Course Overview
This course is ideal for motivated people seeking to develop a career in accounting. You will begin to develop business and accounting skills in line with requirements from the major Australian professional accounting bodies. If you want to develop a career in accounting but do not meet the admission criteria for the Master of Professional Accounting, you should consider enrolling in this course.
Students who successfully complete this course will be allowed to enrol in the Graduate Diploma of Professional Accounting, and will receive credit for the units completed in the Graduate Certificate.
Career Information
Students who have successfully completed the Graduate Certificate of Professional Accounting have made the first steps on the way to a successful accounting career. It is recommended that graduates of this course enrol in the Graduate Diploma of Professional Accounting and continue to progress their accounting career.
| Duration | 0.5 years full-time or 1 years part-time |
|---|---|
| Credit Points that Must be Earned | 24 |
| Number of Units Required | CQUniversity uses the concept of credits to express the amount of study required for a particular course and individual units. The number of units varies between courses. Units in postgraduate courses normally consist of 6 points of credit or multiples thereof (e.g. 12, 18, 24). |
| Expected Hours of Study | One point of credit is equivalent to an expectation of approximately two hours of student work per week in a term. |
| Course Type | Postgraduate Award |
| Qualification (post nominal) | GradCertProfAcct |
| AQF Level | Level 8: Graduate Certificate |
| Course Fees |
Indicative Year - 2026
Indicative Year - 2025
Indicative Year - 2024
Indicative Year - 2023
Indicative Year - 2022
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Admission Codes
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Domestic Students Tertiary Admission Centre Codes (TAC) Codes |
Not Applicable |
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International Students CRICOS Codes |
Units offered via MIX mode are delivered online and require compulsory attendance of site-specific learning activities such as on-campus residential schools, placements and/or work integrated learning. See Course Features tab for further information. Online units are delivered using online resources only.
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Domestic Availability
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Term 3 - 2027
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Term 2 - 2027
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Term 1 - 2027
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Term 3 - 2026
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Term 2 - 2026
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Term 1 - 2026
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Term 3 - 2025
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Term 2 - 2025
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Term 1 - 2025
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Term 3 - 2024
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Term 2 - 2024
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Term 1 - 2024
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Term 3 - 2023
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Term 2 - 2023
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Term 1 - 2023
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Term 3 - 2022
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Term 2 - 2022
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Term 1 - 2022
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Term 3 - 2021
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Term 2 - 2021
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Term 1 - 2021
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Term 3 - 2020
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Term 2 - 2020
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Term 1 - 2020
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Term 3 - 2019
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Term 2 - 2019
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Term 1 - 2019
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Term 3 - 2018
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Term 2 - 2018
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Term 1 - 2018
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Term 3 - 2017
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Term 2 - 2017
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Term 1 - 2017
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Term 3 - 2016
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Term 2 - 2016
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Term 1 - 2016
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Term 3 - 2015
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Term 2 - 2015
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Term 1 - 2015
International Availability
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Term 3 - 2027
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Term 2 - 2027
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Term 1 - 2027
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Term 3 - 2026
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Term 2 - 2026
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Term 1 - 2026
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Term 3 - 2025
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Term 2 - 2025
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Term 1 - 2025
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Term 3 - 2024
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Term 2 - 2024
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Term 1 - 2024
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Term 3 - 2023
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Term 2 - 2023
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Term 1 - 2023
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Term 3 - 2022
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Term 2 - 2022
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Term 1 - 2022
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Term 3 - 2021
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Term 2 - 2021
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Term 1 - 2021
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Term 3 - 2020
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Term 2 - 2020
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Term 1 - 2020
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Term 3 - 2019
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Term 2 - 2019
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Term 1 - 2019
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Term 3 - 2018
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Term 2 - 2018
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Term 1 - 2018
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Term 3 - 2017
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Term 2 - 2017
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Term 1 - 2017
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Term 3 - 2016
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Term 2 - 2016
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Term 1 - 2016
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Term 3 - 2015
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Term 2 - 2015
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Term 1 - 2015
To gain entry to this course, students must have:
- A non-accounting undergraduate degree in any discipline from an Australian university, or equivalent from an overseas institution; or
- An AQF equivalent accounting bachelor degree received from an overseas institution or organisation, that does not meet accreditation with an Australian Accounting registration body for associate membership purposes, or
- A minimum of five years of relevant accounting experience, or
- A minimum of ten years of relevant business experience.
