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Study Pathway

BBA in Professional Accounting

About the Program

The minimum number of credits needed to fulfill the degree requirements is 120.  Students should pay attention to the supplementary notes appended at the bottom.

The curriculum consists of three parts:

  • University Common Core Courses
  • School Required Courses
  • Major Required Courses

University Common Core Courses

New curriculum (30 credits) (admitted in 2022/23 onwards)

The new 30-credit Common Core framework will take effect from the acdemic year 2022/23. All undergradueates admitted from 2022/23 and thereafter will follow the new 30-credit program framwork. Please refer to here for details.

Old curriculum (36 Credits) (admitted in 2021/22 or before)

University Common Core courses are required for all HKUST SBM students.  Students are required to study the corresponding credits in each of the specified areas.

University Common Core AREASCredits
Humanities (H) 3
Social Analysis (SA) 3
Science and Technology (S&T) 3
Humanities - School Sponsored Course (H-SSC) 3
Social Analysis - School Sponsored Course (SA-SSC) 3
Science and Technology - School Sponsored Course (S&T-SSC) 3
Chinese Communication (C-Comm) 3
English Communication (E-Comm: LANG 1002 & LANG 1003)* 6
Quantitative Reasoning (QR) 3
Core Electives in H, SA, S&T, QR or Arts 6
Healthy Lifestyle (HLTH 1010)* 0
*Must be taken in the first year of study  
Subtotal credits 36

School Required Courses (45-46 credits)

Course CodeCourse TitleCredits 
ACCT 2010 Principles of Accounting I 3  
ACCT 2200 Principles of Accounting II 3  
ECON 2103 OR 
ECON 2113		 Principles of Microeconomics OR 
Microeconomics		 3  

ECON 2123 OR 
ECON 3123

 Macroeconomics OR 
Macroeconomic Theory I (Required for BSc ECOF)		 3  
FINA 2303 Financial Management 3  
ISOM 2010 Introduction to Information Systems 3  
ISOM 2020 Coding for Business (For students admitted since 2019/2020) 1  
ISOM 2500 Business Statistics 3  
ISOM 2600 Introduction to Business Analytics (For students admitted since 2019/2020) 1  
ISOM 2700 Operations Management  3  
MARK 2120 Marketing Management 3  
MGMT 2010 Business Ethics and the Individual  2  
MGMT 2110 Organizational Behavior  3  
MGMT 2130 Business Ethics and Social Responsibility  2  
SBMT 1111 Business Student Induction 0   
LABU 2040 Business Case Analyses  3  
LABU 2060 Effective Communication in Business 3  
       

Students also required to take ONE of the following Mathematics courses (3-4 credits)

Course CodeCourse Title Credits 
MATH 1003 Calculus and Linear Algebra (3 credits)      
MATH 1012  Calculus IA (4 credits)    
MATH 1013  Calculus IB (3 credits)   3 or 4
MATH 1020  Accelerated Calculus (4 credits)    
MATH 1023  Honors Calculus I (3 credits)    
  Subtotal credits   45 or 46


The new BBA (ACCT) curriculum shown below is effective from 2020 Fall semester for students admitted in 2018/19 and thereafter.  Students admitted in 2017/18 or earlier should follow the old curriculum and the old study pathway.

 

Major Required Courses (22 credits)

COURSE CODECOURSE TITLECREDITS  OFFERING SEMESTER(S)
ACCT 3010 Financial Accounting I 3     Fall Only
ACCT 3020  Financial Accounting II  3      Spring Only 
ACCT 3210  Advanced Management Accounting  3      Spring Only
ACCT 3610  Business Law  3      Fall & Spring
ACCT 3880  Professional Excellence Program  1      Fall Only
ACCT 4010  Advanced Financial Accounting  3      Fall Only
ACCT 4410 Taxation  3      Spring Only
ACCT 4510 Auditing 3      Fall Only

All required courses will be pre-registered for first major accounting students according to the schedule below: 

FALL SEMESTER
Year 3 (Sep - Dec)
  • ACCT 3010 Financial Accounting I (3 credits)
  • ACCT 3610 Business Law# (3 credits)
  • ACCT 3880 Professional Excellence Program (1 credit)
SPRING SEMESTER
Year 3 (Feb - May)
  • ACCT 3020 Financial Accounting II (3 credits)
  • ACCT 3210 Advanced Management Accounting (3 credits)
FALL SEMESTER
Year 4 (Sep - Dec)
  • ACCT 4010 Advanced Financial Accounting (3 credits)
  • ACCT 4510 Auditing (3 credits)
SPRING SEMESTER
Year 4 (Feb - May)
  • ACCT 4410 Taxation (3 credits)

#Offered in both Fall and Spring Semesters

Note: The Academic Registry does NOT conduct pre-registration for students having accounting as their additional major.  They should enroll in ALL accounting courses by themselves on the course registration day but not waiting until the add/drop period.

 

Major Electives Available 

Course CodeCourse TitleCredits  Offering Semester(s)
ACCT 4610 Company Law (relevant to Study Pathway 2 below) 3      Spring Only
MGMT 4210 Corporate Strategy (relevant to Study Pathway 2 below)  3       Fall & Spring 
ACCT 4020 Financial Statement Analysis 3       Spring Only
ACCT 4710 Accounting Analytics for Professional Accountants
(relevant to Study Pathway 3 below)  		 3       Fall & Spring
ACCT 4720 Equity Investment with Machine Learning 3      Spring Only
ISOM 3400 Python Programming for Business Analytics
(relevant to Study Pathway 3 below)		 3       Fall & Spring
ENVR 4320

ESG Management and Reporting

 3      Spring Only

Note: All the above electives are NOT pre-registered for accounting major students.  They should enroll in their chosen elective(s) on the course registration day.

