Tax Preparer Program Map

(Not Eligible for Financial Aid) The requirements for becoming a licensed tax preparer and the rules and regulations governing licensed tax preparers are reviewed. Students planning an accounting career should be detail-oriented, be able to analyze and interpret facts and figures quickly and accurately, and make sound decisions. They must also be able to communicate the results. Patience, persistence, self-discipline, and concentration are essential. Students who complete this certificate are eligible to assist tax professionals in an accounting office, a financial institution, an enrolled agent's office, the Internal Revenue Service, the California State Franchise Tax Board, or a state licensed tax preparer's office.

Program detailsAward, code, department, CIP/TOP

Community of interest: BCAD Business, Cosmetology, Arts & Design
Award: Certificate
Program code: TAXPREP.CC
Department: BEDX Skill Builder
CIP code: 52.1601: Taxation.
TOP code: 0502.10 - Tax Studies*

Map Class Schedule

Program Schedule Report Meet with a counselor

Tax Preparer

Certificate

A short-cycle credential built around a specific skill or job role. Useful as an entry point to a field, a step toward a larger credential, or a way to round out an existing degree.

Financial aid note. Courses taken solely to complete a Certificate of Completion are not eligible for financial aid.

See the 2025-26 Catalog for official program details

Semester-by-Semester Map

Term 1

Class Schedules

9 units

ACCT 20

Introduction to Accounting

3 units

This course is an introductory accounting course designed for students with little or no prior training in accounting. Topics span the accounting cycle including analysis of business transactions, journalizing, posting, and preparation of financial statements using a hands-on approach. The course prepares students for entry level accounting careers, further study of accounting principles, or to help small business owners manage their own accounting records.

BCIS 46

Business Math Calculations

2 units

In this course, students use the features of a business ten-key calculator to solve business math problems including banking, payroll, invoicing, markups/markdowns, interest, present and future value, credit cards, student loans, types of insurance, installment buying, and mortgages. Students will develop ten-key speed and accuracy using the touch method.

BCIS 81

Microsoft Excel for Business

1 units

This course is designed for those who want to learn Microsoft Excel for Windows from the perspective of owning or running a business. Course content includes designing and analyzing worksheets and using formulas and functions with an emphasis on accounting principles.

Select one:

3 units

Choose one of 4 choices

BCIS 13
Business Communication
3 units
course details
This course applies the principles of ethical and effective communication to the creation of letters, memos, emails, and written and oral reports for a variety of business situations. The course emphasizes planning, organizing, composing, and revising business documents using word processing software for written documents and presentation-graphics software to create and deliver professional-level oral reports. This course is designed for students who already have college-level writing skills. (C-ID BUS 115).
+−
BCIS 18
Introduction to Business Technology
3 units
course details
This course is an examination of information and communication technologies used in today's businesses and the impact these technologies are having on today's workplaces. The course will include examination and application of a wide range of information and communication technology tools used to support and enhance business functions and processes. Focus will be placed on solving a variety of business problems, improving organizational productivity, and achieving the goals of business.
+−
BUS 62
Money & Happiness: Cultural, Psychological and Economic Factors
3 units
course details
This course integrates practical financial decision making with the social, psychological, and physiological contexts in which decisions are made. Students will examine the role of money in their lives, set personal goals, and develop plans to meet those goals. Topics include cultural attitudes and beliefs about money, money and relationships, money personalities, consumerism, debt, healthcare, investing, retirement, long-term care, disability, death, and taxes.
+−
ECON 4
Principles of Microeconomics
3 units
course details
This is an introductory course focusing on choices of individual economic decision-makers. Topics include scarcity, specialization and trade, market equilibrium, elasticity, production and cost theory, market structures, factor markets, and market failure. (C-ID ECON 201).
Prerequisite: Elementary Algebra or equivalent
+−

Term 2

Class Schedules

6 units

ACCT 100

QuickBooks Pro-Computerized Accounting

2 units

This course provides a transition from a manual accounting system to a typical computerized system. The objective is to collect, summarize and communicate information to decision makers and users via QuickBooks Pro accounting software. Microsoft Excel will be utilized for data summation. Typical documents produced consist of purchase orders, checks, invoices, deposit slips, job cost reports, financial statements, bank reconciliations, payroll tax returns and 1099 forms.

Prerequisite: ACCT 2 or ACCT 20

ACCT 105

Income Tax Preparation

4 units

This course is a study of the Federal and California income tax laws that apply to taxpayers, the application of the laws by computation of various practical problems and the completion of forms required by the Internal Revenue Service and the California State Franchise Tax Board. The requirements for becoming a licensed tax preparer and the rules and regulations governing licensed tax preparers are reviewed. This course is primarily designed for the vocational student. It will orient the student toward working with tax problems in an accounting office, a financial institution, an enrolled agent's office, the Internal Revenue Service, the California State Franchise Tax Board, a state licensed tax preparers' office or in their own office.

Career Connections

2-Year Degree Paths

Entry points students may pursue after associate-level study, technical preparation, or licensure pathways.

No locally mapped occupations in the current dataset point cleanly to an immediate 2-year outcome for this program.

4-Year Degree Paths

Roles that more often open up after transfer and a bachelor's degree.

No locally mapped occupations in the current dataset are grouped into the 4-year pathway for this program.

Graduate School Paths

Advanced roles commonly associated with graduate, professional, or post-baccalaureate study.

No locally mapped occupations in the current dataset are grouped into the graduate-school pathway for this program.

Source Notes

Course sequencing is generated from the Acadia Program Mapper cache. Career groupings use local CIP-to-SOC mappings and BLS occupation data when available. Confirm education plans with Counseling and Advising.

No NCES/IPEDS CIP-to-SOC mapping was found for this program's CIP code.

Last generated 2026-06-12T23:25+00:00

Program Snapshot

Next Steps

2-Year Degree Paths

4-Year Degree Paths

Graduate School Paths

Source Notes