Advanced Placement: A score of 4 or 5 in Principles of Microeconomics and Principles of Macroeconomics earns credit toward ECON 110 (Principles of Economics) and counts toward the social science common area requirement. Prospective majors with AP credit in just one of the two AP economics courses must complete the one semester course at Holy Cross. A score of 6 or 7 on the higher-level economics IB exam earns credit toward ECON 110 (Principles of Economics) and counts toward the social science common area requirement. A score of 4 or 5 in Statistics earns credit for ECON 249 (Statistics) and counts toward the mathematical science common area requirement. Students with AP or IB credit for both principles will forfeit the credits if they enroll in ECON 110. Students with AP credit for statistics will forfeit that credit if they enroll in ECON 249.
Majors: Students considering a major in accounting must enroll in ACCT 181 (Financial Accounting) in the fall of their first or second year. If they are enrolled in or have completed ACCT 181, they may request permission to take the spring offering of ACCT 277 (Intermediate Accounting I) and the required Excel Accounting lab. Students enrolled in ACCT 277 will be invited to apply to the major. Applicants earning a C- or better in ACCT 277 will be offered admission to the major.
Advisory Note: Mathematics and quantitative reasoning play an important role in accounting. Accounting majors are required to complete one semester of college calculus or the equivalent. The calculus requirement may be fulfilled by advanced placement (a score of 4 or higher on the AB exam) or the completion of the first course in calculus (either MATH 133 or 135). Please see the listing under Mathematics for further guidance.
Students interested in the accounting major have several options for structuring their first year program, with combinations of Financial Accounting, Calculus, and Principles of Economics.
Please contact the Accounting Coordinator, Prof. Nancy Baldiga (nbaldiga@holycross.edu), with any questions regarding course selections in accounting.
ACCT 181
Financial Accounting
Common Area: None
Information drives decision-making in today's economy. Investors, lenders, regulators, and employees rely on the information in an entity's financial statements as they make important economic decisions. In the financial accounting course, students gain an understanding of the framework used by entities to report what they own, what they owe, their cash flows and the results of their operations. Students will develop their problem solving, quantitative reasoning and communication skills as they learn to create and analyze an entity's financial statements. This course is required for prospective accounting majors and is useful for anyone interested in learning more about financial reporting and analysis.
Advising Note: Students who are considering the accounting major should enroll in ACCT 181 in the fall of their first or second year.