The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 1
Introduction
As part of the full Committee’s document, the Human Capital Subcommittee of the U.S. Department of
the Treasury’s Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession issued a report in the fall of 2008 which
included a number of recommendations concerning possible future directions for the education of
accountants and auditors. The Committee recommended that the American Institute of CPAs and the
American Accounting Association jointly form a body to provide a timely study of the possible future of
the higher education structure for the accounting profession. (VI:26)
This project is a direct consequence of that recommendation, and is provided to assist in the deliberations
which will enable such a body to act effectively and be informed as to important literature relevant to the
topics which would be of importance to the study. The particular language supporting the
recommendation states in full:
The Committee heard testimony regarding the feasibility of establishing a
free-standing, post-graduate professional educational structure. Currently, there is no
post-graduate institutional arrangement dedicated to accounting and auditing.
Graduate programs in accounting are generally housed within business schools and
linked with undergraduate accounting programs. The history of the development of
U.S. educational programs and preparation for accounting careers reveals a pattern of
evolution of increasing formal higher education, with accreditation standards
following and reinforcing this evolution, and with market needs providing the
impetus and context. Today, accrediting agencies have recognized over 150
accounting programs as the result of these programs’ improving accounting
education as envisioned by prior studies and reports.
In a November 2006 Vision Statement, the chief executive officers of the
principal international auditing networks noted the challenges in educating future
auditing professionals, including the sheer quantity and complexity of accounting and
auditing standards, rapid technological advancements, and the need for specialized
industry knowledge. This development in the market leads to a clear need to
anticipate and enhance the human capital elements of the auditing profession. As
such, this vision statement provides the impetus to commission a group to study and
propose a long-term institutional arrangement for accounting and auditing education.
As in the past, in the face of challenges of the changing environment for the
profession, the Committee believes that the educational system should thoughtfully
consider the feasibility of a visionary educational model. Therefore, the Committee
recommends that the AICPA and the AAA jointly form a body to provide a timely
study of the possible future of the higher education structure for the accounting
profession. This commission may include representation from higher education,
practitioners from the wide spectrum of the accounting and auditing profession,
regulators, preparers, users of the profession’s services, and others. The commission
would consider the potential role of a postgraduate professional school model to
enhance the quality and sustainability of a vibrant accounting and auditing
profession. The commission should consider developments in accounting standards
and their application, auditing needs, regulatory framework, globalization, the
international pool of candidates, and technology. Finally, a blueprint for this sort of
enhanced professional educational structure would also require the consideration of
long-term market circumstances, academic governance, operations, programs,
funding and resources, the role of accreditation, and experiential learning processes.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
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The following document identifies key sources of guidance, regarding professional schools of
accountancy found in the professional literature since the mid-1950s, provides highlights of the material
covered by each reference (including major recommendations and suggestions, if applicable), and gives
sufficient bibliographic detail for those who are interested to obtain the reference for further reading. The
work product is not intended to guide or direct discussions, but to summarize the background material so
that all parties to the discussions can work from a common body of references. Productive discussion will
be facilitated if all participants have access to the historical context of where we are in accounting
education and how we got here.
The publication of Horizons for a Profession, by Robert H. Roy and James H. MacNeill in 1967, is used
as the starting point for the discussion. A summary of Horizons is included as the first section in this
document. Other relevant major publications summarized in this document include the Perry report
(1956), the Beamer report (1969), the Bedford report (1986), and the activities and recommendations of
the Accounting Education Change Committee (1990). Following those summaries, selected additional
comments are presented (in chronological order) to provide additional background and context for the
debate concerning professional accounting education.
This document is intended to provide a basis for discussion, and to assist participants in understanding the
historical context of significant developments in accounting education over approximately the last halfcentury. Sidney Davidson, in a 1977 presentation at the Arthur Young Professors’ Roundtable entitled
“Roy and MacNeill Plus 10”, categorized the Horizons recommendations as Conceptual, Practical,
Professional School, Humanities, and Mathematics. The basic Davidson framework is used to structure
the summaries of the observations and comments in the other articles and publications reviewed for this
project, and is the inspiration for the subtitles used in the summaries presented below.
While a diligent search was made for relevant publications, there can be no guarantee that all such
publications were identified or that the summary comments presented herein reflect all the information
necessary to capture all the relevant insights from the various authors. A full bibliography is also included
to assist readers who would like to appreciate the references in their entirety.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
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Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 1
Roy, Robert H. and James H. MacNeill (1967), Horizons for a Profession ............................................... 13
Introduction to Horizons ......................................................................................................................... 13
Definition of the Beginning CPA.......................................................................................................... 14
Criteria for a profession ...................................................................................................................... 14
Evolution of Professional Schools ....................................................................................................... 15
Research .............................................................................................................................................. 15
Perspectives ........................................................................................................................................ 16
The Common Body of Knowledge ......................................................................................................... 16
Accounting .......................................................................................................................................... 16
Computer ............................................................................................................................................ 17
Humanities .......................................................................................................................................... 17
Economics ........................................................................................................................................... 17
Behavioral Science .............................................................................................................................. 18
Law ...................................................................................................................................................... 18
Mathematics, Statistics, Probability ................................................................................................... 18
Functional Fields of Business .............................................................................................................. 18
Commission on Standards “Perry Report” (1956), Standards of Education and Experience for Certified
Public Accountants ..................................................................................................................................... 19
Purpose ................................................................................................................................................... 19
Need for Graduate Education ............................................................................................................. 19
AICPA Committee on Education and Experience Requirements “Beamer Report” (1969), Report of the
Committee on Education and Experience Requirements for CPAs ............................................................ 20
Objectives ............................................................................................................................................... 20
Education vs. Experience ....................................................................................................................... 21
Resolutions of Council ........................................................................................................................... 21
AAA Future Committee “Bedford Report” (1986), Future Accounting Education: Preparing for the
Expanding Profession ................................................................................................................................. 21
Introduction to Bedford Report .............................................................................................................. 21
Core Recommendations .......................................................................................................................... 22
Background and Context ........................................................................................................................ 22
Features of the Expanding Profession .................................................................................................... 22
Current State of Accounting Education .................................................................................................. 23
Accounting and the University at Large .............................................................................................. 23
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The Future Scope, Content, and Structure of Accounting Education ..................................................... 23
General Education............................................................................................................................... 23
General Professional Accounting Education ....................................................................................... 24
Specialized Professional Accounting Education .................................................................................. 24
Research and Doctoral Education ....................................................................................................... 24
Educational Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 25
Scope and Content .............................................................................................................................. 25
Structure ............................................................................................................................................. 25
Administration .................................................................................................................................... 26
Accreditation ....................................................................................................................................... 26
Professional examinations .................................................................................................................. 26
Accounting Education Change Commission (1990) ................................................................................... 26
Introduction to AECC ............................................................................................................................. 27
Background............................................................................................................................................. 27
Initial Direction.................................................................................................................................... 28
AECC Task Forces ................................................................................................................................ 29
Position Statement No. One. Objectives of Education for Accountants ................................................. 32
Issues Statement No. Five, Evaluating and Rewarding Effective Teaching........................................... 33
Learning to Learn ................................................................................................................................... 34
Resistance to Change .............................................................................................................................. 35
Overcoming Resistance to Change ......................................................................................................... 36
Grant Program Limitations ..................................................................................................................... 37
Licensing Requirements.............................................................................................................................. 38
NASBA (2008) DRAFT Education and Licensure Requirements for Certified Public Accountants .... 38
Allen, Bruce C. and Jeannie Tindel (2009) California150-Hour Legislation moves through the Process
................................................................................................................................................................ 38
Demographic Concerns: Supply and Demand for Accounting Students and Accounting Faculty ............. 39
Reigle, Dennis R, Heather L. Bunning and Danielle Grant (2008) Trends in the Supply of Accounting
Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits .................................................................. 39
Supply – Enrollment ............................................................................................................................ 39
Supply – Graduates ............................................................................................................................. 39
Demand – Hiring ................................................................................................................................. 40
CPA Exam ............................................................................................................................................ 41
Plumlee, R. David, Steven J. Kachelmeier, Silvia A. Madeo, Jamie H. Pratt, and George Krull (2006)
Assessing the Shortage of Accounting Faculty ...................................................................................... 41
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Leslie, David W. (2008) Accounting Faculty in U.S. Colleges and Universities: Status and Trends,
1993 – 2004 ............................................................................................................................................ 41
Comments and Observations from the Professional Literature – Chronological Selection ....................... 43
1956............................................................................................................................................................ 43
Smith, C. Aubrey (1956) The Next Step -- A Professional School of Accounting, The Accounting
Review.................................................................................................................................................... 43
1961............................................................................................................................................................ 43
Anderson, Wilton T. (1961) Education & Professional Training, Journal of Accountancy ............ 43
Trueblood, Robert M. (1961) Education for a changing profession - a challenge, Speech given to
the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs ...................................................................................................... 44
1963............................................................................................................................................................ 45
Roy, Robert H. and James H. MacNeill (1963) A Report of Plans and Progress: Study of the
Common Body of Knowledge for CPAs, Journal of Accountancy ...................................................... 45
1964............................................................................................................................................................ 46
Trueblood, Robert M., Norton M. Bedford, Malcolm M. Devore and David F. Linowes (1964)
Profile of the Profession: 1975 From the Viewpoint of Three Practitioners, Long-Range
Objectives Committee, AICPA .............................................................................................................. 46
1965............................................................................................................................................................ 46
Lynn, Edward S. (1965) Professional School of Accountancy, Journal of Accountancy ................. 46
Most, Kenneth (1965) Education & Professional Training, Journal of Accountancy ....................... 46
1966............................................................................................................................................................ 47
Carey, John L. and William O. Doherty (1966), Ethical Standards of the Accounting Profession ... 47
1967............................................................................................................................................................ 48
Trueblood, Robert M. (1967) After 20 Years, Talk given at the Touche Ross Partners Meeting... 48
1968............................................................................................................................................................ 48
Beamer, Elmer G. (Chairman) (1968) Academic Preparation for Professional Accounting Careers,
Journal of Accountancy ......................................................................................................................... 48
Ford, Gordon, Walter F. Beran, John C. Burton, et al. (AICPA Planning Committee) (1968)
Education of Certified Public Accountants, Journal of Accountancy................................................. 48
Madden, Donald L. and Lawrence C. Phillips (1968) An Evaluation of the Common Body of
Knowledge Study and Its Probable Impact Upon the Accounting Profession, Journal of
Accountancy .......................................................................................................................................... 49
1969............................................................................................................................................................ 50
Bruschi, William C. (1969) Issues Surrounding Qualifying Experience Requirements, Journal of
Accountancy .......................................................................................................................................... 50
Hart, Donald J. (1969) An Outsider Looks at the Accounting Curriculum, Journal of Accountancy
................................................................................................................................................................ 50
Williams, Doyle Z. (1969) Reactions to "Horizons for a Profession", Journal of Accountancy ...... 50
1970............................................................................................................................................................ 51
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Buckley, John W. (1970) A Perspective on Professional Accounting Education, Journal of
Accountancy .......................................................................................................................................... 51
MacNeill, James H. (1970) A Readback on 'Horizons for a Profession', Journal of Accountancy .. 51
Trueblood, Robert M. (1970) Rising Expectations, Journal of Accountancy ................................... 52
1971............................................................................................................................................................ 52
Burton, John C. (1971) An Educator Views the Accounting Profession, Journal of Accountancy . 52
1972............................................................................................................................................................ 53
AAA Committee Report (1972) Report of the Committee to Examine the 1969 Report of the AICPA
Committee on Education and Experience Requirements for CPAs, The Accounting Review ............. 53
Chambers, R. J. (1972) The Anguish of Accountants, Journal of Accountancy ................................ 53
1973............................................................................................................................................................ 53
Sterling, Robert R. (1973) Accounting Research, Education, and Practice, Journal of Accountancy
................................................................................................................................................................ 53
1974............................................................................................................................................................ 54
Mautz, Robert K. (1974) Where Do We Go From Here?, The Accounting Review .......................... 54
Summers, Edward L. (1974) Accounting Education's New Horizons, Journal of Accountancy .... 54
1975............................................................................................................................................................ 56
Burton, John C. (1975) The Need for Professional Accounting Education, Schools of
Accountancy: A Look at the Issues....................................................................................................... 56
Cleveland, Gerald L. (1975) The Future of the Accounting Curriculum in a College of Business
Administration, Researching the Accounting Curriculum: Strategies for Change ........................... 56
Edwards, James Don (1975) The Future of the Accounting Curriculum in a College of Business
Administration, Researching the Accounting Curriculum: Strategies for Change ........................... 57
Kozmetsky, George (1975) Professional Accounting Education: Implementation Issues, Schools
of Accountancy: A Look at the Issues .................................................................................................. 58
Lamden, Charles W. (1975) The Future of the Accounting Curriculum in a College of Business
Administration, Researching the Accounting Curriculum: Strategies for Change ........................... 58
Mautz, Robert K. (1975) The Case for Professional Education in Accounting, Schools of
Accountancy: A Look at the Issues....................................................................................................... 59
Sterling, Robert R. (1975) Professional Schools of Accounting: Some Academic Questions,
Schools of Accountancy: A Look at the Issues .................................................................................... 60
Summers, Edward L. (1975) Comments on "Professional Schools of Accounting: Some Academic
Questions", Schools of Accountancy: A Look at the Issues ................................................................ 60
Zimmerman, Vernon K. (1975) The Future of the Accounting Curriculum in a College of Business
Administration, Researching the Accounting Curriculum: Strategies for Change ........................... 60
1976............................................................................................................................................................ 61
Cohen, Manuel F. (Chairman) (1976) Defining the Role and Responsibilities of Independent
Auditors -- A Progress Report to Council, The "Cohen Commission Report" .................................. 61
Larson, Kermit D. (1976) Schools of Accountancy: What Should Be Their Objectives?,
Professionalization of the Accountancy Curriculum .......................................................................... 62
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Metcalf, Lee (Chairman) (1976) The Accounting Establishment -- A Staff Study, The "Metcalf
Report" ................................................................................................................................................... 63
Young, J. Nelson (1976) The Professional Law School Program: Some Perspectives for
Professional Accounting Education, Professionalization of the Accountancy Curriculum ............. 63
1977............................................................................................................................................................ 64
Bedford, Norton M. (1977) Synopsis of Discussion of "Professional Programs and Schools of
Accountancy", AY Professors Roundtable ........................................................................................... 64
Bremser, Wayne G., Vincent C. Brenner, and Paul E. Dascher. (1977) The Feasibility of
Professional Schools: An Empirical Study, The Accounting Review ................................................. 64
Carrington, Athol S. (1977) What We Can Learn from Other Countries and Other Professions, AY
Professors Roundtable ......................................................................................................................... 64
Cohen, Manuel F. (1977) The Work of the Commission on Auditors' Responsibility , Cohen
Commission Report .............................................................................................................................. 65
Cohen, Manuel F. (Chairman) (1977) Testimony on Accounting and Auditing Practices and
Procedures, Hearings before the Subcommittee on Reports, Accounting and Management of the
Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate (the "Metcalf Hearings" ...................... 65
Davidson, Sidney (1977) Roy and MacNeill Plus 10, AY Professors Roundtable ........................... 67
Gleim, Irvin N. (1977) Letter re: Professional Schools of Accounting, Hearings before the
Subcommittee on Reports, Accounting and Management of the Committee on Governmental Affairs,
United States Senate (the "Metcalf Hearings") .................................................................................... 67
Kanaga, William S. (1977) The Accounting Establishment: Oversight or Overstatement?, AY
Professors Roundtable ......................................................................................................................... 67
MacNeill, James H. (1977) Discussion of "Roy and MacNeill Plus 10", AY Professors Roundtable68
Percy, Charles F. (1977) Opening Statement, Hearings before the Subcommittee on Reports,
Accounting and Management of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate
(the "Metcalf Hearings" ........................................................................................................................ 68
Skousen, K. Fred (1977) Professional Programs and Schools of Accountancy, AY Professors
Roundtable ............................................................................................................................................ 69
Skousen, K. Fred (1977) Accounting Education: The New Professionalism, Journal of
Accountancy .......................................................................................................................................... 69
Solomons, David (1977) Professional Certification, AY Professors Roundtable ............................ 70
Weckstein, Donald T. (1977) Discussion of "What We Can Learn from Other Countries and Other
Professions, AY Professors Roundtable .............................................................................................. 71
Zeff, Stephen A. (1977) Discussion of "Roy and MacNeill Plus 10", AY Professors Roundtable .... 71
1978............................................................................................................................................................ 71
Davidson, Sidney (1978) Accreditation: Two Views, Journal of Accountancy ................................ 71
Miller, Herbert E. (1978) Accreditation: Two Views, Journal of Accountancy ................................ 72
Rayburn, Frank R. and E.H. Bonfield (1978) Schools of Accountancy: Attitudes and Attitude
Structure, The Accounting Review ...................................................................................................... 72
1979............................................................................................................................................................ 72
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Albers, Wayne J. (Chairman) (1979) Education Requirements for Entry into the Accounting
Profession: A Statement of AICPA Policies, Journal of Accountancy ................................................ 72
Carmichael, Douglas R. (1979) The Cohen Commission in Perspective: Actions and Reactions.,
Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance...................................................................................... 73
Flaherty, Richard E. (1979) The Core of the Curriculum for Accounting Majors, AAA publication
................................................................................................................................................................ 73
Kay, Robert S., (1979) The Cohen Commission Report: Some Compliments, Some Criticisms,
Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance...................................................................................... 73
Seidler, Lee J. (1979) The Cohen Commission After One Year: A Personal View, Journal of
Accounting, Auditing and Finance ....................................................................................................... 73
1980............................................................................................................................................................ 74
Campbell, David R. and Robert W. Williamson (1980) Accreditation of Accounting Programs:
Administrators' Perceptions of Proposed AACSB Standards, Issues in Accounting Education...... 74
Schiff, Michael (1980) The business school establishment versus the accounting profession,
Journal of Accountancy ......................................................................................................................... 74
Spiceland, J. David, Vincent C. Brenner, and Bart P. Hartman (1980) Standards for Programs and
Schools of Professional Accounting: Accounting Group Perceptions, The Accounting Review ..... 76
1983............................................................................................................................................................ 76
Boatsman, James R. (1983) American Law Schools: Implications for Accounting Education,
Journal of Accounting Education ......................................................................................................... 76
Reeve, James M. (1983) The Five-Year Accounting Program as a Quality Signal, The Accounting
Review.................................................................................................................................................... 77
1984............................................................................................................................................................ 77
Arnold, Donald F. and Thomas J. Geiselhart (1984) Practitioners' Views on Five-Year Educational
Requirements for CPAs, The Accounting Review ............................................................................... 77
Williams, Doyle Z. (1984) Schools of Accounting: Anatomy of a Movement, Issues in Accounting
Education ............................................................................................................................................... 77
1985............................................................................................................................................................ 78
Eckel, Norman and Timothy Ross (1985) Schools versus Departments of Accounting: Is There
Really a Difference?, Journal of Accounting Education ...................................................................... 78
Ellyson, Robert C., A. Tom Nelson, and James H. MacNeill (1985) Planning Education for a
Changing World, Journal of Accountancy............................................................................................ 79
1986............................................................................................................................................................ 79
Bloom, Robert, Araya Debessay, and William Markell (1986) The Development of Schools of
Accounting and the Underlying Issues, Journal of Accounting Education ....................................... 79
Futures Committee (1986) Report of the Committee on the Future Structure, Content, and Scope
of Accounting Education, Reorienting Accounting Education: Reports on the Environment,
Professoriate, and Curriculum of Accounting ..................................................................................... 80
Special Committee (1986) Report of the Special Committee on Standards of Professional Conduct
for Certified Public Accountants, Restructuring Professional Standards to Achieve Professional
Excellence in a Changing Environment................................................................................................. 81
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1987............................................................................................................................................................ 82
Bedford, Norton M. and William G. Shenkir (1987) Reorienting Accounting Education, Journal of
Accountancy .......................................................................................................................................... 82
Follow-Up Committee I (1987) Report of the Follow-up Committee on the Future Structure,
Content, and Scope of Accounting Education, 1986-87, Reorienting Accounting Education: Reports
on the Environment, Professoriate, and Curriculum of Accounting .................................................... 83
Langenderfer, Harold Q. (1987) Accounting Education's History - A 100-Year Search for Identity,
Journal of Accountancy ......................................................................................................................... 83
McGee, Robert W. (1987) A Model Program for Schools of Accountancy, A Model Program for
Schools of Accountancy ........................................................................................................................ 85
Treadway Commission (1987) Report of the National Commission on Fraudulent Financial
Reporting, The "Treadway Report" ..................................................................................................... 85
Wyer, Jean C. (1987) Fraudulent Financial Reporting: The Potential for Educational Impact,
Appendix B, the "Treadway Report" ................................................................................................... 86
1988............................................................................................................................................................ 87
Stark , Joan A. and Malcolm S. Lowther (1988). Strengthening the Ties that Bind .......................... 87
1989............................................................................................................................................................ 87
"Big Eight" Managing Partners (1989) Perspectives on Education: Capabilities for Success in the
Accounting Profession, "White Paper" ................................................................................................ 87
Follow-Up Committee II (1989) Report of the Follow-up Committee on the Future Structure,
Content, and Scope of Accounting Education, 1987-88, Reorienting Accounting Education: Reports
on the Environment, Professoriate, and Curriculum of Accounting .................................................... 88
Langenderfer, Harold Q. and Joanne W. Rockness (1989) Integrating Ethics into the Accounting
Curriculum: Issues, Problems, and Solutions, Issues in Accounting Education ............................... 89
Sprouse. Robert T. (1989) The Synergism of Accountancy and Accounting Education., Accounting
Horizons................................................................................................................................................. 89
Zeff, Stephen A. (1989) Does Accounting Belong in the University Curriculum?, Issues in
Accounting Education ........................................................................................................................... 91
1990............................................................................................................................................................ 91
Accounting Education Change Commission (1990) Objectives of Education for Accountants:
Position Statement Number One, Issues in Accounting Education ................................................... 91
Alford, R. Mark, Jerry R. Strawser and Robert H. Strawser (1990) Does Graduate Education Improve
Success in Public Accounting? ............................................................................................................... 92
Bricker, Robert James and Gary John Previts (1990) The Sociology of Accountancy: A Study of
Academic and Practice Community Schisms ......................................................................................... 92
Campbell, Terry L., James R. Hasselback, Roger H. Hermanson, and Deborah H. Turner (1990)
Retirement Demand and the Market for Accounting Doctorates, Issues in Accounting Education93
Kinney, William R. (1990) Some Reflections on a Professional Education: It Should Have Been
More Positive, Issues in Accounting Education .................................................................................. 93
Patten, Ronald J. and Doyle Z. Williams (1990) There's Trouble -- Right Here in Our Accounting
Programs: The Challenge to Accounting Educators, Issues in Accounting Education .................... 93
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Poe, C. Douglas and Ralph E. Viator (1990) AACSB Accounting Accreditation and Administrators'
Attitudes Toward Criteria for the Evaluation of Faculty, Issues in Accounting Education ............. 94
1991............................................................................................................................................................ 94
Diamond, Michael (1991) Schools of Accounting, Journal of Accountancy ..................................... 94
Elam, Rick (1991) The Accounting Graduate of the Future, Journal of Accountancy ..................... 95
Johnson, H. Thomas and Robert S. Kaplan (1991) Relevance Lost .................................................. 95
Previts, Gary John (1991) Accounting Education: The Next Horizon, Journal of Accountancy ..... 95
Reigle, Dennis and John Meinert (1991) Attracting the Best Candidates, Journal of Accountancy
................................................................................................................................................................ 96
1992............................................................................................................................................................ 97
Strait, A. Marvin and Ivan Bull (1992) Do Academic Traditions Undermine Teaching?, Journal of
Accountancy .......................................................................................................................................... 97
1993............................................................................................................................................................ 97
Schmidt, Richard J. (1993) Accounting Curriculum Responses to the 150-Hour Requirement,
Journal of Accounting Education ......................................................................................................... 97
Williams, Doyle Z. (1993) Reforming Accounting Education, Journal of Accountancy .................. 98
1995............................................................................................................................................................ 98
Francis et al. (1995) Intentional Learning: A Process for Learning to Learn in the Accounting
Curriculum, monograph sponsored by the Accounting Education Change Commission. ............... 98
1999............................................................................................................................................................ 98
Sundem, Gary (1999) The Accounting Education Change Commission: Its History and Impact ... 98
2000............................................................................................................................................................ 99
Albrecht, W. Steve and Robert J. Sack (2000) Accounting Education: Charting the Course through
a Perilous Future, Accounting Education Series, Volume 16............................................................. 99
Lux, Daniel F. (2000), Accounting Educators’ Concerns about the AECC Position and Issues
Statement, Journal of Education for Business..................................................................................... 99
2001.......................................................................................................................................................... 100
CPA Vision Project (2001) ................................................................................................................. 100
Shafer, William E. and J. Gregory Kunkel (2001) Are 150-Hour Accounting Programs Meeting
Their Intended Objectives?, Journal of Education for Business ...................................................... 101
2003.......................................................................................................................................................... 102
Burnett, Sharon (2003) The Future of Accounting Education: A Regional Perspective, Journal of
Education for Business ....................................................................................................................... 102
Miller, Paul B.W. (2003) The Five-Year Program Debate Continues: An Updated Analysis of the
Supply of and Demand for Master’s Degrees in Accounting ............................................................... 102
Russell, Keith A. and Carl S. Smith (2003) Accounting Education's Role in Corporate Malfeasance:
it's time for a new curriculum, Strategic Finance ............................................................................. 102
Zeff, Stephen A. (2003) How the US Accounting Profession Got Where It Is Today (parts I and II),
Accounting Horizons........................................................................................................................... 103
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2004.......................................................................................................................................................... 103
Billiot, Mary Jo, Sid Glandon and Randy McFerrin (2004) Factors Affecting the Supply of
Accounting Graduates......................................................................................................................... 103
Frecka, Thomas J., Michael H. Morris, and Ranachandran Ramanan (2004) Back to the Future:
Implementing a Broad Economic, Inquiry-Based Approach to Accounting Education, Journal of
Education for Business ....................................................................................................................... 103
Wyatt, Arthur R. (2004) Accounting Professionalism – They Just Don’t Get It! ................................ 104
2005.......................................................................................................................................................... 105
Hunton, James E., Dan N. Stone, and Benson Wier (2005) Does Graduate Business Education
Contribute to Professional Accounting Success? .............................................................................. 105
Waddock, Sandra (2005) Hollow Men and Women at the Helm . . . Hollow Accounting Ethics?,
Issues in Accounting Education ......................................................................................................... 105
2006.......................................................................................................................................................... 106
Arens, Alvin A. and Randal J. Elder (2006) Perspectives on Auditing Education after SarbanesOxley..................................................................................................................................................... 106
Cohen, Jeffrey R. and Lori L. Holder-Webb (2006) Rethinking the Influence of Agency Theory in
the Accounting Academy, Issues in Accounting Education ............................................................. 106
Dosch, Robert J. and Jacob R. Wambsganss (2006) The Blame Game: Accounting Education Is Not
Alone, Journal of Education for Business .......................................................................................... 107
Marshall, P. Douglas, Robert F. Dombrowski, and R. Michael Garner (2006) An Examination of
Alternative Sources of Doctoral Accounting Faculty, Journal of Education for Business ............. 107
2007.......................................................................................................................................................... 107
Fogarty, Timothy J. and Garen Markarian (2007) An Empirical Assessment of the Rise and Fall of
Accounting as an Academic Discipline .............................................................................................. 108
Heck, Jean L. and Robert E. Jensen (2007) An Analysis of the Evolution of Research Contributions by
The Accounting Review, 1926-2005 ..................................................................................................... 108
Hurt, Bob (2007) Teaching What Matters: A New Conception of Accounting Education, Journal of
Education for Business ....................................................................................................................... 108
Sharman, Paul. A (2007) The PhD Shortage ........................................................................................ 109
Swartz, James E., Teresa A. Swartz and Priscilla Liang (2007) Market Meltdown: Recruiting Qualified
Business Faculty ................................................................................................................................... 109
Van Wyhe, Glenn (2007) Reforming Accounting within the Academy .............................................. 110
2008 .......................................................................................................................................................... 110
Nelson, Irvin T., Valaria P. Vendrzyk, Jeffrey J. Quirin, and Stacy E. Kovar (2008) Trends in
Accounting Student Characteristics: Results from a 15-Year Longitudinal Study at FSA Schools..... 110
2009 .......................................................................................................................................................... 110
Hunt, Steven C., Tim V. Eaton, and Alan Reinstein (2009) Accounting Faculty Job Search in a Seller’s
Market................................................................................................................................................... 110
Carcello, Joseph V., Jean C. Bedard, and Dana R. Hermanson (2009) Responses of the American
Accounting Association’s Tracking Team to the Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on the
Auditing Profession .............................................................................................................................. 111
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Bibliography for Developments in Accounting Education ....................................................................... 112
Committee Reports ............................................................................................................................... 112
21.
