Top Masters Programs in Accounting , Accountancy

The Accounting and Management Ph.D. program at Harvard University includes 13-semester courses that can be completed in four to five years. Some features of the Ph.D. program include:

• For one entire academic term, students are required to teach or assist with teaching in a course that is formally offered. This commitment should include at least 16 hours of preparation time for the lesson and 8 hours of in-class instruction. They can satisfy the requirement by working as a teaching fellow or instructor at Harvard University.
• At the conclusion of the second year or the start of the third year, students must pass the Special Field Exam. Based on the course syllabi from any pertinent doctorate research seminars in financial or managerial accounting that students have participated in during their studies, this exam consists of two parts: a written exam and an oral exam.
• All students must get their dissertation proposal approved by their dissertation chair by the conclusion of their third year.
• Students must complete a dissertation to the satisfaction of their dissertation committee, which normally consists of three publishable pieces. The public is welcome to attend the oral dissertation defense.

The curriculum includes Foundational Courses (2 courses), Research Methods Courses (4 courses), Additional Doctoral Courses (7 courses), MBA Courses (2 courses), and Research Seminars.

The Ph.D. program in Accounting at Yale University equips students to become leading authorities in the fields of financial information and contracting within and between enterprises through research and teaching at the highest levels. The program can be completed in four years. However, some students may take five years to complete the doctoral program. Some characteristics of the PhD program include:

• The accounting concentration at Yale SOM aims to foster strong theoretical and empirical skills.
• Original research is heavily emphasized as a foundation for ongoing scholarship. Research collaborations with PhD students and faculty members are welcomed and promoted.
• The Department of Economics, several management courses, the Yale Law School, and other departments and units of the University all assist candidates in pursuing a wide variety of research interests. They form beneficial connections with other PhD students, particularly those from the Finance PhD program.
• The small accounting program at Yale features frequent interactions with teachers.
• The program keeps a faculty-to-student ratio of 1:1.
• Numerous opportunities exist for students to engage with cutting-edge research, from on-campus conferences to weekly seminars where faculty and other Ph.D. students present and discuss their work.

The Ph.D. in Accounting program at Stanford University helps students construct a conceptual framework and a set of competencies for handling broadly speaking accounting-related inquiries. The program can be completed in 4 years. Some important features of the doctoral program are:

• The characteristics of accounting amounts, the impact of accounting disclosures on the capital market, the function of analysts as information brokers, and the effects of management discretion are all examined in empirical and analytical research on the relationship between accounting information and capital market behavior.
• The effects of changes in accounting standards and disclosure rules are also taken into consideration, along with the effects of voluntary disclosures, earnings response coefficients, market microstructure, earnings management, and the influence of financial information on stock and option prices.
• Researchers are now looking into issues with information asymmetries among management, investors, and other parties. This study analyzes and empirically studies the design of incentive and monitoring systems in the presence of information asymmetry. This work incorporates findings from the studies of moral hazard, adverse selection, risk sharing, and signaling.
• Research on the economic implications of auditing, control of accounting information, and examination of the issues with tax-induced incentives in businesses are among the other active initiatives.
• The analytical and empirical study of productivity measurement, quality accounting, activity-based costing for operations and marketing, and strategic costing and pricing are other areas of academic interest.

The Ph.D. in Accounting program at the University of Chicago is a full-time program that can be completed in five years. Some features of the Ph.D. in Accounting program are:

• Students collaborate with eminent academics whose ground-breaking work is renowned for its influence on the academic literature, accounting practice and policymaking, securities regulation, and other areas.
• In addition to their stipend, they are also eligible to seek for support from the research centers and the Stevens Doctoral Program for conference and research travel.
• Students share their research in conferences and workshops and learn about the work of other researchers. 
• One of the top accounting faculty groupings in the world is at Chicago Booth. These eminent scholars are also professors and mentors who give advice to students, collaborate with them on papers, supervise their theses, assist them in landing excellent jobs, and work with them throughout their careers.

The Accounting Ph.D. program at the University of Pennsylvania teaches students how to do in-depth research in accounting, a branch of financial economics. The program is very quantitative and analytical. Some important characteristics of the doctoral program include:

• The program allows students to have close working ties with professors at Wharton. This is very beneficial to their education and can last throughout their career.
• The program comprises 16 courses. The seminar for the accounting workshop, the research assistantship in the first year, and the summer research papers in the first and second years are all required research components.
• In the curriculum, there are early opportunities for students to engage with instructors and begin working on pertinent research. 
• The program maintains an interesting faculty-student ratio. There are 22 faculty members and only 12 students are enrolled in the program.

The Accounting Information & Management Ph.D. program is offered at Northwestern University. The 18-credit program takes 4 to 5 years to complete. Some features of the doctoral program are:

• The program of study prepares students for research using empirical/archival, analytical/theoretical, and focuses on the function of accounting in the market for financial data.
• The doctoral program trains students to conduct research on the following uses of accounting information: 1) by other stakeholders and potential stakeholders in the firm; 2) in the firm's internal decision-making and performance evaluation functions; 3) in the functioning of the capital markets; and 4) in the contractual relationships between the firm and both internal and external parties. 
• Along with the more specialized fields of accounting and finance, accounting students receive rigorous study in the fundamental fields of economics and econometrics. 
• In the summer before their second year, students are obliged to complete a research paper with the guidance of a faculty advisor of their choice. Many of these "summer" articles develop into themes for dissertations and publishable research papers. By the end of their third year's fall quarter, the paper must be delivered to the accounting faculty.
• Research is the primary activity in the third year and future years. Most students also graduate with one or more working papers and/or publications, typically co-authored with faculty and frequently with other PhD students, in addition to a publishable dissertation. 

