Oakton Community College, Accounting Program, Frequently Asked Questions

For further explanation, please contact Leslie Van Wolvelear at 847-376-7135 or lvanwolv@oakton.edu

1. Will Oakton's Associate's Degree transfer to 4-year schools?

There are two kinds of associate's degrees. The first is the transfer degree. This is the AA degree. All the courses will transfer to the 4 year institutions, and you can seamlessly move on to a university without losing any hours. In accounting, you would only be able to take two accounting courses (ACC 153 and 154) as these are the only courses that are guaranteed to be accepted by the 4-year schools.

In the AA degre, you would take all of the general education core and the business core. These are the same courses that any freshman and sophomore would take at any business school. Colleges don't offer the upper level courses for the major until junior or senior year. If you want to see the AA for business transfer description, open the college catalog at http://www.oakton.edu/resource/collegecatalog/catalog.pdf and go to page 78.

The other kind of associate's degree is the career degree (AAS). This is for students who are not planning to transfer. Some people already have a bachelor's degrees in another field. Some students just want job skills. Some students do not feel that their lives will allow them the time to get 4-year degree so they go for the 2-year degree. Some students need any degree in order to move up with their jobs.

The AAS in accounting is a career degree program. We cut back on some of the general education and business core classes and focus very heavily on the accounting major. If you get this degree, you will have taken all the accounting courses that that are part of the bachelors in accounting. You will not, however, have taken many of the general education or business core classes. The good part of the AAS is that you develop very strong accounting skills, and you can perform the staff accountant duties that most bachelor's candidates can perform.

There are two problems with the AAS. First, the upper level accounting courses do not transfer to the four year schools. The universities want you to take the accounting major courses locally at their institutions. Second, many employers require a bachelor's degree as the minimum job requirement.

If you looking for some job skills, it is much faster to pursue one of our certificate programs than the AAS degree.

2. How do the accounting certificates differ in purpose?

The Accounting Associate Certificate (42 cr.),
is OCC’s broadest accounting certificate. It includes 6 hrs. of business law and covers virtually all of the areas of accounting, including financial accounting, managerial accounting, auditing, and income taxes. It prepares students for entry into most areas of accounting, other than those requiring a CPA Certificate.

The Bookkeeping Certificate (16 cr.),
is a good base for someone entering the field. It provides the basic foundation to become marketable in an entry-level position.

The Income Tax Preparation Certificate (20 cr.),
will prepare students to become tax preparers, It will also prepared students to take the IRS Enrolled Agent Exam. If a tax preparer passes this Exam, it allows him/her to represent a client before the IRS without the client being present (e.g. during an audit). Only a high school diploma and the passing of the exam is required for this designation.

Professional Accounting/CPA Preparation Certificate (25 cr.),
this certificate is designed to help candidates with a bachelors degree prepare for the CPA exam and meet the minimum number of accounting hours required to sit for the CPA exam.

Yes. The Board of Examiners recognizes Oakton as an accredited provider of accounting education. All courses with the ACC acronym count toward the accounting hours (and total hours) required to sit for the exam.

4. How do Students prepare for the CPA exam?

There are separate requirements for candidates with graduate degrees in accounting or business.

Board of Examiners:
Please visit www.illinois-cpa-exam.com or call them at 217-531-0950.
This site has information about the education requirements for the exam, credentials evaluation, and the the exam itself.

Illinois CPA Society:
Please visit www.futurecpa.org
This website has the most recent information for students interested in the CPA exam as well as careers in accounting.

5. What ABOUT STUDENTS WITH FOREIGN CREDENTIALS?

The Illinois Board of Examiners does accept credit from foreign colleges. Please visit http://www.illinois-cpa-exam.com/ and look in the bottom right corner International Information. Click on the Foreign Credentials link.

The cost of the transcript evaluation is $250 and as long as you sit for the CPA Exam within three years, you won't need to pay the evaluation fee again. It is highly recommended to have your transcripts evaluated immediately as it will guide your choices of which courses to take when preparing for the CPA Exam. Once you have completed the evaluation, you will be able to contact the Board of Examiners to make sure you do not take any duplicate courses.

