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Business students

Accounting

Bachelor of Science

Overview

BJU’s accounting program will prepare you to excel in a wide range of accounting-related careers. Through carefully crafted coursework that integrates biblical truth and real-world experiences, you’ll not only learn the essentials of business and accountancy, but also how to use these skills well for the glory of God.

Our qualified and experienced faculty brings extensive accounting and business experience to the classroom. They teach by their lives the importance of faithfulness, integrity and dependability in the accounting field.

Program

The breadth of knowledge required to be a successful accountant makes preparation for the field challenging. BJU’s accounting program is designed to equip you to meet these challenges. Through carefully crafted coursework, you’ll gain exposure to both traditional and cutting-edge business practices. You’ll learn the essentials of auditing, taxation, managerial and financial accounting, and general business.

In addition, BJU offers a variety of internships that allow you to apply your book knowledge to real-world business environments. Upon completing our accounting program, you’ll be prepared to pass the national CPA examination. You’ll also be prepared to either gain acceptance into graduate schools or go directly into the business workforce.

Licensure Disclosure

BJU Core

The accounting profession values graduates who can think critically and solve complex problems. The BJU Core equips you with these skills through a wide range of liberal arts and Bible courses that will prepare you to excel as a business professional.

These courses help you to develop the character to work in difficult business environments, prepare you to view every person as an image-bearer of God who needs a Savior, and equip you to be a vibrant witness of how Jesus changes lives.

Electives

The best accountants can communicate at every level in any company. This is why we recommend that you focus on improving your ability to communicate clearly and concisely by taking oral and written communication courses for your elective credits.

Technology is also an important part of business, and accounting graduates who can use technology effectively are always in high demand. We offer a wide variety of technology electives to meet your needs, including Computer Science and Business Systems.

Success


Your Future

Jobs

Within the last decade, 23% of BJU accounting graduates have gone to work for one of the Big 4 accounting firms right after graduation. Another 27% have immediately begun work for regional or local accounting firms. Our graduates have held careers as:

  • Accountants
  • Attorneys
  • Small Business Owners
  • Chief Financial Officers (CFOs)
  • Chief Executive Officers (CEOs)
  • U.S. Senators
  • College Presidents
  • Missionaries
  • Professors
  • Pastors
  • FBI Agents

Graduate Schools

  • Clemson University
  • Purdue University
  • University of Georgia
  • University of Denver
  • Wake Forest University
  • Virginia Tech
  • Nova University
  • ESSEC Business School (France)
  • Auburn University
  • University of South Carolina
  • Harvard University
  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Duke University
  • College of William and Mary

Graduate Experience

Our track record speaks for itself: God has allowed graduates from the Division of Accounting to excel in a wide range of business and ministry settings.

  • Nestlé
  • Johnson Controls
  • Answers in Genesis
  • Lockheed Martin
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers
  • Deloitte
  • Shell
  • Ernst & Young
  • McDonald’s (corporate office)
  • KPMG
  • Coastal Federal Credit Union
  • McKesson Corporation
  • Jiffy Lube (corporate office)
  • Ford
  • Air Methods Corporation

Career Options

Accounting opens the door to a variety of career paths. Most graduates enter public accounting by starting in an auditing position, while some prefer to do taxes, consulting or a combination of the two. Others choose to work in management accounting or internal auditing settings. In addition, many of our graduates have found accounting to be an ideal preparation for admittance into law school.

Career Support

Starting with your freshman year, our accounting faculty begin talking to you about and giving you directed help with your resume. In addition to our Career Services Office, we prepare all of our accounting students for the interviewing process.

Every semester we invite our accounting graduates to speak about their real-world experiences and perspectives to our classes, in order to encourage and prepare our students for ministry in the field of accounting.

CPA status

For more than a decade, our accounting graduates have consistently outperformed state and national CPA Exam pass rates for all 4 sections taken. Our graduates hold CPA certification in more than 25 states, including Hawaii, Alaska, California, Texas, New Hampshire, New York, Colorado, Ohio and North Carolina.

Learning Experience

UBA forum

University Business Association

The University Business Association (UBA) is designed to connect successful Christian business professionals with our students. Using a forum setting, these professionals speak and discuss about how they have served Jesus Christ in their professions and, in turn, how they have used their profession as a platform for ministry. Our accounting students have also become leaders in the UBA by taking part in organizing various events, including an annual fundraiser for the Bible Conference.

Internships

Since starting our internship program in 1999, we have placed more than 200 interns. These students have interned at 3 of the Big 4 accounting firms (one does not have a Greenville office), 14 different regional or local accounting firms, 11 other businesses and 2 ministries. Some of the internships took place during the summer outside the Greenville area.

Student Legislature

Each fall, BJU’s Student Legislature team travels to South Carolina’s state capital, Columbia, to join with students from 10 to 15 major colleges and universities in the state. Together they form a house and senate, presided over by officers elected from among their members. Students use their extemporaneous speaking abilities, persuasive powers and knowledge of current events to pass legislation they have written.

Accounting Recruiting Event

Every fall our juniors and seniors attend an annual accounting recruitment picnic, where more than 20 companies come from Greenville, Charlotte and Atlanta to hire our students for full-time jobs and internships.

Community Service Council

Involvement in the community is an important part of the BJU experience. Many of our accounting students take part in a variety of outreach opportunities, including the Community Service Council (CSC). The CSC is a student-led, student-driven organization that connects students with local businesses and communities. The CSC oversees events such as cleaning up the Greenville Zoo and local parks, sponsoring an on-campus blood drive and collecting funds for the Heart Fund or other charitable organizations.

Faculty

Jeff Bryson
Jeff Bryson
Division of Accounting

View Faculty

Our accounting faculty have an average of more than 15 years of business experience in addition to 14 years in average teaching experience. A significant amount of their business experience took place at the executive level.

In addition, all accounting faculty have worked in public and private accounting roles in previous careers. They consistently earn high student ratings in all areas of teaching, most notably in their ability to clearly communicate a broad knowledge of the subject.

Courses & Objectives

Program Objectives

Each student will:

  • Analyze financial principles and techniques using basic data, accumulated knowledge, and innovative insights from a variety of disciplines.
  • Create solutions to business problems while working in a team composed of individuals with a variety of roles and different levels of commitment.
  • Communicate with appropriate delivery -in both spoken and written form -the scope and results of work completed.
  • Acquire skills necessary to use technology tools effectively and efficiently [and apply those skills] to develop the other learning outcomes.
  • Effectively lead in appropriate circumstances, recognizing the need for a variety of leadership styles.
  • Demonstrate ethical behavior (integrity, objectivity) in business settings based on a biblical worldview.

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