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Master of Professional Accounting (MPAC) - MPA

CRICOS code (International applicants): 082462B

 On-campusOnline
Semester intake:Semester 1 (February)
Semester 2 (July)
Semester 1 (February)
Semester 2 (July)
Semester 3 (November)
Campus:Springfield, Toowoomba -
Fees:Domestic full fee paying place
International full fee paying place
Domestic full fee paying place
International full fee paying place
Standard duration:2 years full-time, up to 6 years part-time 

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Contact us

Future Australian and New Zealand students  Future International students  Current students 

Freecall (within Australia): 1800 269 500
Phone (from outside Australia): +61 7 4631 5315
Email: study@usq.edu.au  

Phone: +61 7 4631 5543
Email: international@usq.edu.au 

Freecall (within Australia): 1800 007 252
Phone (from outside Australia): +61 7 4631 2285
Email usq.support@usq.edu.au 

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Professional accreditation

Graduates of this program will meet the educational entrance requirements of and (CAANZ). This provides Associate membership of CPA Australia, eligibility to study the CPA Australia professional exams and eligibility to study the CAANZ professional exams.

Successful completion of the Master of Professional Accounting program can qualify students for exemptions from the Fundamental level (9 papers) of the (ACCA) exams.

The Master of Professional Accounting is accredited by the (CIMA).

We recommend that graduates in Accounting from an overseas university obtain a qualifications assessment from CPA Australia before applying for admission. In many cases, such graduates may be required to complete only 3 - 4 courses to achieve Associate membership. These can be studied through a Graduate Certificate of Business.

Local recognition (for overseas students):

For overseas candidates seeking membership of their home accounting bodies, full members of and/or are usually offered reciprocal membership. This is a fast track to become a qualified accountant in one's home country.

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Program aims

The Master of Professional Accounting is a professionally-oriented program that provides university graduates with the opportunity to acquire an accounting qualification recognised by the Australian accounting professional bodies. The program comprises 16 courses.

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Program objectives

Successful completion of the Master of Professional Accounting should enable graduates to:

  • prepare and analyse financial and management accounting reports

  • audit financial records and statements and produce audit reports

  • prepare taxation returns and advise clients on taxation issues

  • comprehend and apply accounting theory to current accounting developments and problems

  • understand and apply the principles of business finance and investment evaluation

  • comprehend the legal framework within which businesses operate and apply this knowledge in addressing commercial legal problems.


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Australian Qualifications Framework

The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) is a single national, comprehensive system of qualifications offered by higher education institutions (including universities), vocational education and training institutions and secondary schools. Each AQF qualification has a set of descriptors which define the type and complexity of knowledge, skills and application of knowledge and skills that a graduate who has been awarded that qualification has attained, and the typical volume of learning associated with that qualification type.

This program is at AQF Qualification Level 09. Graduates at this level will have specialised knowledge and skills for research, and/or professional practice and/or further learning.

The full set of levels criteria and qualification type descriptors can be found by visiting .

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Admission requirements

To be eligible for admission, applicants must satisfy the following requirements:

  • Completion of an Australian university Bachelor degree, or equivalent.

  • English Language Proficiency requirements for Category 2.


Candidates without an acceptable Bachelor degree or equivalent and who have completed a minimum of five years' professional work experience equivalent to an AQF level 7 qualification may be eligible for entry into the Graduate Certificate of Business, and upon completion and achievement of a minimum GPA of 4.0, may apply for entry into the Master of Professional Accounting.

All students are required to satisfy the applicable .

If students do not meet the English language requirements they may apply to study a ¾«¶«´«Ã½app-approved . On successful completion of the English language program, students may be admitted to an award program.

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Program fees

Domestic full fee paying place

Domestic full fee paying places are funded entirely through the full fees paid by the student. Full fees vary depending on the courses that are taken. Students are able to calculate the fees for a particular course via the

Domestic full fee paying students may be eligible to defer their fees through a Government loan called provided they meet the residency and citizenship requirements.

Australian citizens, Permanent Humanitarian Visa holders, Permanent Resident visa holders and New Zealand citizens who will be resident outside Australia for the duration of their program pay full tuition fees and are not eligible for .