Relevant business experience is considered to be any experience in the conduct or administration of a business enterprise.
There are no recommended study requirements.
Awards and Accreditation
| Interim Awards | Not applicable |
|---|---|
| Exit Awards | Not applicable |
| Accreditation |
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Residential School Requirements
No Residential School for this course.
Practicum/Work Placement
| Not applicable |
Previous and Current Enrolments
| Year | Number of Students |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 12 |
| 2024 | 4 |
| 2023 | 6 |
| 2022 | 7 |
| 2021 | 6 |
Please note that in some instances there may be similarities between course, entry and inherent requirements.
If you experience difficulties meeting these requirements, reasonable adjustments may be made upon contacting accessibility@cqu.edu.au. Adjustment must not compromise the academic integrity of the degree or course chosen at CQUniversity or the legal requirements of field education.
Examples are:
- Complying with academic and non-academic policies and procedures such as Student Charter, Student Misconduct Policy, Student Behavioural Misconduct Procedures, Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework), Accounting professional and ethical standards.
- Demonstrating honesty and integrity in academic and accounting practice.
- Critically reflecting on ethical dilemmas and issues and take responsibility for ethically correct decisions and/or ensuring awareness of applicable ethical thinking and behaviour.
Examples are:
- Working constructively in a diverse and changing academic and professional environment.
- Being able to work individually and in groups in challenging environments.
- Responding objectively, consistently and professionally to challenging and demanding situations.
- Successfully distinguishing your own personal behaviours, experiences and emotions from people and situations in a professional setting.
Examples are:
- Functioning with an awareness and understanding that Accounting practice is mandated by specific legal and regulatory requirements and standards to enable the professional delivery of practice.
- Knowledge and compliance with Australian Law and professional regulatory requirements and standards, which informs and determines accounting practices.
- Ability to apply appropriate legal principles and disclosure requirements in preparing financial reports.
- Complying with the policies and practices of organisations in which you may be placed for finding employment.
- Complying with the requirements for registration with the Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Board (APESB)
Examples are:
- Ability to understand and respond to verbal and communication accurately, appropriately and in a timely manner.
- Ability to provide clear instructions in the context of the situation.
- Providing accurate, timely, clear feedback and reporting in the delivery of accounting practice.
- Delivering interactivity with your communication (timeliness, accuracy and effectiveness) to resolve complex problems and maintain trusting and effective relationships.
- Verbally communicating in the English language with accuracy, appropriateness and effectiveness.
- Actively participating in discussion activities related to the course.
- Using language that is appropriate to the context of the individual or group.
- Establishing rapport with clients in the delivery of accounting practice and responding appropriately to clients, supervisors and other professionals.
- Recognising, interpreting and responding appropriately to behavioural cues.
- Being self-aware of your own use of non-verbal cues during interactions.
- Having sensitivity and empathy to cultural, religious and individual differences.
- Being able to consistently display appropriate facial expressions, eye contact, body movements and gestures while being mindful of personal space and boundaries.
- Being able to demonstrate effective non-verbal communication that is respectful, clear, empathetic, honest and non-judgemental when communicating with students, families and professional colleagues.
- Effectively and appropriately communicating, in written English, in a wide variety of contexts to engage in activities related to the course and in professional settings.
- Acquiring, understanding, applying and conveying information in a written format.
- Competently and appropriately producing written assessment work in a logical, coherent manner, and with correct grammar and punctuation to the required academic standards.
- Expressing complex and detailed information and knowledge into a logical and legible report, in a timely manner that meets professional standards and clearly communicates the intended message.
- Accurately conveying and documenting information in a written form that meets legal and accounting practice requirements.
Examples are:
- Demonstrating the mental functioning and thinking capacities to deliver competent accounting practice.
- Having the cognitive capacity to acquire theoretical knowledge as well as develop the cognitive processing skills to successfully undertake the course, its learning activities and assessments.
