Accounting

Data-Driven Decision Making

Learn to analyze and make business decisions based on financial information. Leverage the teaching and research excellence of Rotman’s faculty, recognized among the Global Top Ten for finance and research.

Overview

In the Accounting emphasis, you will learn how to interpret and analyze financial information in order to use this information in formulating business decisions. Through your course work, you will learn the key drivers of reporting behaviour, develop your understanding of financial statements, and obtain skills to make informed decisions using financial information.

"While there is nothing illegal about the way tech companies report their earnings, these reports can be misleading to investors."

– Ramy Elitzur, accounting professor, in an online article

Topics covered

Specific topics covered include:

Analyzing and interpreting financial statements
Understanding discretion involved in disclosure
Various incentives and pressures impacting on financial reporting decisions
Identifying tax implications associated with various business and investment activities
Risk management
Developing business valuation techniques
Forecasting earnings and firm value
Formulating decisions and recommendations based on financial analysis

Courses that support studies in Accounting

It is recommended that students interested in Accounting choose elective courses from the following selection:

Taxation and Decision Making
Financial Statement Analysis
Financial Distress and Insolvency
Business Analysis and Valuation
Analytical Insight from Financial Accounting Data
Financial Fraud and Management Control
Accounting for Entrepreneurs
Corporate Strategy
Corporate Financing
Financial Management
Financial Institutions and Capital Markets

For detailed information on each elective course, please see our MBA electives guide.

Career paths for Accounting

Students pursuing a career where one needs to analyze and make decisions based on financial information will find this emphasis to be beneficial. Specific career paths include financial analyst, equity research (buy-side and sell-side), treasury, consulting, corporate finance, investment banking, general management, or internal audit. This learning pathway may be particularly helpful to students who plan to pursue a CFA designation, given the volume of Accounting material in CFA Levels I and II.