National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, ................................................................ 113
Individual Authors ................................................................................................................................ 113
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Roy, Robert H. and James H. MacNeill (1967), Horizons for a Profession
This section summarizes the recommendations made by Robert H. Roy and James H/ MacNeill in the
1967 Horizons for a Profession report regarding the body of knowledge that beginning CPAs should be
expected to possess to equip them to function as competent professionals. Major points include:
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Defining accounting as a profession by reference to a set of criteria that apply to Law, Medicine,
and Engineering (the “learned professions”);
Recommending conceptual education rather than memorization of rules – analogous to the move
medical education made towards medical science and away from apprenticeship
Calling for more research in accounting beyond the applied research common at the time the
report was produced, emphasizing research as a productive area separate from teaching. The call
for additional research was coupled with a call for additional sponsorship from commercial
organizations.
Describing the areas of knowledge that a beginning CPA should possess in the modern
accounting environment.
The following selections from Horizons are intended to present the essence of its recommendations in
order to inform future discussions. The details of the research projects conducted under the auspices of
Horizons have been omitted due to my perception that they are relevant to history but not essential to our
current understanding.
Introduction to Horizons
The Horizons study was intended to delineate the common body of knowledge to be possessed by those
about to begin their professional careers as certified public accountants. This objective posed two
dilemmas, which are summarized below.
1. The most important and significant aspects of a CPA’s services to his clients and to the public
cannot be defined as knowledge, nor even as experience, but must be described by more elusive
terms: wisdom, perception, imagination, circumspection, judgment, integrity. When to speak out,
when to be silent, how to say or write that which is necessary but awkward, courage to face up to
the need for doing so, talent to be firm yet diplomatic, imagination to see beneath and beyond the
surface, perceptivity not only for what has happened but also what may happen, constancy in
ethical behavior, sagacity to avoid errors of omission as well as those of commission: these and
other attributes like them are qualities, not definable as knowledge but inherent in individuals.
Without them a CPA can be nothing more than a technician, regardless of the scope of his
knowledge; possessing these attributes plus requisite knowledge, he is a professional.
Roy and MacNeill address this first dilemma through the imposition of three assumptions: a) the
CPA must be a professional; b) public accounting presents opportunities and challenges worthy
of the best minds; and c) those entering the profession must possess the qualities listed above.
2. The second dilemma deals with the nature of guidance – do prescriptive directions and
established syllabi assist in the acquisition of knowledge, or place an upper bound on the
possession or pursuit of knowledge? Roy and MacNeill value conceptual understanding over
procedural skill. Instead of requiring that a CPA be able to calculate a standard deviation, it is
much more important for him to understand the meaning of the concept and how it relates to
accounting. Ability to apply techniques is easy to specify and as easy to test; conceptual
understanding is much more elusive, both to impart and to ascertain.
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Definition of the Beginning CPA
Roy and MacNeill define the beginning CPA “…as one who is at that moment in his career when he is
first prepared and authorized to offer his services as a certified public accountant.” This definition
requires that the subject shall not only have passed all parts of the Uniform CPA Examination but also
must have met whatever the practice or other requirements may be in their respective states of residence.
Traditional rigor in the education of accountants must be increased still further if CPAs are to meet the
expectations of society, with additional proficiency needed in computer knowledge, mathematical and
statistical tools, and applications from behavioral science. Roy and MacNeill conclude that research in
accounting must also substantially increase, as they observe that accounting lags other professions in the
amount of research in the discipline. They note that CPAs in impressive numbers ardently pursue selfdevelopment, but their endeavors seem essentially focused in how-to-do-it directions. Tomorrow’s CPAs
will require programs of greater breadth and sophistication.
Criteria for a profession
Objective criteria
Medicine, theology, and law traditionally have been regarded as the learned professions, and share
common characteristics:
 Each renders essential services to society.
 Each is governed by ethical principles which emphasize the virtues of self-subordination,
honesty, probity, devotion to the welfare of those served.
 Each has requirements for admission to the profession which are regulated by law.
 Each has procedures for disciplining those whose conduct violates ethical standards.
 Each depends upon a body of specialized knowledge acquired through formal education.
 Each has developed a language of its own, in its more sophisticated forms understandable only to
the initiated.
Certified public accountants share all of these professional attributes. In addition to obligations to those
served that are similar to the other professions listed above, the CPA also has a substantial obligation to
third parties.
Subjective criteria
Beyond the objective criteria listed above, there are more subtle, subjective requirements for a profession
as well:
 There must be a requisite level of understanding and respect on the part of the public, or at least a
knowledgeable segment of it.
 Professional stature is not achieved through self-recognition; there must be respect accorded by
others as well
 The native abilities of those who comprise the profession, their imagination, judgment,
cultivation, presence, their inherent qualities as professional men and women must be sufficient
to command both self-respect and the respect of those served.
 The breadth, depth, and rigor of preparation for the profession must also be sufficiently
demanding to command respect.
 The body of knowledge required for professional practice must be continually advanced through
research, accompanied by the adoption and application of new techniques and methodologies.
 This growth in new knowledge must be accompanied by corresponding growth on the part of
those in professional practice; they must demonstrate a capacity for self-development and selfrenewal.
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The nature and extent of the services rendered to society must likewise grow, as a consequence of
the availability and application of the new knowledge which has been postulated above.
Again, these criteria can be applied to CPAs as well as to the traditional learned professions.
Evolution of Professional Schools
Professions provide a service needed by society, and evolve from apprenticeship programs to professional
schools. At first, those schools attempt to simulate the real world and their teachers impart their own
experiences to their pupils. Once established, the schools evolve. Collective, repetitive experiences
increasingly yield inductive knowledge, generalizations extracted from multiplicities of cases and, once
extracted, applicable to cases yet to come. Research begins, from which there flows a yet higher order of
knowledge through deduction, yielding laws, principles, postulates, theories, all applicable to the
spectrum of the professional phenomena to which they apply. The progression of experience, induction
and deduction is accompanied by continual increases in the total body of applicable knowledge. The
professional schools respond to these growing accretions of relevant knowledge seriatim: by adding to the
burdens of their students, by winnowing out subjects deemed less essential, by increasing the rigor of
subjects retained and, ultimately, by insisting upon graduate training as a requirement for admission to the
profession.
Roy and MacNeill observe that attempts to simulate the world of affairs in academic institutions almost
always lack the essential ingredient of reality: the teaching of experience in the classroom is relatively
very inefficient, classroom presentation is likely to be descriptive and the experiences taught never to be
duplicated by the students in future professional practice. Inductive and deductive knowledge are much
more teachable and subsequently much more useful, so subjects dependent upon experience are the first
to be winnowed out. This produces resistance from senior faculty who object to discounting the value of
their instruction with its accompanying threat of intellectual obsolescence. To those fully invested in
teaching the way it has always been done, change appears to degrade the quality of education.
Nevertheless, Roy and MacNeill believe that the teaching of experience will be subordinated to inductive
and deductive instruction. Experience will remain as important as ever to the CPA but that experience
increasingly will be reserved for professional practice in the world of affairs.
Research
There must be an increase in accounting research, accompanied by significant increases in the number of
students progressing to the doctorate. Much of the research reported derives from faculty plus a few
investigators who are in professional practice. There does not exist in accounting – at least not in
sufficient degree – that conjunction of faculty and graduate students in academic environments
characterized by common devotion to the goals of research. There are doctoral candidates in accounting
departments, and they do engage in research in company with faculty and they also write dissertations,
but their numbers remain small and nearly static, and their support generally comes from participation in
teaching, not from sponsored research in the manner of medicine or engineering. Desirable enlargement
of research activity in accounting might come about through augmenting current research relationships by
sponsored research. Such engagements often oblige investigators to study specified problems and are
therefore more restrictive than unsupported investigations.
Sponsored research devoted to action problems in the real world can bring to accounting the essential
quality of reality not capable of simulation in academic institutions, can augment the present meager
efforts in clinical research in accounting, thereby yielding additional inductive knowledge, and can often
yield returns to sponsors sufficiently large to more than cover research costs.
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Perspectives
CPAs must understand the common characteristics of formal organizations (firms, businesses,
governments) and the changes that have taken place over time. Those organizations have grown more
complex, with additional regulations and changes in the internal and external environment of business
affairs.
To provide services of scope and variety requires knowledge of the same scope and variety. The
development of specialists within the profession requires that tomorrow’s beginning CPA possess the
requisite fundamental knowledge upon which special expertise may be built. That includes quantitative
methods and computer knowledge.
Accounting is the oldest and best established of the quantitative techniques to aid in managerial decisions.
Discerning accountants have always been aware of the uncertainties embodied in accounting information:
the probable collectability of receivables, an expected decline in inventory, the estimate of the useful life
of a depreciable asset. But in financial statements, net income and owners’ equity are stated in
deterministic ways, as though those were the only answers. Accounting is in truth a probabilistic process,
but historically it has appeared to be or has been treated as deterministic. Recent advances in quantitative
methods have all been formally probabilistic.
The Common Body of Knowledge
Conceptual knowledge is the key: the beginning CPA must not only know, but understand. Underlying all
the following recommendations is the principle that the CPA must be prepared to grow with changing
conditions and ideas – commitment to ongoing training and learning is one of the requirements for
success as a true professional. The intellectual habits of the beginning CPA are assumed to be compatible
with a creed of continual devotion to learning. Furthermore, the common body of knowledge itself will be
neither static nor immutable, but will advance to keep pace with changes in the economic and social
environment. The common body of knowledge presented below is a floor, not a ceiling, and does not
limit what a CPA can know by specifying the minimum elements he must know.
Accounting
The beginning CPA:
 Must be familiar with the functions of accounting: who utilizes its product, the nature of the
decisions to be made, and how accounting can facilitate the decision-making process.
 Need not be a tax expert, but should understand the nature of the various taxes, upon whom they
are imposed, the tax base, the general range of rates, and any important characteristics or
peculiarities. More detailed knowledge of the federal income tax should be expected due to its
materiality and wide applicability.
 Should possess a good knowledge of accounting theory: the various approaches to asset
measurement, the recognition of liabilities, and the concepts that comprises periodic income
measurement.
 Should know what is meant by the expression “generally accepted accounting principles”, the
principles themselves, their applicability, their limitations, and the conflicts involving them. The
CPA’s knowledge of accounting theory should not be limited to those principles and practices
which are generally accepted.
 Since communication is an intrinsic part of the accounting process, the CPA must know how to
present data in such form as to be readily understandable and of maximum utility. He must also
be concerned with the characteristics of information systems that tend to minimize the time
elapsing between initial input and useful communication.
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Must be familiar with the ways in which accounting information is made reliable. The principle
of objectivity must be known, as well as its applications and limitations.
Should understand how employment of statistical inference can improve reliability through
sampling techniques.
Must understand the concept of internal control.
The auditor must be qualified through his technical competence, his independence, and his
personal standards. The beginning CPA must know the codes of professional ethics, not just as a
collection of rules but as a philosophy of professional behavior.
The common body of knowledge must be conceptual; before dealing with asset measurement, one must
understand what constitutes an asset. This is not enough for one who is to perform a professional service;
he must also be familiar with the kinds of assets he can expect to encounter, their characteristics and their
problem areas.
Computer
Tomorrow’s beginning CPA should have computer capability and fluency to the extent possible with but
limited experience.
Humanities
CPAs do need to be concerned with two areas of philosophy: logic and ethics. Beginning CPAs must
have sufficient knowledge of logic to demonstrate capability. Nearly everything done in future
professional practice will be bound by the tenets of logic, for which understanding will be essential.
Ethics is comparably fundamental. If there were no ethical foundation to the profession, there would in
fact be no profession. Beginning CPAs should know ethical principles not as rules but in full
understanding of their significance to their own futures as well as to the future of the profession.
Whatever a CPA may do for his clients, the end results must be communicated with clarity and
specificity, unblemished by grammatical, syntactical or rhetorical errors. Those who cannot perform in
written and spoken English above a minimum threshold should be denied admission to the profession.
Economics
It is professionally necessary that the beginning CPA know economics and those aspects of social science
which are concerned with the behavior of formal organizations. The raw materials of accounting are
economic events and the products of accounting are used to make decisions and to formulate policies
operative in the world of economics.
More extensive knowledge of microeconomics is believed desirable, dealing with individual
organizations where economic events are translated into dollars, where there is concern with such matters
as value, prices, competition, investment, financial position, income. It should encompass:
 The nature of economic forces which affect the firm
 The relationship of price to demand
 The behavior of costs
 Cost concepts (marginal, opportunity, etc.)
 Productivity
 The role of government in the regulation of business
 Some familiarity with antitrust, public utility regulation, prohibitions of price discrimination and
restrictions on movement of international capital.
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Knowledge of macroeconomics, pertaining to the economy as a whole, will provide the CPA with
perspective. The CPA should understand:
 Monetary theory
 Resource allocation
 Business cycles
 International finance
 National income and its measurement
 Labor economics and economic planning
Behavioral Science
Roy and MacNeill recommend that the beginning CPA know the fundamentals of psychology and
sociology to provide a foundation capable of absorbing the future results expected from research in
behavioral science. Behavioral research already has yielded applicable insights of significant value, and
additional advances can provide knowledge which can be used to great advantage.
Law
The beginning CPA must know business law in order to pass the CPA examination – he should also have
a general knowledge of the role of law in society. His understanding should include an understanding of
enforceability of contracts, negotiability of instruments, title to property, forms of organization,
administrative laws and the CPA’s obligations under them. The CPA is not expected to be an expert in
law, but must know when it is necessary to consult a specialist.
Mathematics, Statistics, Probability
Topical knowledge is secondary – tomorrow’s CPA must have the same understanding of and facility
with the symbols of mathematics that they have always had with numbers, the symbols of arithmetic.
They must be trained to conceptualize, to think in symbols just as they have always thought in numbers.
The beginning CPA must be literate in mathematics, however he need not be literary. Mathematics,
statistics, and probability all depend upon the abstractions of symbolic notation and this demands the
conjunction of suitable aptitudes and requisite motivation. The common body of knowledge presented in
the Horizons report calls for substantially more knowledge of mathematics, statistics, and probability than
had previously been required for beginning CPAs, but Roy and MacNeill think future requirements may
be even more extensive.
Functional Fields of Business
Finance
The required body of financial knowledge should include evaluation of capital needs and sources, as well
as knowledge of the financial environment. It includes:
 Making financial projections
 Understanding and knowing how to develop ratios, turnovers, and other analytical tools
 Understanding the factors involved in alternative sources of capital, and how to determine their
costs
 Institutional knowledge
 Terminology of finance
Production
The beginning CPA should have a conceptual understanding of process manufacturing and job-order
production. They should know the relationship between cost accounting systems and the production
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processes they model, including terminology (relevant cost, incremental cost, sunk cost, production
center). Cost-volume relationships are important for the CPA to know. The CPA must also be able to
assist decision-making on capital investments in relation to production, including break-even analyses,
comparison of alternatives, predicting transition costs, and minimizing cost overruns.
Marketing
The CPA should have an orientation to marketing, including the nature of the decisions to be made and
the kinds of data needed to facilitate those decisions. The CPA’s knowledge of human behavior will assist
in a general appreciation of the human factors involved in the marketing function: consumer behavior,
sales personnel incentive, and advertising psychology.
Personnel Relations
Knowledge of general management techniques of individuals is necessary for every executive, and that
includes CPAs in their own firms and in the organizations they serve. This knowledge should be founded
on the CPA’s knowledge of behavioral sciences.
Business Management
These skills are not necessary for beginning CPAs, but will become increasingly important as the CPA
becomes a business manager as an executive in his own firm.
Commission on Standards “Perry Report” (1956), Standards of
Education and Experience for Certified Public Accountants
This section summarizes the recommendations made by the Commission on Standards for Education and
Experience in their 1956 report regarding standards of education and experience which are considered
desirable prerequisites for state certification as a CPA.
Purpose
Donald Perry, Chairman of the Commission, described the purpose of the commission as follows, in a
statement to the Council of the AICPA on April 12, 1953:
1.
To provide a background analysis of the organization and services of the accounting
profession, present and prospective, and an evaluation of the presently available means of
preparing therefore,
2.
To discuss and propose the best methods of preparation and recruitment for the profession,
3.
To influence the weaker schools to provide sounder programs of formal education for the
profession,
4.
To provide legislative bodies and state boards with suggested minimum educational and
experience prerequisites for accreditation as CPAs.
The Report provides background, and attempts to formulate standards of education and experience for
CPAs, which are adequate to meet the prospective needs of the public and of the profession and which are
also reasonably possible of attainment in the foreseeable future.
Need for Graduate Education
The report states:
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Present demands for specialization go far beyond the realm of practical accomplishment
within an undergraduate college program. The usual undergraduate concentration or
major in accounting consists of 24-30 semester hours of study. It is very difficult to
crowd into this amount of accounting instruction the training that is needed to prepare a
student for public accountancy. In fact it is difficult if not impossible to cover all of the
varied and important areas of learning needed in public accountancy within the traditional
four-year program. The composite demands have become too large.
The idea of academic training in accounting beyond the undergraduate level is not new.
The American Institute of Accountants, through committees and its Council,
recommended such training almost twenty years ago and specifically proposed
completion of a four-year undergraduate program in arts and sciences to be followed by
graduate study designed to prepare the student for public accounting practice.
The variety, depth, and comprehensiveness of training in certain areas needed by the
CPA, which by their nature can be most effectively acquired through the formal
educational process, can now be generally provided only in part by four-year
undergraduate accounting programs. Educational preparation beyond the undergraduate
level appears to be the most effective way to meet this need. Such advanced training
should not represent merely a continuation of the usual undergraduate study but should
be designed specifically to train CPAs for public accountancy.
These recommendations were made in a context where 34 percent of the candidates passing or
conditioning the May 1955 Uniform CPA Examination had only a high school degree. Educational
requirements to qualify to sit for the exam were set by the states at that point. The report observed
“College training is becoming increasingly common among candidates for the CPA examination.”
AICPA Committee on Education and Experience Requirements “Beamer
Report” (1969), Report of the Committee on Education and Experience
Requirements for CPAs
This section summarizes some of the recommendations made by the AICPA Committee on Education and
Experience Requirements for CPAs (the “Beamer Committee”) and presented to Council on May 6, 1969.
The ten recommendations of the committee were adopted by Council and therefore became statements of
Institute policy.
Objectives
The Committee was directed to re-examine the Institute’s standards of admission to the accounting
profession taking into account the study of the common body of knowledge for CPAs, Horizons for a
Profession, and reactions to that report; to restudy the meaning of the CPA certificate; and to recommend
appropriate changes. Guidelines included:
1.
The policies to be developed and recommended should be practical but should not be
constrained by present legal implications or immediate difficulties of implementation.
2.
The policies should be aimed at the point of time in the accountant’s career when he first
becomes a CPA. This level of competence does not represent his ultimate development, but
only a threshold competence.
3.
The recommendations should define those parts of the common body of knowledge which
can be obtained from college study and those parts which can be derived from experience.
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Education vs. Experience
The report recommends that no qualifying experience should be required of those who complete five
years of acceptable college study. The committee concludes that the common body of knowledge
delineated by Horizons for a Profession can best be obtained through college study. Experience
requirements imply apprenticeship, which is inappropriate for a learned profession. A college program of
at least five years permits the attainment of both breadth and depth of knowledge that is unlikely to be
obtained from a four-year program and satisfying an experience requirement.
Resolutions of Council
May, 1958:
4.
That postgraduate education for careers in public accounting is desirable and that as soon as it
is feasible postgraduate study devoted principally to accountancy and business administration
become a requirement for the CPA certificate.
In 1962, Council added the following language to the resolution above (existing resolution shown in
italics):
5.
That postgraduate education for careers in public accounting is desirable and that as soon as
it is feasible postgraduate study devoted principally to accountancy and business
administration become a requirement for the CPA certificate; that when postgraduate
education is undertaken and the curriculum of postgraduate study is devoted principally to
accountancy and business administration, such courses taken beyond the baccalaureate degree
are deemed to compensate for deficiencies in accounting and business courses in
undergraduate study, provided that the total curriculum in accountancy and business
administration shall be substantially the equivalent of that included in the four-year
undergraduate program recommended by the Standards Rating Committee of the American
Accounting Association. As a corollary, it is expressly affirmed that graduates receiving
baccalaureate degrees in liberal arts, engineering and the like shall be encouraged to enter
public accounting, with postgraduate study devoted principally to accounting and business
administration.
AAA Future Committee “Bedford Report” (1986), Future Accounting
Education: Preparing for the Expanding Profession
This section summarizes some of the 28 recommendations made by the AAA Committee on the Future
Structure, Content, and Scope of Accounting Education (the “Bedford Committee”) and published in
1986. Ten recommendations of the committee on the future scope, content, and structure of accounting
address the most comprehensive concern of the committee, i.e., that the foundation for a broad education
should be obtained from an accountant’s collegiate education. Other recommendations are associated with
the teaching process, faculty responsibilities, administration, accreditation, professional examination, and
economics of accounting education.
Introduction to Bedford Report
In 1984, a special committee headed by Norton M. Bedford studied the features of the expanding
accounting profession and the current state of accounting education. The committee’s analysis indicates
that accounting education as it is currently approached requires major reorientation between that point and
the year 2000. The committee’s recommendations are intended to serve as broad guidelines and to
provide direction for those who initiate changes in accounting education.
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The committee foresees the continuing emergence of an accounting profession that will provide
information for economic and social decisions, using sophisticated measurement and communication
technologies applied to a substantially enlarged scope of phenomena. Within this expanded profession,
auditing and the attest function will continue to be important focal points, even as the levels of technical,
conceptual, and human relations skills required to perform these functions continues to change.
Core Recommendations
The committee recommends that colleges and universities
1) Approach accounting education as an information development and distribution function for
economic decision making, and
2) Emphasize students’ learning to learn as the primary classroom objective.
Background and Context
In government and industry, information systems consultants, lawyers, economists and engineers are
associating with traditional accounting responsibilities in information systems, taxation, budget
preparation, management and operating controls, and strategic planning. In public accounting,
competition in the pricing of auditing and other services has forced cost reduction efforts; the general
public has become aware of audit failures, which some associate with a decline in the quality of audit
services; the costs of legal liability, based on claims of inadequate auditing, have increased dramatically;
and discussions of the professional ethical standards of management accountants, internal auditors, and
public accountants attract the interest of a variety of different audiences outside those respective groups.
The knowledge and skills used in providing diverse services extend far beyond the technical expertise
traditionally required to audit financial statements. Accounting rules, standards, and concepts have
increased in number and in complexity as accounting has been challenged to provide appropriate
information for different purposes. Accountants have had to extend their knowledge and skills
progressively to include a grasp of the economic and social environment in which an organization
operates. As a result, some important questions arise: What is the accounting profession? What is it
becoming? What should it be?