International full fee paying place

International students pay full fees. Full fees vary depending on the courses that are taken and whether they are studied on-campus, via distance education/online. Students are able to calculate the fees for a particular course via the .

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Program structure

Course   Semester of offer
Distance/Online 
Semester of offer
Toowoomba campus 
Semester of offer
Springfield campus 
  1, 2  1, 2 
  1, 2  1  
  1, 2 
  1, 2 
  1, 2 
  1, 2  1, 2 
#  1, 2 
  2, 3 
  1, 3 
  1, 3 
  1, 2, 3 
^  1, 2     
Select four of the following electives:* 
 
 
 
  1, 2 
  1, 2, 3   

Footnotes
#Students who have not completed must enrol in .
^Students who have successfully completed LAW5201 Commercial Law , but not LAW5206 Corporations Law , must enrol in . Students who have successfully completed LAW5201 Commercial Law and LAW5206 Corporations Law must select an elective.
*Students may choose other postgraduate courses with the approval of the Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts.

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Required time limits

Students have a maximum of 6 years to complete this program.

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IT requirements

For information technology requirements please refer to the .

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Exit points

A student who chooses not to complete or who does not maintain good standing in this program may be permitted to exit with a lesser qualification, provided they have met the requirements of that program. A student who successfully completes eight Master of Professional Accounting courses may, upon application, exit with a Graduate Diploma of Business. A student who successfully completes any four courses for the Graduate Certificate of Business may, upon application, exit with that qualification.

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Credit

As the Master of Professional Accounting is a conversion program, credit approved in the program does not automatically apply to other postgraduate programs offered by USQ. Credit may be granted on the basis of equivalent study completed at a recognised university. Candidates for the Master of Professional Accounting may be eligible for up to a maximum of eight units of credit. Four units of credit may be granted for an undergraduate degree in an accounting-related discipline area from a recognised university.

Recommended enrolment patterns

In this section:

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Recommended enrolment pattern - Online semester 1 intake

Students are able to enrol in any offered mode of a course (on-campus, external or online), regardless of the program mode of study they enrolled in.


CourseYear of program and semester
in which course is normally studied
Enrolment requirements
On-campus
(ONC)
External
(EXT)
Online
(ONL)
YearSemYearSemYearSem
11Co-requisite:
11
12
12Pre-requisite:
21
21
#22Pre-requisite:
22Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
31Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
Selective31
^32Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following programs: MPAC or MBAC or GDBS or MP12 or MPAE or MBPA or MPRM or MPJM.
32Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
41Pre-requisite: ( or or or ) and ( or LAW5201 and LAW5206)
Selective41
Selective42
Selective42

Footnotes
#Students who have not completed must enrol in .
^Students who have successfully completed LAW5201 Commercial Law, but not LAW5206 Corporations Law, must enrol in . Students who have successfully completed LAW5201 Commercial Law and LAW5206 Corporations Law must select an elective.

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Recommended enrolment pattern - Online semester 2 intake

Students are able to enrol in any offered mode of a course (on-campus, external or online), regardless of the program mode of study they enrolled in.


CourseYear of program and semester
in which course is normally studied
Enrolment requirements
On-campus
(ONC)
External
(EXT)
Online
(ONL)
YearSemYearSemYearSem
12Co-requisite:
12
11
11Pre-requisite:
22
22Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
21Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
#21Pre-requisite:
^32Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following programs: MPAC or MBAC or GDBS or MP12 or MPAE or MBPA or MPRM or MPJM.
32Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
Selective31
31
Selective42
Selective42
41Pre-requisite: ( or or or ) and ( or LAW5201 and LAW5206)
Selective41

Footnotes
#Students who have not completed must enrol in .
^Students who have successfully completed LAW5201 Commercial Law, but not LAW5206 Corporations Law, must enrol in . Students who have successfully completed LAW5201 Commercial Law and LAW5206 Corporations Law must select an elective.

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Recommended enrolment pattern - Springfield campus semester 1 intake

Students are able to enrol in any offered mode of a course (on-campus, external or online), regardless of the program mode of study they enrolled in.


