The Program is eleven courses. Most students complete the Program in four terms. Since the MFAc operates on a trimester system, this means the average length of the program is 16 months. A part-time option exists for executives.
Tuition is by semester rather than by course, and domestic tuition is about $8,100 per term. Non-resident tuition for foreign students is about $14,200. Both statistics are from students who entered York University on September 5, 2019. In accordance with government rules, tuition increases by 3% annually.
Please refer to the admission requirements page. The minimum entrance requirements are a GPA of B in a business or business-related four-year Honours undergraduate degree. GPAs are calculated by York’s admission office. Please note that this is a minimum. The application also requires references and a statement of interest. Fluency in English is also required. Students need to have effective communication skills to succeed in this program. For more information, please visit the admission requirements page.
There is no thesis. However, students have the choice between a coursework-only option and a major paper option. The major paper option is expected to result in a publishable paper, although it need not be published. Both options are expected to take the same amount of time. Pursuing the major paper option requires finding a faculty supervisor interested in your topic. The two-course reduction for students in the major paper option is taken from the list of electives and not from the core curriculum.
FACC 6850 (Financial Accountability Practicum) provides students an opportunity to work in a financial accountability-related position. The placement allows students to observe professionals at work and will give them the opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge to live situations or projects.
The prerequisite is FACC 6000 (Introduction to Accountability & Governance), and the pre/co-requisite is FACC 6100 (Corporate Responsibility & Ethics). Students are welcome to contact miabstud@yorku.ca or Professor Paul Evans pevans@yorku.ca to be enrolled in the free FACC 6850 Moodle/E-class Pre-course which guides you through the enrolment process. International students will then be issued an IRCC letter for them to apply as early as possible for a co-op permit. You can enroll in this free Pre-course even prior to taking any MFAc classes and can apply for your co-op permit at the same time as your study permit.
Students are responsible for finding their own internship placements. Assistance is provided by the York University Career Center, Pre-course, and MIAB (MFAc Internship Advisory Board). More information can be found on the Career Center website, MIAB website, and the Pre-course.
FACC 6850 is a 6-credit course. There is no additional cost. The MFAc program contains 9 required courses and 2 elective courses. Students can pick this course to fulfill their 2-course elective requirement or take it in conjunction with other elective courses. Internships can start any time after you have completed FACC 6000 and their length varies from ten weeks to more than one term.
No...despite the word 'accountability' in the degree name, this is not an accounting degree; it is a management degree. However, you would be severely disadvantaged not having some accounting courses in your background, since accounting is the language of business.
An honours four-year baccalaureate undergraduate degree in business or a business-related discipline is the minimum requirement. Some or many of our applicants have a number of years of business experience. Applicants having non-business undergraduate degrees should have demonstrated business experience.
Most of the classes are all run as seminars. You are expected to lead or participate in discussion on a continual basis. Active participation is critical to maintaining good standing. Fluency in English is obviously important. There are also regular reading and writing assignments to prepare for the seminars. Condensed or executive-style courses over a number of full teaching days are also possible.
We are unaware of any Masters of Accountability program in existence. However, when you do web searches for articles on accountability, most seem to be written from the perspective of a philosophy program. Most literature on accountability also seems to focus on accountability in government. Accordingly, accountability is a broad concept that involves responsibilities associated with any position of trust and is best taught by philosophers or ethicists. The Masters of Financial Accountability deliberately includes the word ‘financial’ in its name to emphasize we are talking specifically about the fiduciary responsibility of managers entrusted with economic resources in private and public sector organizations. This also clearly identifies this as a business degree.
There are very few Masters of Governance programs in the world, and they are mostly located in the UK or the Far East. Their focus is very much on the public sector and on compliance with regulatory requirements. It seems to be a targeted degree for public sector managers in these specified geopolitical domains. We are not aware of any Masters of Governance that focuses on the private sector. Our Program has extensive coverage of governance practices, but we want to clearly signal that we have an equal focus on the private and public sectors.
A Masters of Accounting is typically a specialist’s degree to prepare you for certification as a professional accountant, or to prepare you specifically for entry into a doctoral program in accounting. There are many offerings of the first type and very few of the latter. Regardless, a Masters of Accounting implies a hard-core accounting curriculum for accountants. A Masters of Accounting is sometimes called a Masters of Accountancy The MFAc is not an accounting degree, but rather a business degree.
This is an important question because undoubtedly many of you are weighing the pros and cons of an MFAc vs an MBA. Probably 98% of all graduate business programs are MBA's. You have hundreds, if not thousands, of MBA programs to choose from. Rare is a business school that does not have both an undergraduate business degree and the Masters equivalent. However, there is only one MFAc and it is at York University.
In a nutshell, an MBA teaches you basic management skills. It is by definition also a generalist's degree, touching on all the functions of management. It also has a high degree of redundancy with the curriculum of the baccalaureate B.Com or BBA. The MFAc curriculum is much more focused, and it would not be wrong to call it a specialist’s degree. The career path for most newly minted MBA’s (unless it is an executive MBA) is usually a junior or middle management position. Junior managers are expected to adhere to organizational policies on accountability and governance. An MFAc grad would be expected to create policies for accountability and governance in an organization. Most decisions involving accountability and governance tend to be made at the highest levels of the organization, so the MFAc is much closer conceptually to
an Executive MBA, in that we are teaching not basic management, but skills needed to succeed in the Boardroom. The MFAc is definitely more specialized than an Executive MBA, which still covers the gamut of management skills. Executive MBA’s are often said to have a more strategic focus, while the basic MBA has an operational focus. We would suggest that an organization without proper accountability and governance relationships has no strategic focus and is incapable of being a successful organization.