Features of the Expanding Profession
As a major instrument for bringing discipline to planning, for evaluating performance, and for motivating
people, the expanded accounting system will continue as the key quantitative information system in
almost every organization. However, the accounting system of the future will include information on
external events and circumstances, and internal information will be less tightly linked to the traditional
financial statements now used in reports to shareholders.
Many of the new accounting services are more innovative-intensive than standard-intensive. Innovativeintensive services are those calling for highly skilled specialists to establish new approaches or techniques
for meeting management needs. Standard-intensive services entail large numbers of people performing
tasks that can be reduced to routine procedures based on experience and practice. Accountants who
remain narrowly educated will find it more difficult to compete in an expanding profession.
These trends in the accounting profession raise the following issues for accounting education:
 Expansion of services and products
 Changes in the nature and extent of competition
 Increased specialization
 Proliferation of standards
 Litigation and legal liability
 Widespread computerization
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Developments in continuing education
Current State of Accounting Education
Many accounting educators believe the material taught and learned in university accounting processes is
inadequate, and they question the effectiveness of traditional teaching and learning methods. These
educators cite complaints that many accounting graduates do not know how to communicate, cannot
reason logically, and have limited problem-solving ability. The current pedagogy emphasizes problems
with specific solutions rather than cases with alternative solutions. As the number of authoritative
pronouncements has expanded, textbooks and faculty have required students to learn more factual rules
and procedures to be applied in rather rigid fashion. A primary focus in many cases has been on the
acquisition of knowledge needed to pass professional examinations.
If the teaching process centers on repeating textbook material in the classroom and demonstrating the
application of that material to conceived issues, problems, and situations, then the learning process risks
becoming uninspiring to capable future accountants.
Accounting and the University at Large
Accounting education programs, as well as other undergraduate professional programs, have never
accommodated well to the fundamental educational goals of a university. Medicine and law established
their relationships with the arts, sciences, and humanities colleges by requiring that professional education
follow the liberating and comprehensive body of human knowledge. Accounting and engineering,
however, have integrated the liberal arts and the practical arts. Today the arts, sciences, and humanities
colleges are calling for a relationship with accounting and other professional programs somewhat similar
to that which they have with law and medicine.
The Future Scope, Content, and Structure of Accounting Education
Successful achievement of an effective education program that will meet the demands of the 21st century
will require
1) A revised, expanded curriculum
2) A more effective education delivery process, and
3) A better articulated structure for the institutional units through which the programs will be
offered.
Professional accounting education must not only emphasize the needed skills and knowledge, it must also
instill the ethical standards and the commitment of a professional. The general effort to develop in
students a concern for individual needs and for the overall advancement of society must be given more
emphasis.
Essential for the pursuit of a professional accounting education is a student’s understanding of the
concepts and implications of knowledge derived from the natural and social sciences, the arts, and the
humanities. The comprehensive professional accounting education program thereby must develop in
students an understanding of the nature and skills of logical reasoning; a capacity for creative thinking
and problem-solving; an appreciation of ethical standards and conduct; and a facility with the methods of
effective communication and interpersonal relations.
General Education
All college graduates should have a strong, broad general education. The call for accounting educators to
assure that students possess a knowledge of the humanities, arts, and sciences rests in the need to develop
the capacity of accountants to use an expanded knowledge base to help determine what information will
be useful in making decisions and applying accounting skills. The capability of accountants to be creative,
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sensitive, and aware of the needs of society and individuals depends to a large degree on their
accumulated knowledge or education.
A general professional accounting program that follows will be more effective if all students enter with a
certain minimum background. This minimum should include basic courses in mathematics (through
calculus), statistics, computer systems, and economics.
General Professional Accounting Education
The primary purpose of general professional accounting education is to provide a means for students to
acquire both a) the knowledge, techniques, sensitivities, and abilities all accountants should have for entry
into the accounting profession, and b) the capacity to apply these qualities under reasonable supervision.
The essential components include:
 Design and use of information systems
 Communication
 Decision problems and information in organizations
 Financial information and public reporting
 Knowledge of the accounting profession
In addition, when accounting faculties accept a greater responsibility for student learning at the general
professional accounting education level, they also implicitly assume a responsibility to recognize, foster,
and encourage the following personal capacities in students:
 Ambition and persistence
 Empathy
 Creative thinking
 Understanding of cultural and intellectual differences
 Logical reasoning
 Sensitivity to social responsibilities
 Leadership
Specialized Professional Accounting Education
Specialized accounting education follows the attainment of the broad introductory knowledge and skills
spanning the entire spectrum of the accounting discipline and included in general accounting education.
Therefore, it must only be offered at the graduate level. The objective of specialized accounting education
is to provide the student with an advanced, clearly usable level of accounting knowledge and skills. A
graduate of a program should be able to function at the entry level as a qualified professional in
performing a valuable service for society in a specific area.
University coverage of specialized accounting fields should educate rather than train, emphasizing the
concepts, systems, and principles associated with the advanced level of specialized practice. The objective
of specialized education should be to provide conceptual and theoretical material to facilitate change as
needed and to provide an ability to develop creative applications of the rules and procedures used in the
specialization.
Research and Doctoral Education
Doctoral programs in accounting should teach students how to do research. Teaching students how to
teach is also an essential part of the doctoral program, but it is subordinate to developing research skills.
Further improvements in doctoral programs should be made by upgrading the quality of the research
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methods doctoral students learn and by expanding the areas in which research is undertaken to correspond
to the broader scope and content of accounting education and practice.
Without an extensive research program, a profession and its practitioners often fail to perceive
opportunities for growth and change in knowledge and its application. Accounting faculties at universities
provide basic research for the profession. This alone would justify requiring accounting faculties to
conduct research as a condition for their teaching. However, a further justification is that accounting
students need to be aware of new ideas, hypotheses, and research findings related to their field. To
maintain an interest in accounting, higher quality students require a sense of intellectual excitement in
their studies.
Educational Recommendations
Scope and Content
1. Accounting should be viewed as a broad economic information development and distribution
process, based on the design, implementation, and operation of multiple types of information
systems. Accordingly, accounting faculties should maintain competence in the information
technologies and in efforts to develop comprehensive information systems for organizations.
2. Accounting faculties should recognize and advise students that a rigorous general accounting
education and the development of broad personal capacities and skills is preferred to premature
specialization in accounting.
3. Accounting faculties should be receptive to an expansion of educational requirements in the
liberal arts and sciences that aim to develop the students’ capacities for analysis, synthesis,
problem-solving, and communication.
4. University accounting education should emphasize the skills and capacities needed for life-long
learning.
5. Learning objectives of courses and programs should be so designed that they help students learn
to learn, to think, and to be creative.
6. Accounting faculties should establish high expectations for students and should adjust the
curriculum content and learning methods to match the professional skills, personal capacities, and
general knowledge they expect students to develop.
7. Universities should maintain flexibility in accounting education programs to permit rapid
adjustment to changes in the information needs of society.
Structure
8. A broad educational structure must be made available that spans education in the humanities, arts,
and sciences (general education); the general conceptual information development and reporting
knowledge required of all accountants (general professional accounting education); and the
specialized technical knowledge required in one or more areas of accounting information
development (specialized professional accounting education).
9. Specialized professional accounting education should be offered only at the graduate level. Thus,
a complete curriculum covering all three levels of education will normally take a minimum of
five years.
10. Practicing and academic accountants should be guided by the principle of comparative advantage
in deciding upon the specialized professional education content to be provided by universities and
that to be provided by employers and others through various programs of continuing education.
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Administration
Overall, much of the accounting education structure in 1985 operates outside the traditional structure of
university professional education. It operates within a structure originally designed for arts and science,
where programs produce large numbers of four-year graduates liberally educated without professional
education programs. Accounting education was initially assigned to colleges of business for
administration purposes. Under that structure, accounting education over the past several years has
competed with other business school disciplines for funds.
The following administrative recommendations will permit increased student learning in accounting
programs at all universities.
16.
Encourage establishment of high standards for admission to accounting programs, which might
include criteria independent of other programs.
17.
Assign more resources (e.g., senior faculty and small class sizes) to introductory and intermediate
accounting instruction; define and expand the role of full-time faculty in the educational structure
to assure more involvement in student learning; and offer systematic guidance and advising of
students from matriculation through graduation.
18.
Provide resources for complementary programs and activities that motivate students and extend
their learning experience.
19.
Implement educational peer review of accounting programs by non-accounting faculty,
accounting faculty from other institutions, and practitioners.
20.
Encourage greater interaction among faculty members in accounting and in the liberal arts.
Accreditation
The future content, scope, and structure of accounting education suggests that ultimately only graduate
accounting programs will be subject to accreditation.
21.
Encourage the development of accounting programs through graduate study.
22.
Emphasize accounting faculties’ use of and reliance on supportive educational resources in the
arts, sciences, and humanities.
23.
Allow decentralization, giving accounting faculties more autonomy, for example, with regard to
student admission and retention standards above university requirements, so accounting programs
may adapt rapidly to the evolving needs of professional education.
Professional examinations
The feedback loop established as textbook writers attempt to help students master the expected
examination content may retard both teaching and the examination from reflecting recent trends in the
changing common body of knowledge utilized by accountants.
25.
In preparing students for the future, accounting faculty should rely on accounting practice and
research and on multidisciplinary research in establishing curriculum content rather than merely
preparing students to qualify for current practice.
Accounting Education Change Commission (1990)
The following discussion is extracted from a monograph by Gary Sundem, The Accounting Education
Change Commission: Its History and Impact, which appears on the section of the American Accounting
Association website devoted to the history of the Accounting Education Change Commission.
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Introduction to AECC
The overall objective of the Accounting Education Change Commission was to foster changes in the
academic preparation of accountants consistent with the goal of improving their capabilities for successful
professional careers in practice. These capabilities are described in the sponsoring firms' White Paper,
Perspectives on Education: Capabilities for Success in the Accounting Profession, and in the American
Accounting Association report of the Committee on the Future Structure, Content and Scope of
Accounting Education (Bedford report). Providing such capabilities will require both curriculum
reengineering and supportive institutional changes by educational, professional, licensing, and
accreditation bodies, inter alia, all with the ultimate goal of serving the public interest through the
improved education of accountants. The Accounting Education Change Commission was formed to
pursue the realization of these objectives.
Background
Academics and practitioners came together in the late 1980s to call for changes in accounting education.
The rhetoric on both sides included many other issues, but the overriding, uniting factor was the need to
produce accounting graduates who could adapt to change. Rules, regulations, and techniques have a short
half-life, and it is getting shorter as the pace of change accelerates. The challenge to accounting educators
is to maintain the technical accounting competence demanded in graduates, while increasing their
understanding of accounting and business so that they can adapt and apply their technical skills to new
environments.
With the expansion of accounting knowledge, there was no longer time in a traditional undergraduate
accounting education to learn the complete body of knowledge of accounting. Two potential solutions
emerged: (1) extend accounting programs to five years of post-secondary education or (2) refocus the
curriculum. Many studies advocated some combination of each.
First to emerge was the push for requiring a graduate degree for entry to the accounting profession; this
has resulted in the regulatory efforts to require five years of education to sit for the Certified Public
Accountant (CPA) examination. The premise of this approach was that if there is more to learn, students
should spend more time learning it. Some advocates of five-year accounting programs thought the extra
time should be spent learning accounting rules, regulations, and techniques in more depth; others thought
the time should be spent developing the breadth that had often been sacrificed in an attempt to squeeze
more accounting into the curriculum. This divergence of goals for the added year of education led to
regulations in many states that mandated 150 semester-hours of post-secondary education, but were silent
on what subjects should be included in the extra coursework and whether this constituted a graduate
degree.
Refocusing the curriculum required identifying the most important topics from among the many potential
subjects that could be taught in an accounting curriculum. Studies focusing on a "common body of
knowledge" traditionally separated knowledge that is crucial to an accounting career from knowledge that
may be helpful but is not essential. Entrants to the profession could be held responsible for the common
body, and additional knowledge and skills could be developed as needed. In the 1980s, the consensus on
the common body of knowledge began to erode. Accountants began to realize that no matter how many
courses students took, they were not going to be able to know the complete body of accounting rules,
regulations, and techniques. A new approach to accounting education was needed.
Many professional schools faced similar situations. For example, pharmacy schools recently started down
the path of five-year programs, but soon realized that simply expanding the time in school would not be a
long-run solution. They needed to make fundamental changes in the curriculum. Maybe more pertinent to
accounting is what happened nearly a century ago in law schools. At that time, it became evident that
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aspiring lawyers could no longer learn the complete body of the law—it was just too extensive. Instead,
law schools, especially the best ones, increasingly focused on teaching students how to think about the
law. They taught a process, not a body of knowledge. The process was founded in a conceptual
understanding of the law, together with the ability to structure approaches to issues and locate and
understand the relevant body of knowledge when needed.
As it became clear to more and more accounting faculty that changes were necessary, three issues
remained paramount:
(1) what curricular changes should be made (i.e., what should be included in and excluded from the
required accounting curriculum and how should it be taught),
(2) how should such changes be made, and
(3) how will employers of accounting graduates react to the changes.
By the late 1980s there were signs of evolutionary change. But changes in universities usually occur
slowly. Changes initiated and driven by faculty were not fast enough for a group representing the major
public accounting firms in the U.S. As major customers of accounting programs—that is, employers of
accounting graduates—the leaders of the firms became concerned that they would not be competitive in
this dawning information age if their main source of talent, university accounting programs, did not
change quickly. Rather than sit back and allow academics to debate whether to change, what to change,
and how to change, the accounting firms took the initiative. One major result of this initiative was the
formation of the Accounting Education Change Commission (AECC) in 1989. The AECC was always
intended to be a temporary initiative, but it contributed a substantial amount of effort to the development
of accounting education by the time it was dissolved in 1996 and re-integrated into the ongoing
development efforts of the AAA.
Initial Direction
The first official action of the AECC was approval of a resolution committing the Commission to be
concerned with accounting careers broadly defined:
The Commission will address the preparation of accountants for careers in public
accounting as practiced in large, medium, and small firms, corporate accounting
(including financial management, controllership, treasury, financial analysis, planning
and budgeting, cost accounting, internal audit, systems, tax, and general accounting), and
governmental and non-profit accounting….When the Commission uses terms such as
"accounting careers," "accounting profession," or "accounting professionals," these terms
are understood to refer to accounting broadly defined, including all career paths
listed…above.
The Commission made a concerted effort to avoid the stigma of catering only to preparation for public
accounting careers. Sponsorship of the Commission by the major public accounting firms gave some
observers the impression that the changes advocated by the Commission would be in the best interest of
such firms, possibly to the detriment of other professional accounting careers. For example, a paper by
Davis and Sherman (1994) "raises questions concerning the apparent lack of independence of the
Commission and the potential that the AECC may have indeed been 'captured' by the accounting firms
which have financed its operation." The paper "further questions whether the interests of all stakeholders
have been adequately represented in the Commission's initiatives." However, both industry and
small/medium public accounting firms were represented on the Commission. (A legitimate criticism is
that government and nonprofit accountants were not represented.) Further, subsequent studies by the
Institute of Management Accountants and the Financial Executives Institute have called for most of the
same changes as the AECC advocated (see Siegel and Sorensen 1994; Larsen and Ahlstrand 1991).
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A less formal, but equally important, decision was to focus on the learning experience provided for the
students rather than the administrative structure of accounting programs. Specifically, the
Commission elected to not enter the debate over whether college and university accounting programs
should be four or five years in length. This was a politically charged issue for which there was a diversity
of opinion on the Commission and no obviously right answer. Instead of entering this debate, the
Commission supported diversity in the way accounting programs are packaged. However, regardless of
the length of the program or the titles and lengths of courses, a common set of learning objectives
emerged. The Commission did not develop (or even seriously discuss) a "model curriculum"; degrees and
course titles were secondary to the subject matter and process of education. The focus was on students'
learning objectives and how best to achieve them.
AECC Task Forces
Task forces did most of the actual work of the Commission. Sixteen AECC task forces were appointed in
February 1990. Categorized by the goal they were intended to achieve, the task forces were:
Goal 1: Identify the goals of education for accountants
Task Force 1A: Objectives of Education for Accountants
Charge:
Prepare an exposure draft of a position statement on "Objectives of Education for
Accountants," drawing from the report of the Bedford Committee and the Perspectives paper. Continue to
monitor the educational and professional environments for implications for accounting education that may
necessitate revision of the position statement.
Result: Mission accomplished with publication of Position Statement No. One, Objectives of Education
for Accountants.
Goal 2: Foster an environment for improvements in the education of
accountants
Task Force 2A: Leadership Support
Charge:
(1) Identify leaders in academe and the profession, by virtue of their position and/or their
influence, and develop strategies for enlisting their support for changing accounting education.
(2) Identify stakeholder organizations and develop strategies for the AECC establishing linkages with
them.
Result: One of the most difficult tasks and one that was only partially successful. Support within the
academic accounting community was excellent; within the higher echelons of the practicing accounting
community, good but with little penetration into the rank and file; and outside the accounting community,
far short of what was hoped. Especially disappointing was lack of recognition and support from deans of
business schools, despite many efforts to involve them in the process
Task Force 2B: Information Dissemination
Charge:
Disseminate information about the need for change; develop a speaking program for the
AECC; publish information about the need for change and about activities of the AECC; conduct
symposia on implementing change in accounting education.
Result: A continuing task force that carried out its responsibilities throughout the life of the Commission
by publishing articles, making presentations at a large variety of meetings, and conducting symposia.
Task Force 2C: Early Employment Experience
Charge:
Develop a strategy for addressing the effective interfacing of the education of the "new"
accountant with the initial (2 to 3 years) employment experience; consideration should also be given to
recruiting signaling on campuses and continuing professional education efforts by employers.
Result:
Completed task with publication of Issues Statement No. Four, Improving the Early
Employment Experience of Accountants.
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Task Force 2D: Regulatory Issues
Charge:
Develop a strategy to promote desired changes in Federal, State, and other regulations
that affect the accounting educational environment, with particular attention given to the joint
AICPA/NASBA Model Bill, State legislation, and board rules implementing the 150-hour requirement,
and the timing of the CPA Examination.
Result: Incorporated into Professional Examinations Task Force, which was ongoing.
Goal 3: Promote implementation of improvements in the education of
accountants
Task Force 3A: Grant Program
Charge:
Develop and propose policies and procedures for conducting the grant program to
provide an incentive for experimentation in implementing desired changes in accounting education.
Result:
Set the criteria, prepared the request for proposals, and recommended proposals to the
AECC for funding. After the grant projects were up and running, this task force was replaced by the
Curriculum Dissemination Task Force and the Grant Monitoring Committee. The former was one of the
major thrusts of the second half of the Commission's life, and the latter was an operational committee
making sure the contracts with the grant schools were fulfilled.
Task Force 3B: Faculty Development
Charge:
To recommend to the AECC strategies for
(1) developing faculty teaching capabilities, in doctoral programs and in continuing education for current
faculty, consistent with the AECC's "Objectives for Education of Accountants"; and
(2) developing faculty interest and capabilities for program innovation and experimentation.
Result:
One of the three major thrusts for the second half of the Commission's life. The late Ray
Sommerfeld, first chair of this task force, maintained that faculty development was critical to the
Commission's success. It became the major continuing activity that the AECC passed on to the American
Accounting Association, with the long-term success of the Commission still riding on the AAA's success
in this area.
Task Force 3C: Student Recruiting
Charge:
Develop a strategy for attracting high-quality students to the study of accounting.
Result:
Collected and disseminated materials from schools on strategies for student recruiting.
Much of this task force's agenda became subsumed under other activities such as the Two-Year Schools
Task Force and the grant projects.
Task Force 3D: Two-Year Schools
Charge:
Develop a strategy for involving community and junior colleges in accounting education
change.
Result:
Major progress was made with publication of Issues Statement No. 3, The Importance of
Two-Year Colleges for Accounting, but relationships between two- and four-year schools remains
problematic in many areas. Later, an ad hoc task force was established to carry forward the issue of
articulation between two- and four-year schools, resulting in publication of Issues Statement No. 6,
Transfer of Academic Credit for the First Course in Accounting Between Two-Year and Four-Year
Colleges.
Goal 4: Reduce impediments to improvements in the education of accountants
Task Force 4A: Faculty Incentives
Charge:
To develop and recommend a strategy to the AECC for increasing faculty incentives for
undertaking curriculum development, engaging in educational experimentation and research, and
developing effective teaching strategies. Consideration should be given to strategies for altering typical
faculty reward systems, issuing a position statement, working with other organizations (e.g., accrediting
bodies), and other approaches.
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Result:
A continuing task force that completed its charge with publication of Issues Statement
No. Five, Evaluating and Rewarding Effective Teaching. This task force did a good job with a limited
part of the broader charge. To significantly affect the faculty performance evaluation and reward system
is a monumental task, and the main thing this task force could to was to bring the issue to the table.
Task Force 4B: University Support
Charge:
To develop and recommend to the AECC a strategy for increasing the level of
recognition among university and business school administrators of the importance of high-quality
accounting education. Special consideration should be given to developing a strategy for positioning the
accounting discipline in a more positive light among the major universities.
Result:
This was another extremely difficult task, and little progress was made. Institutional
support at the universities of the grant recipients was good, but little influence on university
administrators beyond these schools was accomplished.
Task Force 4C: Instructional Materials
Charge:
Develop a strategy for promoting the preparation and marketing of relevant instructional
materials designed to achieve the desired learning outcomes for the education of accountants.
Result:
This task force worked primarily behind the scenes, including supporting AAA efforts to
recognize curriculum innovations and encouraging publishers to evolve textbooks along lines consistent
with AECC recommendations. Sundem would judge their efforts a qualified success. Much lip service
was given to accommodating AECC recommendations in most textbooks, and new textbooks and other
teaching materials incorporating the recommendations emerged. The end-of-chapter materials of almost
every textbook changed to include more active learning options. Still, the majority of the textbook market
remained remarkably resistant to major changes.
Task Force 4D: Professional Examinations
Charge:
Develop a strategy for minimizing the dysfunctional impact of professional examinations
on accounting education. Consideration should be given to the timing of such examinations, publication
of pass rates as a measure of program quality, and content.
Result:
A continuing task force that mainly worked directly with the AICPA Board of Examiners
and NASBA. It commented on and thereby influenced the model accountancy bill prepared jointly by the
AICPA and NASBA, produced Issues Statement No. 2, AECC Urges Decoupling of Academic Studies
and Professional Accounting Examination Preparation, and seems to have had some influence on the
format and content of the CPA examination (although the extent of the influence is not yet fully known).
Task Force 4E: Accreditation
Charge:
To develop a strategy for influencing accreditation as a positive force for enhancing
quality improvements in accounting education and to develop a paper reflecting the AECC's views on
accreditation for submission to the AACSB Task Force on Accreditation. Continue to monitor
accreditation developments and bring issues to the AECC as warranted.
Result:
According to Sundem, this was one of the most successful task forces. Most of its work
was done early in the life of the Commission, but even though it did not continue as a task force after
reorganization, its members continued to monitor accreditation activities. Although the Commission made
no public pronouncements on accreditation, the task force's work with the AACSB had a great influence
on the new, mission-based accreditation standards that were approved in April 1991
Goal 5: Measure improvements in the education of accountants
Task Force 5A: Measurement of Educational Change
Charge:
To develop and recommend to the AECC a strategy for measuring the results of the
Change Commission's efforts to enhance the skills and capabilities of accounting graduates.
Consideration should be given to establishing benchmarks and measuring student skills and capabilities
over time. Additionally, consideration should be given to measuring changes in faculty responses to the
call for educational reform and program changes. Special consideration should be given to measuring
change on the campuses of grant recipients.
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Result:
Continued as one of the three major thrusts, relabeled the Assessment Task Force. It was
impossible for the task force to develop a complete assessment program in the short life of the
Commission, but it contributed to this development with the publication of Assessment for the New
Curriculum: A Guide for Professional Accounting Programs
Task Force 5B: Change Commission Progress
Charge:
To recommend a strategy for measuring the success of the AECC, focusing initially on
the Commission's efforts. Consideration should be given to developing an annual report card. In the long
term, consideration should be given to the interfacing of these measures with the measurements
developed by the Educational Change Task Force.
Result:
Developed a framework to keep the Commission focused on its objectives. Although few
concrete measures of success were developed, the task force monitored activities and undertook periodic
surveys to assess the Commission's impact.
Position Statement No. One. Objectives of Education for Accountants
Position Statement No. One is by far the most often referenced Statement of the Commission.
It broke no new ground, but it consolidated what the Commission members considered the most
important parts of the Bedford Committee report and the Big 8 White Paper. The Statement first lists the
desired capabilities in accounting graduates and then presents the implications of this for course and
curriculum development and for instructional methods.
The first sentence under the heading "Desired Capabilities" sets the tone for the Statement:
"Accounting programs should prepare students to become professional accountants, not to be
professional accountants at the time of entry to the profession" [bold in the original]. The Statement
focuses on accounting education, not accounting training, although it does not use those words. It sees
undergraduate accounting education as the building of a base upon which specialized knowledge and
training can be built.
The most controversial part of the Statement, as reflected in the public comments received, is that
"[s]pecialized accounting education...should be offered primarily at the post-baccalaureate level and via
continuing education." The Commission did not regard this as an endorsement of five-year programs for
entry to the profession. In contrast, the common background for all entering the profession should be a
broad, conceptual understanding of accounting and its role in economic decisions. Sundem thinks that a
majority of the Commission members believed that specialized education is necessary for success in the
accounting profession. However, it is not needed at the time of entry, and it can be achieved by a variety
of methods, only one of which is graduate accounting education.
Another controversial interpretation of the Statement was the emphasis on liberal arts education.
