Degree structure

To be awarded the Master of Professional Accounting, students will successfully complete a total of 12 units of study (72 credit points), consisting of the following:

• eight compulsory units of study (48 credit points)
• four elective units of study (24 credit points) from postgraduate units of study offered by the Business School* 

* Note. Students who upon graduation wish to apply for Associate  Membership of CPA Australia or ICAA must complete in additional to the eight  core units of study, certain other units of study as  elective in the Master of Professional  Accounting. Please refer to the information under the heading 'Accreditation  requirements' below for details of these required units of study. 

Core units of study

• ACCT5001 Accounting Principles
• ACCT5002 Managerial Accounting and Decision Making
• CLAW5001 Legal Environment of Business
• FINC5001 Capital Markets and Corporate Finance
• ACCT6001 Intermediate Financial Reporting
• ACCT6007 Contemporary Issues in Auditing
• ACCT6010 Advanced Financial Reporting
• CLAW6002 Corporate Structures in Practice

Elective units of study

• ACCT6002 International Accounting 
• ACCT6003  Financial Statement Analysis
• ACCT6005  Management Control Systems 
• ACCT6006  Advanced Managerial Accounting 
• ACCT6014  Designing Accounting Systems 
• ACCT6015  Extended Performance Reporting 
• ACCT6116  Corporate Collapse* 
• ACCT6118  Public Sector Accounting* 
• ACCT6120  Corporate Governance and  Accountability* 
• BUSS5000 Critical Thinking in Business 
• BUSS5001 Firms, Markets and Business Management (new unit for 2013) 
• BUSS6500  Industry Placement ^ 
• CLAW6026  Taxation Law and Practice 
• CLAW6005  Regulation of Capital Markets 
• CLAW6030  China's Legal Environment for Business 
• CLAW6031  International Financial Crime 
• FINC6001  Intermediate Corporate Finance 
• FINC6013  International Business Finance 
• FINC6016  Financial Instruments and Markets 
• INFS5000  Accounting Information Systems 
• INFS6012 Enterprise Systems Management 
• INFS6031  Project Management and Accounting * 
• IBUS5003  Global Business (new unit for 2013) 
• QBUS5002  Quantitative Methods for Accounting (new unit for 2013) 
• QBUS6310  Business Operations Analysis 
• WORK5003  Management and Organisations 
• WORK6030  Performance and Rewards 

* Not offered for 2013 enrolments.

^ High-performing students who have completed at least 48 credit points  of study in the program may be eligible to replace an elective with BUSS6500 Industry Placement, if selected  for work placement on competitive merit.
Note: Students who commenced prior to 2013 are able to complete additional  elective units of study to those listed above please refer to the handbook of  the year you commenced study for further details (See Handbooks archives).

Accreditation requirements

The Master of Professional Accounting (12 unit program) is accredited with both CPA  Australia and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA).

2013 Requirements for accreditation

The Masters of Commerce and Masters of Professional Accounting programs are undergoing a five year re-accreditation review by the two major professional accounting at the end of 2012. Subject to a  successful re-accreditation review, students must complete the following units of study to meet the core knowledge areas required by the two professional accounting bodies:

Requirements for accreditation for students who commenced study prior to 2013

Students who commenced study prior to 2013 should follow the accreditation requirements for the year they commenced their study. Pre-2013 students should refer to the accreditation requirements in the handbook of the year they commenced study and the website the professional accounting body (see ???Further information??? below) for exact unit requirements.

Further information

For further information regarding accreditation with these professional accounting bodies, please refer to the accredited course information on their respective websites:

• CPA  Australia 
• Institute  of Chartered Accountants Australia (ICAA)

Progression guides

1. Generic degree progression example

The following tables illustrate program of study examples for accounting accreditation requirements in the Master of Professional Accounting degree.

Please Note: The information listed in these program of study examples are meant as a guide only. Students should always check the requirements for individual units of study(see information at the bottom of this webpage. Students are advised to plan their degree based upon their individual needs and to contact the Student Information Office if they need any assistance in planning their progression in their degree.

2.   Accounting accreditation requirements

The following program of study illustrates the progression of a full-time student completing four units of study per semester to meet professional accounting accreditation requirements in the Master of Professional Accounting.

In this table the term 'Accreditation elective' refers to the units of study BUSS5001, QBUS5002, INFS5000, ACCT6014 or any of the other approved substitute units (Note: not all these unit will be available for both semesters)

* Note: Students must complete all these units of study. Most of these units are offered for both Semester 1 and Semester 2 enrolments and have no prerequisite requirements. Therefore they can be completed in any order.

Please Note: This program of study example is meant to be a guide only. Students may be able to undertake the required units of study for this degree in a different sequence to that listed above. Students should also note that this example has been developed using 2012 offerings of units of study and there is no guarantee that the units listed above will be offered in the same semesters in the years after 2012. Units of study listed above may also be available in Summer or Winter School sessions.