Several of our MFAc students come to us already holding MBA’s. Holding both degrees is without a doubt a winning combination. Do note that the MFAc will definitely not teach you to be a manager, and it will not teach being an accountant. It will definitely teach you to be a better manager or a better accountant.
The MFAc is good preparation for any PhD program in the business. Since a PhD is first and foremost a research degree, we would suggest you pick the major paper option if you are already thinking of doctoral studies. It is quite conceivable that this paper could be the nucleus of your dissertation proposal.
You can do more research work by taking the major paper option. Realistically, there are few successful business researchers who do not hold PhD’s, so if you are interested in research, you are by definition interested in doctoral studies. Publishing in professional or trade journals is normally not deemed to be research. Good research subjects itself to vetting by being published in peer-reviewed academic journals. Our research course (FACC 6180) will provide you with the tools necessary to carry out a basic research assignment. The overall focus of this course, however, is to make managers more intelligent consumers of research conducted by others.
You can find all subjects from the selection of courses in our website. Note that there is a required core curriculum and also some opportunity to tailor your program through electives. Please visit our Courses page to view the available courses.
As would be expected in a graduate business program, our faculty are a mix of academics who have impressive research credentials and experts from the business world who have significant experience with accountability and governance issues. Some of our courses are even team-taught to provide the dual perspective that is so beneficial on business issues. Our faculty can be viewed on our website.
Both are essential. The ability to listen, write and speak professionally will be key to your success in the Program. If your communication skills are weak, we can point you in the direction of several remedial clinics at York where you can hone your skills. There is an old (but true) adage that 80% of a business day is listening, speaking, and writing. If you are not adept at all three, how can you be a successful manager?
The Program has a corporate ethics course, but ethics cannot be taught to adults. Ethical concepts are formulated in early childhood. We do look at case studies involving ethical dilemmas in business. We look at regulatory requirements related to ethics, and we look at models of corporate behaviour that could be deemed socially responsible. We believe all companies should crave the title ‘good corporate citizen’ and we lay out the path to this honorific.
It should be pointed out that since MFAc graduates are expected to be leaders of the community in advancing ethical standards, we expect from you the highest personal standards. There is zero tolerance for academic dishonesty in our program.
Please also see:
FACC 6100 Corporate Responsibility and Ethics
Acquire the basic knowledge necessary for an understanding of corporate accountability and ethics, including ethical governance and accountability frameworks, corporate reporting responsibilities, professional and managerial ethical codes and obligations, business ethics and stakeholder management relationships, and ethical decision-making analyses and frameworks.
There are some nominal scholarships awarded to our top students, but do not count on any financial assistance from the Program. You should have your financial affairs in order before coming to York. The York Admissions Office can also provide you with guidelines as to living costs while you are staying in Toronto.
Yes, the program can be taken full via distance education—online.
A really, really, good one. If we may be permitted to use a cliché; with an MFAc the world will be your oyster. Realistically, your career path is also impacted by the nature of the background you bring to the MFAc. Without a doubt, your career path will be enhanced by this degree. We see it as unthinkable that you would not have several good offers. We also see the MFAc as almost a prerequisite to reaching the Boardroom. The MBA cannot make a similar claim.
Graduates of the Masters in Accountability Program have secured careers across a broad range of occupations including:
- Accountant
- Fund
- Tax
- Senior Level
- Advisor
- Financial
- Policy
- Analyst
- Business and Financial
- Business application
- Compensation
- Credit reporting
- Due diligence
- Freedom of Information
- Quality assurance
- Reinsurance
- Senior Level
- Auto Claims Adjuster
- Bank Manager
- Business Banking
- Governance Advisor
- Director and Consultant
- Governance advisory
- Risk manager
- Business intelligence officer
- Senior Consultant, Office of the Chief Risk Officer
The Master of Financial Accountability program enhances the skill set of students, challenging them to critically understand concepts including governance, accountability, transparency, risk management, ethics, stakeholders, and current topics facing senior leadership and the board of directors.
We want your expectations to be very clear on workload. The workload is rigorous, befitting a graduate business degree with an international reputation. You can expect each course (counting, lectures assignments, and personal preparation) to require about 150 hours of work. With 11 courses this translates into 1650 hours or about 400 hours per term. With 4 terms and 12-week semesters, you can expect a workload of about 35 hours a week.
Please email the Program Executive Assistant (mfacgpa@yorku.ca) who will be delighted to try and answer any additional inquiries and to facilitate your application.
As you research career options for your Master of Financial Accountability degree, consider building on your existing membership or becoming a member of professional organizations to gain further insight and increase your field of knowledge.
Organizations to consider may include:
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The Graduate Program in Financial Accountability (MFAc) at York is an exciting environment to pursue innovative, socially engaging, career-ready education. Contact our Graduate Program Assistant to learn more.