Barefield (1991, 310–311), among others, criticized the view that additional liberal arts education would
enhance students' ability to think critically and to communicate well. Although Position Statement No.
One did not explicitly recommend an increase in the liberal arts component of accounting education,
much of the discussion surrounding the Statement did. However, the Commission's recommendation was
the integration of liberal arts and professional education, not simply the addition of more liberal arts
courses.
Commission member Joan Stark, in her monograph Strengthening the Ties that Bind (Stark and
Lowther 1988), criticizes the "separate but equal" view of liberal arts and professional education present
on many campuses. She rejects "timeframe tinkering," that is, using distribution requirements to increase
the liberal arts component of professional education. In his introduction to the monograph, former
President of Cornell University Frank Rhodes stated: "Too many institutions have simply added more
liberal arts courses to already burdensome programs of professional education. Rarely have they
attempted to integrate liberal and professional education in ways that have meaning for all students; rarely
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have they been able to link high standards of scholarship and professional practice to critical thinking on
the fundamental issues of life" (Stark and Lowther 1988).
Everyone agrees that graduates should be able to think critically, relate to others, make ethical judgments,
and communicate. Too often both liberal arts and professional faculties consider these areas to be the
domain of the liberal arts. Professional faculties criticize the liberal arts for not doing them well, and
liberal arts faculties decry their lack of time to accomplish them. This conflict, in addition to battles over
students and resources, has led to a separation between liberal arts and professional education and
educators. The solution is not more or less coursework in either area, but the integration of the liberal arts
values into the professional curriculum.
Responding to the AECC's emphasis on liberal arts values by a simple increase in the number of "arts,
humanities, and sciences" courses would be counterproductive. In many universities, such a requirement
could (and probably would) be satisfied by courses that did not accomplish the desired objectives. Thus,
an accounting program that met the AECC's objective by simply requiring additional liberal arts courses
would probably harm rather than improve the program. Students would view the courses as a necessary
evil, and the values would not be carried over into their accounting and business classes.
If the position of the Commission had been made more clearly, programs would have placed more
emphasis on using techniques from good liberal arts programs to enhance the accounting curriculum's
ability to teach students to think, relate, and communicate. More of a liberal arts approach to the
accounting curriculum could also instill in students a greater appreciation for accounting's role in and
contributions to society. The answer is not additional liberal arts courses but making accounting and
business courses more like good liberal arts courses.
Issues Statement No. Five, Evaluating and Rewarding Effective Teaching
According to Sundem, Issues Statement No. 5 has the potential to be one of the AECC's most important
Statements. However, because it was issued late in the Commission's life, it did not receive as much
attention as earlier Statements. This Statement is a natural follow-up to Issues Statement No.1 that urged
priority for teaching in higher education. However, this is a more positive document—not one that simply
"urges" changes but one that provides help in guiding change.
It seems well accepted outside the academy (and even by many within the academy) that research is overemphasized to the detriment of teaching in our colleges and universities. But few faculty or administrators
in accounting programs would say that this has been an intentional goal of their schools or programs. Yes,
research is important. Hardly anyone wants to go back to the situation of the 1950s where many
accounting programs focused on merely teaching students how to do what accountants do. But research
and teaching should have a synergy, where each improves the quality of the other. A research-oriented
faculty should increase the intellectual development of accounting students. Researchers are probably not
the best ones to provide training—learning of facts and techniques—but they should provide a more
fertile environment for learning critical-thinking and problem-solving skills.
If teaching and research can be synergistic, why is the belief so widespread that a research emphasis
reduces the quality of teaching? Sundem’s hypothesis—and one that many academic colleagues agree
with—is that the traditional academic incentive system motivates many faculty to shift enough effort from
teaching to research to more than offset the beneficial synergies of the two. The switch is not because
research is inherently more valued but because the measurement system used in most colleges and
universities is biased toward research. Why are measurement systems biased toward research? Because
we have much more confidence in evaluations of research quality (based on peer review, publication, and
wide exposure of research output) than in those of teaching quality (based primarily on student
evaluations). Therefore, we are willing to reward (and punish) faculty based more on their research
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evaluations than on their teaching evaluations. In addition, research quality is widely known and accepted
outside of one's own college or university, while teaching quality is generally an internal measure that is
hard to compare across schools. Therefore, it is a potentially noisy signal to outsiders and therefore easily
discounted.
What does all of this have to do with Issues Statement No. 5? If better measures of teaching performance
could be developed, measures that include all aspects of teaching, the emphasis on teaching would
naturally increase without any negative aspersions on the value of research. The Statement by itself falls
short of providing the needed framework and measurement methods. But it is a start that can contribute to
the necessary dialog. The Statement includes five important characteristics of effective teaching
(curriculum design and course development, use of well-conceived course materials, presentation skills,
well-chosen pedagogical methods and assessment devices, and guidance and advising), but Sundem
thinks it ignores one essential characteristic: in-depth, up-to-date knowledge of the subject. The
characteristics shown are all process oriented, but teaching in a professional program such as accounting
takes more than process. If a faculty member's repertoire is limited to what is available in published
materials, he or she can't bring to the classroom personal insights that are not readily available elsewhere,
and students are being shortchanged. Both research and professional qualifications can add a needed
dimension—each in its own way. A college or university's mission will determine the correct balance of
research and professional expertise among the faculty. If the maintenance of this expertise is not
measured and rewarded, the teaching program will suffer. An especially helpful part of the Statement is a
list of strategies for evaluating and improving teaching, including self assessment, observations by
colleagues, student evaluations, alumni input, instructional consultants, and teaching portfolios.
Learning to Learn
Shortly after the Commission took a strong position advocating "learning to learn" as a major component
of accounting programs, it received several requests to elaborate on the concept and to provide guidelines
on how to achieve such a goal. With the guidance of Joan Stark and Jim
Loebbecke, the Commission oversaw the publication of Intentional Learning: A Process for Learning to
Learn in the Accounting Curriculum (Francis et al. 1995). In the words of the authors, the monograph
does the following:
It begins with a description of accountants as learners and professionals, and presents a
definition of and perspectives on learning to learn. The second chapter introduces a new
concept—the intentional learning process—and the attributes of intentional learning as a
manageable approach to teaching students to be independent learners. The third chapter
presents characteristics of learners that influence their attitudes toward learning and their
ability to learn. The fourth chapter discusses the learning process and teaching strategies
that can encourage students to learn. Finally, the concluding chapter addresses the
implementation of learning to learn in the accounting curriculum, problems to consider in
implementing change, and some suggestions for using intentional learning in accounting
practice.
The monograph defines learning to learn as "a process of acquiring, understanding, and using a variety of
strategies to improve one's ability to attain and apply knowledge, a process which results from, leads to,
and enhances a questioning spirit and a lifelong desire to learn" (Francis et al. 1995, 6). It helps faculty
understand some of the characteristics that affect student learning and how they can use teaching
strategies to help students become intentional learners. It is an excellent tool for those faculty who truly
want to help students break away from the mold of simply acquiring knowledge and begin the
development of a process of learning to serve throughout their lifetimes.
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Resistance to Change
The process of change is not easy. Often those with the most at stake are the most resistant to changes.
This was the case with accounting education changes. Faculty, students, and parents all had reasons for
opposing change. Change agents need to anticipate this opposition and develop strategies to deal with it.
Lessons on resistance to change learned primarily from the experience of the grant schools were
presented to the Commission by a committee of the Federation of Schools of Accountancy in August
1993. A related paper (Pincus et al. 1993) reported the results. Sundem summarized only the main points
in this section.
Faculty were the most threatened by the changes. Among the reasons for their resistance are:
 They do not agree with the reasons for change.
o Reluctance to change programs that have worked well in the past.
o Mixed signals from practice on what is desired.
o Changes will leave students less well prepared for CPA examination.
 They fear an inability to succeed in a changed environment.
o Loss of "ownership" of classes.
o Skills, such as dynamic lecturing, may not be rewarded in the future.
o Feel incompetent to teach broader skills.
 They resist the great effort required to change.
o Familiar textbooks will be replaced with new ones.
o Curricular reform takes much effort and offers little reward.
o University approval processes are long and time-consuming.
o Lack of administrative and resource support for changes.
 They wish to avoid conflict with faculty with opposing views.
o Integrated curriculum requires agreement across faculty.
o Lack of cooperation of faculty outside of accounting.
Student concerns centered on how the changes would affect their chances of success in accounting
courses and in an accounting career:
 Change brings uncertainty in expectations.
o Unknown level of difficulty in the new curriculum.
o New program differs greatly from expectations developed in high school accounting
classes and from previous accounting students.
o Learning in teams conflicts with the methods learned to compete against each other.
o Rumors bring fear of the unknown, especially if some faculty express reservations about
the changes.
o Materials are more varied and are not always available in standard (textbook) format.
 The fear of uncertainty is especially great in grading.
o Grading on communications and team exercises adds subjectivity.
o Loss of control over grades as expectations change.
o Textbooks do not provide a boundary around what is expected to be learned.
 The fear that they will be less prepared to succeed in the accounting profession.
o Not be technically competent to pass the CPA (or CMA or CIA) examination.
o Mixed signals from recruiters about the new curriculum.
Student resistance to change was especially strong when a pilot program was tested. The students in the
pilot program were often concerned that they were not learning the traditional materials that their peers in
the regular curriculum learned. Those in the traditional curriculum felt they were not getting as much
attention as were those in the pilot program. This resulted in unhappy students in both groups.
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July 21, 2009
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The good thing about student resistance is that it generally disappears after about three years of
experience with the revised curriculum. Students turn over every year, so in a short period of time the
collective student body has no knowledge about how the program used to be. The "new" curriculum is no
longer new to them—it is just what is expected.
In some programs, resistance to change came from an unexpected source—parents of students.
Two factors seemed to bring this out: (1) parents whose children did not do well in the new curriculum,
and (2) parents who studied accounting themselves and were concerned that their
children were not learning the technical detail that they did as students.
Overcoming Resistance to Change
There are many things that can be done to overcome resistance to change, if change is correctly
anticipated. Most important is to make sure that everyone has full information. Many schools have found
it worthwhile to bring in outside experts, recruiters, employers, and alumni to address both faculty and
students on the need for change and how the changes are likely to improve the program. Both written and
oral communication to students is an obvious step, but communication with faculty, including those
outside accounting is often overlooked. Sometimes such communication comes only after resistance is
encountered, which often is too late.
Communication with students, their parents, high school and two-year-college counselors, employers, and
others affected by the changes should take the form of a marketing campaign. Not only will this reduce
misinformation, it will focus on the strengths and benefits of the revised program to students entering the
business world. Especially important is bringing employers and alumni to the classroom and other student
events to address how the changes will affect students after they graduate and enter the job market.
In addition to mere communication, participation in the change process is important. For faculty this is
probably obvious. If faculty are to change how they teach, they need to be involved in determining how
such changes will be decided and implemented. But other stakeholder involvement can also help the
change process. Advisory boards are especially valuable because they bring the perspective of the
marketplace to the deliberations. Students might be represented on planning committees, but more
important is the use of student focus groups to react to planned changes. Not only will this provide
insights into where student resistance may be encountered and how the program might be designed to
minimize such resistance, it will often yield a set of informed students who can sell the concept of change
to the other students.
Providing support to both faculty and students is also important, and it can be one of the most expensive
parts of the change process. Faculty support comes mainly during the planning phases.
Retreats, training sessions, and sending faculty to programs that will enhance their skills are ways of
providing support. At some point, the hiring of an independent mediator may be helpful. Incentive
schemes that reward faculty for devoting the time and effort needed to participate in the change process
are powerful but possibly expensive methods of support. Some schools find that providing release time
from other obligations, bonuses, or summer support for curriculum development is sufficient reward;
others add a curriculum development component to faculty performance evaluation systems. Protection
from low student evaluations when experimenting with curricular change is also helpful.
Student support includes a good orientation program, an open-door policy for counseling and guidance,
open discussion sessions where students can voice their concerns and suggest improvements, and extra
help in areas not traditionally considered part of the accounting curriculum. For the latter, writing centers
are a very common support facility provided.
Sometimes gaining acceptance of changes requires negotiated compromises. Reduced class size might be
the cost of getting a changed curriculum. Keeping some traditional materials may be necessary to
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July 21, 2009
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introduce some new materials. Non-tenured faculty might be protected from the efforts of curriculum
revision so that they can devote their effort to the research necessary for promotion. In some cases, a
small number of faculty may be exempted from the change activities and allowed to teach some courses
using traditional methods so that they do not undercut the entire change process. All of these may reduce
the complete commitment to change, but they may be necessary to accomplish any change at all.
Grant Program Limitations
Because of the high respect for the members of the Commission throughout its life, positions taken by the
Commission were sure to receive attention. But money speaks louder than words, and the Commission's
grant program attracted the most notice. About 60 percent of the Commission's initial $4 million budget
was set aside for grants to colleges and universities that proposed significant changes in their accounting
programs.
One reason that the grant projects were locally successful is that most of them addressed primarily these
delivery-method issues. They did not tackle the most difficult changes advocated by the Bedford
Committee, changes in the basic nature of the subjects included in an accounting curriculum. The Big 8
White Paper, which focused primarily on teaching and learning methods, had a more limited focus than
the Bedford Committee report, which also advocated changes in the definition of accounting. Most grant
projects addressed issues in the White Paper. Nearly all projects dodged the Bedford Committee's
redefinition of accounting as a "broad economic information development and distribution process, based
on the design, implementation, and operation of multiple types of information systems." They did not
address the Bedford Committee's view that the "accounting profession will provide information for
economic and social decisions, using sophisticated measurement and communication technologies applied
to a substantially enlarged scope of phenomena." To address these issues would require more fundamental
changes in the accounting curriculum and instructional materials than occurred in the grant programs.
Whether such changes can successfully be built into an accounting curriculum remains an open question.
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Licensing Requirements
At present, New York and California are the only states not requiring 150 hours of college education for
licensure as a CPA, although both states have legislation in process that will move to the 150-hour
requirement. Although the AICPA membership voted to require 150 hours of college education for
membership in the AICPA after 2000, the AICPA council suspended that requirement in 2006 to
recognize the difficulty of managing the New York and California CPAs who did not meet that
qualification. The suspension is scheduled to expire by 2012, and the legislation in process in both
California and New York is targeted to meet that 2012 deadline.
NASBA (2008) DRAFT Education and Licensure Requirements for Certified
Public Accountants
Currently, 48 states are substantially equivalent to the Uniform Accountancy Act (UAA) and require 150
hours for licensure; however some of these 48 boards provide other tracks for licensure. The UAA does
not address the myriad other requirements promulgated by boards that define the 150-hour educational
requirement. These differences range significantly among course requirements. Some boards list specific
numbers of accounting and/or auditing semester hours; some boards go a step further and require specific
courses at specific levels; and 13other boards trend towards a broad-based liberal arts/humanities course
requirement once the 120 hours of undergraduate accounting work has been completed. NASBA recently
adopted thoroughly vetted model rules suggesting a consistent approach to these educational
requirements, but implementation could be slowed by entrenched, diverse programs. Hence, although
only seven boards are “non-UAA,” in reality, because each board already has a unique definition of the
150-hour education rule, the 48 boards that require 150 hours are not at all uniform and as previously
mentioned, provide different paths to licensure.
The NASBA Draft does not debate the 150-hour requirement for licensure. The deliberation is simply
whether sitting for and passing an examination at a minimum of 120 hours and subsequently fulfilling the
150-hour education track is harmful in any way to the public. NASBA has found no direct evidence of
detriment to the public interest in those states allowing candidates to sit for the CPA examination at less
than 150 hours of education and later fulfilling the 150 hours for licensure
Allen, Bruce C. and Jeannie Tindel (2009) California150-Hour Legislation
moves through the Process
On April 28, 2009 the California Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee
voted 7-to-0 to pass SB 691 on to the Senate Committee on Appropriations. The absence of any “No”
votes from the committee, made a very powerful statement, given heavy opposition stemming from the
Center for Public Interest Law. The Center had recruited other groups, including the California State
NAACP and former Senator Liz Figueroa, who serves on the Ralph Nader-initiated Public Citizen board,
to oppose SB 691, the CalCPA-sponsored measure which will bring California licensing in line with the
national standards used by the vast majority of other states. It’s critical that California get this legislation
enacted so that California CPAs and their clients can participate in the national CPA reciprocity system
that already has been adopted in 48 states.
California law allows two pathways to licensure:
Pathway 1: A bachelor’s degree to sit for the Uniform CPA Exam and two years of experience prior to
licensure.
Pathway 2: A bachelor’s degree to sit for the Uniform CPA Exam and 150 total semester units, plus one
year of experience prior to licensure.
Only Pathway 2 meets national standards.
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Demographic Concerns: Supply and Demand for Accounting Students
and Accounting Faculty
Reigle, Dennis R, Heather L. Bunning and Danielle Grant (2008) Trends in the
Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting
Recruits
Supply – Enrollment

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



Accounting enrollments are up almost 19% to more than 203,000 students across all degree
programs, compared to the last survey in 2003-04. The only degree program showing a decline is
the Master’s in Taxation, where enrollment is down slightly more than 9%.
The great majority of the growth is at the Bachelor’s degree level, an increase of almost 30,000
students have enrolled during the three-year period between surveys.
AACSB accounting accredited programs at the Bachelor’s level are the most likely to have
enrollments limited by capacity constraints. Thirteen percent of respondent schools faced space
limitations, and rejected an average of approximately 65 applicants.
Minorities comprise 26% of Bachelor’s enrollments: 11% Black/African-American, 8% Asian,
6% Hispanic/Latino and 1% American Indian/Alaskan Native.
At the Master’s level, enrollments are 20% minority: 10% Asian, 5% Black/African-American
and 5% Hispanic/Latino.
These ethnicity numbers for both Bachelor’s and Master’s enrollments have changed very little, if
at all, from the last survey published for 2003-04.
The female/male enrollment ratio is narrowing and now stands at 52% female and 48% male for
both Bachelor’s and Master’s programs. This is down from a high in 2002 of 57% female and
43% male, a substantial change.
Going forward, respondent schools generally anticipate a continuing rise in enrollments: 60%
expect increases at the Bachelor’s level (32% say the number will stay the same), while 63%
expect increases at the Master’s level (20% believe enrollments will stay the same).
Supply – Graduates
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Total graduates in 2006-07 in Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs are 64,221, up 19% over
the three-year period since the 2003-04 survey. This is the highest number of graduates since the
survey began in 1971-72.
Bachelor’s degrees granted are 47,662 (up from 40,420 in 2003-04) and Master’s degrees granted
are 16,559 (up from 13,340 in 2003-04).
Bachelor’s degrees comprise close to 74% of degrees awarded for 2006-07, while Master’s
degrees accounted for almost 26% of the total. In the last survey, Master’s degrees were just
under 25%; a slight increase over three years.
83% of Bachelor’s and Master’s degree graduates in accounting are produced by accounting
and/or business accredited programs, while approximately 40% are specifically from accounting
accredited programs.
Between 2004 and 2007, Bachelor’s degrees increased 16% and Master’s degrees increased 18%
at accounting and business accredited programs. They have risen more sharply in percentage
terms (34%) at other responding schools, but the overall graduate numbers at these schools is less
than 1/5 of those at accounting and business accredited schools.
Graduates by gender at the combined Bachelor’s and Master’s levels mirror overall enrollments
at 52% female and 48% male.
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Ethnicity of graduates is 32% overall, but 11% of that is “other,” meaning unknown or multiracial/ethnic. Asians comprised 8% of the graduates, Black/African-Americans 7%,
Hispanic/Latinos 5%, and American Indian/Alaskan natives 1%. These numbers are fairly
consistent with the last survey published for 2003-04.
Of the Master’s degrees awarded, 75% are Master’s in Accounting, 16% are Master’s in
Taxation, and 9% are MBAs with an accounting concentration, a share that continues to decline.
Public Accounting firms remain the primary employer for new graduates; they hire 34% of
Bachelor’s and 70% of Master’s degree recipients. Those numbers are slightly higher for
graduates of AACSB accounting accredited programs.
Accounting Enrollment by Program
BA
MA Accounting
MBA Accounting
MA Taxation
PhD
•
•
1999-00
127,960
9,455
2,445
3,130
2000-01
134,775
10,375
4,000
2,935
2001-02
133,435
12,565
4,065
3,555
2002-03
141,175
17,540
5,270
3,550
2003-04
143,735
18,795
4,030
3,595
2006-07
173,299
21,253
4,482
3,239
680
800
890
1,085
955
1,095
Bachelor’s program enrollment in Accounting has increased by almost 30,000 in the past 3
years.
Only MA Taxation enrollment has declined slightly since 2003-04.
Demand – Hiring
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Hires reported by CPA firms for summer of 2007 were up substantially from the last survey
covering the 2003-04 academic year. Total hires were 36,112, consisting of 28,025 Bachelor’s
and 8,087 Master’s degree hires. The total for 2006-07 is up 83% over the base year of 2003-04.
This is not surprising given the visibility and growth in the profession, along with the
requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley legislation.
Hiring was up for both Bachelor’s and Master’s degree recipients at CPA firms of all sizes (<10,
10-49, 50-200, and >200 members).
The largest firms hire Master’s degree holders as a greater percentage of their total hires (35%)
than other firms, but that percentage is increasing for all other sized firms except those with fewer
than 10 members.
In terms of the percentage of new hires for all CPA firms, the Bachelor’s (61%) and Master’s
(14%) levels were down somewhat, while the total non-accounting major percentage was up to
25%. This increase could be the result of more non-attest services, depth of quality issues in the
growing accounting pool, or a combination of both.
New hires at CPA firms were 52% female and 48% male, mirroring both enrollments and
graduates, and significantly different than the 61% female and 39% male ratio at its peak in 2002.
Ethnicity of new hires was 13% Asian, 8% Black/African-American, 4% Hispanic/ Latino, 1%
Native American/Alaskan Native, and 2% Other/Unknown. Each of these percentages is up very
slightly from the 2003-04 survey except the Hispanic/Latino figure, which declined.
Almost all sizes of firms expect hiring numbers to remain steady or increase, with 67% of the
largest firms projecting increased hiring. The largest firms also expect to hire as many or more
non-accounting majors; 58% said they would hire about the same number; and 33% said they
would hire even more non-accountants.
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July 21, 2009
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The same picture holds for plans to hire those with prior experience – all sizes of firms expect the
percentage of experienced hires in the total to rise, this being especially true in firms with more
than 50 members.
CPA Exam

The number of CPA Exam-takers declined significantly in 2004 when the exam changed to a
computer-based exam, an expected result based on similar experiences for other high-stakes tests
that converted to computer-based exams. However, the number of exam-takers has increased
more than 50% since 2004 and continues to rise. In addition, the current numbers count a
candidate once, regardless of how many sittings or parts are taken in a given year. Previously,
when the exam was offered twice per year, in May and November, a person sitting for both
administrations was counted twice. Consequently, it would appear that the number of test-takers
is moving toward parity with pre-2004 levels.
Plumlee, R. David, Steven J. Kachelmeier, Silvia A. Madeo, Jamie H. Pratt, and
George Krull (2006) Assessing the Shortage of Accounting Faculty
The AACSB predicts a major shortage of all business faculty with PhDs over the period 2003 – 2012.
There is an overall shortage in new accounting faculty, with particularly acute shortages in audit and tax
specialties. The few tax and auditing graduates are likely to go to the higher-paying schools, leaving less
well-paying schools with even more severe shortages. The Committee recommends that efforts be made
to reduce the costs imposed on doctoral students – including personal costs such as stress – in order to
make doctoral studies more feasible. Specific recommendations include:
1) Increasing academic career information available to potential students seeking such information
2) Increasing financial support to doctoral students
3) Reducing the personal costs imposed on doctoral students
4) Reducing the costs of providing doctoral programs
5) Finding creative ways of diversifying training across teaching specialties.
A possible explanation for the shortages in Audit and Tax is that PhD students perceive that publishing
audit and tax research in top accounting journals is more difficult, which might have the unintended
consequence of reducing the supply of PhD-qualified faculty to teach in those specialties. Given that
promotion and tenure requirements at major universities require publication in top-tier journals, students
are likely drawn to financial accounting in hopes of getting the necessary publications for career success.
Leslie, David W. (2008) Accounting Faculty in U.S. Colleges and Universities:
Status and Trends, 1993 – 2004
The number of accounting faculty declined 13.3 percent over the period 1988-2004. However, as the
number of faculty has declined, student (undergraduate) enrollment has increased (12.3%) over the same
period. The most serious loss of full-time faculty has occurred at four-year, non-doctoral-granting
institutions, amounting to 31% of the 1993 total. The number of full-time accounting faculty at research /
doctoral universities and at community colleges has changed little between 1993 and 2004, same for the
total number of accounting faculty holding PhDs. The estimated number of tenure-eligible faculty in
business fields other than accounting rose over 20% during the same period.
The number of accounting faculty over the age of 55 increased while the number of accounting faculty
under the age of 40 declined by half during the 1993-2004 period. The number of retirements is likely to
exceed the number of qualified replacements in the immediate future. Given the stability of PhD
production at about 140 per year on average, and with retirements estimated at about 500 per year, the
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 42
production of new PhDs appears far from sufficient to fill the demand. A sign of the demand for new
accounting faculty may be seen in the apparent salary inversion observed in the 2004 data: faculty under
age 41 averaged higher pay than faculty over age 41.
Meanwhile, workload for accounting faculty has increased markedly, especially at research and doctoral
universities where the bulk of enrollment increases have also occurred. While the data show a rapid
escalation of salary for new faculty in accounting and stable levels of job satisfaction, the field faces an
immediate future of pressure on faculty to work harder and longer as its workforce turns over through
retirement.