6. Please Show Sample Schedules to COmplete the CPA Preparation Certificate.

Year 1 - Spring Semester
ACC 241 Intermediate Accounting I
ACC 244 Income Tax Accounting

Year 2 - Fall Semester
ACC 242 Intermediate Accounting II
ACC 266 Advanced Accounting

Year 2 - Spring Semester
ACC 260 Auditing
ACC 274 Advanced Income Tax Accounting

Year 1 - Fall Semester
ACC 241 Intermediate Accounting I
ACC 244 Income Tax Accounting

Year 2 - Fall Semester
ACC 266 Advanced Accounting
ACC 274 Advanced Income Tax Accounting

Year 1 - Fall Semester
ACC 241 Intermediate Accounting I
ACC 244 Income Tax Accounting

Year 2 - Fall Semester
ACC 266 Advanced Accounting
ACC 274 Advanced Income Tax Accounting

In order to represent clients before the IRS, a tax preparer must be an attorney, a CPA, or an IRS Enrolled Agent. The Enrolled Agent designation is made by the IRS for candidates who pass a comprehensive exam offered by the IRS. There is no official education requirement, but it is recommended that students take at least 2 tax courses and and exam review course in order to prepare for the exam.

At Oakton, we offer ACC 244 and ACC 274 as the two tax courses. After completing these two courses, it is recommended that you complete a test preparation course. For more information about test preparation, visit http://www.gleim.com/accounting/ea/designation.php
For more information about Oakton's program, see our link to the Income Tax Preparation Certificate.
For more information about the IRS Enrolled Agent exam, please visit www.irs.gov.

The American Institute of Professional Bookeepers offers the Professional Bookkeepers examination. This designation is growing in popularity among employers who are looking for qualified staff accounting positions. The topics covered on this exam are adjusting entries, depreciation, inventory, payroll, error correction, and internal control.

The Bookkeeping Certificate at Oakton helps prepare the student for most of these topics, and students can puchase the review books to help prepare for the exam. For more information, please visitwww.aipb.org.

9. Are there any courses that are only offered once a year? If so, when are they offered?

Fall term - we offer all courses except ACC 245 and 253.

Spring term - we offer all courses.

Summer term - we offer ACC 153, 154, 164, 170, 173, 241, and 244.

10. Do any of the CERTIFICATE courses transfer into 4-year programs?

ACC 153 & 154 are required by all business programs, and are transferable to almost every 4 yr. institution. ACC 241 transfers to a few institutions. Students should contact the individual institution if they are concerned about transferability of coursework.

11. CAN OAKTON HELP ME FIND A JOB OR INTERNSHIP?

For students who are looking for an accounting job or an internship, there are a couple of options:

1. Visit www.ccjobnet.com to find local employers who have posted jobs for community college students. All you need is an e-mail address to enroll. Keep checking every week. There are some weeks with 5 posted jobs and other weeks with 40 posted jobs.

2. Students who are at least in their third accounting course are eligible for Oakton's internship program. See www.oakton.edu/internships for more information.

The ACC 253 Practicum course requires that students have employment in the accounting field. For students who already have accounting jobs, they can use their current employment to meet this requirement.

12. What is the profile of the typical student in this program?

In the daytime ACC 153 & 154, the large majority of students are traditionally aged college transfer students, while the evening students are often non-traditionally aged. The majority of the students in the 200 level ACC classes are adults preparing for the CPA exam. The rest of the students taking the 200 level ACC classes are taking them to earn a degree or certificate other than the CPA Preparation Certificate, improve in their present jobs, switching careers, etc.

13. How is the current job market?

Accounting is a hot field right now. Due to some changes in the law, companies now have more reporting requirements and a need for more accountants.

CPA's are particularly in demand, and "accounting clerk" is among the 50 occupations expected to have the largest number of job openings each year in Illinois.

Accounting work experience is very important, so students are advised to start working an entry-level job as soon as possible. Some students can find work after completion of only ACC 153. Oakton has a very active internship program for accounting students who are in their third accounting course or later.

The small and mid-sized companies are largely looking for experience and skills, but will hire students with knowledge if they don’t have experience. Employers look for students with good language skills (especially important to be able to talk to clients on the phone), motivation, people skills, and quick learning ability. Candidates looking for an entry level job will find some or all of the following courses very helpful: ACC 153, 164, 170, 173, 175 and 244. ACC 170, 173, and 175 are offered in brief 4 week sessions so that a student may finish all of the courses in one semester.