 

BBA (ACCT) New Curriculum  

The new BBA (ACCT) curriculum provides flexibility for accounting students.  Students can choose ONE of the following four study pathways:

 

 Choice of Study Pathway
available to students
(Important Note 1)		Course Required No.of
Credits
Required 
1

Minimum Credits Requirement

(i.e., the minimum requirement
for graduating with accounting major)

Required Courses (22 credits)

plus any ONE of the following Major Electives
(3 credits)

  • ACCT 4610 Company Law
  • MGMT 4210 Corporate Strategy
  • ACCT 4020 Financial Statement Analysis
  • ACCT 4710 Accounting Analytics for Professional Accountants     
  • ACCT 4720 Equity Investment with Machine Learning
  • ISOM 3400 Python Programming for Business Analytics
  • ENVR 4320 ESG Management and Reporting
      25
2   HKICPA QP Path 
(i.e., students choosing this pathway,
subject to vetting from the HKICPA, will obtain
full exemption of all the 10 Associate Modules in HKICPA QP Program)		 Required Courses (22 credits) 
plus the following Major Electives (6 credits)
  • ACCT 4610 Company Law
  • MGMT 4210 Corporate Strategy
     28
3 Accounting Analytics (“AA”) Option

Note: Courses taken as Option Required Courses
are not used to fulfill ACCT elective requirement.

Required Courses (22 credits) 
plus the following requirements

A. TWO AA Option Required Courses (6 credits)      
  • ACCT 4710 Accounting Analytics for Professional Accountants
  • ISOM 3400 Python Programming for Business Analytics

AND

B. Any ONE of the following Major Electives (3 credits)    
  • ACCT 4610 Company Law 
  • MGMT 4210 Corporate Strategy
  • ACCT 4020 Financial Statement Analysis
  • ACCT 4720 Equity Investment with Machine Learning
  • ENVR 4320 ESG Management and Reporting
     31
4  HKICPA QP Path
plus Accounting Analytics ("AA") Option

Required Courses (22 credits) 
plus the following Major Electives (12 credits)

  • ACCT 4610 Company Law
  • MGMT 4210 Corporate Strategy
  • ACCT 4710 Accounting Analytics for Professional Accountants
  • ISOM 3400 Python Programming for Business Analytics
     34

 

   Important Notes regarding the Four Study Pathways

  1. Only the minimum graduation requirement and the Accounting Analytics Option are shown in the Normative Study Pathway and the Curriculum Catalogue 
    The HKICPA QP path is NOT indicated in these two official documents because HKICPA QP is not a graduation requirement of the HKUST BBA (ACCT) program.
  2. Please read carefully the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) here when deciding which option to choose.
  3. Please read the course catalogues below for detailed course information (e.g., description, prerequisite, exclusion):
    ACCT courses  
    MGMT courses (for MGMT 4210) 
    ISOM courses (for ISOM 3400)  
  4. HKICPA QP Path:
    Required courses for the “QP” study pathway – Students choosing the QP pathway are advised to enroll in both ACCT 4610 and MGMT 4210 in their 3rd year or as early as possible.
  5. Accounting Analytics (“AA”) Option:
    Required courses for the “AA” study pathway – Students choosing the AA Option are advised to enroll for ISOM 3400 in their 3rd year or as early as possible.

    Students who intend to opt for the accounting analytics option, DO NOT enroll in COMP 1021 Introduction to Computer Science, which is an exclusion course to ISOM 3400 Python Programming for Business Analytics.
  6. For students intended to choose any of the above choices other than the ACCT major minimum requirement, they need to complete the required electives within the normal study period.  Those students who have finished the minimum ACCT major requirement but not the AA Option, they will not be allowed to extend their study terms to finish the AA Option. Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions for details. 

   General Important Notes for BBA (ACCT) Students

  1. University Common Core course taking:

    Students are advised to enroll in 12 credits University Common Core Courses (including E-Comm and HLTH1010) in Year One; 9 credits in Year Two; 9 credits in Year Three and 6 credits in Year Four.  The total number of required University Common Core credits is 36.

  2. DO NOT enroll in SOSC 1440 Introduction to Economics and COMP 1001 Exploring Multimedia and Internet Computing. These two courses are exclusion courses to the School Required Courses ECON 2103/2113/2123 and ISOM 2010 respectively.
  3. DO NOT enroll in COMP 1021, Introduction to Computer Science if you intend to select the Accounting Analytics ("AA") Option.  Please refer to Note 5. of "Important Notes regarding the Four Study Pathways" above.
  4. Total credit load of different ACCT Study Pathways (including University Common Core and School Required Courses): 
    The minimum credits requirement under accounting major@ 106/107 credits
    HKICPA QP Path 109/110 credits
    Accounting Analytics (“AA”) Option 112/113 credits
    HKICPA QP Path plus Accounting Analytics ("AA") Option 115/116 credits

     @Students should obtain at least 120 credits to fulfil the minimum graduation requirement.

       After fulfilling the ACCT major requirement, you may take free electives (ie., any UG courses offered by SBM, SSCI, SENG and SHSS) to meet
       the 120-credit requirement.         

  5. BBA in Professional Accounting has obtained accreditation from both the academic and professional bodies which include AACSB, HKICPA, ACCA, CPA Australia. The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the Taxation Institute of Hong Kong grant relevant examination papers exemption to the graduates of the program.