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Comments and Observations from the Professional Literature –
Chronological Selection
1956
Smith, C. Aubrey (1956) The Next Step -- A Professional School of Accounting,
The Accounting Review
Conceptual
Survey of deans, professors, controllers, and CPAs in practice regarding desirability and feasibility of a
separate professional school of accounting, following publication of the Perry Report. Practitioners
strongly in favor, followed by professors, with deans strongly opposed. One comment merits emphasis:
"Accountants have been oversold on accounting as a 'tool of management'. What is needed is a return to
the idea of accounting as a 'check on management'. This applies to private as well as public accountants.
A school would help develop accounting as a part of top management with standards and ideals which
would strengthen its influence and power."
Practical
Some respondents suggested that the school should be organized as a school of public accounting. Smith
disagrees, stating 1) the basic accounting subjects and many of the advanced courses are applicable
equally to those headed for public accounting and those headed for managerial accounting. Solidarity and
unity, not fragmentation, will be required if the school of accounting is to maximize its advantages and
measure up to its challenges and opportunities. 2) Might provoke controllers into feeling that accounting
educators had abandoned them, inspiring move of controllership courses to the Department of
Management. 3) All the advantages of a separate school of public accounting can be secured by proper
programming within the one school of accounting.
Professional School
All respondents agreed that a professional accounting education cannot be crowded, along with liberal
arts and the core business curriculum, into four years. Comments included: "If accounting is to attract
students it should educate them as other professional people are educated. By including the program
among business courses, the profession is relegated to the status of a business.". and "I favor the five-year
program provided the additional year is given over to a fattening up of course sequence aimed to furnish
the student with an insight into the interaction of forces that play on the operations of business, but not if
it is to be given over to a proliferation of accounting courses."
1961
Anderson, Wilton T. (1961) Education & Professional Training, Journal of
Accountancy
Conceptual
Summarizes Carnegie and Ford Foundation reports
Practical
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Quotes Cox (author of the chapter on accounting in the Carnegie study) as stating "The profession of
public accountancy can ill-afford to accept an educational program for students intending to go into
public practice which is lower in quality and more narrowly oriented than that designed for students who
will seek employment as accountants with industrial organizations".
Professional School
One recommendation was that education for business should be postponed to the graduate level. Appears
that prospective CPAs will need a fifth year of education because the recommended percentages of core
business courses and non-business subjects would not leave enough time to acquire the expected technical
knowledge for accountants. Undergraduate specialization was recommended to be limited to 6 - 12
semester hours. The answer clearly lies in a five-year program. A fifth-year program can be designed
which, if maintained at a professional level, will adequately prepare a candidate for both the CPA exam
and for public practice. For the foreseeable future, no more than five years of education may be expected
of CPA candidates.
Trueblood, Robert M. (1961) Education for a changing profession - a
challenge, Speech given to the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs
Conceptual
In any profession, the student must be trained to live with the world for the many years beyond the period
of his formal education. During the early years, the professional man must be trained so that, over the
course of his life, he can adjust himself to changes in the requirements and activities of his profession, as
well as to changes in his social and business environment. Rejects the view that education is designed to
prepare the junior accountant to practice immediately – a professional needs to be prepared to face the
professional requirements for the next 40 or 50 years.
Educational institutions should teach only those courses which deal with postulates and principles, as
distinguished from practice and procedure. The body of knowledge required for all graduate business
students, including industrial and public accountants is – to an amazing degree – common.
Practical
Accounting education must include at least a thorough teaching of the basic principles peculiar to
accounting. At the same time, accounting education must include extensive exposure to material outside
accounting to provide an adequate intellectual background for the public practitioner.
Differences in the subject matter dealt with by each of the many kinds of accountants are largely a
question of depth rather than substance. General business students need some exposure to auditing as
well. All students should be fully exposed to and forced to think about morals, ethics, and changing
social ideas.
Professional School
In the future, only a 5 or 6 year program will be adequate to prepare the professional accountant for
entering practice. An integrated program might be able to work with a 3 and 2 arrangement, but otherwise
a full 2 year graduate program should probably be superimposed upon a 4 year undergraduate degree
(cites Carnegie and Ford Foundation reports).
Highly segregated
departments within a business school are not likely to lead to the broadened type of training which is
desirable. More interaction and more mutual understanding of business problems can be achieved by
lessening the emphasis on the uniqueness of educational programs for accountants, and, incidentally, by
forcing the interaction of educators in all business subjects.
Mathematics
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The progression of accounting developments will require the application of new quantitative methods and
techniques to problems of accounting and accounting control. As other quantitative methods become
available, accounting will become a single piece of a complex of disciplines or methodologies which will
work together, and will each become a part of the total, over-all, integrated information system of a
business firm.
1963
Roy, Robert H. and James H. MacNeill (1963) A Report of Plans and Progress:
Study of the Common Body of Knowledge for CPAs, Journal of Accountancy
Conceptual
CPAs, like all other professions, are confronted with the forces of change. The growing power and
application of statistics, utilization of probability theory, refinements in the measurements of cost, the
methodologies of operations research, are other evidences that the CPA of tomorrow must, in effect, learn
to run in order to stand still.
Practical
Performance of the attest function has given CPAs a reputation for independence and integrity that is an
asset of inestimable value. It has also given CPAs access to the quantitative data of their clients in a way
that is available to no other professional group. Full professional performance by CPAs demands not only
the authentication of these numbers but diagnostic and therapeutic use of them as well.
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1964
Trueblood, Robert M., Norton M. Bedford, Malcolm M. Devore and David F.
Linowes (1964) Profile of the Profession: 1975 From the Viewpoint of Three
Practitioners, Long-Range Objectives Committee, AICPA
Conceptual
Accounting calls on talents and skills in a large number of other business areas, including decisionmaking, marketing, organizational development (industrial psychology), operations research, data
processing. The CPA is the only recognized professional who has the reputation and training to
discharge his responsibility of providing reliable and objective management services. The solution to
most management problems involves the process of analysis, which coordinates with techniques used as
the core elements of auditing practice.
1965
Lynn, Edward S. (1965) Professional School of Accountancy, Journal of
Accountancy
Conceptual
It is entirely possible that many of those who advocate a school of accounting are really in search of
objectives that come from a strong accounting curriculum rather than from organizational separation of
accounting. There is a danger that a strong program might tend to be narrow and vocational, as contrasted
to a broad liberal education. There is little difference between the educations needed for industrial as
opposed to public accounting, and it is hard to conceive that students could decide at an early stage that
they want to be public accountants. People in our culture do not know enough about what a CPA is and
does to make that kind of decision.
Practical
A strong accounting program reduces the proportion of an accountant's education and training that has to
be completed on the job, and hence helps to eliminate the impression that accountants go through
apprenticeship training -- an impression at variance with the idea that accounting is a profession. It
develops in the students a professional attitude and a consciousness of a close relationship with the
practitioners.
Professional School
Disadvantages include:
1) Duplication of courses and facilities,
2) Inability to attract top quality professors in fields other than accounting,
3) Hard for professors in the other disciplines to stay current with their fields of specialization, 4)
Accounting students would lack, in classes other than accounting, the intellectual stimulation that comes
from competing with the specialist in his chosen field.
Most, Kenneth (1965) Education & Professional Training, Journal of
Accountancy
Conceptual
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The objectives of accountancy education are special and not general; it is designed to prepare the student
for subsequent specialization in the field of accountancy. The graduate may proceed to public practice, or
to accountancy in commerce, industry, or government, or to consultancy in this area. Very few graduates
intend to step sideway on leaving college and pursue a career in which their accountancy studies will be
beneficial but not essential.
The objectives of business education, and of economics, are entirely difficult. Very few graduates intend
to specialize in the field of accountancy. The graduate of a business school intends to specialize in
business or in management; the graduate of an economics school considers government and business
equally. Neither of them sees himself as a member of a profession, although the possibility of becoming
one is not excluded.
Professional School
In this difference of objectives lies the necessity to found schools of accountancy within universities, on
the same basis as existing schools of law. The disadvantages listed by your contributor [Journal of
Accountancy, May 1965] are not fundamental and can be overcome by ensuring that the school of
accountancy is large enough to attract specialist teachers of its own, and by establishing it at an institution
with strong schools of law, mathematics, education, and sociology, whose specialist teachers can be
called upon to lead and guide in their subject areas. Duplication of accounting courses is not necessarily a
sin, for the type of course suitable for a student of business administration does not fit a professional
accountancy student.
1966
Carey, John L. and William O. Doherty (1966), Ethical Standards of the
Accounting Profession
Conceptual
A code of professional ethics is a voluntary assumption of self-discipline above and beyond the
requirements of the law. It serves the highly practical purpose of notifying the public that the profession
will protect the public interest. The Code in effect is an announcement that, in return for the faith which
the public reposes in them, members of the profession accept the obligation to behave in a way that will
be beneficial to the public. A code of ethics is as necessary to a professional practitioner as his theoretical
principles and technical procedures. Without a system of professional ethics he would be incomplete.
When people need a doctor, or a lawyer, or a certified public accountant, they seek someone whom they
can trust to do a good job – not for himself, but for them. They have to trust him, since they cannot
appraise the quality of his service. They must take it on faith that he is competent, and that his primary
motivation is to help them. That is why professions are distinguished from businesses and why
professional men enjoy special prestige.
A professional attitude must be learned. It is not a natural gift. It is natural to be selfish – to place personal
gain ahead of service. That is precisely why the people as a whole honor the relatively few – professional
men and other true public servants – who have disciplined themselves to follow the harder course.
Practical
Professional recognition comes from the public’s reaction to what members of the profession do – not to
what they say about themselves. To maintain and broaden public confidence, they must act like
professional men – they must maintain a professional attitude.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
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Carey and Doherty quote Henry S. Drinker on the primary characteristics which distinguish the legal
profession from business, and suggest that these principles apply with equal appropriateness to certified
public accountants:
1. A duty of public service, of which the emolument is a by-product, and in which one may attain
the highest eminence without making much money . . . .
2. A relation to clients in the highest degree fiduciary.
3. A relation to colleagues . . . characterized by candor, fairness and unwillingness to resort to
current business methods of advertising, and encroachment on their practice, or dealing directly
with their clients.
1967
Trueblood, Robert M. (1967) After 20 Years, Talk given at the Touche Ross
Partners Meeting
Conceptual
Accounting is not a passive art, but rather an active social force. Accounting decisions do have an effect
upon the market place. The ultimate and larger responsibility for establishing accounting principles
logically and preferably should rest on our profession. A completely detailed rule book might be better
enacted by the government than the profession, but that is not desirable. Auditing is a socially
constructive force. Our work product is a service to society.
Practical
The substance of our profession, as compared with medicine for example, is pretty thin. The heart of the
matter is the individual partners moral rectitude and his personal integrity. Involvement in any profession
is a matter of self preservation, and we are each measured by the least of our number.
Professional School
"Change is so swift that the 'latest thing' today may be old-fashioned by the time young people enter
adulthood. We must encourage our colleges to teach their graduates how to become competent
professionals, rather than to be practicing accountants. We must send our staff and partners out to colleges
and to other resources for retraining and for refreshment.
1968
Beamer, Elmer G. (Chairman) (1968) Academic Preparation for Professional
Accounting Careers, Journal of Accountancy
Conceptual
Conceptual understanding is to be preferred to technique
Professional School
Mastery of the required body of knowledge requires not less than five years of collegiate study.
Ford, Gordon, Walter F. Beran, John C. Burton, et al. (AICPA Planning
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 49
Committee) (1968) Education of Certified Public Accountants, Journal of
Accountancy
Practical
Following after Horizons, the AICPA Planning Committee recommended that faculty should be
encouraged to get both the doctorate and the CPA certificate.
Madden, Donald L. and Lawrence C. Phillips (1968) An Evaluation of the
Common Body of Knowledge Study and Its Probable Impact Upon the
Accounting Profession, Journal of Accountancy
Professional School
Given the trend to less specialization in the undergraduate levels, professional and graduate program
structures may become increasingly necessary as forma program structures for accounting education.
Humanities
General education is important for the beginning CPA. The CPA must be able to understand the
languages of the psychologist, the industrial relations manager, and the personnel supervisor, the systems
analyst, as well as other professionals. Being a member of a profession implies an ability to get along
with people and to be able to explain and understand a range of ideas in general terms as well as being
able to communicate technical matters.
The Development of Accounting Education
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1969
Bruschi, William C. (1969) Issues Surrounding Qualifying Experience
Requirements, Journal of Accountancy
Conceptual
Can professional experience substitute for college education? The profession's acceptance of the need for
college degrees is recent. An accountant needs
1. Professionalism,
2. Technical competence,
3. Administrative ability.
Can professionalism or an appreciation for ethics be developed through education?
Practical
Are there special qualities added by the first year or two of professional experience that cannot be
obtained from college study? The necessary variety of experience to become a competent professional
cannot be provided in one year.
Professional School
Bruschi concludes that, while some benefits may be obtained from the first year or two of good qualifying
experience, a fifth year of college study offers greater benefits to the beginning CPA and to the profession
as a whole.
Hart, Donald J. (1969) An Outsider Looks at the Accounting Curriculum,
Journal of Accountancy
Conceptual
Factors impacting accounting, and by extension accounting education, include increased speed and
magnitude of changes, far more sophisticated information systems, and increased interdependency.
Practical
Need to emphasize non-accounting areas of study -- not simply overviews but selected tool concepts and
applications. Accounting should not be regarded as dependent upon a set of constraining tools which limit
the user's potential, but a set of facilitative and creative tools which can continue to enhance and elevate
his competency.
Mathematics
There is a need for skill in quantitative analysis -- not merely ability to understand and use quantitative
tools, but the capacity to transmit the results of analysis to others with unmistakable clarity. Force
attention to critical evaluation of relationships among data
Williams, Doyle Z. (1969) Reactions to "Horizons for a Profession", Journal of
Accountancy
Conceptual
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 51
Seminar participants generally approved of the findings of Horizons for a Profession. Important themes
included:
1) For the CPA to be a professional, he must possess a number of inherent attributes plus requisite
knowledge,
2)For the pre-professional, emphasize conceptual understanding in preference to procedural skill,
3) Flexibility of mind must be developed to enable the individual to readily adapt to change,
4) Interdisciplinary knowledge is essential.
Practical
Educators concurred that all accountants should have the same basic qualifications and that specialization
should be developed after the common body of knowledge has been acquired.
1970
Buckley, John W. (1970) A Perspective on Professional Accounting Education,
Journal of Accountancy
Conceptual
What we have is a CPA curriculum in disrepute. The curriculum is archaic. Studies have concluded that
the professional accountant today requires a different and more intensive education than his predecessors
did -- the emphasis should be on conceptual learning and on the interface with interdisciplinary subject
matter. It must be intensive to span a larger body of expected knowledge. Information theory, quantitative
analysis, computing, and behavioral science must be an integral (not peripheral) part of accounting
subject matter. The profession must take a firm position on principles and procedures based on sound
theoretical reasoning. The profession must demonstrate concern for the social state: that it is not a pawn
of business; that it does in fact serve a highly relevant social need; and that it is attempting to report
economic facts without camouflage or jargon.
Practical
There is a schism within accounting itself - between the avant-garde academics and traditional faculty.
The avant-garde is needed to move professional accounting education into contemporary excellence.
Professional School
No professional school can survive a long-standing relationship within a department or school where the
conventional academic reward system prevails. The professional school must work within the constraints
of a real and practical environment, while nonprofessional schools face no uniform educational standards.
Humanities
Accounting needs to develop a "social needs" practice. Re-evaluate cost/benefit analyses in the context of
nonmonetary measurement. Diversity, environmentalism, consumerism are examples of such practices.
MacNeill, James H. (1970) A Readback on 'Horizons for a Profession', Journal
of Accountancy
Conceptual
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 52
An accounting introductory course that is concerned more with the philosophical and analytical and less
with the mechanics of arriving at a trial balance might not wear down and frighten away so many
potential recruits. It might be more important to attract generally educated persons to accounting than to
force those already interested in accounting to obtain a better general education.
Trueblood, Robert M. (1970) Rising Expectations, Journal of Accountancy
Conceptual
Measurement with reasonable accuracy is a prerequisite within any economy, any firm. Integrity also
plays a paramount role -- in corporate management, in government, and in the fiduciary duties of a
practicing auditor. And the standards of responsibility for those measurements and for those actions are,
by public demand, increasing geometrically. Our client is the public. The accountant's responsibility as
auditor is mainly to the public – to all those people who may rely on the financial statements the CPA
approves. The basic conditions and results of enlarging interdependence will continue to produce
significant changes in the economic, social, and legal climates in which we function as individuals and as
CPAs.
1971
Burton, John C. (1971) An Educator Views the Accounting Profession, Journal
of Accountancy
Conceptual
The trend is downward in terms of both the eminence of scholars in the field and the number of highquality students. Young faculty members and PhD candidates do not find accounting theory a productive
research area.
Practical
The accounting profession has suffered from much bad accounting teaching.
Education needs to emphasize the "public" in public accounting.
The public accountant must become a professional reporter.
The Development of Accounting Education
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1972
AAA Committee Report (1972) Report of the Committee to Examine the 1969
Report of the AICPA Committee on Education and Experience Requirements for
CPAs, The Accounting Review
Conceptual
Academic community should be preparing graduates for their careers, not for the CPA exam.
Practical
There is some debate over whether the CPA certificate ant the Horizons study are intended to apply to the
entire discipline of accounting or only to the practice of public accounting. Appears that the Beamer
committee proposed shifting CPA emphasis away from public practice and encouraging the public to
view the CPA certificate more as an academic badge of achievement. AAA committee disagrees and
wants to retain a focus on "public" in accounting.
Professional School
Concern about Carnegie Commission 1972 recommendations for shortening the time required for a
college education.
Chambers, R. J. (1972) The Anguish of Accountants, Journal of Accountancy
Conceptual
Research by committee produces results that are unimpressive, unproductive, and unenduring. Reasons
include: the scope of work is too extensive, members are pressed for time, there is a tendency to defer to
sponsors, and there are limitations on information processing between multiple individuals. A consensus
of practitioners is no guarantee that what they agree on is valid or useful, in principle or in practice.
Practical
It is difficult to expect effective research work to be undertaken by practitioners. The practicing arm of
the profession should vacate the field of research.
Researchers should give far greater respect to evidence and the accumulation of evidence than they have.
How well things have worked cannot be resolved by argument without evidence.
Professional School
To teach a subject thoroughly requires much more than the following of some conventional textbook. If
teaching is to prepare students for the future, and if the best products of research are to become the
commonplaces of the future, teachers have the task of introducing new ideas, of demonstrating their
application and discussing their advantages, even though they are not originators themselves. Good
exposition in no less important or necessary than good research.
1973
Sterling, Robert R. (1973) Accounting Research, Education, and Practice,
Journal of Accountancy
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 54
Conceptual
Absence of open conflict between research and practice is due to isolation between the tow, not
consistency of interests. Absence of conflicts between education and practice is due to harmony, not
isolation. Educators tend to prepare students for practice; they teach acceptable practices so students can
get jobs. Students taught the "theory" of accepted practices tend to identify "theoretically correct" with
"accepted in practice". Educators should teach research results as the desired state and teach accepted
practices as the current state.
Humanities
Accountants are traditionally deficient in communication skills, which is ironic since the basic business of
accounting is communication. Writing and verbal skills are essential tools of accountants. Related to the
study of communication is that of behavioral science, which explains how people respond to
communications.
1974
Mautz, Robert K. (1974) Where Do We Go From Here?, The Accounting Review
Conceptual
Professors place the greatest emphasis on logic and reason. Internal integrity and consistency in responses
to problems are of first importance and these are - and can be - sought regardless of the time required.
There is great attractiveness in the search for the meta-solution. Requirement to publish increases the
appeal of the new, the different, and the innovative. Academic writing tends towards recommendations
for change in the status quo. There is little in the system that forces the academic to compromise, modify,
and work toward a community solution. Mautz criticizes the shift to a conceptual approach to accounting
education and the de-emphasis of professional considerations.
Practical
Accounting practice puts relatively more weight on technical ability and proficiency. Immediate solutions
to specific problems are a necessity. Unavoidable concern for the cost of mistakes makes the practitioner
much concerned with quality control.
Practitioners need analytical abilities to come to a better understanding of accounting, to develop the
ability to separate important from unimportant data, to understand and master quantitative data, and to
seek out the essence of an issue. The essentials of a professional attitude, knowledge of professional
organizations and activities, and the substance of the professional literature are vital to career success.
Professional School
Mautz calls for a true professionalization of accounting education. The objective is to produce an able
professional, technically competent to attain great personal success and imbued with the idea that
professional success alone is not enough, that he has important responsibilities to his profession and to
our society.
Summers, Edward L. (1974) Accounting Education's New Horizons, Journal of
Accountancy
Conceptual
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 55
All major professions today—law, medicine, architecture, pharmacy, ministry and engineering —
approach these goals through the vehicle of professional schools oriented toward and recognized by the
profession itself. Only accounting, of all the major professions, must rely on the schools and colleges of
another activity—management and administration—to prepare its new entrants and provide the other
services it needs. The move to establish professional schools exclusively oriented to the accounting
profession is significant because these schools will give accounting the same capacity for selfimprovement and development that all other major professions possess today. Our generation of
accountants will be able to leave schools of accounting as its legacy to the next generation only if we
allocate our time, resources, energy and support to create such schools ourselves. No one else will do it
for us.
Practical
As the accounting profession's needs have emerged as independent factors in society, the educational
resources required by those needs have been adjusted to satisfy needs of other professions with
increasingly tenuous relations to accounting. Thus, accounting education is bound, in respect to
curriculum, budget, and administration, to the needs of non-accounting professions.
Professional School
Professions need schools that serve their own professional needs exclusively. First, each profession is
based on a specialized body of knowledge that is adapted in unique ways to that profession's mission in
society. Second, professional educational institutions have broader responsibilities than producing just
new professionals—an example is continuing professional education. Third, professions rely on such
schools to derive and disseminate new knowledge relevant to professional practice. This is done by
adapting basic research results from other disciplines and communicating them to practitioners.
The Development of Accounting Education
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1975
Burton, John C. (1975) The Need for Professional Accounting Education,
Schools of Accountancy: A Look at the Issues
Conceptual
There is a social need for improved and increased accounting services in the broadest sense of the term.
Accounting must recognize its interdisciplinary characteristics. The various disciplines needed are not all
found in business schools. There is a fundamental accounting model that needs to be considered,
developed, and communicated to students, both conceptually and programmatically. Professional schools
of accounting should have broad educational objectives which go beyond the teaching of highly specific
procedures.
Practical
Attitude training is required, and can be delivered in a professional school. Accountants need the
dispassionate professional approach, not the adversary approach fundamental to legal training. Alone
among the professions, the accountant achieves his social purpose by being independent of his client
rather than serving the client's interest to the exclusion of others or following his own profit-maximizing
interest.
Professional School
A number of the problems of the accounting profession arise because the independence objective is not
sufficiently ingrained. This sort of emphasis is more likely to come from an accounting school rather than
a business school. However, it is important that interdisciplinary needs are not met by the rejects of other
departments.
Cleveland, Gerald L. (1975) The Future of the Accounting Curriculum in a
College of Business Administration, Researching the Accounting Curriculum:
Strategies for Change
Conceptual
Most accountants now must have broader perspective and vision than in the past. Creation of separate
professional schools of accountancy would tend to produce graduates who would be narrower. Although a
place exists for narrowly prepared and highly specialized accountants, the status of accountancy will be
enhanced if accountants are prepared to become business leaders.
Practical
Universities are generally not well equipped to provide vocational training. Educators have to resist the
pressure to provide vocational training rather than accounting education. Accountants can quickly learn
highly technical, professional aspects on the job if they have been broadly educated in business while
acquiring their accounting education.
Professional School
Creation of separate professional schools of accountancy would tend to produce graduates who would be
narrower. Although a place exists for narrowly prepared and highly specialized accountants, the status of
accountancy will be enhanced if accountants are prepared to become business leaders.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 57
Humanities
Accounting is part of business and business schools could not fulfill their missions without some
education in accounting. Similarly, accounting programs and students need studies in the other functional
fields in business, the management sciences, and the behavioral, environmental, and quantitative areas.
Accountants probably can quickly learn highly technical, professional aspects on the job if they have been
broadly educated in business while acquiring their accounting education
Edwards, James Don (1975) The Future of the Accounting Curriculum in a
College of Business Administration, Researching the Accounting Curriculum:
Strategies for Change
Conceptual
For the last several years it has been apparent in many institutions that the accounting curriculum has
been functioning basically in a hostile environment -- one in which the faculty of the College of Business
Administration has had a desire to educate the generalist who was concerned with the management
function, the decision-making process, rather than in preparing professional accountants for careers in
business, public accounting, and government.
Practical
The content of the curriculum and the control of the curriculum is a deciding factor in locating the
accounting program. It is appropriate that the accounting courses be truly professional courses which
contain both theoretical and conceptual materials, but also recognize the practicality within which
accounting functions.
Professional School
Schools of Law, Medicine, and Theology have been established outside of Arts and Sciences to obtain
their educational objectives for their students. Having a dean or director who reports directly to the chief
administrative academic officer gives the faculties of these schools the freedom to develop truly
professional programs and provide a maximum educational opportunity. This will involve a major
structural reassessment of the content of all our accounting courses to provide both a theoretical
framework and a practical application.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 58
Kozmetsky, George (1975) Professional Accounting Education:
Implementation Issues, Schools of Accountancy: A Look at the Issues
Conceptual
Independent schools of professional accountancy will need to delineate more precisely their role in the
managerial processes. This means that they must have a context other than management that is
independent and self-sufficient.
Professional School
The point at which constrained educational resources create issues that can be reconciled is where an
independent school of professional accountancy would be a part of the university as an institution. The
specifics will need to deal with the allocation or reallocation of resources -- facilities, faculties, and staff,
which will require university-wide equitable policies and goal formulations. Other professional schools
have had to face the same higher education problems.
Humanities
Students need a broader, more liberal education than they have had heretofore. Sterling recommends this
because it would be of direct benefit to future practitioners.
