Business Accounting Program Opens Doors To Career or Further Education

Since accounting is all about money, it’s important to consider the possible earning outcomes for those who attend accounting programs such as Centennial College’s Business Administration – Accounting. In 2006, most accountants made between $42,520 and $71,960 a year. The lowest-paid accountants earned around $34,470, while the highest-paid earned $94,050 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

By attending Centennial College's business accounting program, it is possible to be in the highest-paid echelon as students are trained to work in areas like: manufacturing organizations, merchandising organizations, service organizations, and the public, private and/or non-profit sectors of the economy. Additionally, students who attend this program may pursue even more education and enter high-paying positions right away instead of working their way up in the field. Substantial transfer credits may be granted to those students of the Business Accounting program who pursue the Certified General Accountants (CGA) professional qualification. Qualified graduates may also be eligible to participate in an articulated program with selected universities, institutes and professional associations. These partnerships allow graduates to apply academic credit towards further study. The business accounting program's partners are Athabasca University, British Columbia Institute of Technology, Certified General Accountants Association of Ontario and Hawaii Pacific University.

The Centennial College Business Accounting program mixes traditional teaching with a co-op option that allows students to experience the field through a career placement. "Revenue Canada is a big employer for co-op students," says accounting programs instructor John Harris. "Not only do they apply their work and what they learned at school [during co-op], they also gain valuable work experience, which means these students are in high demand."

In addition to this co-op experience, students attend a combination of business courses and accounting courses that lay a strong foundation for those pursuing a professional accounting designation. These courses include: Financial Accounting, Quantitative Methods, Accounting Systems, Corporate Finance, Management Accounting and more. Through such a range, the business accounting program helps students to develop fundamental skills in problem solving, communications, mathematics, analysis and other business functions.

Many business accounting program classes are taught in a lab environment that is fully equipped with an integrated network of computer systems. As such, the use of suite software to advanced accounting software and systems design is covered.

To apply for this business accounting program, applicants are required to posses an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or equivalent or be 19 years of age or older during the application process. They must also possess the compulsory English 12C or U, or skills assessment, or equivalent and Math 11C, M or U or 12C or U or skills assessment, or equivalent.