Online Accounting Programs and Schools

By Chris Gaglardi
| Updated August 21, 2026

Online accounting programs can be a practical way to study bookkeeping, accounting, tax, audit, and business systems without commuting to campus. But online is a delivery format, not a quality label. A strong program still needs the right credential, credible accreditation, useful coursework, manageable costs, and support that actually works for remote students.

If CPA licensure is part of your plan, there is another layer: education rules vary by jurisdiction. Before enrolling, compare the curriculum with the requirements of the state board where you expect to become licensed. Do not assume that a school's general "CPA preparation" language guarantees that every state will accept every course.

Use the school listings and search tools on this page to explore online options. Then use the checks below to compare them before spending serious money.

Online Accounting Schools

ECPI University

Accounting

Southern New Hampshire University

Accounting
Accounting - Forensic Accounting & Fraud Examination
Accounting and Finance
Accounting and Finance - Management Accounting
Business Administration:
- Accounting
- Finance
Finance
Finance - Financial Planning

Colorado Christian University

Accountancy

Keiser University's Online Division

Florida Residents Only

Accounting
Business Administration - Finance

How to Compare Online Accounting Programs

Start with your actual goal. The shortest credential is not automatically the cheapest path if you later discover that you need to transfer, repeat courses, or earn a different degree.

Program type	What it can be useful for	What to verify
Accounting or bookkeeping certificate	Building foundational bookkeeping, payroll, spreadsheet, or accounting skills	Whether credits transfer into a degree, and whether the program is college credit or noncredit training
Associate degree	Accounting-support work, bookkeeping, payroll, or a transfer path toward a bachelor's degree	Transfer agreements, which courses count toward the bachelor's program, and whether upper-level accounting courses will still be required
Bachelor's degree	Accountant- and auditor-track roles, corporate accounting, tax, audit, and possible CPA preparation	Institutional accreditation, state CPA education rules, upper-level accounting coursework, internships, recruiting, and total cost
Master's or graduate accounting program	Advanced accounting study, specialization, career change, or additional CPA-related education	Whether you actually need graduate study for your goal and how the credits fit your target jurisdiction's rules

For a broader explanation of accounting credentials, careers, bookkeeping, tax preparation, and the CPA path, see TSNET's accounting schools and career guide. This page stays focused on the extra questions that come with studying online.

How Online Accounting Programs Work

Two programs can both say "online" and still feel completely different once classes start. Before applying, find out how the program is actually delivered.

Asynchronous courses

You usually work through recorded lessons, readings, assignments, discussions, and problem sets within weekly or term deadlines. This can be a good fit if you work irregular hours or need more control over when you study.

The catch is obvious but important: flexibility shifts more scheduling responsibility onto you. A course can be asynchronous and still have firm deadlines, group work, exams, and several hours of weekly problem-solving.

Scheduled or live online courses

Some classes require attendance at specific times for lectures, discussions, presentations, or labs. That can provide more structure and easier real-time interaction with instructors, but it may be less useful if your work or family schedule changes week to week.

Competency-based formats

Some schools let students progress after demonstrating mastery instead of moving through every course on a traditional semester schedule. This can be attractive to experienced students, but compare the tuition model, assessment rules, transfer-credit policy, and expected pace before assuming it will be faster or cheaper.

Hybrid or local requirements

A program advertised as online may still include an internship, residency, testing requirement, orientation, or other activity that is not fully remote. Ask directly whether every required part of the credential can be completed from your location.

Accounting itself can translate well to distance education because a lot of the work involves spreadsheets, financial statements, research, written analysis, accounting software, and structured problem-solving. Still, the quality of the experience depends heavily on instructor access, tutoring, feedback, software labs, exam policies, and the student's ability to keep up without a physical classroom doing the nagging.

What to Verify Before You Enroll

A useful school comparison goes well beyond tuition per credit. Run each program through this checklist.

1. The exact credential

Know whether you are earning a certificate, Associate of Science, Associate of Applied Science, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Business Administration, Master of Accountancy, or something else.

