School of Business
School of Business
Accounting identifies, measures and communicates economic information to external groups such as investors, and to internal groups, such as managers. Although many students in this major go into accounting, it also provides easily transferable skills that will equip you for a career in banking, insurance, or consulting. The Accounting major provides the prerequisites necessary for the Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) program.
43.9%
Based on 2019/20 academic year enrolment, 147 out of 335 BBA students are in the Accounting major.
Uniqueness of the Accounting major
The Accounting major is a requirement for a professional career pathway in accounting (CPA), which can lead to high-level positions such as CEO, CFO, controller, and internal auditor, among others.
Student success opportunities
The Common Final Examination (CFE) is a three-day examination requiring CPA candidates to demonstrate depth and breadth of competency development in accordance, with the CPA Competency Map. In 2019, the CFE average pass rate for all three days on the first attempt was 81.9%.
Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada) congratulates the individuals who made the honour roll while successfully passing the profession's Common Final Examination (CFE). In total, 6,371 candidates passed the September 2020 CFE. A number of UFV alumni have made the National Honour Roll over the years.
In 2016, two UFV teams of four business students entered into the CPABC’s Annual Business Case Competition. This was a first for the UFV School of Business. Teams from all post-secondary schools in BC participated (teams of four had to have at least two students from 1st and 2nd year). For the first round, a panel of CPAs judged the submitted videos of presentations covering a Harvard Business School case on Manchester United.
One UFV team was a top eight finalist, chosen from over 30 teams from all around BC. During the final round, held in Vancouver on March 12, 2016, teams had 3 hours to solve a case and 15 minutes to present recommendations to the panel of CPA judges.
"Meeting UFV exchange students while living in residence motivated me to study abroad. I chose the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt in Austria because it is in the middle of Europe, which made it great for travelling. Learning abroad forced me to be adaptable. The teaching style there is different. Being out of my comfort zone and still succeeding was huge for me. On a personal level, the best takeaway is the people I met and friends I made. I got to stay with friends when I visited Helsinki and Salzburg. Those weekends are in my top favourite travel experiences, as you get a totally different perspective staying with a local. Honestly Study Abroad is a great experience. It can be a lot a planning, but it is totally worth it.
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Students are encouraged to view course offerings to find the school that best fits their program.
Typical Co-op jobs
"I decided to participate in Co-op because future employment is so competitive, especially for accounting students who start in the fall semester. I’ve completed three Co-op terms with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), and Deloitte. The experiences were a great opportunity to get my foot in the door, and there were plenty of learning and growth opportunities to capitalize on. I really appreciated the ability to network with Deloitte. To me, Co-op is a no brainer from an accounting and business perspective, and I recommended that everyone consider this program."
"I joined the Co-op program unsure of which major I wanted to pursue, which was a toss-up between marketing and accounting.
"During my time in the program, I completed three co-op work terms: two terms with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and one term with KPMG. By the end of my third work term, I was certain that accounting was the major I wanted to pursue.
"Besides helping to confirm my major, the Co-op program provided many opportunities to get my foot in the door with employers, gain valuable work experience, and network with future employers. I recommend all students attend a Co-op workshop to learn about opportunities available in their field of study and join the program as soon as they can."
A junior accountant provides support to a financial department by managing daily accounting tasks. Preparing financial statements and reporting are a large part of the junior accountant’s day-to-day work. The goal is to contribute to the overall efficient operation of the financial department and help a company be fully aware of its financial condition in order to allow decision makers to make the right decisions and accomplish long-term success.
$60,000
Salary range: $39,000 to $94,994 [NOC 1111]
The forensic practice focuses on assisting corporations, lawyers, and others by providing litigation support, quantification of damages, investigations into fraud, other inappropriate actions, review of insurance claims, regulatory knowledge and assistance, advising on fraud risk management strategies, compliance with contracts, and other similar assignments.
The Senior Cost Accountant / Financial Analyst collects data; analyzes and investigates variances; summarizes data, information, and trends. This position has a heavy administrative component including, but not limited to analyzing company profit, inventory costing, customer and supplier pricing, flyer specials, spreadsheet maintenance, and navigating the company’s ERP system.
As the highest executives of an accounting firm, partners direct and determine the final decision on all its projects and activities. They establish the firm's policies and procedures, and make sure these practices are carried out in all of the firm's offices. Other duties include, managing the accounting firm's staff, select managers, and evaluate managers' performance; overseeing the operation of regional offices, coordinating their activities, and monitoring their performance; and taking responsibility for the financial well-being of the firm and ensuring it bring in a profit.
Graduates without relevant work, Co-op, or international study experience should expect an entry-level pay at the lower end of the spectrum.
In 2011, Alex McAulay and a friend started the Naked Brand Group Inc. As CFO, COO, and director, Alex took the company public in 2012.
Now as the CFO of Garmatex Technologies Inc., an innovative developer and supplier of scientifically-engineered fabric technologies, he is doing it again, going public with a cutting-edge product.
Alex’s career started in UFV’s BBA program, where he specialized in accounting. Afterwards, he went on to receive his Chartered Accountant designation and worked for MNP LLP in public practice, before kick-starting the Naked Brand Group.
“It is a very technical program at UFV and without it, I wouldn’t have been able to complete the CA program,” says Alex.
Looking back, he feels great appreciation of the UFV professor who pushed him to get his CA designation. “Isn’t it crazy how a little conversation can change your life so completely,” he says. “Keith’s guidance alone has given me a lifetime of happiness and wealth. If I had gone to a larger university, who knows if something like that would have ever happened. I am very proud of the route I took, but I wouldn’t have gotten there without my professors at UFV,” he stresses.
The BBA program at UFV prepared me very well for the CPA certification program, and it built the foundation of technical knowledge I needed for my career. There were a lot of hands-on courses that were very helpful in connecting all the classes together.