CPA Exam Preparation: Business-Related Subjects Requirement

The CPA Exam Preparation: Business-Related Subjects Requirement Certificate of Achievement is designed for students who have earned a four-year degree or higher in a field other than accounting and need to earn the required business-related subject credits to sit for the CPA exam. 

Upon completion of the program, a student will meet the California Board of Accountancy’s 24-unit educational requirement for “Business-Related Subjects." Successfully passing the CPA exam opens a range of career opportunities in the public, private and non-profit accounting fields.

19 students will complete this certificate annually.

The Accounting program is creating this certificate to fulfill the current and projected demand for accountants. This new certificate along with new courses are supported by the Accounting Advisory Committee which met on October 22, 2021 and the COE report dated August 2021.

This certificate will provide the student with the mandated business coursework required to take the Uniform CPA exam. The applicant must complete 24 semester units of required business courses. This certificate prepares students for a career in accounting, auditing and taxation.

Note 1: Any of the courses above can be taken to satisfy the 24 unit business-related subject requirement.

Note 2: For the purpose of satisfying the CPA exam business-related subjects requirement, any accounting subjects in excess of the 24 units needed to fulfill the accounting subject requirement can be taken to satisfy the 24 unit business-related subject requirement. 

Note 3: Some of the courses in this certificate are also included in the CPA Exam Preparation: Accounting Subjects Requirement Certificate and the CPA Licensure: Accounting Study and Ethics Certificate. For purposes of satisfying the course requirements for this certificate, only select courses that have not been counted towards the CPA Exam Preparation: Accounting Subjects Requirement Certificate and/or the CPA Licensure: Accounting Study and Ethics Certificate. 

Note 4: To sit for the CPA Exam, you must have baccalaureate degree or higher, including 24 semester units of accounting subjects and 24 semester units of business-related subjects.

Students should visit the California Board of Accountancy website at https://www.dca.ca.gov/cba/index.shtml for more information regarding the educational requirements to sit for the CPA exam and the requirements for CPA licensure.

variesComplete 24 of the following courses:

Course	Title	Units	Year/Semester (Y1 or S1)
ACCT 100	Accounting	4	varies
ACCT 111	Taxation of Business Entities	4	varies
ACCT 112	Computerized Income Tax Preparation	2	varies
ACCT 113	Volunteer Income Tax Assistance I	4	varies
ACCT 114	Volunteer Income Tax Assistance II	4	varies
ACCT 115	QuickBooks	2	varies
ACCT 116	Tax Practices and Procedures	3	varies
ACCT 118	Payroll Accounting	3	varies
ACCT 203	Intermediate Accounting I	3	varies
ACCT 204	Intermediate Accounting II	3	varies
ACCT 205	Cost Accounting	3	varies
ACCT 206	Auditing	3	varies
ACCT 207	Fraud Examination	3	varies
BUS 130	Introduction to Business	3	varies
BUS 140	International Business	3	varies
BUS 141	International Marketing	3	varies
BUS 142	Fundamentals of Importing and Exporting	3	varies
BUS 146	Principles of Money Management	3	varies
BUS 152	Business Communications	3	varies
BUS 160	Business Law and the Legal Environment I	3	varies
BUS 161	Business Law and the Legal Environment II	3	varies
BUS 170	Small Business Management	3	varies
BUS 171	Human Relations in the Workplace	3	varies
BUS 172	Human Resources Management	3	varies
BUS 175	Introduction to Management	3	varies
BUS 185	Elements of Marketing	3	varies
BUS 192	Advertising	3	varies
ECON 101 or ECON 101H	Principles of Macroeconomics or Principles of Macroeconomics Honors	3	varies
ECON 102	Principles of Microeconomics	3	varies
ITIS 104	Information Technology	4	varies
ITIS 107	Network Technology	4	varies
ITIS 108	Network Operating Systems	4	varies
ITIS 109	Network and Computer Security	4	varies
ITIS 115	Computer Information Systems	3.5	varies
ITIS 120	Cybersecurity:  Ethical Hacking	3	varies
ITIS 130	Microcomputer Applications I	4	varies
ITIS 160	Introduction to Database Concepts	3	varies
ITIS 165	Database Principles Using SQL	3	varies
ITIS 180A	Introduction to Cloud Computing	3	varies
MATH 180	Calculus for Business and Social Sciences	4	varies
MATH 165 or MATH 165H	Introductory Statistics or Introductory Statistics Honors	4	varies

Mathematics and Business Division

Santa Monica College - CPA Track Certificate

19 students expected to enroll annually in this program.