There is also a large demand for tax preparers. Anyone, as long as they have graduated from high school, can sit for the IRS Enrolled Agent Exam; however there is no credential or test required to prepare tax returns. Oakton’s Income Tax Preparation Certificate includes ACC 153, 244 and 274, which are good prep classes for the exam.

Accounting clerks, assistant accountants, and accounts receivable people generally start at $12-$15/hr. for part-time positions, and $28-33,000 with little experience. With 3-4 years of experience, these same positions may pay from $35-40,000/yr.

CPAs can expect to start at $40,000-45,000/yr in small firms. Larger firms pay $45,000-65,000+/yr. as starting salaries.

15. Are courses offered days, evenings, and weekends?

ACC 153 & 154 are the only accounting classes that are offered during the weekdays. All others are offered evenings or weekends. ACC 153, 154, 164 and 173 are offered at both Skokie and Des Plaines. The other ACC courses are usually only offered at Des Plaines.

16. Which Courses are offered online?

The following courses are offered online:
ACC 153 Principles of Financial Accounting
ACC 154 Principles of Managerial Accounting
ACC 175 Accounting with Peachtree I
ACC 176 Accounting with Peachtree II
ACC 241 Intermediate Accounting I
ACC 242 Intermediate Accounting II

For more information about the online learning program at Oakton, please visit www.oakton.edu/online.

17. Can an experienced adult student proficiency out of some of the major courses?

There is a departmental proficiency test available for ACC 153. This is a 100 multiple choice question exam that covers all of the topics in ACC 153. In order to receive credit for this class, students need to score 75% or higher on this exam, receive at least 3 hours of credit by taking any course at Oakton, and then complete the paperwork to receive the proficiency credit.

This credit will count toward any degree at Oakton, and many four-year institutions will accept the proficiency credit at their schools. There are some four-year schools who will not accept this type of transfer credit. Students who are planning to transfer should check with their transfer institution about transferring proficiency credit before beginning this process.

To begin the process, please contact Jay Cohen, accounting department chair, at jcohen@oakton.edu.

18. Any particular 4-year schools you would recommend?

Northern Illinois University and U of I at Champaign, have nationally recognized accounting programs. They have a very high CPA pass rate. Institutions with good local reputations include: Loyola, DePaul, and UIC.

19. What would you recommend to a beginner who is nervous about accounting courses?

Beginners may consider taking ACC 100. This is not the regular accounting transfer course taken by all the business majors. This is a special course designed to give an overview of the various aspects of accounting. Students will learn debits and credits, financial statements, budgets, and business plans. Students who complete ACC 100 first usually find ACC 153 much easier when they get there.

20. Describe some of your most popular courses.

ACC 100 - Small Business Accounting Procedures:
This course is a good basic accounting class for entrepreneurs. It will also serve as a taste of many different areas or courses in accounting. Quick Books software is taught in this course.

ACC 153- Principles of Financial Accounting & ACC 154 - Principles of Managerial Accounting are required by all business schools toward the bachelor’s degree in a business-related specialty. These courses will transfer to the 4-year institutions.

ACC 164 - Microsoft Excel for Accountants:
Utilizes Excel software.

ACC 173 - Accounting with QuickBooks I or ACC 175 Accounting with Peachtree I

Trains the students in the use of the most popular bookkeeping software packages, QuickBooks or Peachtree. Best taken by students with some basic accounting knowledge, or after ACC 153.

ACC 170 - Payroll Tax Accounting:
This course teaches a skill critical to every accountant.

ACC 244 - Income Tax Accounting:
With only ACC 153, ACC 244 and some business experience, a person could try for an entry-level tax preparation position.

Oakton is a quaified provider of CPE credits for CPA's. Accountants may receive 15 hours of CPE credit for every credit hour of class. The most popular classes to be taken for CPE credit are ACC 164 Excel, ACC 170 Payroll, ACC 173 QuickBooks I, ACC 174 QuickBooks II, ACC 175 Peachtree I, and ACC 176 Peachtree II. These are each 1 credit hour classes and students may receive 15 hours of CPE credit for each course. The two Peachtree courses may be taken online.

In order to obtain the credit, students need to submit their grade reports to Susan Kruczinski at Oakton's Alliance for Lifelong Learning. Susan can be reached at 847-635-2604 or skruczin@oakton.edu.