CourseYear of program and semester
in which course is normally studied
Enrolment requirements
On-campus
(ONC)
External
(EXT)
Online
(ONL)
YearSemYearSemYearSem
*11Co-requisite:
11
11
11
†^12Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following programs: MPAC or MBAC or GDBS or MP12 or MPAE or MBPA or MPRM or MPJM.
12
12Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
12Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
21Pre-requisite:
21Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
21Pre-requisite: ( or or or ) and ( or LAW5201 and LAW5206)
Selective21
#22Pre-requisite:
Selective22
Selective22
Selective22

Footnotes
* is not available at Springfield campus in semester 1. The course is offered online and at Toowoomba campus in semester 1.
† is not available on-campus. Students should enrol in online mode.
^Students who have successfully completed LAW5201 Commercial Law, but not LAW5206 Corporations Law, must enrol in . Students who have successfully completed LAW5201 Commercial Law and LAW5206 Corporations Law must select an elective.
#Students who have not completed must enrol in .

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Recommended enrolment pattern - Springfield campus semester 2 intake

Students are able to enrol in any offered mode of a course (on-campus, external or online), regardless of the program mode of study they enrolled in.


CourseYear of program and semester
in which course is normally studied
Enrolment requirements
On-campus
(ONC)
External
(EXT)
Online
(ONL)
YearSemYearSemYearSem
12Co-requisite:
*12
12
Selective12
11
11Pre-requisite:
11Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
11Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
†^22Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following programs: MPAC or MBAC or GDBS or MP12 or MPAE or MBPA or MPRM or MPJM.
#22Pre-requisite:
Selective22
Selective22
21Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
21
21Pre-requisite: ( or or or ) and ( or LAW5201 and LAW5206)
Selective21

Footnotes
* is not available at Springfield campus in semester 2. The course is offered online and at Toowoomba campus in semester 2.
† is not available on-campus. Students should enrol in online mode.
^Students who have successfully completed LAW5201 Commercial Law, but not LAW5206 Corporations Law, must enrol in . Students who have successfully completed LAW5201 Commercial Law and LAW5206 Corporations Law must select an elective.
#Students who have not completed must enrol in .

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Recommended enrolment pattern - Toowoomba campus semester 1 intake

Students are able to enrol in any offered mode of a course (on-campus, external or online), regardless of the program mode of study they enrolled in.


CourseYear of program and semester
in which course is normally studied
Enrolment requirements
On-campus
(ONC)
External
(EXT)
Online
(ONL)
YearSemYearSemYearSem
11Co-requisite:
11
11
11
†^12Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following programs: MPAC or MBAC or GDBS or MP12 or MPAE or MBPA or MPRM or MPJM.
12
12Pre-requisite:
#12Pre-requisite:
21Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
21Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
21Pre-requisite: ( or or or ) and ( or LAW5201 and LAW5206)
Selective21
22Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
Selective22
Selective22
Selective22

Footnotes
† is not available on-campus. Students should enrol in online mode.
^Students who have successfully completed LAW5201 Commercial Law, but not LAW5206 Corporations Law, must enrol in . Students who have successfully completed LAW5201 Commercial Law and LAW5206 Corporations Law must select an elective.
#Students who have not completed must enrol in .

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Recommended enrolment pattern - Toowoomba campus semester 2 intake

Students are able to enrol in any offered mode of a course (on-campus, external or online), regardless of the program mode of study they enrolled in.


CourseYear of program and semester
in which course is normally studied
Enrolment requirements
On-campus
(ONC)
External
(EXT)
Online
(ONL)
YearSemYearSemYearSem
12Co-requisite:
12
12
Selective12
11
11Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
†^11Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following programs: MPAC or MBAC or GDBS or MP12 or MPAE or MBPA or MPRM or MPJM.
11Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
22Pre-requisite:
22Pre-requisite: . Students in the MPAC and MBAC must also complete .
Selective22
Selective22
21
#21Pre-requisite:
21Pre-requisite: ( or or or ) and ( or LAW5201 and LAW5206)
Selective21

Footnotes
† is not available on-campus. Students should enrol in online mode.
^Students who have successfully completed LAW5201 Commercial Law, but not LAW5206 Corporations Law, must enrol in . Students who have successfully completed LAW5201 Commercial Law and LAW5206 Corporations Law must select an elective.
#Students who have not completed must enrol in .