Master of Accountancy
The Master of Accountancy, alternatively Master of Science in Accounting or Master of Professional Accountancy is a graduate professional degree designed to prepare students for public accounting and to provide them with the 150 credit hours of classroom, but mostly clinical hours, required by most states before taking the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination.
Similar graduate programs exist in Canada, where certain universities such as Brock University's Goodman School of Business, University of Waterloo's School of Accounting and Finance, and Carleton University's Sprott School of Business, offer the MAcc and waive all education requirements up until the Common Final Examination in order to become a Canadian CPA.
A Master of Professional Accounting can also be obtained from Australian universities to qualify for the Australian CPA, IPA or CA.
This specialty program usually runs one to two years in length and contains from ten to twelve three semester credit courses. The program may consist of all graduate accounting courses or a combination of graduate accounting courses, graduate management, tax, leadership and other graduate business electives. The program is designed to not only prepare students for the CPA examination but also to provide a strong knowledge of accounting principles and business applications.
Graduates entering corporate accounting or consulting often additionally pursue the Certified Management Accountant, Certified Internal Auditor or other certifications.
Note that in other countries, the degree's purpose may differ. Where the Bachelor of Accountancy is the prerequisite for professional practice, for example in South Africa, the Master of Accountancy then comprises specialized coursework in a specific area of accountancy, as opposed to CPA preparation as above. It may also be offered as a research based program, granting access to doctoral programs.
