Accountancy Area

• What is Accounting?
• Careers in Accounting
  • Public Accounting
  • Industrial Accounting
  • Government Accounting
  • Other Accounting Opportunities
• Why Choose Eastern's Accounting Program
• Internships and Scholarships
• Additional Information

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WHAT IS ACCOUNTING?

Accountancy is the art of accumulating, measuring, communicating, and interpreting financial and operating information. Accountants do much more than simply work with numbers. One who aspires to become a professional accountant must develop critical thinking, written and oral communications, interpersonal, and leadership skills, and the ability to use modern computer technology. Students who complete the accounting curriculum frequently sit for examinations which lead to professional certification such as the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Management Accountant (CMA), or Certified Public Accountant (CPA), for which a review course is offered right here on campus.

CAREERS IN ACCOUNTING

There are three main areas of accounting that students may enter upon graduation.

One may enter Public Accounting which could involve bookkeeping, accounting, auditing, taxes, managerial advisory services, or financial planning. Some of the positions include Senior Partner, Partner, Manager, Senior Accountant, and Junior Accountant. The yearly salary range for national CPA firms is anywhere between $31,000 - $1 million, and for local CPA firms from $25,000 - $150,000.

Industrial Accounting is another field within accounting. Some of the positions in this area are VP of Finance, Internal Auditor, Controller, Chief Accountant, and Staff Accountant. Industry's approximate pay scale for accounting professionals is $25,000 - $315,000.

Accountants who choose to go into Governmental Accounting might work for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the General Accounting Office (GAO), or the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA). Positions include Federal Top Administrators, District Directors, Supervisors, and Auditors. The pay scale for governmental accountants is anywhere between $26,000 - $100,000.

Accountants also work for city and local governments, not-for-profit organizations, as sole practitioners, and as accounting educators & administrators.

WHY CHOOSE EASTERN'S ACCOUNTING PROGRAM?

Eastern Illinois University's Lumpkin College of Business and Applied Sciences is accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). AACSB accreditation is external validation of a quality program. Only 271 universities have AACSB accreditation at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

One of the biggest advantages of Eastern's accounting program is the student-teacher ratio which currently stands at 25 students per professor for upper-level accounting classes. This low ratio allows students to receive individual attention from their instructors.

Accounting students in Lumpkin College of Business and Applied Sciences have the opportunity to join Beta Alpha Psi, Student Accounting Society, and the professional business fraternities, Phi Gamma Nu, Delta Sigma Pi, and Beta Gamma Sigma. These organizations provide a wide variety of scholastic and networking opportunities to students.

The accounting department at EIU offers a comprehensive curriculum that spans all areas of accounting and is taught by a faculty dedicated to teaching.

In addition to accounting classes, all accounting students take courses in management, marketing, operations management, management information systems, and finance.

INTERNSHIPS and SCHOLARSHIPS

The Accounting faculty strongly encourages students to participate in internships. There are many excellent internship opportunities available for accounting majors. Advantages of taking internships include:

1. Internships help career decision making. Students can reality-test careers and make choices based on on-the-job experience in a chosen field;
2. Internships allow students to test classroom learning in the laboratory of the business world; and
3. Internships improve post-graduation job prospects by providing students valuable work experience.

The Lumpkin College of Business and Applied Sciences Internship Program coordinator helps students obtain internships. For more on the internship program, contact:

Student Internship Program
Lumpkin Hall
Eastern Illinois University
Charleston, Illinois 61920

Numerous scholarships are available to accounting students at EIU. In addition to university-wide scholarships, several are awarded by the Lumpkin College of Business and Applied Sciences and by the Accounting department. These scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic accomplishment, financial need and leadership qualities.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

For more information on the EIU Accountancy program, contact:

Professor Frank Clark, Chairperson
Department of Accountancy and Finance
Lumpkin College of Business and Applied Sciences
Charleston, Illinois 61920-3099
(217) 581-5426

For more information on accounting as a career, contact:

American Accounting Association
5717 Bessie Drive
Sarasota, Florida 34233
(813) 921-7747

American Institute of CPAs
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10036
(212) 575-6357

Illinois CPA Society
222 South Riverside Plaza
Suite 1600
Chicago, IL 60606-6098
(800) 993-0407 (Illinois Only)
(312) 993-0407

Institute of Internal Auditors
249 Maitland Avenue
P.O. Box 1119
Altamonte Springs, Florida 32701
(305) 830-7600

Institute of Management Accountants
10 Paragon Drive
Montvale, New Jersey 07645-1760
(212) 573-9000

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