MS in Accounting

Fall 2026 cohort - Audit Analytics Track

Students join the MS in Accounting program with a variety of technical skills and educational and professional backgrounds. The resources below have been compiled to assist incoming new MS in Accounting students with preparing for their fall coursework. 

All UMD students have unlimited complimentary access to LinkedIn Learning, an online library of >60,000 videos, courses, and career development paths focused on the latest software, creative, and business skills.

Required Pre-Skills Assignment for BUAC 712: Business Communication with Professor Handwerger 

Stories—we all like to hear stories. WHY?

Perhaps it helps us make sense out of the events of our life. We seem to be genetically wired to “accomplish” things while we are alive on this earth, to have a meaningful life. Yet life events often seem random.

So if we hear “stories” of others, then perhaps hearing how others have found meaning in the events of their lives helps us find meaning in our own, very unique, life.

“THE MOTH” is a nonprofit venture promoting the telling of stories (https://themoth.org/). The first “speech” in this class will be called “The Moth Speech,” and it is all about you.

Sample some examples of The Moth Speech at https://themoth.org/story-library/stories. Now develop one of your own such stories into a two-page story, writing it out in your own words. Write it out freestyle, meaning just “write”—don't think of grammar or spelling or paragraphs. Just write.

Here is where this year’s assignment takes a turn. AI is now woven into how all of us write—emails, memos, client letters, you name it. As future CPAs, you will use it constantly. So this assignment is less about whether you use AI and more about learning to use it well—and learning to notice what it quietly does to your voice when you’re not paying attention.

For this part, you will use TerpAI (https://terpai.umd.edu), the University of Maryland’s own AI tool, free to you with your UMD credentials—no sign-up, no cost. (If you’d rather, Google Gemini through your UMD Google account works too. A quick professional aside worth tucking away: TerpAI and similar campus tools carry data-classification limits. Your own Moth story is personal and perfectly fine to use here—but in your CPA career, which AI tool is cleared for which kind of confidential client data will matter a great deal. More on that during the term.)

Now, the steps:

1. Hand your freestyle draft to AI—but tell it NOT to rewrite you. Tell it instead to be a listener. Try a prompt like: “You’re hearing this story for the first time. Don’t rewrite it. Ask me the three questions you most want answered, and tell me the one moment that landed hardest for you.”
2. Answer those three questions—in writing, in your own words. This is where your story usually gets better.
3. Now YOU revise the story, using what surfaced. Still your words. Still your voice.
4. Finally, ask AI for one full rewrite. Read it carefully. Then write 3–4 sentences on what the rewrite genuinely improved versus what it flattened, smoothed over, or simply got wrong about you.

Edit toward something you are proud to call “your story,” written by “you” (assisted by—and talked back to—AI).

Have your story and those 3–4 sentences ready at the first class of the course—not to turn in, but so we can brainstorm, as a class, how to make use of these stories for the benefit of others. Those few sentences about what AI improved and what it flattened will be some of our richest material on day one.

Finally, and not required: if you feel strongly about the meaning and lesson(s) of your story, feel free to pitch it to The Moth at https://themoth.org/share-your-story/pitchline. 

Questions about the BUAC 712 pre-skills assignment or course content can be directed to Professor Handwerger (shandwer@umd.edu). 

Required Summer Pre-Skills Assignment for BUAC 740: Data Driven Decision Making with Professor Tunca 

BUAC 740: Data Driven Decision Making (DDDM) is a critically important course that covers analytical tools and models for managerial decisions that are used extensively in managerial practice as well as in other subsequent courses in the MS in Accounting curriculum. To prepare for DDDM all students are required to complete "Spreadsheet Modeling: Introductory Section (SM)," an online course from Harvard Business Publishing. This online focuses on fundamental skills in spreadsheet analysis. Performance on the final exam of SM accounts for 5% of the grade for DDDM.

Study Time Required: Students should go through the various units making sure to constructively use the active learning method that is the basis of this online course. The faculty instructor for DDDM will be able to monitor your progress through the various parts of this online course. Harvard Business Publishing estimates that it will take 6 hours to complete this course. Students should assume this as a minimum to be safe and plan accordingly. Students are urged to register for SM and begin studying the course material as soon as possible.

Performance and Due Date: SM includes a Final Exam with only one chance; this will be factored into your grade, as stated above. The deadline for taking the SM final exam is Sunday, August 30, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. eastern time. 

Academic Integrity: Students will complete this assignment under the University of Maryland's Code of Academic Integrity. Any violation of this code, such as receiving help from another individual in taking a Test, will result in an academic integrity sanction, including the possibility of an “XF” with the notation “failure due to academic dishonesty”.

