importance of the free enterprise system. Barton’s chapter has won several awards at the annual regional competitions throughout the years.

Phi Beta Lambda is a national association that brings business and education together through programs and services in which students, educators, and business people learn about one another. The Barton chapter has won numerous awards at both the state and national level, and is generally recognized as an outstanding student organization at Barton.