Accountancy

#2 Ranked Undergraduate Accounting Program

Accounting is the universal language of business, and Gies Business is an accounting powerhouse. With the #2 undergraduate program and as a top-three business school for graduate accounting, Gies delivers an education that readies you for a successful career. You'll be taught by the #3 accounting faculty in the nation and mentored by the top experts and innovators in the field. You'll have exceptional opportunities inside and outside the classroom to pursue your interests and develop your career path. And you'll be part of a program that has long been a recruiting hotbed for accounting leaders.

We work hand in hand with the profession to ensure that you will be career ready and that rewarding careers will be waiting for you.

Check out the Gies Accountancy 2022-2023 Annual Report.

Learn from the best

Our department’s reputation for academic excellence ensures your career readiness and gives you a competitive advantage.

Gies accounting graduates succeed

Gies prepares you for success. 99% of our accounting graduates have successful outcomes. In 2021, the average salary for those with a bachelor’s degree in accountancy from Gies was $66,678. And when it comes to being prepared for the CPA exam, our graduate programs can prepare you to sit for the exam and set you up for career success.

Innovative, inspiring faculty enhance your experience

There is nothing typical about the way accounting is taught at Gies Business. Here, you'll find professors like Michael Donohoe who are not only experts in their field but also innovators in how they teach it. From creating a unique business model to leading a spring break immersion trip to the Virgin Islands, Donohoe finds new ways to create engaging content. That's one reason why he was named a Top 50 Undergraduate Business Professor by Poets&Quants.

That's what you can expect as a Gies accountancy student - fresh, fun, relevant ways to learn and practice your profession taught by committed, award-winning professors.

A history of excellence

Read more about the long and successful history of the department in A History of Accountancy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a book written by by the late Norton M. Bedford, Professor Emeritus and former Head. This book is available to read for free here.

Frequently Asked Questions

A reputation for advancing the profession

Our reputation for excellence in accounting research and education has been earned through a long-held commitment to engaging thought leaders in conversations about timely topics that move the profession forward. That commitment continues through several important initiatives. Through our lyceum events, Gies Business students have several opportunities each semester to hear from accounting professionals about their work and their views on the future of the profession. In addition, we host several biennial symposia that provide opportunities for scholars to present and discuss current research and to generate new ideas that advance the profession. These symposia include:

• Illinois Audit Symposium sponsored by KPMG
• Illinois Tax Symposium sponsored by Deloitte
• Emerging Management Accounting Scholars Symposium
• Young Scholars Research Symposium sponsored by PwC

In addition, in 1967 we organized the first Illinois International Accounting Symposium to foster research in international accounting. Since 2003, our Vernon K. Zimmerman Center has sponsored the symposium in collaboration with other universities to advance the work of scholars in different regions of the world.

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