The undergraduate certificate in accounting provides students the opportunity to develop additional expertise in accounting without having to pursue a double major. This certificate is available to all undergraduate students enrolled in the School of Business, with the exception of those students majoring in accounting. This certificate allows for a lot of flexibility so that students can customize their coursework to best complement their current business major. Students who complete this certificate would be good candidates to consider a graduate program in accounting, which could expand potential career opportunities.

How to Get in

The Accounting Certificate is open to BBA undergraduate students. Students must be admitted to the School of Business. To find out more about the school's admissions process for undergraduate students, please see Entering the School. Students may not earn this certificate in conjunction with a BBA in Accounting.

To declare the Accounting Certificate, complete the declaration form linked within the Contact Information box.

Requirements

To be eligible to declare students must meet the following requirements:

• Good academic standing
• Currently enrolled UW–Madison student
• Undergraduate, degree-seeking student in the School of Business
• Not pursuing a BBA in Accounting

Requirements

The Accounting Certificate consists of 12 credits (two core courses and an additional 6 credits of elective coursework). Students are also responsible for any pre-requisite courses needed for core or elective courses.

Residency and Quality of Work 

• Students must take at least 6 of the 12 required credits in residence at UW–Madison. Study abroad courses taken through a UW–Madison-sponsored programs will count toward the number of credits in residence. 
• To successfully complete the Accounting Certificate program, students must earn a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.50 or higher across all courses applied to the certificate. 
• While students must pass each required course, there is no minimum GPA requirement for individual courses. The cumulative GPA is calculated based on all courses that count toward the certificate. 

Certificate Completion Requirement

This undergraduate certificate must be completed concurrently with the student’s undergraduate degree. Students cannot delay degree completion to complete the certificate.

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand the proper presentation, measurement, and reporting financial statement elements and transactions, and the use of financial statement information for analysis purposes.
2. Understand that financial and nonfinancial information serves numerous purposes in an organization, especially in relation to facilitating and influencing decisions.
3. Document, evaluate, and recommend improvements to basic accounting information systems used to control processes and communicate information to be used in financial reporting.
4. Understand the objective of taxes applicable at the federal level, and apply a framework for integrating income tax planning into accounting and business transactions as a foundation for structuring tax efficient business transactions.
5. Gain technical knowledge about how to perform a high-quality audit, and gain familiarity with how independence, objectivity, professional skepticism, and ethical behavior contribute to a high-quality.

Advising and Careers

Academic Advising

Current BBA students who have declared the certificate can receive academic advising from their primary academic advisor.

Drop-in advising and scheduled appointments are available  for admitted business students. Students can schedule their appointments via Starfish.

For more information on accessing academic advising, please see the Academic Advising page.

Please note enrollment in required courses is subject to availability. As a result, completion of the certificate within an individual student's intended graduation timeline cannot always be guaranteed.

Career Advising

Current BBA students declared in the certificate will also be assigned a career coach. 

For more information about accessing career coaching, please see our Career Coaching page.