UW Foster Announces the Accounting for Business Professionals Major

An empowered career path and a natural double major from The Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington

The Accounting Department at the Foster School of Business is excited to announce a second accounting major, Accounting for Business Professionals, which is available to students starting Spring 2022. The Accounting for Business Professionals is designed for students who want to gain the accounting knowledge and skills needed to excel as a business professional, but who are not looking to complete all the requirements needed to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). This major is shorter, can be tailored to student preferences, and can easily be paired with another major at Foster.

Accounting is the language of business and having these accounting skills is critical to a student’s future success as a strategic thinker and leader in any organization. The full accounting major provides a complete curriculum that prepares students to become Certified Public Accountants.

Kristi Lord, Co-founder, L’AVANT Collective

A solid foundation in accounting, cashflow, and forecast analysis is essential to the health of our e-commerce start up. You must know your numbers in order to survive and thrive in this competitive entrepreneur landscape. If your aspirations include running your own business, an understanding of accounting and cashflow is critical. Especially when you are sitting across the table from your investors.”
– Kristi Lord, Co-founder, L’AVANT Collective

Obtaining a CPA opens many doors and opportunities; however, the full major can be difficult to combine with another major for those students aiming for careers outside of accounting, such as careers focused in investment banking, product management, and entrepreneurship. The Accounting for Business Professionals major fills this gap and makes it more accessible for students to obtain valuable accounting knowledge and skills in their curriculum.

Chris Brown, ’14, CFA, CPA: Senior Analyst at Steelhead Partners

As a Foster graduate with a background in both accounting and finance, I view accounting as a critically important foundational skillset necessary for pursuing a career in investment management. A sound understanding of accounting principles has been instrumental in my ability to analyze financial statements and make fundamentally sound investment decisions throughout my career.”
– Chris Brown, ’14, CFA, CPA: Senior Analyst at Steelhead Partners

Charles M. C. Lee, Chartered Accountant & Hanson Professor of Accounting at Foster

The Accounting for Business Professionals major allows students to choose from the available accounting courses that align with that student’s interests and career goals. All students will take a financial reporting class and then can choose the remaining courses to align with their interests, such as focusing their electives on data analytics, taxation, or financial statement analysis.

Accounting is a language, and early fluency in accounting can open the whole business world to you. As the co-founder of two hedge funds and a former co-manager of over $300 billion in investment assets, I am grateful every day that I learned accounting as an undergraduate.” – Charles M. C. Lee, Chartered Accountant & Hanson Professor of Accounting at Foster