- Having the capacity to acquire, process, integrate and implement a comprehensive body of knowledge and skills in both academic and professional practice settings.
- Competently and consistently demonstrating the ability to read, decode, interpret and comprehend multiple sources of information in accounting practice.
- Acquiring and interpreting evidence and accurately conveying appropriate information both in data and numerical formats.
- Having the ability to reason with numbers and other mathematical concepts, principles and operations and competently communicate and demonstrate these in a range of contexts to solve a variety of mathematical problems associated with accounting practice.
- Demonstrating the capacity to undertake complex financial analysis of accounting reports, including the use of Excel spreadsheet software.
Examples include:
Demonstrating an understanding of how theory as well as personal, social and cultural experiences relate to practice or personal or professional knowledge.
Discovering and challenging own underlying assumptions.
Making connections between personal and work experiences and what is being learned.
Examples are:
- Having the ability to use ICT appropriately and effectively in a wide range of accounting contexts.
- Demonstrating sufficient computer knowledge and skills to engage in the on-line learning environment that may include completing relevant on-line assessments, participating in various on-line forums, responding to emails and using spreadsheet software such as Excel.
- Preparing accounting entries and/or reports using accounting specific ICT.
- Processing and presenting information relevant to accounting by using specific software programs and Excel spreadsheet software.
- 1. integrate theoretical and technical accounting knowledge, including finance, economics, quantitative methods, information systems, and commercial law,
- 2. use analytical skills to investigate, analyse and synthesise routine accounting problems,
- 3. communicate effectively in a range of contexts with professionals and non-professionals.
| Course Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Qualifications Framework Descriptors | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1. KNOWLEDGE Have specialised knowledge within a systematic and coherent body of knowledge that may include the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills in a new or existing discipline or professional area | |||
| 2. SKILLS Have cognitive skills to review,analyse, consolidate and synthesise knowledge and identify and provide solutions to complex problems | |||
| 3. SKILLS Have cognitive skills to think critically and to generate and evaluate complex ideas | |||
| 4. SKILLS Have specialised technical and creative skills in a field of highly skilled and/or professional practice | |||
| 5. SKILLS Have communication skills to demonstrate an understanding of theoretical concepts | |||
| 6. SKILLS Have communication skills to transfer complex knowledge and ideas to a variety of audiences | |||
| 7. APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS Be able to make high level, independent judgements in a range of technical or management functions in varied specialised contexts | |||
| 8. APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS Be able to initiate, plan, implement and evaluate broad functions within varied specialised technical and/or creative contexts | |||
| 9. APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE & SKILL Be responsible and accountable for personal outputs and all aspects of the work or function of others within broad parameters | |||
| 10. FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE sufficient to undertake qualifications | |||
| 11. ACQUISITION AND APPLICATION of knowledge in new or existing disciplines or professional areas drawn from higher education units | |||
| 12. FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS sufficient to undertake qualifications | |||
| 13. ACQUISITION AND APPLICATION of skills in new or existing disciplines or professional areas drawn from higher education units | |||
| 14. Course content drawn from higher education units | |||
- Complete the core structure
| Number of units: 4 | Total credit points: 24 |
|---|
| Available units | ||
|---|---|---|
| Students must complete the following compulsory units: | ||
| ACCT20070 | Accounting in Australia | |
| ECON20039 | Economics for Managers | |
| LAWS20058 | Australian Commercial Law | |
| STAT20029 | Statistics for Managerial Decisions | |
Work Experience Definitions
Managerial or professional work experience must have included direct, personal involvement in decision-making responsibility in a range of areas such as budgeting, marketing, HRM, staffing, project management, financial management, process management, or other relevant professional experience.
Computing Requirements
As a student, it is necessary to have access to a computer or equivalent device in order to complete your coursework. You should have a good understanding of technology and the ability to navigate the online environment, which may involve completing online assessments, participating in online forums, and responding to emails. There may be instances where you need to use a computer or equivalent device for in-class tasks or assessments. It is important that you have dependable access to the internet and a computer or equivalent device capable of video conferencing for online classes. Make sure to review your unit profiles to learn about any specific technology requirements for your coursework.