Course Registration and Details: 

• Course Number and Name: Spreadsheet Modeling Online Course, Excel 2013: Introductory Section
  Cost: $45, to be paid individually by the student directly to HBSP
• Login Information: [REGISTRTION LINK COMING SOON]
• Technical Difficulty? See step by step instructions. Contact the Harvard Business School Publishing Technical Support at custserv@hbsp.harvard.edu or 800-810-8858 or see https://hbsp.harvard.edu/contact-us/

Questions about the BUAC 740 pre-skills assignment or course content can be directed to Professor Tunca (ttunca@umd.edu). 

Additional Optional Assignments and Reading

Incoming students do not need to be proficient with all of these tools prior to the start of classes, however, having some prior experience could help them learn more effectively.

• Business Writing and Communications
  • LinkedIn Learning Course: Ten Habits of Effective Communicators 
  • LinkedIn Learning Course: Tips for Better Business Writing
  • LinkedIn Learning Course: Communication within Teams 
  • LinkedIn Learning Course: Speaking Confidently and Effectively 
• Tableau
  Access/download at https://www.tableau.com/academic/students; free for academic use when using @umd.edu email address
  • LinkedIn Learning Course: Tableau Essential Training
• Power BI
  • LinkedIn Learning Course: Power BI Essential Training
• Python 
  Access/download at https://www.anaconda.com/download (also available on vSmith at https://go.umd.edu/vsmith-setup) 
  • LinkedIn Learning Course: Python Quick Start 
  • LinkedIn Learning Course: Python Statistics Essential Training 
  • LinkedIn Learning Course: Advanced Python
  • Books
    • Python for Data Analytics: A Business-Oriented Approach (by Daniel H. Groner) 
    • Python for Data Analysis: Data Wrangling with Pandas, NumPy, and Jupyter, 3rd Edition (by Wes McKinney)
• SQL
  Access at http://vsmith.umd.edu
  • LinkedIn Learning Course: SQL Essential Training 
  • LinkedIn Learning Learning Path: Master SQL for Data Science
• R & R Studio 
  Access/download at https://www.rstudio.com/ 
  • LinkedIn Learning Learning Path: Getting Started with R for Data Science

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Failure to register within one week of receiving instructions may result in the termination of admission to the program. Please review all of the information on this page.

HOW TO REGISTER

Directory ID and password must be set BEFORE registration; see Directions for Setting Up Directory ID and Password.

Step 1: MS in Accounting students must select a track BEFORE registration; select a track by completing this form.

Step 2: Go to Testudo (Office of the Registrar website)

http://www.testudo.umd.edu/
Click on: Registration (Drop/Add)
Enter your Directory ID and Password
Select: Fall 2026

Step 3: Enter Registration Information

Testudo will not allow students to register for courses individually. All MS in Accounting students should enter the following information in the "Registration (Drop/Add)" screen of Testudo depending on their track.

Sections are as follows, depending on track selection/assignment:

Public Accounting Track 1: MB11

Public Accounting Track 2: MB12

Taxation Analytics Track 1: MB13

Taxation Analytics Track 2: MB14

Audit Analytics Track 1: MB15

Audit Analytics Track 2: MB16

Click "Submit Changes" to complete registration. A message may appear stating the course is non-standard; click "Enter" to bypass this message. All graduate-level courses at the Smith School of Business are non-standard.

Step 4: Confirm Courses

Click "View Schedule" to confirm registration based on the schedule listed below.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Registration is set up for a 3-semester program completion (in December 2027). Students who wish to accelerate and complete the program in 2 semesters (in May 2027) should contact Gabrielle Gibson for additional registration guidance.

Courses are completed in 7-week sessions referred to as "terms". Term A meets August through October, and Term B meets October through December; for specific dates, review the Academic Calendar under the Academics Tab.

Course = MSBA99MB
Section = MB11 (Public Accounting Track 1)

Course = MSBA99MB
Section = MB12 (Public Accounting Track 2)

Course = MSBA99MB
Section = MB13 (Taxation Analytics Track 1)

Course = MSBA99MB
Section = MB14 (Taxation Analytics Track 2)

Course = MSBA99MB
Section = MB15 (Audit Analytics Track 1)

Course = MSBA99MB
Section = MB16 (Audit Analytics Track 2)

Please direct questions to Gabrielle Gibson. For general registration information, please see the Registration FAQ.

The schedule is subject to change.

Tuition & Fee information, including due dates and residency information can be found at:

MS Tuition & Fees