Program Overview

DEGREE TYPE
Bachelor of Arts
DEPARTMENT
Business and Accounting
Department Chair Name
Sandy Roberson
DEPARTMENT ASSISTANT
Anna Notation-Rhoades

What is an accounting degree?

We lean on accounting to gauge the financial health of businesses large and small, corporations and nonprofits. Investors, stockholders, analysts, banks, the news media and a host of others depend on transparent, accurate and trustworthy indicators of companies’ fiscal wellbeing. Businesses assess opportunities and risk, and forge new paths based on analytics and financial barometers. Accountants tell those stories and serve as advisors and decision makers. An accounting degree develops decision-making, team-building, communication, critical thinking and problem-solving skills while preparing students to enter careers in accounting, tax, auditing, valuation, finance, wealth management, portfolio management and many others.

Why study accounting at Furman?

Whether you’re interested in pursuing a position with a Fortune 500 company or starting your own business, our programs prepare you for a career in the global marketplace. As an accounting major, you’ll reap the rewards of a curriculum built upon experiential exercises and integrated projects to help you understand core accounting principles. Earning an accounting degree in a liberal arts and sciences setting allows students to sharpen written and verbal communication, problem-solving and critical thinking skills that are necessary to succeed in the workplace.

Accounting majors who wish to become CPAs typically attend graduate school in accounting; however, they are also prepared to pursue careers in law, consulting, corporate accounting and related fields. Furman accounting majors are recruited by graduate school programs and in recent years have attended Clemson University, North Carolina State University, Ohio State University, Texas A&M, University of Georgia, University of South Carolina, University of Virginia, Vanderbilt University and Wake Forest University.

Furman has graduate school relationships with accountancy programs at Vanderbilt and Wake Forest, among others. For example, through the Master of Accountancy (MAcc) program at Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management, qualified students gain early entry, receive scholarships, and have options for invaluable paid internships with Big 4 firms.

How will you learn?

Throughout their courses in the accounting major, students perform accounting and tax research, work with data analytics tools, complete projects in teams and individually, and explore career options through various events and activities.

During Intermediate Accounting I and III, students participate in a significant service learning project – the United Way Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA). As VITA volunteers, students volunteer a minimum of 15 hours working on income tax returns for low-income taxpayers. VITA gives students exposure to the practice environment of accounting professionals. It also provides an opportunity for students to enhance their discipline learning, professional competencies, and prepare them for public lives as citizens and professionals in a diverse society.

Featured Accounting courses

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  • 100%
    Accounting students who participate in any engaged learning experience
  • 58%
    Accounting students who participate in an internship
  • 41%
    Accounting students who participate in May Experience (MayX)

WHAT OUR STUDENTS SAY

“Accounting provides students with the foundational knowledge-base of business, and is imperative to garnering an understanding of key concepts seen every day in almost any entry-level and senior-level business role. When you decide to pursue an accounting major at Furman, you are committing to an immersive and student-centric learning experience that facilitates a deep understanding of the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of accounting as opposed to the ‘whats’ you are typically exposed to in other university classrooms settings."
– Jack Schleicher ’20, investment banking analyst at EY

Our faculty

Mark Bettner

Visiting Professor, Accounting

Charles Davis

Adjunct Professor, Business and Accounting

Marion McHugh

Associate Professor, Business and Accounting

Sandra Roberson

Professor and Chair, Business and Accounting

Suzy Summers

James C. Self Professor of Business Administration
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Accounting Major F.A.Q.

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