Lamden, Charles W. (1975) The Future of the Accounting Curriculum in a
College of Business Administration, Researching the Accounting Curriculum:
Strategies for Change
Conceptual
For the most part, attempts to bring business experience into the classroom have proved to be ineffective,
and often the experiences taught (or described) are not the ones the students find in their future
professional practice. Because of this, the better university programs in accounting are emphasizing
conceptual understanding rather than procedural skills.
Practical
Education is learning to use the tools the race has found indispensable. For the professional accountant,
these tools include
1) the broad general knowledge of disciplines that will give him an understanding of the present and
future political, economic and social environment,
2) the semi technical knowledge that will make available to him such tools as mathematics, statistics,
communications skills, economics and finance, and
3) the technical knowledge of the expert accountant.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 59
Mautz, Robert K. (1975) The Case for Professional Education in Accounting,
Schools of Accountancy: A Look at the Issues
Conceptual
The verification of accounting data can be accomplished more effectively and more economically: if
practicing accountants have a sound understanding of and an appreciation for their environment, their
responsibilities, their opportunities, and their limitations; if education provides a full range of support for
practitioners; if practitioners develop a professional loyalty that, when the occasion demands, overrides
lesser loyalties. Professional education can make a significant social contribution by increasing the
effectiveness and economy of accounting practice.
Practical
Accounting practice is so varied, complex, and responsible that special educational efforts are required to
instill and maintain professional proficiency and perspective. The practice of public accounting is not a
neatly ordered and nicely structured activity. Much of what a professional practitioner ought to know
about his profession must be brought with him when he enters practice because the opportunity to obtain
it later is a limited one. Without some operational understanding of the total profession, the accountant
cannot see all the implications of his actions for the work of others, and he may overlook opportunities
and hazards. Neither the total potential of his contribution nor the limitations of his understanding will be
apparent to him.
Professional School
A professional education should include more than the standard technical topics. It should include
(1) a serious attempt to describe the role of the profession and to impress on the student the importance of
that role and of the forces working on those who seek to fulfill it,
(2) an exhaustive description of the organization of the profession and of the structural elements of which
it is composed,
(3) a thorough explanation of the obligations of the practicing accountant,
(4) an introduction to the range of matters involved in the conduct of an accounting practice.
Effective criticism should be part of the support that professional education provides to the practicing
profession. We cannot have truly professional education without establishing professional schools. Our
present educational institutions are unavoidably laden with custom, tradition, habits, and the apparent
successes of their professors and former students. Within those institutions, change comes too slowly to
meet our needs.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 60
Sterling, Robert R. (1975) Professional Schools of Accounting: Some Academic
Questions, Schools of Accountancy: A Look at the Issues
Conceptual
Students need more education to be able to better cope with the increased complexities and expansion of
the function of accounting, as well as to alleviate the burden of the education now being performed by the
firms. Results of research have very little impact on teaching or practice. Accounting educators
concentrate on teaching the present set of accepted practices. Today's students become tomorrow's
practitioners and start their careers without ever having been exposed to accounting research in either its
basic or applied form.
Practical
Today's accountant also needs a more intensified specialized professional education. Instead of shrinking
the accounting curriculum, it would have been better to revamp it. When students go into practice they
find the problems to be ill-structured, ill-defined, and open-ended. The practice of accounting does not
yield the same kind of satisfaction that attracted them to the study of accounting. Determining quantities
are a problem faced in practice that is not properly addressed in textbooks.
Professional School
A professional school can go a long way toward filling the gap between practitioners and researchers. In
the engineering model, practicing engineers don't have the time or inclination to keep up with the latest
research results in physics. Theoretical physicists don't have the time or inclination to translate their
research findings into practical applications. There is a gap between theory and practice that should not be
resolved by making either the practicing engineer or the theoretical physicist move towards the other. The
engineering school comes into being with the primary purpose of filling the gap between them. A school
of accounting could improve communications between practitioners and researchers to the benefit of both.
Summers, Edward L. (1975) Comments on "Professional Schools of
Accounting: Some Academic Questions", Schools of Accountancy: A Look at the
Issues
Professional School
Without the professional school, non-accounting disciplines cannot direct their basic research to problems
in society which accounting is uniquely qualified to discover and describe. The skill enhancement of
practitioners solely through contact with other practitioners occurs at far greater cost than through a
school of accounting.
Humanities
The new program should specify much more completely and integrate much more carefully the
background course work, the generally relevant, and the specifically relevant subject matter from related
disciplines such as law, philosophy, mathematics, statistics, economics, psychology, sociology, and
political science.. The objective is to partially constrain the content of the liberal education so that an
increased percentage of it will have either general or even specific relevance to the professional
competence areas of accounting.
Zimmerman, Vernon K. (1975) The Future of the Accounting Curriculum in a
College of Business Administration, Researching the Accounting Curriculum:
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 61
Strategies for Change
Conceptual
I do not believe that if accounting were taught in a school of accountancy we would lessen our interest in
considering the possible changes in our present accounting curriculum. The need for continuous review of
our instructional offerings parallels the changes in the accounting environment upon which accounting
rests as well as new developments in learning theory and pedagogical techniques. Accountants need to
maintain effective relationships with neighboring disciplines, both on the teaching and research levels.
1976
Cohen, Manuel F. (Chairman) (1976) Defining the Role and Responsibilities of
Independent Auditors -- A Progress Report to Council, The "Cohen
Commission Report"
Conceptual
The third element of the Cohen study is a comparison of the "resource inventory" of the auditor. Looking
at the structure of the profession from the broadest possible perspective -- how are independent auditors
trained, regulated, and disciplined.
The academic branch of a profession not only educates the new members, but also provides an
environment in which the problems of the profession can be studied without interference from the
concerns of day-to-day practice. The academic members of a profession, protected from many of the
pressures that affect the practitioner, can act as a conscience for their profession.
Practical
Cohen commission conducted background research on issues including the education and training of
auditors.
Noted a schism between academic and practicing accountants. The research effort of academic accounting
has become almost totally devoted to matters other than auditing and the concerns of accounting practice;
practitioners find themselves unable to relate to most published accounting research. Concern with the
enhancement of research methodology has tended to displace concern with research into the problems of
the profession. Public accounting practice does not have the visibility of either law or medicine in
university education, nor has the academic accounting community made the kind of contributions to the
development of the knowledge base and problem resolution that the legal and medical professions receive
from their academic communities.
Professional School
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 62
There are arguments both for and against professional schools of accounting. Advocates of professional
schools claim that separate schools will increase the recognition and prestige of public accounting, lead to
attraction of more and better students, and increase the incentive for academic researchers to contribute to
the resolution of professional practice problems. Separation from general management education would
allow more responsiveness. Opponents are concerned with achieving an appropriate balance, problems
with attracting qualified faculty members, and practical and economic problems.
The gradual and successful development of separate graduate professional schools in law, medicine, and
other fields suggests that such problems are capable of resolution.
The failure to provide high-quality graduate professional accounting programs would logically appear to
have an effect on the quality of those entering the profession. Development of professional schools would
permit the accounting profession to compete more effectively for liberal arts graduates.
The expanding body of knowledge in public accounting, the demands and risks of professional practice,
and the required knowledge in allied fields and in the liberal arts provide sufficient substance for a
graduate professional program similar to that provided by law schools.
Larson, Kermit D. (1976) Schools of Accountancy: What Should Be Their
Objectives?, Professionalization of the Accountancy Curriculum
Conceptual
Primary objectives involve
1) developing a new, uniquely designed, professionally oriented educational program leading to a master's
degree;
2) maintaining the other degree programs of the accounting school, but in a constrained fashion;
3)developing an extensive program of accounting school funded research (to provide information and
direction in the resolution of significant problems that confront accounting practice, to develop the
curriculum, and to assure the ability of the accounting school to compete effectively for the best faculty
talent);
4) developing a set of professional development programs which will establish the school's active role in
continuing education.
Practical
Objective is to produce graduates for whom the probability of future career success as a professional
accountant, whether in government, industry, or public accounting, is markedly higher than is the
probability one would presently attach to those existing students whose education follows the traditional
baccalaureate and then master's degree with concentration in accounting.
Professional School
A professional program cannot be outstanding unless all of the student body is outstanding. It should
imbue each student with a strong personal sense of identification with the profession, cognizant of the
special social responsibilities to be demanded of the profession, and accepting the personal discipline and
work habits necessary for growth to professional maturity.
Humanities
There should be no assumption that creation of professional schools will tend to move accounting
education toward a narrow educational process. The evidence is that medical schools have expanded
substantially the scope of the medical school curriculum. In fact, professionalization of programs tends
inevitably to broaden and expand them, and that would be the expected result of a professional school of
accountancy.
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Metcalf, Lee (Chairman) (1976) The Accounting Establishment -- A Staff Study,
The "Metcalf Report"
Conceptual
The success of our competitive economy depends upon the free flow of accurate and meaningful
information regarding the activities of its major participants. Congress should exercise stronger oversight
of Federal Government accounting practices, and more leadership in establishing proper goals and
policies. Congress should consider methods of increasing competition among accounting firms for
selection as independent auditors for major corporations. Criticized the Cohen commission for the
appearance of analyzing ways to lower the expectations of those who rely upon the accounting profession
for verification of information. Rather than upgrading accounting practices to meet the real public needs
for independent verification of financial information, the AICPA efforts are directed toward re-orienting
everyone who uses information certified by accountants.
Practical
The Federal Government should directly establish accounting standards for publicly-owned corporations.
Accounting standards involve social and economic issues which can only be resolved effectively through
the processes of government responsible solely to the public. The Federal Government should establish
auditing standards used by independent auditors to certify the accuracy of corporate financial statements
and supporting records. If independent auditors cannot provide proper certification of information
reported by publicly-owned corporations, then the Federal Government should seek alternative methods
of performing that necessary function.
Young, J. Nelson (1976) The Professional Law School Program: Some
Perspectives for Professional Accounting Education, Professionalization of the
Accountancy Curriculum
Conceptual
A law school could not be accredited under terms like these: the actions of the head of the law school
would be subject to approval by the Dean of Arts & Sciences, and the law curriculum would have to be
approved by the faculty of the College of Arts & Sciences.
Practical
The first year is extremely exciting and challenging - Socratic method of case analysis teaches the
student to think like a lawyer. "In the first year we scare them to death; in the second year we work them
to death; and in the third year we bore them to death." This is not a model that the accounting programs
should follow.
The success of professional accounting education will turn in large measure on adequate recognition by
the public accounting profession, through appropriate increments in beginning salaries of the graduates of
these professional programs.
Professional School
Programs of professional accounting education must be established, either within existing administrative
structures or as separate schools. To be effective, this entails a procedure for separate accreditation of
such programs. Nelson would anticipate selective admission standards for professional accounting
education which paralleled those of the law schools.
Humanities
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
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Describes a ten-year program that would be unduly burdensome. Undergraduate training and
"professional year" (Australia) may be sufficient. One of the problems with the entry age in medical
professional schools is that the lengthening process of education affects supply and acceptability.
Deficiency in medical education process is that the medical school is the gatekeeper for physicians.
Accounting is not as limited -- better diversity, less expensive.
1977
Bedford, Norton M. (1977) Synopsis of Discussion of "Professional Programs
and Schools of Accountancy", AY Professors Roundtable
Conceptual
One interesting thought was that the experience of medical schools suggests that professional schools do
change students. The evidence is that students in medical schools change their social views and develop
professional pride in their profession as they follow a systematically arranged sequence of courses.
Practical
Skousen's view that education for accountants comes at three levels (technical, policy, and research) was
generally accepted. Participants were concerned by the necessity that a school of accountancy would have
to concentrate on an elite group of students, and would pay attention to others interested in the study of
accounting only out of political necessity.
Professional School
Participants concluded that the tendency for MBA programs to treat accounting as a set of service courses
useful in the training of administrators means that the professional school or its equivalent will have to
come into being to provide the professional attitudes needed by accountants, to assure their independence
from the employing management, and to avoid the inevitable tendency for accounting students trained as
administrators to think like and be highly sympathetic with managerial problems rather than with the
problems of investors, creditors, and others.
Bremser, Wayne G., Vincent C. Brenner, and Paul E. Dascher. (1977) The
Feasibility of Professional Schools: An Empirical Study, The Accounting
Review
Practical
School of professional accountancy may give accounting faculty more control over admissions to the
accounting program, although the deans in this study disagreed with that conclusion.
Professional School
The study showed significant differences in the perceptions of autonomy related to a professional school
of accountancy -- accounting department chairpersons were consistently more favorable than business
school deans on the following contentions: More autonomy over the accounting curriculum by the
accounting faculty, more autonomy over admissions to the accounting program, more autonomy by the
accounting faculty in its recruiting and staffing functions.
Carrington, Athol S. (1977) What We Can Learn from Other Countries and
Other Professions, AY Professors Roundtable
The Development of Accounting Education
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Conceptual
One objective of professional education is to equip the new entrant with a sufficiently generalized
understanding of the environment, of related fields of knowledge, and of problem-solving skills that he
may remain receptive to new conditions and demands.
Practical
One objective of professional education is to equip the new entrant with certain skills that can be
exercised immediately with sufficient competence and reliability to satisfy employers and clients, and
uphold the reputation of the profession.
Professional School
Program needs to be organized as an integrated whole, maintaining a coherent overall structure and a
deliberate relationship between cognate disciplines and the basic purpose of education in accounting.
Needs to be a grouping which is larger, more diversified, and more autonomous than the familiar
department of accountancy which is no more than just another unit in a business or economics school. Not
necessarily a plea for a totally separate professional school of accounting, since faculty needs to keep up
with related fields, and the school needs to withstand narrowing demands by external professional
accrediting authority. Effective education for the profession does require at least semiautonomous status.
Humanities
In favor of more humanities education, 4-year programs cut back on opportunities for humanities.
Cohen, Manuel F. (1977) The Work of the Commission on Auditors'
Responsibility , Cohen Commission Report
Conceptual
Performance standards for the accounting profession include: 1) Standards of skill and competence for
entering the profession and for continuing the right to practice; 2) Technical and ethical standards that
serve as performance goals and as norms for measuring departures; 3) Quality control policies and
procedures to monitor and encourage compliance with technical and ethical standards; 4) an effective
disciplinary system to impose penalties for performance or conduct that departs from established norms.
Effective regulation depends on all four elements operating as a system.
Cohen, Manuel F. (Chairman) (1977) Testimony on Accounting and Auditing
Practices and Procedures, Hearings before the Subcommittee on Reports,
Accounting and Management of the Committee on Governmental Affairs,
United States Senate (the "Metcalf Hearings"
Conceptual
Cohen Commission was asked to study the role and responsibilities of independent auditors and to make
recommendations designed to narrow an apparent gap between the needs and expectations of users of
financial statements and the performance of auditors. The audit function can and should expand from
being oriented to periodic financial statements to include information of an accounting and financial
nature that management has a responsibility to report, provided that it is produced by the accounting
system and the auditor is competent to verify the information.
Professional School
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The formal education of prospective auditors does not adequately prepare them to meet the demands and
risks of professional practice nor does it instill a needed sense of professional identity. Public accounting
firms have had to assume a disproportionate burden of entry-level training of new professional
accountants. An educational program similar to that of the legal profession should be gradually instituted,
which would include a four-year undergraduate and a three-year graduate program in a professional
school of accounting.
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Davidson, Sidney (1977) Roy and MacNeill Plus 10, AY Professors Roundtable
Conceptual
Professors emphasize logic and reason, practice favors technical ability and proficiency. Need a balance.
Practical
CPE has focused on narrow technical topics, not enhancement of capabilities in analytical areas, or "selfrenewal" in broader study
Professional School
Davidson opposes free-standing professional schools of accounting. Issues go far beyond the scope of
Horizons
Humanities
Continuing education in nontechnical areas cannot be handled by the practicing arm of the profession.
The academic institution must see that the student is exposed to the humanities and is properly motivated
to continue his development in these areas.
Mathematics
Trend to mathematics has not affected practice as much as academia, increasing the separation between
practice and research
Gleim, Irvin N. (1977) Letter re: Professional Schools of Accounting, Hearings
before the Subcommittee on Reports, Accounting and Management of the
Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate (the "Metcalf
Hearings")
Conceptual
The staff study "The Accounting Establishment" concludes that "there are serious deficiencies in the
existing accounting establishment". If accountants are expected to be independent of management, it is
arguable that accounting educational programs should not be integrated with educational programs
emphasizing management.
Practical
The very rapidly expanding body of knowledge required at the entry level to professional accounting
practice creates a need for professional schools of accounting. The increasing scope of the accountant's
responsibility further increases the need for professional schools. Traditional accounting program and
their students have not had the separate identification necessary to instill the professionalism which is part
of other professional programs such as law.
Professional School
The current momentum toward professional schools of accounting should significantly improve both the
technical competence and professional attitude of those entering the accounting profession in the future.
Kanaga, William S. (1977) The Accounting Establishment: Oversight or
Overstatement?, AY Professors Roundtable
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
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Practical
The Metcalf report needs to be appreciated as part of the context for the profession, but its
recommendations are extreme and ill-founded. The Cohen Commission's recommendations are more
reasoned and reasonable.
Humanities
Accounting students seem deficient in several areas, including their communicative skills, their
understanding of the accounting standard setting (political) process and the interaction of accounting with
governmental agencies, their knowledge of ethical and legal responsibilities, their perspectives of the
larger social role for accounting, and the acceptance of the demands placed upon a professional.
MacNeill, James H. (1977) Discussion of "Roy and MacNeill Plus 10", AY
Professors Roundtable
Conceptual
Formal accounting education should concentrate on concepts in preference to techniques. May need to
emphasize behavioral sciences more. Various groups have been promulgating changes in accounting
without knowing how they will affect the behavior of investors, creditors, managers and governments
Practical
Accounting educators are responsible for professional education not only for public accountants but also
for those in private, government, and not-for-profit activities
Professional School
Need to examine present accounting programs to see if they are providing adequate background, or if they
are deficient. Professional schools may help solve this problem. Control over curriculum, faculty
promotion, and other vital matters should not be left to those outside the accounting profession. Cannot
completely separate accounting and non-accounting bodies' knowledge
Mathematics
Math use in school is increasing. There is some truth in the comment that scholarly publications in
accounting have gone too far towards the mathematical. Horizons didn't oversell mathematics - academia
overbought it
Percy, Charles F. (1977) Opening Statement, Hearings before the
Subcommittee on Reports, Accounting and Management of the Committee on
Governmental Affairs, United States Senate (the "Metcalf Hearings"
Conceptual
It is the responsibility of the accounting profession to challenge management and not put out white
papers; but to tell the truth about what is happening in their industry, candidly lay it on the line without
having to have an investigative reporter go about trying to find out really what is happening in the
industry or in that particular corporation. We are trying to find a basis of credibility and believability in
the private sector that I think has been lost, just as it has been lost in the public sector.
Practical
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The private sector should seriously be engaged in a process of self-examination to identify problems that
really do exist. Then the private sector should be proposing solutions for those problems voluntarily
before being forced into such examinations and solutions. Speaks favorably of the Cohen Commission
analysis.
Skousen, K. Fred (1977) Professional Programs and Schools of Accountancy,
AY Professors Roundtable
Conceptual
Extent of knowledge required of the accounting professional is significantly expanded -- not just technical
knowledge but an ability to deal with complex interrelationships between business, government, and
society. Goal of accounting education should be excellence.
Practical
Prepare accountants in three categories:
(1) paraprofessional who will have a good job and make a good contribution to society but will not be a
partner in a CPA firm or a leader in industry,
(2) professional accountant who will end up in a leadership position in government, industry, or public
accounting.
(3) training of accounting educators and scholars, who will for the most part end up in academia.
Professional School
Professional program should be integrated, with a conscious effort made to provide a breadth of
knowledge in subjects related to accounting, as well as specialized knowledge in accounting itself. It must
offer more than just extra technical competence, but must help transform an accounting student into an
accounting professional. Faculty should place more emphasis on teaching and on professional
development activities than on pure academic or scholarly research. Look to engineering schools as a
possible model - they produce undergraduate engineers and graduate engineers with substantially stronger
specializations. Law or medical schools may not be as good a model for accounting, primarily because
accountants do not serve the general public directly but are employed by organizations or companies.
Unlike users of doctors and lawyers, users of accounting information do not employ accountants.
Skousen, K. Fred (1977) Accounting Education: The New Professionalism,
Journal of Accountancy
Conceptual
Premise that more professionalization is needed is based on four circumstances:
1) The extent of knowledge required of today's accounting professional is significantly expanded -- not
just technical knowledge but an ability to deal with complex interrelationships between business,
government, and society.
2) Accounting firms and CPAs in industry and government are spending lots of money on training
programs (new audit roles, new managerial concepts and techniques, new responsibilities, greater need
for specialization,
3)High employment turnover in public accounting and in industry suggests that students may not be fully
aware of the climate, pressures, and responsibilities of a professional accountant,
4)Low rate of success in passing entry-level professional examinations.
Our goal in accounting education should be excellence. Essential characteristics include sufficient
autonomy, identity and control to ensure a relevant and complete curriculum, top-quality faculty,
outstanding students, practitioner involvement, and a process whereby the student is transformed into a
The Development of Accounting Education
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professional.
Practical
Accounting students seem deficient in their communicative skills, in their understanding of the
accounting standard setting (political) process and the interaction of accounting with governmental
agencies, in their knowledge of ethical and legal responsibilities, in their perspectives of the larger social
role that accounting should play and in their acceptance of the demands placed on a professional. Some
type of screening process seems essential -- only those students with a reasonable chance of success ought
to be encouraged to enter the program. It does not make sense for students to be trained as professional
accountants if they will not be successful in the field. Perhaps we should emulate the educational practice
in law or medicine. It is difficult to get into law or medical school, but, once in, the candidate is almost
assured of graduating and of being able to pass the qualifying examinations for entry into the profession.
Professional School
A professional program should be an integrated one with a conscious effort made to provide a breadth of
knowledge in accounting-related subjects as well as specialized knowledge in accounting. A professional
program should also provide learning experiences that highlight practical situations. A professional
program must offer more than just extra technical competence. It must help transform an accounting
student into an accounting professional. A certain attitude, a loyalty, a personal commitment to and
identification with the accounting profession are essential. These elements are more than just by-products
of a professional program. They are at least as important as the extra year or two of study of accounting
and business topics.
Humanities
Accounting recognizes the dual importance of sound university education and sound professional
training. Professional education is not mere indoctrination. We have a duty to challenge students'
conceptions of the professional world with alternative, and perhaps even more desirable, models
.
Solomons, David (1977) Professional Certification, AY Professors Roundtable
Conceptual
What makes professional education different from mere education is that it has to combine knowledge
and skill in a subtle way. From this combination, with the maturity that comes with experience and given
the essential personal quality of integrity -- a quality which can be nurtured by professional experience
but which has to be implanted by earlier upbringing -- comes the rounded professional man.
Practical
The Development of Accounting Education
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Solomons believes that the Beamer report was misguided in the view that education is a complete
substitute for experience. As analytical techniques for problem solving in business have developed, the
role of formal study has increased, and the need to rely on the judgment that comes from experience has
somewhat diminished. That does not mean that a person becomes professionally qualified from the
classroom alone.
Professional School
We need to ask the question "How do good accountants get that way?" Cites a study of the clinical skills
of family physicians and their correlation with MCAT scores, type of medical school attended or hospital
trained in, length of training, medical school grades, and other factors.
Weckstein, Donald T. (1977) Discussion of "What We Can Learn from Other
Countries and Other Professions, AY Professors Roundtable
Conceptual
Hallmark of a profession is that it is organized genuinely for the performance of its functions. The
measure of success for a profession is the service performed, not the gains amassed for the individual
professional. Primacy of service over profit.
Zeff, Stephen A. (1977) Discussion of "Roy and MacNeill Plus 10", AY
Professors Roundtable
Conceptual
The task of the university is to educate students to be accounting thinkers who understand the context of
accounting problems, and to provide the structure to analyze and develop defensible solutions to
accounting problems. Need to show conceptual underpinnings of conventional accounting, models and
systems that might replace the conventional framework, and the economic, political, and social context in
which accounting problems arise. Need to inculcate a faculty for accounting analysis and thought.
Conceptual knowledge is arguably the most practical kind that there is.
Practical
Practical topics should not be presented in a rote, mechanical manner, but should be introduced,
explained, and illustrated in the context of accounting theories and practical constraints. University
education should not undertake to prepare students to be competent practicing professionals upon
graduation. Law schools do not purport to prepare students to take and pass the bar exam, but to develop
legal thinkers.
Professional School
Professional schools of accounting may be related to Roy and MacNeill comments on emphasis on the
conceptual in accounting education.
1978
Davidson, Sidney (1978) Accreditation: Two Views, Journal of Accountancy
Conceptual
Need to protect diversity, including diversity of career paths, diversity of curriculum and teaching
methods, diversity of administrative arrangements, and diversity in degrees granted. The danger is that
accreditation standards will stifle diversity and creativity in accounting programs.
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Practical
Developing a sense of professional loyalty is probably the most significant contribution to be offered by
professional schools of accounting.
Professional School
Professional schools of accounting certainly bring a sense of professional identification, a sense of being
part of and belonging to an honorable calling. Davidson contends that professional schools of accounting
run counter to the history of development of education for the learned professions, and quotes Horizons to
suggest that Roy and MacNeill agree with his conclusion.
Miller, Herbert E. (1978) Accreditation: Two Views, Journal of Accountancy
Conceptual
Issues with respect to accounting accreditation include:
1) Accounting is not uniformly considered a profession in all its many applications,
2) Accounting programs are offered by many types of institutions at many different levels with many
different goals in mind,
3) Accounting is more closely tied to a wider range of other disciplines and functional areas than most
other professions,
4) There are philosophical differences about the best way to prepare accountants,
5) There are increasing opportunities for specialization within accounting
Practical
Public accounting profession has identified a common body of knowledge and relies on academicians to
teach such knowledge.
