Accounting - School of Business

The Postgraduate Certificate in Accounting is available to students who hold an undergraduate degree not in accounting from any accredited university. This program will be of interest to recent graduates wishing to pursue a professional career in accounting. The Postgraduate Certificate in Accounting covers all prerequisite undergraduate courses required by CPA Ontario. Upon successful completion of the undergraduate courses in the certificate, students will be able to work in the accounting field, enroll in accredited graduate programs in accounting, and/or enroll in the CPA Professional Education Program (PEP) as they continue their pursuit towards their CPA designation. Internationally educated applicants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with CPA Ontario’s assessment process for evaluating the applicant’s undergraduate degree(s). Link to CPA Ontario.

Admissions Requirements

Entry Term: January 2023, September 2023, January 2024, September 2024 on the Trent University Peterborough campus only

Due to course availability, January entry is available as four consecutive terms (Jan., May, Sept., and Jan.). September entry is Sept. and Jan., Summer off, Sept. and Jan term.

Duration: Available for full time studies only

Program Completion Requirements: Completion of 9.0 credits as specified

No transfer credits awarded.

For more information visit our Admissions webpage

Are you an international student and want to apply? please complete this application form.

Graduating from Trent this year with your undergraduate degree?

As a 2023 Trent grad*, you qualify for direct admission to our Postgraduate Certificate program. No need to pay to apply. Registering is easy – just send a confirmation email to admissions@trentu.ca from your Trent University account. We will also waive the application fee. For more information about this special offer, visit call 1-888-739-8885.

*this certificate is meant for non-Business program graduates, as there is too much course overlap for graduates of Trent’s BBA program.

Courses Postgraduate Certificate Accounting

The certificate program consists of the following 9.0 credits:

7.0 ADMN credits consisting of ADMN 1221H, 3021H, 3121H, 3200H, 3221H, 3250H, 3321H, 3710H, 4030H, 4300H, 4301H, 4302H, 4303H, and 4710H
1.5 ECON credits consisting of ECON 1010H, 1020H, and 2200H
0.5 COIS credit consisting of COIS 1620H
A minimum cumulative average of 65% is required to complete the certificate

Notes

CPA Ontario requires students to have a grade of 50% or higher in each of the non-core courses (ADMN 1221H, 3021H, ECON 1010H, 1020H, 2200H, ADMN 3250H, and COIS 1620H) and a grade of 60% or higher in each of the core courses (ADMN 3221H, 3321H, 4303H, 4030H, 3121H, 4302H, 4301H, 3200H, 4300H, 3710H, and 4710H). Students must also have an overall average of 65% in the core courses for admission into the CPA PEP.
For individual course descriptions, see University Calendar. Please consult the academic timetable, for information on when courses will be scheduled.
It is important to register in your courses without delay and prior to your arrival!

Course Registration

For help with course registration, use the how to guides at

Course Selection and Registration website. 

Trent International also provides the following helpful information:

New Student Course Registration:
For support with new student course registration,
visit our website for next steps.

New International Student Webpage:
Visit our New International Student Website to determine your next steps after you have completed course registration.

Breakdown of courses by term

Students are to follow the schedule of courses by term as outlined below for full-time studies. We cannot guarantee course availability if students do not follow the recommended course sequencing. Students who fail to adhere to the recommended schedule may not be able to complete their certificate program within the scheduled number of terms and students may have to return to complete an additional term. Additionally, if you are studying in the summer term, that means you must be registered in courses in both summer terms (S61 and S62).

Link to detailed course registration instructions

Term 1

ADMN 1221H Financial Accounting
ECON 1010H Micro-Economics
ECON 1020H Macro-Economics
ECON 2200H Introduction to Statistics
COIS 1620H Information Systems

Term 2

ADMN 3021H Managerial Accounting
ADMN 3200H Financial Management
ADMN 3221H Intermediate Financial Accounting
ADMN 3250H Legal Environment of Business

Term 3

ADMN 3710H Taxation - Individual
ADMN 3321H Intermediate Financial Accounting II
ADMN 4030H Strategic Management
ADMN 4301H Auditing
ADMN 3121H Intermediate Management Accounting

Term 4

ADMN 4300H Financial Management II
ADMN 4710H Taxation - Corporate
ADMN 4302H Advanced Management Accounting
ADMN 4303H Advanced Financial Accounting

For students who have accepted their offer of admission and have questions about registering in their courses or life at Trent, please email schoolofbusiness@trentu.ca.

Application to Graduate from the Certificate

At the beginning of your last term, when you believe you are ready to graduate, you can submit the Application to Graduate form found in myTrent under Academics > Self Service > Graduation Overview. You should apply as soon as your course registration for your final term is finalized (early in Summer term if you are graduating in September; early in the Fall term if you are graduating in January; early in the Winter term if you are graduating in Spring). The deadline to apply to graduate can be found in the Academic Calendar site under Important Dates, as well as at Important Dates & Deadlines.

Convocation ceremonies for students who graduated during the last year (September, January and Spring) are held the first week of June. Please visit Convocation site for the most up-to-date information.