Degree names are not interchangeable. If you plan to transfer or pursue CPA licensure, the exact courses and credit structure matter more than a vague program title.

2. Institutional accreditation

Verify the institution's accreditation instead of trusting a badge on a landing page. The U.S. Department of Education maintains the Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP), which reports accreditation information supplied by recognized accrediting and state approval agencies.

TSNET also has a broader guide to college and trade-school accreditation if you want the background before comparing schools.

3. CPA education alignment, if CPA is your goal

Ask which jurisdictions the program is designed to serve and where its accounting and business courses have been evaluated against CPA education requirements.

Then verify the answer yourself with the appropriate state board. Accounting licensure rules can specify total credits, accounting credits, business credits, course levels, experience, and other requirements. Exam eligibility and full licensure requirements can also differ.

4. Transfer-credit policy

If you already have college credits, get a formal transfer evaluation before comparing total program cost. If you are starting with an associate degree, ask which courses transfer into a bachelor's program and whether there are articulation agreements.

A "60-credit associate degree" does not guarantee that another institution will apply all 60 credits toward the bachelor's degree you want.

5. The real total cost

Compare more than the advertised tuition rate. Ask about:

technology or online-learning fees;
accounting software subscriptions;
textbooks and digital access codes;
remote proctoring fees;
graduation fees;
residency or travel costs, if any;
tuition differences based on residency;
how many credits the school will actually require after transfer evaluation.

A lower price per credit can lose its charm quickly if you have to take more credits or pay a small army of mandatory fees.

6. Schedule and exam rules

Ask whether classes are asynchronous, live, or mixed. Find out whether exams use remote proctoring, whether testing windows are flexible, and whether group projects or presentations require scheduled attendance.

These details matter more than a generic "study on your schedule" slogan.

7. Career services and internships for online students

Do remote students receive the same access to career coaching, employer events, internship help, alumni networks, job boards, and recruiting systems as campus students?

For accounting, practical experience can be especially useful because employers value evidence that you can work with real deadlines, spreadsheets, financial records, controls, and professional communication.

8. Accounting systems and analytics exposure

Ask what software and technical tools appear in required coursework. The goal is not to collect logos for your resume. It is to practice accounting concepts in the kinds of systems used to record, analyze, reconcile, and report financial information.

A modern program may include spreadsheet work, accounting platforms, database concepts, enterprise systems, data visualization, or analytics. The exact tools will vary, and software changes faster than accounting principles, so focus on whether students get meaningful hands-on practice.

Accreditation: Start With the Institution

Accreditation language gets confusing fast because several different things can be accredited.

Institutional accreditation applies to the college or university as a whole. For most students, that is the first status to verify through the U.S. Department of Education's accreditation database.

Some business schools also hold specialized business or accounting accreditation. For example, AACSB describes its accounting accreditation as supplemental to AACSB business accreditation. That can be an additional quality signal for an accounting program, but it is not a substitute for institutional accreditation and it does not create one universal CPA pathway across all states.

If a school talks about accreditation without clearly naming the accreditor and what, exactly, is accredited, make it explain itself before you apply.

If CPA Licensure Is Your Goal

An online program can potentially supply education used toward CPA licensure, but the safe question is not "Is this an online accounting degree?" It is:

Will this exact institution, degree, and set of courses satisfy the education rules in the jurisdiction where I plan to become licensed?

The CPA regulatory landscape has also been changing. NASBA and the AICPA's Ninth Edition of the Uniform Accountancy Act added an optional model pathway based on a bachelor's degree with an accounting concentration, two years of qualifying experience, and passage of the CPA Exam. The UAA is a model law, however. Individual jurisdictions must adopt their own legislation or rules before candidates can use a pathway.

In other words, do not build a four-year education plan around a national-sounding summary you found in a school ad, Reddit thread, or AI answer. Use NASBA's directory to find your state board of accountancy and verify the current rules.

There is another useful document to check. Federal Student Aid guidance requires state-specific licensure information for programs that are designed or advertised to meet educational requirements for a professional license. If a school markets an accounting program as preparing students for CPA licensure, look for its professional licensure disclosure for your state. Treat that disclosure as a starting point, then confirm with the board itself.