Rayburn, Frank R. and E.H. Bonfield (1978) Schools of Accountancy: Attitudes
and Attitude Structure, The Accounting Review
Conceptual
Survey results indicate that Deans of business schools are strongly opposed to professional schools of
accountancy, and non-accounting faculty are somewhat opposed. Accounting chairs and faculty favor
professional schools, while practitioners favor professional schools even more strongly.
Practical
Deans and non-accounting faculty fear academic isolation, harder work for non-accounting majors, and
duplication across schools are both probable and undesirable. Deans also fear loss of AACSB
accreditation.
1979
Albers, Wayne J. (Chairman) (1979) Education Requirements for Entry into
the Accounting Profession: A Statement of AICPA Policies, Journal of
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July 21, 2009
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Accountancy
Conceptual
Albers Task Force reports that AICPA policy requires 150 semester hours of college study
Professional School
Task force recommended that a graduate degree be explicitly required for entry into the profession.
Specified needed areas of study, including
General Education -- communications, behavioral science, economics, elementary accounting, computers,
mathematics and statistics, others;
General Business,
Accounting Education
Carmichael, Douglas R. (1979) The Cohen Commission in Perspective: Actions
and Reactions., Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance
Conceptual
Totally ignored recommendations for changes in accounting education
Humanities
The Commission emphasized the desirability of developing high-quality graduate programs in accounting
to enable the profession to better attract present liberal arts graduates.
Flaherty, Richard E. (1979) The Core of the Curriculum for Accounting Majors,
AAA publication
Conceptual
Survey research on the main areas expected to be included in the accounting curriculum. Although the
survey did not explicitly require a five-year program, the number of courses required to address the
expected body of knowledge for accounting professionals appears unlikely to fit within a four-year
curriculum.
Kay, Robert S., (1979) The Cohen Commission Report: Some Compliments,
Some Criticisms, Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance
Conceptual
To give assurance that the entity itself is so organized as to be immune from undetected fraud (even
significant undetected fraud) has to be an incredibly expensive, and probably impossible task. The
marginal social benefit of providing assurance that companies, rather than their financial statements, are
fraud-proof might simply not be cost-justified, as alluring as the proposition sounds.
Seidler, Lee J. (1979) The Cohen Commission After One Year: A Personal View,
Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance
Conceptual
The Development of Accounting Education
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Page 74
It was not clear at the outset that the Commission's charge required it to become involved in
recommendations related to education. However, it gradually became apparent to the Commission that
many audit failures stemmed from the inability of the auditors or the entire profession to grasp "bigpicture implications" of what were at first glance only technical accounting problems. The profession's
reaction to change has been slow and often lacking in accurate perception.
Practical
Accounting departments are frequently the largest and most profitable areas of business schools. School
administrators will not eagerly part with such golden geese, particularly as total enrollments promise to
decline. In addition, many accounting educators see their future not with professional development, but
rather with accounting studies which lie closer to finance and economics.
Professional School
The Commission concluded that the current model should evolve into one providing greater opportunity
both for a broader liberal education and professional training. The Commission recommended that
accounting education should move toward the model set by the legal profession, namely a four-year
liberal arts education, followed by a three-year graduate professional program.
1980
Campbell, David R. and Robert W. Williamson (1980) Accreditation of
Accounting Programs: Administrators' Perceptions of Proposed AACSB
Standards, Issues in Accounting Education
Practical
Administrators do not perceive significant improvement in the quality of accounting programs as a result
of the accreditation process.
In the current academic environment, teaching is not likely to be considered as important as research in
promotion and tenure decisions. There is more emphasis on theoretical and applied research than
education-oriented research.
Humanities
Despite recommendations by AALS Carrington study (1972) for less doctrinal-type courses and more
interdisciplinary courses, the legal curriculum did not change quickly. Carrington also recommended less
than three years for completion, but that has not happened either.
Schiff, Michael (1980) The business school establishment versus the
accounting profession, Journal of Accountancy
Conceptual
Any upgrading in standards, whatever its goal, involves costs and upsets the status quo. To object to
change merely because it imposes costs would suggest making no changes. But if the demands on the
profession have indeed expanded and the tasks are more complex, inaction in the light of change means
downgrading the profession and increasing the social costs of poorer professional performance.
Practical
The Development of Accounting Education
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Given the reality of an environment in which a wide range of admission standards are currently in
existence reflective of individual choice and prerogative of each college or university, the requirement of
the fifth year will result in a "better student" entering the profession by requiring a second look at
qualifications.
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Page 76
Spiceland, J. David, Vincent C. Brenner, and Bart P. Hartman (1980) Standards
for Programs and Schools of Professional Accounting: Accounting Group
Perceptions, The Accounting Review
Conceptual
Survey of practitioner groups showed that industrial accountants and controllers rated importance of
applied research and theoretical research higher than did accounting academicians or CPAs.
1983
Boatsman, James R. (1983) American Law Schools: Implications for
Accounting Education, Journal of Accounting Education
Conceptual
As perplexing as the volume of authoritative accounting material may be to some, it is inconsequential
compared to the volume of material with which legal education has had to deal. Case method and the
Socratic dialogue dominates current legal education. Doctrinal analysis also occupies a prominent
position in legal education. Law schools tend to attract extremely bright, highly motivated students -selection bias alone may account for any differences in performance that might otherwise be attributed to
superior education.
Practical
Root Committee (1921) demanded that aspirants to the bar must have graduated from a law program that
1) requires at least two years of undergraduate training and 2) consists of a three-year curriculum. Threeyear requirement may have arisen from prestige rather than educational need.
Boatsman admits that accounting, unlike law, may rest on some underlying principles -- or at least there
seem to be fundamental underlying dimensions. Cultivating a better analytical ability to utilize these
fundamentals in the making of decisions in the face of considerable uncertainty may be a productive focus
for accounting education
Professional School
Accounting educators have long been conscious of a schism between practitioners and academics. Similar
differences appear to pervade legal education.
Boatsman discusses the impact of law school education on professionalism in a context of shared
suffering, like a fraternity hazing. Cites literature that indicates most professional exhibit a punishmentcentered mode of conditioning entrants.
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Reeve, James M. (1983) The Five-Year Accounting Program as a Quality Signal,
The Accounting Review
Conceptual
Discusses graduate education as a screening mechanism, which would imply that there is no need for
graduate education outside of identifying the able and eliminating the less able. Reeve offers an
alternative means of explaining the demand for graduate accounting education. Graduate education can
serve as a (costly) signaling method to identify higher-productivity types.
Professional School
Fifth year requirement could winnow out lower-quality tiers of the supply market through self-selection.
Market forces could also work. Reeve concludes that arguments in favor of mandatory fifth year are not
compelling.
1984
Arnold, Donald F. and Thomas J. Geiselhart (1984) Practitioners' Views on
Five-Year Educational Requirements for CPAs, The Accounting Review
Conceptual
Article conducted survey research on practitioner views regarding the imposition of additional years of
study and the practical problems associated with a fifth year for accountants. The authors conclude that
the issue of a fifth year requirement cannot be separated from the issue of continuing education
requirements. The relevant issue is the structure of all post-graduate education -- the form of the
education (fifth-year vs. CPE) and the timing of the education (pre-entry level vs. post-entry-level).
Practical
Practitioners in states requiring a fifth year more strongly favored the additional year, expected higher
pass rates as a result, and did not think four years of study were enough to produce accountants who
would be valuable to their firm.
Professional School
Proponents of the fifth year would also support elevating all accounting educational requirements to the
graduate level, as is presently the requirement within the law and medical professions. 45% of all
respondents favored this, while 77% of those who supported the fifth year were in favor of the graduate
elevation.
Humanities
CPAs need education beyond the technical, including skills in communication, entrepreneurship,
interpersonal relations, organizational behavior, and the humanities. This broad training is necessary if
CPAs are to deal effectively with their sophisticated clients.
Williams, Doyle Z. (1984) Schools of Accounting: Anatomy of a Movement,
Issues in Accounting Education
Conceptual
The Development of Accounting Education
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Page 78
Overwhelming expansion of accounting body of knowledge has driven movement to schools of
accounting. Supply of students increased in 1970s and 1980s, permitting the implementation of increased
admission and retention standards.
Practical
The degree of autonomy of an academic unit can facilitate or impede the attainment of program
excellence.
Humanities
There is a compelling need to increase the depth and breadth of education provided to prospective
professional accountants. If accountants are to claim the prestige and status that physicians and attorneys
enjoy, it is essential that they be perceived as well-educated. This requires a move toward postbaccalaureate education, similar to that required in the other recognized profession. It is difficult to
attempt to achieve professionalism at the undergraduate level when virtually every other profession has
moved or is moving exclusively to the graduate level.
1985
Eckel, Norman and Timothy Ross (1985) Schools versus Departments of
Accounting: Is There Really a Difference?, Journal of Accounting Education
Conceptual
Survey research involving faculty and department heads at schools of accounting and departments of
accounting.
Practical
No significant difference in compensation between schools and departments.
Schools have more experienced faculty who have been longer at their present institution.
Faculty at schools of accounting perceive that they have more autonomy in decision making.
Inconclusive results on pedagogy or research dimensions.
Faculty at schools of accounting perceive less difficulty in recruiting masters and MBA students, or new
doctoral faculty.
No difference noted in desirability or actual amount of interdisciplinary interaction.
The Development of Accounting Education
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Ellyson, Robert C., A. Tom Nelson, and James H. MacNeill (1985) Planning
Education for a Changing World, Journal of Accountancy
Conceptual
Growth of the body of knowledge reflects the development of technology, the increasing complexity of
the environment (both economically and socially), and the growing need for diverse services.
Practical
There are indications that the percentage of new partners with a masters degree substantially exceeds the
percentage of new hires with a masters, a fact that would lead to the conclusion that a graduate degree
does contribute to success in public practice.
There is no reason to expect that market forces will be sufficient to effect a substantial increase in the
proportion of new hires with an advanced degree. If the profession is to derive the potential benefits from
improving the quality of those entering the profession, the education requirement for sitting for the CPA
exam must be increased through legislation to include post baccalaureate education.
Professional School
In 1984 a National Institute of Education study group recommended that all bachelor's degree recipients
should have at least two full years of liberal education. In most professional fields, this will require
extending undergraduate programs beyond the usual 4 years.
1986
Bloom, Robert, Araya Debessay, and William Markell (1986) The
Development of Schools of Accounting and the Underlying Issues, Journal of
Accounting Education
Conceptual
Historical perspective on development of schools of accounting, intended to enlighten the decision
between
1) the status quo (primarily accounting departments within schools of business administration),
2) schools of accounting contained within schools of business administration, and
3) separate free-standing schools of accounting that are analogous to law and medical schools.
The question of which specific organizational structure is suitable for professional accounting schools is
related to how best to provide the profession with visibility and exposure. Proponents of separate schools
of accounting contend that students would develop a better sense of professional identity and in turn
achieve a greater degree of familiarity with professional ethics and morality.
Practical
Quotes Littleton: "Someday when the teaching materials are vastly increased in comparison to the
present, and when accounting techniques have grown deeply complicated, and professional
responsibilities and professional independence have been materially broadened, then perhaps separate
accounting schools may become the standard.
Professional School
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
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In 1935, the Executive Committee of the American Institute of Accountants approved resolutions
advocating "the highest practicable standards of preliminary education similar to those effective in other
professions such as law or medicine", "completion of a full course in a college of liberal arts plus
graduate work in accounting", and "college courses specifically designed to train students for public
accounting practice."
Humanities
General education should develop students' abilities to integrate knowledge from various disciplines in
order to identify, formulate, develop and distribute information for decision making. Future accountants
should: Possess a knowledge of the humanities, arts and sciences; Develop a sense of a diverse global
society; Understand the implications of technological developments; Function in a changing environment.
Oral and written communications, both formal and informal, in interpersonal and group settings, need to
be improved. The content of future accounting education must extend well beyond technical skills alone.
Futures Committee (1986) Report of the Committee on the Future Structure,
Content, and Scope of Accounting Education, Reorienting Accounting
Education: Reports on the Environment, Professoriate, and Curriculum of
Accounting
Conceptual
Future accountants are not receiving the preparation they need to meet the increased demands of the
expansive, more complex profession that is emerging.
Humanities
Academicians and practitioners agree that a more structured approach to the selection of liberal arts and
sciences courses is advisable, that more general business knowledge is desirable, that a broad base of
general professional accounting education is essential, and that specialized professional accounting areas
should be part of a student's education.
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July 21, 2009
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Special Committee (1986) Report of the Special Committee on Standards of
Professional Conduct for Certified Public Accountants, Restructuring
Professional Standards to Achieve Professional Excellence in a Changing
Environment
Conceptual
Recognized 1966 statement of characteristics of a profession (John L. Carey, The Ethical Standards of
the Accounting Profession).
1) A body of specialized knowledge;
2) A formal educational process;
3) Standards governing admission;
4) A code of ethics;
5) A recognized status indicated by a license or a special designation;
6) A public interest in the work that the group performs;
7) Recognition by the group of a social obligation.
Since the services provided by CPAs can be provided by others outside the profession in some cases, the
services themselves cannot be viewed as inherently professional.
Practical
The competitive environment has placed pressure on the traditional commitment to professionalism in the
practice of public accounting. Big firms backed away from expressing possibly contentious positions.
Even the Big Eight firms' written submissions to the FASB were perceived to be of a lower standard in
the 1980s than in the 1970s.
Professional School
Recommended that AICPA require 150 hours of post baccalaureate education as a requirement for
membership after the year 2000.
Humanities
Need additional liberal arts and business education to provide a better foundation for the professional
accountant of tomorrow. The present undergraduate accounting major is too narrowly educated.
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1987
Bedford, Norton M. and William G. Shenkir (1987) Reorienting Accounting
Education, Journal of Accountancy
Conceptual
The accounting profession is becoming a "broad information" profession that is using increasingly
sophisticated measurement techniques, complex analytical concepts, and new communication
technologies to provide improved education for innumerable economic and social decisions. The growing
role of information in today's society indicates that the accountant of the future needs to be educationally
prepared to broaden the scope of information use. Professional survival may rest on that educational
development. Accountants should be educated about the development and use of information in three
areas: Operations, Administration, and Strategy Formulation and Implementation. The time has come for
accounting to assume a broader professional role in society.
Practical
The substance of accounting education has remained essentially the same over the last 50 years, though
some diversity has developed in its structure. Teaching from textbooks continues instead of developing
students' capabilities. Teaching methods that rely on lectures, the presentation of problems with definite
solutions, and demonstrations continue to dominate accounting instruction. All areas of higher education
need vast improvement. Two classes of university accounting educational programs – professional and
clerical – may prevail for a time during the 15-year transitional period. Educators should emphasize
principles and concepts -- detailed procedures are better taught in specific training programs.
Professional School
The two-year general professional accounting program should provide students with (a) the knowledge,
techniques, sensitivities and abilities all accountants should have for entry into the accounting profession
(in industry, government, or private practice) and (b) the capacity to apply this knowledge under
reasonable supervision. The one-year specialized professional accounting program should provide indepth study in one or more functional areas of accounting. Universities will need to teach students the
concepts, systems and principles associated with the advanced levels of specialized practice, particularly
the ability to extend the specialization into new areas of application through research and system design.
The Development of Accounting Education
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Follow-Up Committee I (1987) Report of the Follow-up Committee on the
Future Structure, Content, and Scope of Accounting Education, 1986-87,
Reorienting Accounting Education: Reports on the Environment, Professoriate,
and Curriculum of Accounting
Practical
Respondents do not consider the passing of the CPA and other professional examinations to be a measure
of the quality of an accounting program. It does appear that the nature and content of the CPA exam have
an impact upon the structure and content of the upper-level accounting courses, whether by design or by
default.
Professional School
A minimum of five years of education is required.
Humanities
Commission endorses recent calls for additional liberal arts requirements in the business and accounting
curricula, to serve as a strong foundation on which to build additional knowledge, skills, and values.
Increase emphasis on analytical and problem-solving skills, ethical values, and historical and cultural
awareness -- all benefits of liberal arts studies and useful groundwork for future participants in the
financial reporting process. Expanding accounting curricula to deal with fraudulent financial reporting
should not be at the expense of the liberal arts component of business and accounting education.
Langenderfer, Harold Q. (1987) Accounting Education's History - A 100-Year
Search for Identity, Journal of Accountancy
Conceptual
Central issues in accounting education history include:
1) The appropriate institutional structure for the delivery of formal accounting education,
2) The proper balance of liberal, business and accounting education,
3) The extent to which a professional culture should be integrated into the accounting curriculum.
4) The desirability of integrating the educational goals of all professional accountants.
Leaders have thirsted for one of the trappings of a true profession, professional schools, since the formal
beginnings of accounting education 100 years ago. Efforts to launch a professional school in 1892 were
not sustainable, but led to the first state laws to establish the professional designation of CPA.
Langenderfer quotes the Cohen Commission -- "The purpose of the academic branch of the profession is
not only to educate new members but also to provide an environment in which the problems of the
profession can be studied without interference from the concerns of day-to-day practice.
The academic community had failed to provide intellectual leadership and criticism that might have
stimulated corrective actions by the profession.
New entrants to the profession lacked a professional identity that required a highly developed sense of
dedication to a professional ideal, responsibility to users of financial statements, and loyalty to the
profession as a whole.
Could improve the educational process by having graduate schools of accounting similar to law schools."
Practical
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The 1976 AAA/AICPA split over accreditation of schools of accountancy involved concerns that the
AICPA leaned towards professional programs only for those students entering public accounting.
Factors that have kept accounting education from achieving the same status in society as other professions
include:
Fortuitous events: The American Bar Association and medical professions held out for separate
professional schools from the beginning;
Role of professional organizations: divergence of interests led to fragmentation;
Role of accounting educators: Educators have been more opposed to professional schools than
practitioners. There is no requirement that accounting faculty have significant practical experience. We
need to change the faculty reward system in order to change the way accounting faculty members view
the world;
Public support for professional education; Other professions have marshaled public support more
effectively, perhaps because the activities of the professions are better understood by the public.
Professional School
Rise of MBA programs in the 1970s shifted business school influence away from accounting faculties and
toward general business school faculty. Accounting faculties were forced to meet the research and writing
standards set by the general business faculties for promotion and tenure. This led to more isolation of
research-oriented faculty members from real-world problems and less contact with professional
accountants.
The Board on Standards for Programs and Schools of Professional Accounting (Herbert Miller,
chairman) in 1977 identified the essential conditions of an effective academic environment:
1) High academic standards and appropriate teaching methods,
2) Separate identity for the professional academic program,
3) Sufficient degree of autonomy to ensure program excellence.
Humanities
Auditors require technical skills in addition to those required for proper accounting. Auditors must be
conversant with the principles of logic, they must be adept at gathering information, and they must be
shrewd evaluators of risk. Acquiring these skills requires a broad educational experience.
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McGee, Robert W. (1987) A Model Program for Schools of Accountancy, A
Model Program for Schools of Accountancy
Conceptual
1) Take accounting education out of the hands of business educators and place it into the custody of the
accounting profession where it belongs.
2) Withdraw support from the AACSB.
3) Eliminate the PhD Requirement. Going through the traditional PhD program does not make the
accounting educator either a better educator or a better accountant.
By its very nature quality is impossible to measure. What is viewed as interdisciplinary by some would be
viewed as watered down by others.
Practical
4) The publication requirement should be eliminated. Writing esoteric articles does not make an
accounting educator either a better classroom teacher or a better practitioner, although it may be one way
of documenting subject matter knowledge.
6) Graduate school of professional accountancy should offer delivery formats that meet the needs of their
students.
Professional School
5) The curriculum in a graduate school of professional accountancy should consist of courses covering
topics that will enable accountants to better perform their jobs. No graduate accounting student should be
required to take non-accounting related courses such as calculus, marketing or macroeconomics just to
fulfill some arbitrary common body of knowledge requirement. Such courses have little relevance to an
accounting practitioner, and have probably been taken at the undergraduate level anyway.
Humanities
Increases in educational requirements may exacerbate the current trend toward declining enrollments. In
the free market of academic major selection, students will have to be convinced that the additional
investment is worthwhile. Significant increases in tuition or time must be offset by stimulating curriculum
and the expectation of increased opportunities upon graduation. Efforts to increase educational
requirements must also be consistent with the objective of maximizing opportunities for minorities in the
profession.
Treadway Commission (1987) Report of the National Commission on
Fraudulent Financial Reporting, The "Treadway Report"
Conceptual
Participants in the financial reporting system should be exposed to the knowledge, the skills, and the
ethical values that potentially may help them prevent, detect, and deter it. Rigorous and thorough
academic preparation will help face the challenge. Limiting students' exposure to the problems of
fraudulent financial reporting to a single course on ethics is simply not enough. Students should be
exposed to the problem of fraudulent financial reporting, including its causes, its widespread impact, and
practical cost-effective responses to it.
Practical
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The independent public accountant's responsibility and accountability to the public requires a broad
exposure to ethics. Business schools should include ethics discussions in every accounting course.
Encouraging faculty to develop improved classroom materials and their own personal competence will
require additional incentives in business school faculty reward systems.
Professional School
Treadway Commission defers to professional groups on the question of the fifth year of education. They
note that the significant explosion of information related to accounting, systems, and related fields may
require more time in course work; entry-level work requires more competence and therefore more
educational preparation; developing ethical inquiry, analytical reasoning, sound judgment, and problemsolving skills require more time to develop than simpler cognitive skills like memorization; and a
comparable accounting degree to the MBA may become more necessary for advancement as a corporate
accountant and as an independent public accountant.
Humanities
Practitioners must be able to present and defend their views through formal and informal, written and
oral, presentation. They must be able to do so at a peer level with business executives. Increasing amount
of information must be gathered from outside sources. Practitioners must be able to listen effectively to
gain information and understand opposing points of view. They will need the ability to locate, obtain, and
organize information. Inductive thought processes and capabilities for judgment must be developed. Need
to identify ethical issues and apply a value-based reasoning system to ethical questions. General
knowledge includes an understanding of the flow of events in history and the different cultures in today's
world, a sense of the breadth of ideas, issues, and contrasting economic, political and social forces in the
world, and experience in making value judgments. The general education component of university
education should support the development of these factors and should leave the student excited about, and
prepared for, lifelong learning.
Wyer, Jean C. (1987) Fraudulent Financial Reporting: The Potential for
Educational Impact, Appendix B, the "Treadway Report"
Conceptual
Being able to record a transaction correctly often has two components. The first is an understanding of the
mechanics of the accounting model, the attendant disclosure requirements, and the operations of the
specific accounting systems generating the financial statements. The second, which is much harder to
teach, is the ability to work above a simple programmed level in the application of concepts to anomalous
data. A procedural approach concentrating on individual problems may not be sufficient for facing the
challenges of the real world. Accordingly, there should be more emphasis on cognitive and conceptual
issues in accounting education.
Practical
Faculty must be exposed to fraudulent financial reporting and ethical reasoning in PhD and post-doctoral
training. Faculty cannot be expected to teach what they have not learned.
Humanities
Futures committee recommendation 3 calls for expanding the coverage of liberal arts and sciences.
Recommendation 2 calls for broad general education, avoiding premature specialization.
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1988
Stark , Joan A. and Malcolm S. Lowther (1988). Strengthening the Ties that
Bind
Joan Stark criticizes the "separate but equal" view of liberal arts and professional education present on
many campuses. She rejects "timeframe tinkering," that is, using distribution requirements to increase the
liberal arts component of professional education.
1989
"Big Eight" Managing Partners (1989) Perspectives on Education: Capabilities
for Success in the Accounting Profession, "White Paper"
Conceptual
Basing pre-entry education on capabilities will mean fundamental changes in the curriculum. The current
textbook based, rule-intensive, lecture/problem style should not survive as the primary means of
presentation. New methods, both those used in other disciplines and those that are totally new to
university education, must be explored. Some of the alternatives for student involvement include
seminars, simulations, extended written assignments and case analyses. Creative use of information
technology will be essential.
---The use of new teaching methods will be a message in itself. Students learn by doing throughout their
education much more effectively than they learn from experiencing an isolated course. The skills and
knowledge comprising the needed capabilities must be integrated throughout the curriculum. For
example, if students are to learn to write well, written assignments must be an important, accepted and
natural part of most or all courses. To relegate writing to a single course implies to students that the skill
will not be useful throughout their careers and does not require continuing attention. The capabilities must
be reinforced throughout the curricular experience.
---Teaching methods must also provide opportunities for students to experience the kinds of work patterns
that they will encounter in the public accounting profession. As most practice requires working in groups,
the curriculum should encourage the use of a team approach.
-----The development of an efficient curriculum requires attention to integration. Re-engineering the
curriculum should include a careful evaluation of topical coverage in all subjects. Emphasis should be
placed not only on the presentation of relevant material, but also on the compounding of learning by
appropriate combination across course and departmental lines. When knowledge and skills learned early
in a university experience are expanded on in work at a later stage, the student's experience is reinforced
and enriched.
Practical
A vital, knowledgeable, creative professoriate is an essential part of the educational process. Most
accounting faculty base their course content on information gained through secondary sources—usually
textbooks and sometimes standards. They frequently lack other significant, continuing sources of
information about the realities of the practice environment. The challenge for the public accounting
profession is to assist in developing new ways to maintain a knowledgeable, practice-oriented faculty.
Accounting is a particularly difficult profession in which to maintain a high level of understanding of
practice because neither of the two common ways of gaining information about practice is available to
accounting faculty. Some professions (for example, most health-related fields) use clinical model, where
The Development of Accounting Education
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faculty are simultaneously practitioners and teachers. Often these faculty treat the most difficult cases or
circumstances and thus are not only current in the profession but are also at the "cutting edge" of practice
development. At this time, very few accounting faculty are actively involved in practice. In some
professions, much of practice is a matter of public record available to faculty for study and analysis. Law
professors may go to their library to find many examples of current practice methods and results. The
confidentiality provision for accountants prevents faculty from having access to a robust continuing
source of information about the evolution of practice.
