Certificate of Achievement Professional Accountant

The Certificate of Achievement Professional Accountant is to assist both career and transfer students. The goal is to help students gain employment as an accountant in the work world and to assist towards the 150 hour requirement of the CPA certification. This degree helps you learn accounting, the QuickBooks program, and how to perform payroll. The student learning outcomes include:

Upon successful completion of this degree, the student will be able to:

A. Analyze, organize, and present financial data in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

B. Prepare accurate and ethical financial statements.

C. Demonstrate appropriate written calculations and documentation to support journal entries ,general ledger, financial statements and business decisions.

D. Find and revise accounting errors and make appropriate adjustments when accounting changes occur.

E. Work independently and develop appropriate problem solving skills. Demonstrate good work habits necessary to succeed in the field of accounting and become employable. 

F. Demonstrate proficiency with QuickBooks Pro software by recording various business transactions using QuickBooks Pro.

G. Set up a new or existing business’ accounting records on QuickBooks Pro.

H. Calculate gross employee earnings, tax withholding, other payroll deductions, and net pay in accordance with relevant federal and state laws. Analyze, journalize and post payroll transactions into the accounting system applying appropriate payroll principles.

I. Explain the difference between an employee and an independent contractor and the various forms that are required of each.

J. Recognize the difference between exempt and non-exempt employees, who qualifies, pay requirements, overtime requirements, and various types of wages and how to calculate each. 

K. Describe the different requirements and procedures for calculating and depositing payroll taxes. Describe and follow employment laws that impact the payroll of a company; including requirements for federal, state, and other government agencies. 

We feel based on the LMI we could have between 10-30 students earn this certificate annually. 

This degree helps both the transfer and the career students at Butte College. If a student completes these courses, they could go out into the work place and become a bookkeeper and an accountant. This helps students work as they go to school, or if they just want to go into the work place with important employable skills of QuickBooks, ability to do Payroll in California using QuickBooks, understanding accounting make these students ready to go into the work place and earn money.

This program requires students to complete the classes listed below. Acct 2 is a prerequisite to Acct 4 and teaches basic accounting and is a focus on user's of financial statements and how to do basic accounting. Acct 4 is Managerial accounting and helps students learn how to account for the internal workings of a company; how to manage an company (budgets, decision making, cost accounting, and more). Accounting 100 and 110 teach students real world skills. This allows them to work proficiently in the dominant software program in the work world, QuickBooks Pro, and helps students learn how to handle Payroll which is needed by every company. Last of all is Acct 30 our Capstone class which helps students with many projects where students use their accounting software skills and knowledge used in prior classes to do practice sets to prepare students for the work world and to prepare them to take the AIPBA Professional Bookkeeper certificate. This is an external certificate that proves students are ready for the work world.