Accounting involves the creation and use of information within and outside organizations. Accounting research investigates questions how information is gathered, organized and used by individuals and by markets, and encompasses managerial accounting issues, assurance (auditing) issues, taxation issues and financial accounting reporting issues.

We invite you to explore our program and the curriculum. This combination facilitates positive spillovers. Analytically inclined students will be exposed to empirical-archival evidence that can motivate the modeling of important phenomena. Empirically inclined students will be exposed to the process of developing rigorous and economically grounded predictions.

The Master of Accountancy program at Vanderbilt University is an on-campus program that can be completed in one year. The program is available in two distinct areas: MAcc Assurance and MAcc Valuation. 

The Vanderbilt MAcc Assurance program offers non-accounting majors a fast pathway to starting a successful career at a multinational company. Students who enroll in the Vanderbilt MAcc Assurance program will be well-equipped to begin a successful career in public accounting. The program requires 39 credits to complete.

The Vanderbilt MAcc Valuation is a full-time program that trains students about non-accounting majors. Small class numbers and courses are done with MBA, MS Finance, and MAcc Assurance students help students learn more and develop an important worldwide network of business relationships. They will have the exceptional chance to use the Schweser CFA and Becker CPA review courses available on campus to study for and take the CFA and CPA examinations as part of the curriculum. The program can be completed with 36 credits.

The Accounting program at Olin Business School, Washington University places a strong emphasis on equipping students with a broad knowledge base and the essential research abilities to have successful careers as university educators and researchers. The program can be completed with 36 credits. Some characteristics of the doctoral program include:

• The importance of financial information in supporting the operations of capital markets and support for managers planning and controlling the way institutions operate are two topics that students study.
• Accounting doctoral students have the chance to embark on ground-breaking research for Center members' company-specific challenges/projects through the Center for Finance and Accounting Research (CFAR).
• Research forms an integral component of the program. Students must participate in research activities alongside faculty, present a research paper, Individual investigation into a narrowly focused area of interest, and Dissertation preparation and defense.

Earn A Ph.D. In Business and a Major Concentration in Accounting And Learn The Essentials In Theory, Research Methods And Contemporary Accounting Issues.

Accounting Research involves the systematic and scientific study of accounting systems, institutions, standards and regulations for the purpose of understanding and characterizing their decision-facilitating and decision-influencing roles within organizations, in product and capital markets, and across economies. For instance, financial reporting systems play many roles in publicly held organizations characterized by separation of ownership from control. They help investors in valuing their claims to firms in financial markets (valuation role), are essential for corporate control and managerial performance evaluation (auditing, governance and stewardship roles), and impact how firms allocate their resources and make financial decisions (real effects). In a similar vein, management accounting systems facilitate planning and control within organizations. Often, these many roles of accounting information interact, posing challenges for system designers, policy makers, and standard setters.

The main goal of the accounting doctoral program is to train students to do high-quality research, and become influential scholars in top academic institutions. In addition, the program leverages the resources and excellence of Rice University in related fields such as finance, economics and statistics. Students will be required to take courses in economics, statistics, econometrics, finance, and a rigorous set of cutting-edge research seminars covering the essentials in theory, research methods, and contemporary accounting issues.

Rice Business offers an outstanding program for doctoral students interested in accounting.

Introduction to Accounting Research The course offers a thorough and broad-ranging introduction to accounting theory and research. It covers origins and evolution of key relevant accounting institutions, thought, paradigms and methods.

Analytical Research The course provides a thorough and comprehensive introduction into the key economic theories underlying a significant part of contemporary cutting edge accounting research. The course is designed to be sufficiently deep to support both students intent on pursuing analytical research and at the same time broad enough that students with an empirical orientation will gain a solid foundation.

Papers in the major research areas, methodological issues and emerging areas within empirical accounting research.

Advanced Contemporary Accounting Research The course provides a advanced treatment of cutting edge, predominantly empirical accounting research. Accordingly, the course content is expected to change frequently to reflect the current state of accounting research.

For doctoral students who have chosen accounting as their area, the Ph.D. degree requirements are as follows.

Students must complete a review course in Quantitative Methods in the summer before the beginning of the first semester.

During the first two years of the program, students must take a minimum of three doctoral-level courses per semester and preferably four courses in total per semester.

Only students not on probation and with a satisfactory annual evaluation are eligible to take the comprehensive exam. The exam is focused on the coursework taken in accounting and topics covered in research workshops offered by the accounting area.

Students are expected to constitute their dissertation committee by the beginning of their fourth year in the program.

During the dissertation phase (post successfully completing the comprehensive exam), students are strongly encouraged to take one course every semester (from the first semester of the third year to the second semester of the fourth year) to advance their skills and knowledge in tools, techniques, and topics relevant to their area of interest dissertation topic.

ECON 501Microeconomic Theory I ECON 510 Econometrics I BUSI 530Introduction to Accounting Research Workshop in Statistical Computing and Research Elective.

ECON 508 Microeconomics II BUSI 532Analytical Research in Accounting BUSI 5 Contemporary Accounting Research Topics Workshop in Statistical Computing and Research Elective.

BUSI 531 Empirical Methods in Accounting BUSI 523Empirical Methods in Finance Elective Elective.

BUSI 532 Analytical Research in Accounting (suggested retake) BUSI 5 Contemporary Accounting Research Topics (suggested retake) Elective Elective.

Doctoral students may continue taking graduate-level accounting courses beyond their second year as well. Examples of elective courses are:.