Career and Wage Context by Education Path

Online delivery does not create a special salary category. Employers pay for roles, skills, credentials, experience, industry, and location. So the useful comparison is education path to occupation, not "online degree salary."

The latest national BLS wage estimates available in TSNET's May 2025 OEWS dataset show a substantial difference between professional accountant/auditor roles and bookkeeping/accounting-clerk work:

Occupational group	Typical entry education in BLS projections	May 2025 median annual wage	2024-34 projected change	Average annual openings
Accountants and auditors	Bachelor's degree	$83,680	+4.6%	124,200
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks	Some college, no degree	$50,670	-5.8%	170,000

The projection percentages above use BLS's underlying 2024-34 data; the Occupational Outlook Handbook rounds them to +5% and -6%. The annual-opening figures include replacement needs, not just newly created jobs. BLS says the projected bookkeeping-clerk openings are expected to come from workers transferring occupations or leaving the labor force even as total employment declines.

These are national occupational medians, not starting salaries and not promised outcomes for graduates. A bachelor's program can make more sense for someone targeting accountant or auditor roles, while a shorter program may be perfectly reasonable for someone who wants bookkeeping, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, or related support work.

That distinction is worth making before you choose the credential, not after you have paid for it.

Use Outcome Data Carefully

Government tools such as the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard can add useful context when comparing schools and fields of study. But read the methodology before treating one number as a verdict.

Field-of-study earnings data can be limited to particular federal-aid cohorts and are not automatically separated into online and campus graduates. Use outcomes as one piece of evidence alongside accreditation, cost, completion, transferability, career support, and your specific occupational goal.

Questions to Ask an Online Accounting School

What exact credential will I earn, and how many credits will I need after my transfer evaluation?
Is the institution currently accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education?
If I want CPA licensure, which jurisdictions has the school evaluated this curriculum for, and where is the professional licensure disclosure?
Are any classes, exams, orientations, internships, or residencies required in person?
Which courses require live attendance, and which are asynchronous?
What software, technology, textbook, and remote-proctoring costs are not included in advertised tuition?
Which credits transfer into this program, and where can this program's credits transfer afterward?
What internship, recruiting, tutoring, and career-services support is available specifically to online students?
Which accounting software, spreadsheet, data, or analytics tools will I use in required courses?
What happens if I move to another state before I finish the program?

A school that can answer those questions clearly is giving you something more useful than "100% online" in 48-point font.

Online Accounting Program FAQ

Are online accounting programs legitimate?

They can be. Evaluate the actual institution and program rather than the delivery format alone. Verify institutional accreditation, the credential awarded, curriculum, transfer rules, costs, and student support. If CPA licensure is the goal, verify state-specific education requirements separately.

Can an online accounting program lead to CPA licensure?

Potentially. The coursework must satisfy the education requirements of the jurisdiction where you plan to become licensed, and CPA licensure also involves exam, experience, and other jurisdiction-specific requirements. Check the school's professional licensure disclosure when applicable, then verify current rules with the state board.

Do I need a bachelor's degree for accounting?

It depends on the work you want to do. BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for accountants and auditors. Bookkeeping, accounting-clerk, payroll, and other support roles may have shorter education paths.

How do online accounting classes usually work?

Programs may use asynchronous lessons, scheduled live classes, or a mix of both. Coursework can include readings, problem sets, financial-statement work, spreadsheet projects, accounting software, discussion boards, group projects, and remotely proctored exams. Ask each school about its actual format rather than assuming all online programs work the same way.

How much do accountants earn?

BLS's May 2025 national OEWS data reports a median annual wage of $83,680 for accountants and auditors. That is the median for workers across experience levels and locations, not an entry-level salary and not a salary attached specifically to an online degree.

What should I compare besides tuition?

Compare the number of credits you still need, mandatory fees, software and technology costs, transfer policy, accreditation, delivery schedule, exam rules, career services, internship access, and CPA-state alignment if licensure is your goal.

Sources

Ready to compare options? Use the search tool below to see online accounting programs available to you.