Accounting
Certificate Program

Accounting

The ledger of financial strategy

Enroll in Certificate View Individual Courses

Certificate Description

Note to Prospective Students

Dear Prospective Accounting Student,

We are excited that you are interested in pursuing a career in Accounting, which continues to be a critical and versatile career in today's economy. We are, however, making some changes to our curriculum. While you are invited to enroll in any open course and pick up practical skills for the field (some courses apply to the certificate in Business Administration) we are not accepting new certificate program candidates at this time. We will provide an update to the program shortly.

Questions? Please reach out to Tanya Doyle, program manager, at tdoyle@ucsc.edu.

Thank you!

— UCSC Silicon Valley Professional Education

Understand the bottom line of your organization

Help build its future. In our four-course accounting certificate program you learn to analyze transactions, prepare financials, and explore complex issues so you can collaborate with management and communicate financial needs of an organization. This is a great foundation for someone interested in pursuing a career as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA®) or Certified Management Accountant (CMA®). Start building your career network with working professionals in the area.

Accounting certificate program objectives

  • Analyze transactions
  • Prepare financial statements
  • Understand complex accounting issues—investments revenue recognition, leases, bonds, and pensions; and
  • Collaborate with management to analyze and plan organizational financial needs.
Cost: $ 3,255 | International Tuition Cost
Required Credits: Total Required: 4 courses/16 units. End with certificate of completion review.
Duration: A full-time student can complete the certificate in 6–12 months.

Courses

Course Units Fall Winter Spring Summer
1. Required Courses
Intermediate Accounting I 4.0
Intermediate Accounting II 4.0
Introduction to Accounting I: Financial Accounting 4.0
Introduction to Accounting II: Managerial Accounting 4.0
2. Required Certificate Review
Accounting Certificate Completion Fee None

Certificate Inquiry Form

Contact Us
Speak to a student services representative.

Call (408) 861-3860

Envelope extension@ucsc.edu

Professional Development

Professional Credit

Your accounting courses may qualify for professional education or recertification credit.

  • HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®)
  • Professional in Human Resources® (PHR®)
  • Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR)
  • Global Professional in Human Resources® (GPHR®)

Please verify with your professional organization for more information.

Become a CPA® or a CMA®.

If you’ve completed the UCSC Extension Accounting certificate, explore our CPA® preparation courses.

Earn grad school credit

Want to apply for an M.S. or an M.B.A? Some of our courses are recognized for credit at graduate programs.

Licensure and Certification

Please see our Licensure and Certification Policy to learn more.

Requisite Knowledge

Please review the course descriptions to ensure that you have taken necessary prerequisites or meet the requirements through job experience or previous education.

Advisory Board

Certificate Program Chair

DIANNE V. CONRY, M.S. in financial accounting, CPA, is a consultant with Kranz & Associates and has more than 20 years of accounting experience both in public accounting and in private industry. She is an experienced instructor and has taught financial accounting at several area colleges.

Certificate Program Advisory Committee

SHAUNA BARKER, M.B.A, CPA (inactive)
CFO Consultant
San Francisco Bay Area

SUE CHEUNG Ph.D., CPA.
CFO
QuickLogic Corp.
Sunnyvale, CA

DIANNE CONRY M.S., CPA,
Consultant
Kranz & Associates
Menlo Park, CA
Chair/Instructor, Accounting Certificate Program
UCSC Silicon Valley Extension

THARAN (TERRY) LANIER M.B.A., CPA,
Principal
Seeba & Associates, Inc.
Instructor, Accounting Certificate Program
UCSC Silicon Valley Extension

TERRY MULLIN M.B.A, M.S, M.S
Professor of Business and Accounting
Cabrillo College
Instructor, Accounting Certificate Program
UCSC Silicon Valley Extension

HAONING RICHTER CPA, CIA, CCEP
Founder
HYR Consulting LLC.
Instructor, Accounting Certificate Program
UCSC Silicon Valley Extension

Declaring Candidacy

You can enroll in a certificate program any time during your studies.

Once you create your student account, you can enroll in a certificate program. Although you can enroll in a program at any time, the benefit of enrolling early is that it locks in your certificate requirements. This means that even if program requirements change, the requirements to complete your certificate will remain the same for you.

  • You must enroll in the certificate program before enrolling in the Certificate Completion Review.

You have a total of five years to complete all necessary courses in a certificate program.

All the necessary units in a certificate must be completed within a five-year window. The clock begins on the first day of your first course in the certificate program. For example, if you started a course on Sept. 5, 2017, you would have to complete all of the required units in this certificate by Sept. 4, 2022.

  • Enrolling in a certificate program does not trigger the beginning of the five-year window. It begins the first day of the first course that applies to a certificate program.
  • The Certificate Completion Review process does not have to occur within the five-year timeframe.

Grade Requirements

Please note that only letter grades of C- or higher may be applied to a certificate, and in some programs, students may have more stringent requirements. Students in most employer- and government-sponsored payment programs, such as workforce development, as well as international students on F-1 visas, need to maintain a B average to meet their requirements. Personal Financial Planning students have additional grade requirements for individual courses to attain a certificate.

See Grading and Credits Policy for further information.