The Big 8 firms recommended:
1. A "coordinating committee" should be set up to guide the educational change process. All
significant stakeholders should be included, including but not limited to "the AICPA, AAA,
AACSB, National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA), Financial Executives
Institute (FEI), National Association of Accountants (NAA) [now the Institute of Management
Accountants (IMA)] and the major firms."
2. The Big 8 should provide "leadership, guidance, and financial resources" to the coordinating
committee. To this end, the firms made a "five-year commitment of up to $4 million to support
the development of stimulating and relevant curricula."
Professional School
The nonclinical, confidential nature of accounting creates a faculty that designs and executes pre-entry
professional education without direct knowledge of current practice. Where other professions enjoy much
interaction with their teaching faculty, accounting has a persistent "schism" problem. The classroom
experience is diminished by the distance between pedagogical content and practice reality. Academics
and practitioners would benefit from the stimulation and challenge that come from a meaningful
association. There is no model for increasing interaction between academics and practitioners in a
nonclinical, confidential profession. Current efforts to integrate academicians in the practice include
seminars, internships and joint conferences. While these efforts are commendable, a much greater level of
activity must be achieved. Innovative methods to increase interaction between the practitioners and the
professoriate must be created.
Humanities
Ethics discussions in accounting courses should build on the strong liberal arts background, including
philosophy and ethical reasoning, that is essential for accounting students' educational and professional
development. Big 8 managing partners would like to see all students take at least one philosophy-based
ethics course, either in a philosophy department or within the accounting or business school.
Follow-Up Committee II (1989) Report of the Follow-up Committee on the
Future Structure, Content, and Scope of Accounting Education, 1987-88,
Reorienting Accounting Education: Reports on the Environment, Professoriate,
and Curriculum of Accounting
Practical
AICPA Council favored five-year requirement in 1969 - membership did not vote to endorse it until 1988,
and then only with a post-2000 effective date. The Change committee recommended disassociation of the
CPA exam from university education. The Big Eight senior partners stated "passing the CPA examination
should not be the goal of accounting education. The focus should be on developing analytical and
conceptual thinking -- versus memorizing rapidly expanding professional standards."(Perspectives on
Education 1989)
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Professional School
Futures committee report calls for graduate accounting education. Recommendation 9 calls for
specialized education only at the graduate level, and the total time for accounting education to be at least
five years. Follow-up Committee II recommended that the AAA Executive Committee should strongly
and enthusiastically endorse a post-baccalaureate program for entry into the accounting profession.
Specialization should be deferred and taught only at the graduate level.
Langenderfer, Harold Q. and Joanne W. Rockness (1989) Integrating Ethics
into the Accounting Curriculum: Issues, Problems, and Solutions, Issues in
Accounting Education
Conceptual
Bedford Committee recommended that "accounting education must not only emphasize the needed skills
and knowledge, it must also instill the ethical standards and the commitment of a professional". The
urgency of current ethics issues may precipitate much needed additions to the accounting curriculum.
The general approach to teaching ethics in accounting has emphasized conformance to regulations rather
than the underlying ethical issues and ethical behavior.
Practical
The real question is whether societies' ethical expectations for professionals are higher than its ethical
expectations for the average individual. 1988 Touche Ross survey ranked accountants as the second most
ethical profession overall; the clergy was ranked first
Professional School
Professional education, unlike trade-school training, must include philosophical reasoning and ethical
decision-making. Accounting academics must assume responsibility for providing a solid professional
education for their students. Ethical reasoning, communications, and analytical decision-making are
integral parts of professional education that must be included in the accounting curriculum.
Sprouse. Robert T. (1989) The Synergism of Accountancy and Accounting
Education., Accounting Horizons
Conceptual
Quoted Chief Justice Burger's 1983 opinion: "by certifying the public reports that collectively depict a
corporation's financial status, the independent auditor assumes a public responsibility transcending any
employment relationship with the client. The independent public accountant performing this special
function owes ultimate allegiance to the corporation's creditors and stockholders, as well as to the
investing public. This 'public watchdog' function demands that the accountant maintain total
independence from the client at all times and requires complete fidelity to the public trust."
Educational preparation for a career in accountancy should strive to provide a foundation for identifying,
analyzing, and resolving accounting issues -- a foundation that will endure throughout a student's
professional career.
Practical
Question whether the salaries necessary to attract students with five or six years of higher education are
justified by the type of work the students are expected to do during the early years of their employment.
That has been a particular problem for public accounting firms. The worst possible scenario would be for
the wheat to disappear and only the chaff to remain.
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Professional School
If cost considerations were set aside, the best educational foundation for the practice of accounting is a
four-year liberal arts education followed by two years of graduate work with an emphasis in accounting.
It is not realistic to set aside cost considerations. Additional years of education could require additional
$50,000 - $100,000 investment, which would require a substantial salary differential to recover.
Sprouse believes that the establishment of a separate school of accounting is more likely to be based on
administrative considerations than educational objectives. The ability to create new courses and make
other changes in the curriculum, the ability to establish unique criteria for appointments and promotions,
and the ability to raise and retain funds from outside sources. Those are important features of separate
medical and law schools, but four years of general education is required for admission to those schools
and the graduate work is essentially limited to medicine and law.
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Zeff, Stephen A. (1989) Does Accounting Belong in the University Curriculum?,
Issues in Accounting Education
Conceptual
Accounting is not presented as an interesting subject that figures importantly in the calculations of
managers, creditors, investors, and government policy makers, but instead as a collection of rules that are
to be memorized in an uncritical, almost unthinking way. Alternatives are not considered or discussed.
If we were to explain the historical origins of present-day accounting practice, our students would be in a
much better position to determine whether inherited practice continues to meet the requirements of
contemporary society.
Standards are presented without drawing attention to inconsistencies or contradictions.
A curriculum that dwells on current practice, without instilling a critical faculty, is more suited to the
preparation of technicians than professionals.
Practical
Textbook authors and educators have abdicated our leadership position to the standard setters. We present
what the standard setters have decided is proper practice, not what we think students should know about
our field.
Through our unquestioning acceptance of the solutions embodied in final pronouncements as the
constituted body of thought and practice to be taught in our courses, we have succeeded in converting the
educational process into an indoctrination in officially prescribed accounting.
Humanities
What is needed is efficient usage of the accounting hours and their thoughtful integration with some key
concepts from courses in liberal arts.
1990
Accounting Education Change Commission (1990) Objectives of Education for
Accountants: Position Statement Number One, Issues in Accounting Education
Conceptual
AECC defines accounting to include public, corporate, and government / nonprofit accounting.
Accounting programs should prepare students to become professional accountants.
Need the foundation on which lifelong learning can be built.
Need skills (communication, intellectual, interpersonal), knowledge (general, organizational and business,
accounting), and professional orientation.
A focus on memorization of rules and regulation is contrary to the goal of learning to learn.
Understanding the process of inquiry in an unstructured environment is an important part of learning to
learn.
Practical
Accounting classes should not focus only on accounting knowledge. Teaching methods that expand and
reinforce basic communication, intellectual, and interpersonal skills should be used. Faculty must be
trained to apply appropriate instructional methods. Doctoral programs should therefore give more
attention to teaching methods. Faculty rewards systems should be re-evaluated.
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Alford, R. Mark, Jerry R. Strawser and Robert H. Strawser (1990) Does
Graduate Education Improve Success in Public Accounting?
Conceptual
Empirical study of partner promotion data from most of the Big Eight public accounting firms. Over the
ten years 1978 – 1987, the proportion of new partners with graduate degrees increased on average. Over
all the firms, 44.7% of the newly promoted partners had graduate degrees, while the proportion of all new
hires in public accounting possessing master’s degrees ranged from 12% to 25%. There are differences in
the proportion of graduate degree partners among service areas:
1) Consulting / management services (65.4%)
2) Tax (57.0%)
3) “Other” (39.4%)
4) Audit (29.9%)
It is possible that the nature of the service area may relate to the benefits provided by a graduate degree in
the areas. A graduate degree may actually provide more benefits to individuals practicing in consulting or
tax than in the audit area. Many CPA firms are willing to hire individuals in the audit area with only
undergraduate degrees, but look for more classroom training for new hires for other service areas.
Post-baccalaureate education appears to enhance the probability that an individual will achieve success in
public accounting. The percentage of partners having graduate degrees may continue to increase in the
future.
Bricker, Robert James and Gary John Previts (1990) The Sociology of
Accountancy: A Study of Academic and Practice Community Schisms
Conceptual
Schisms exist between practice and academic accounting communities. The 1979 AAA Schism
Committee found that professional faculty credentials, research, and communication of research findings,
are less practice oriented. This change in the academic accounting environment is attributed to:
1) Growth in numbers of students seeking accountancy degrees during the 1950s and 1960s.
2) Increased proportion of faculty holding both full-time appointments and a research doctorate.
3) Added demand for more highly educated practicing public accountants.
The AICPA Mission Statement in 1986 established a clear responsibility of an accounting professional to
serve the public interest. Important to cooperate to reduce visibly self-interested actions and to serve the
interests of society.
The schism is characterized by a diminished sense of communication and fundamental differences in
interests between academics and practitioners. Langenderfer argued that the Pierson Report and the
Gordon and Howell Report had the long-term effect of forcing accounting academics to emulate the
research methods of general faculty who were not associated with a specific profession.
Professional School
In medicine and law, the entry level academic degree and the entry level practice degree are professional
doctorates earned at a professional school. The MD and JD provide identity to practitioners as physicians
and lawyers. These degrees are also the expected terminal academic degree in the discipline. This
common educational background provides a basis for establishing common views and values,
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socialization in the community, and opportunity for collegiality and communication.
Campbell, Terry L., James R. Hasselback, Roger H. Hermanson, and Deborah H.
Turner (1990) Retirement Demand and the Market for Accounting
Doctorates, Issues in Accounting Education
Conceptual
Accounting education needs to remove the faculty disincentives connected with doctoral education -substantial opportunity cost, salary compression
Practical
About 200 faculty with PhDs can be expected to retire every two years in the 2000s, with approximately
145 new PhDs expected to be produced every year.
Growth demand incorporates needs due to increased enrollments, lower teaching loads, new degree
programs, longer academic programs. Replacement demand incorporates retirements, deaths, net
transfers.
Kinney, William R. (1990) Some Reflections on a Professional Education: It
Should Have Been More Positive, Issues in Accounting Education
Conceptual
Undergraduate accounting courses taught him how to "be" an accountant, but little about accounting.
Accounting was taught as a measurement discipline. Accounting and attestation are social phenomena.
Accounting arises because of people. It affects people and is affected by people. There are also preparers,
users, attestors, regulators, and other outsiders, and there are contracts, conflicts of interest and markets
between and among them.
Practical
Rather than learning a large proportion of the codified rules, students need an appreciation of the
dynamics of accounting as a facilitator of contracts, and as a source of information about the firm.
Understanding the process is more important than understanding the particular accounting issue being
debated at any one time or knowing the exact rule that results.
Patten, Ronald J. and Doyle Z. Williams (1990) There's Trouble -- Right Here in
Our Accounting Programs: The Challenge to Accounting Educators, Issues in
Accounting Education
Conceptual
We still teach accounting as if it is and will continue to be practiced in hierarchical, bureaucratic
organizations
Practical
Faculty reward systems are barriers to change. We need to correct the message that teaching is
unimportant to career success. New faculty members are indoctrinated to believe that educational research
and program development activities are to be avoided at all costs.
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Professional School
Need an interdisciplinary scope. We need to change delivery systems. Success should not be measured by
success on the CPA exam. Curriculum should go much further to equip students to be good citizens and
have a firm understanding of business functions and objectives.
Poe, C. Douglas and Ralph E. Viator (1990) AACSB Accounting Accreditation
and Administrators' Attitudes Toward Criteria for the Evaluation of Faculty,
Issues in Accounting Education
Conceptual
Survey results indicate that administrators associated with separately accredited accounting programs
place more emphasis on research and less on teaching than do administrators associated with accounting
programs without such accreditation. Within colleges with separately accredited accounting programs,
deans place less emphasis on teaching than do accounting department heads.
1991
Diamond, Michael (1991) Schools of Accounting, Journal of Accountancy
Conceptual
Because schools of accounting are separate academic units and thus have control over their curriculums,
the schools can restructure their accounting programs quickly to keep pace with the changing needs of the
marketplace. In addition, they can significantly influence tenure and promotion policies to get the faculty
they want. Schools of accounting can help firms deliver more, higher-quality services by supplying
high-quality professional staff with the skills, abilities and knowledge to keep pace with the new
dimensions of business on national and international levels.
Practical
Professional schools of accounting have proven to be effective vehicles for recruiting the best and the
brightest students. They attract top-notch faculty with significant practical experience who like the
professional school environment.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 95
Elam, Rick (1991) The Accounting Graduate of the Future, Journal of
Accountancy
Conceptual
Accounting educators need to study carefully the demographics of their regions. Higher education
institutions are overrepresented in the areas of the deepest population declines -- the Northeast and the
Midwest. Accounting programs may need new and creative ways to attract enough good students to
justify their existence
Practical
An ever-growing percentage of the population is likely to start at junior colleges. Unfortunately, these
students are much more likely than university students to drop out short of a degree; those who do
complete baccalaureate degrees will take longer than four years.
Professional School
Because top students usually seek the best education available, the more elite public and private
institutions are receiving greater numbers of applicants than ever before. Applications to law and medical
schools remain high through good and bad economic times and ups and downs in the college-age
population
Johnson, H. Thomas and Robert S. Kaplan (1991) Relevance Lost
Conceptual
Contemporary trends in competition, in technology, and in management demand major changes in the
way organizations measure and manage costs and in the way they measure short- and long-term
performance. Failure to make the modifications will inhibit the ability of firms to be effective and
efficient global competitors.
Practical
By 1980 we had arrived at an unfortunate situation. Researchers in universities were busy developing
highly sophisticated models for management accounting in simplified, stylized production settings. The
research was neither motivated by actual organizational phenomena nor tested nor even testable on the
data from contemporary organizations. Practicing management accountants were not writing about either
the problems or the innovations in their organizations. Actual management accounting systems provided
few benefits to organizations, in some instances actually encouraging bad decisions.
Previts, Gary John (1991) Accounting Education: The Next Horizon, Journal of
Accountancy
Conceptual
Adding professional ethics to the accounting curriculum will emphasize that ethics are as important as
professional competency. Lawyers are educated in their responsibility to serve as advocates of their
clients' rights; physicians are taught the Hippocratic oath's provisions to place their patients' well-being
above all else. Ethics emphasis in the accounting curriculum has been secondary to the functionaltechnical focus on competency as measured by the CPA exam. Being made aware of the profession's
developments should provide students with an incentive to adapt to the times as well as to continue
learning both professionally and personally.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 96
Practical
For pervasive reforms in accounting education to be administered, a permanent agency with access to
broad public support and resources at a national level, along the lines of the National Science Foundation,
the National Institutes of Health or some other body is needed.
Professional School
"If you think the cost of education is high, consider the costs of incompetence!"
Humanities
If the motivation for the 150-hour program was to broaden the academic foundation of students entering
the profession, one must question whether or not this is being accomplished. Even in the MBA programs
with a concentration in accounting, it is not apparent that the required non-accounting business courses
meet the "broad-based" expectations of the profession.
Reigle, Dennis and John Meinert (1991) Attracting the Best Candidates,
Journal of Accountancy
Conceptual
Entry-level requirements will become higher and CPAs will be expected to be productive sooner. Less
lower-level-work will be performed as technology has an increasing impact. More flexibility is being
demanded by CPAs and will evolve in careers and life styles. As industry becomes more globalized,
international experience will be demanded and highly compensated.
Practical
The profession must be perceived as attractive to be seriously considered by the best students. Whether
the issue is salary/compensation, status, or more excitement and advancement opportunities in other
fields, it is clear the profession is not totally effective in communicating its salient features to the
professionals of tomorrow.
Humanities
Broader emphasis is needed on general education, and business and organizational knowledge.
Introductory accounting should be focused on the role of accounting in society and organizations.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 97
1992
Strait, A. Marvin and Ivan Bull (1992) Do Academic Traditions Undermine
Teaching?, Journal of Accountancy
Conceptual
Higher education is not the only cause of problems in attracting highly qualified students. Compensation,
career opportunities, characteristics of the work environment. The public believes that the mission of
higher education is to educate students, yet that is not what our educational system rewards.
Practical
The standards of performance for the members of the accounting faculty need to be reasonably consistent
with performance standards for faculty members in the areas of finance, marketing, strategy and so on if
accounting is to maintain its relative stature in the university system. Leading journals value rigor of the
research over relevance of the subject matter to accountants in CPA firms or businesses. Such journals
tend to be filled with papers that extend findings from prior research but that make only marginal
contributions to the broad field of accounting.
1993
Schmidt, Richard J. (1993) Accounting Curriculum Responses to the 150-Hour
Requirement, Journal of Accounting Education
Conceptual
Review of graduate business administration and accounting programs of colleges and universities with
150-hour requirement.
Practical
30 semester hour or more accounting graduate programs in place focus extensively on accounting
courses. 62% of masters in accountancy programs require more than 60% of their graduate courses to be
in accounting. MBA courses with accounting concentration only require 40% or less of the graduate
courses to be in accounting.
State licensing trends appear to require undergraduate and graduate concentrations in accounting to sit for
the CPA exam.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 98
Williams, Doyle Z. (1993) Reforming Accounting Education, Journal of
Accountancy
Conceptual
Accountants must develop speaking and listening skills, historical consciousness, international and multicultural knowledge, appreciation of science and the study of values and their roles in decision making,
including the ability to resolve ethical dilemmas. They must understand business and their work
environment.
Practical
Students typically misperceive accounting as orderly, structured and precise, with problems having only
one right answer. In the real world, accountants apply judgment, address ethical dilemmas and deal with
"messy" or incomplete data. Problems in practice often are unstructured and require making assumptions
and estimates.
1995
Francis et al. (1995) Intentional Learning: A Process for Learning to Learn in
the Accounting Curriculum, monograph sponsored by the Accounting
Education Change Commission.
The monograph defines learning to learn as "a process of acquiring, understanding, and using a
variety of strategies to improve one's ability to attain and apply knowledge, a process which results from,
leads to, and enhances a questioning spirit and a lifelong desire to learn". It helps faculty understand some
of the characteristics that affect student learning and how they can use teaching strategies to help students
become intentional learners.
1999
Sundem, Gary (1999) The Accounting Education Change Commission: Its
History and Impact
See the AECC section of this document for selected observations extracted from the Sundem history of
the AECC
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 99
2000
Albrecht, W. Steve and Robert J. Sack (2000) Accounting Education: Charting
the Course through a Perilous Future, Accounting Education Series, Volume 16
Conceptual
Change drivers (technology, globalization, concentration of market power in large pension and mutual
funds) affecting business have eliminated the old model that assumed information is expensive, and have
dramatically increased the level of competition among organizations. Robert Elliott's value chain diagram
progresses from business events to data to information to knowledge to decisions. Activities early in the
chain are substantially less valuable than later-stage activities, but accounting education traditionally has
focused on the first two stages. Students need to know what cheap information means for the work they
will perform as professionals,. They need to know how technology is used to facilitate and drive business,
Technology has made business models and transactions more complex, has shortened product life cycles,
and has been the enabler for dynamic change in the business community. It has created a demand for
instant feedback and instant answers.
Practical
Capacity for educating accounting students hasn't changed much, but at the time of this study the supply
of accounting students had decreased dramatically. Other disciplines were taking opportunities away that
formerly had been filled by accounting students. Problems include course content (curricula are too
narrow and often outdated or irrelevant, driven by interest of faculty and not market demands, no
exposure to globalization, technology, and ethics), pedagogy (memorization and lack of creativity), skill
development (content is emphasized rather than skills), technology (teaching as though information is still
costly), faculty development and reward systems (isolated from business-school peers and business
professionals), lack of strategic direction. There is a substantial need to invest in faculty development to
drive curriculum change.
Professional School
Questions that need to be addressed in establishing curriculum and course content include:
1. Is what we are teaching and the level at which we are covering topics really important in the business
world today, or has technology, globalization, or increased competition dictated that we make substantive
changes to our curriculum?
2. Are we teaching important concepts in the most efficient and effective way (using the most effective
pedagogy in our teaching?
3. Are we partnering sufficiently with related and / or needed courses in other disciplines? Is there an
opportunity to eliminate silos in our schools?
Albrecht and Sack appear opposed to a separate professional school of accountancy, but that opposition
must be considered in the context in which their study was written -- accounting enrollments were
declining, the top students were entering other disciplines, and the accounting firms were attempting to
become broad-based professional consulting firms. The changes in the profession after 2000, including
Sarbanes-Oxley and a renewed focus on the importance of the attest function, were not anticipated in
Albrecht and Sack's view of the future.
Lux, Daniel F. (2000), Accounting Educators’ Concerns about the AECC Position
and Issues Statement, Journal of Education for Business
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 100
Conceptual
Educating accounting students in the manner suggested by the AECC (focusing on “learning how to
learn”) requires that accounting educators change the way they view the curriculum, how the curriculum
is delivered, and how students learn. These changes are ambitious in that they require accounting
educators to think about teaching and learning in new and unfamiliar ways.
Practical
Survey research directed at accounting educators in 2-year and 4-year institutions. Used the Stages of
Concern Questionnaire, a standardized survey used to measure people’s concerns about innovation. The
survey separates concerns into seven stages: awareness, informational, personal (“how does it affect me”),
management (“how to do it”), consequence (“impact on students”), collaboration, and refocusing.
Survey results are consistent with inexperience with and uncertainty about the innovation. Demonstrated a
profile of groups that are “focused on themselves and their initial use of the innovation, rather than on
how the innovation may affect others”. It appears that the message of reform has not been adequately
conveyed to accounting educators. Many participants were familiar with the rhetoric of AECC reform, but
lacked the specifics of how to teach in a manner consistent with reform. Need workshops or conferences
on the specifics of active learning, including the use of discussion, writing activities, and group learning.
There are also opportunities to explore needs and concerns about collaborating with others.
2001
CPA Vision Project (2001)
Conceptual
CPAs will develop a deep understanding of the global, national, and marketplace environment and the
impact of forces on various types of organizations, including their own business. CPAs will align with
other areas of business practice and other professionals to provide value-added services in the
marketplace. CPAs will continuously expand their knowledge and competencies to meet a broader range
of market needs and enhance the role of the profession in the business world. Keeping abreast of
technology is critical to increased opportunities for CPAs to optimize performance and expand services.
Practical
A broader focus beyond “numbers” to “strategic thinking” will lead to increased opportunities,
professional respect, and increased rewards.
• Expanded knowledge, education, experience, and the seamless use of technology will create more
opportunities to provide value, communicate solutions, and enhance the attractiveness of the profession.
• Pre- and post-CPA education must be revitalized to meet the demands of the profession in the future.
Professional School
Non-accounting majors largely perceive that CPA educators have sufficient understanding of today’s
accounting profession but lack communication skills and a thorough understanding of the profession of
tomorrow, beyond the traditional realm of the CPA.
CPAs find that traditional education and training for the designation lack the breadth of knowledge and
skills required in the workplace, necessitating changes in both pre- and post-CPA examination education.
CPAs working in education will accelerate change in faculty development, revitalize curriculum to meet
the Vision, expand recruiting efforts to focus on the profession of the future, and expand methods of
delivery including distance learning programs, virtual classrooms, and on-line courses.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 101
Shafer, William E. and J. Gregory Kunkel (2001) Are 150-Hour Accounting
Programs Meeting Their Intended Objectives?, Journal of Education for
Business
Conceptual
Results of survey indicated that, rather than developing integrated 5-year programs that provide a liberal
undergraduate education combined with graduate professional training, most universities have responded
to the requirement by simply making master's in accounting or master's in business administration
programs available to CPA exam candidates.
Practical
If the 150-hour requirement had been implemented as envisioned by its originators, its effect would have
been to reduce significantly the number of accounting hours required at the undergraduate level. This
does not appear to have happened. There is also no clear mandate for a graduate degree, so CPA exam
candidates tend to have more hours without earning graduate degrees. Market forces have decreased the
attractiveness of the public accounting profession, especially if the 150-hour requirement simply imposes
additional costs on aspiring CPAs, with questionable benefits.
The Development of Accounting Education
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2003
Burnett, Sharon (2003) The Future of Accounting Education: A Regional
Perspective, Journal of Education for Business
Conceptual
Albrecht and Sack study was criticized as having a "national school, Big 5" bias. Burnett article surveys
employers of regional university's graduates to ascertain which skills are important for new graduates and
which educational innovations are effective.
Practical
Top-rated professional skills were analytical / critical thinking, written communication, oral
communication, and decision-making. The top education innovation was internships. Results were similar
to Albrecht and Sacks findings and CPA Vision Project
Miller, Paul B.W. (2003) The Five-Year Program Debate Continues: An
Updated Analysis of the Supply of and Demand for Master’s Degrees in
Accounting
Conceptual
Based on data from AICPA studies, slight increases in the supply of, and demand for, masters degrees in
accounting has been accompanied by large decreases in the supply of, and demand for, bachelor’s
degrees. There is a large imbalance between supply and demand.
Russell, Keith A. and Carl S. Smith (2003) Accounting Education's Role in
Corporate Malfeasance: it's time for a new curriculum, Strategic Finance
Conceptual
College and university accounting programs have not significantly adapted their methods of instruction or
approach to accounting and management education over the last 50-60 years. Accounting firm employees
become highly paid prisoners of a mindset and a work environment that preclude efforts to engage and
nurture the dynamic creative and critical thinking necessary for a global marketplace.
Professional School
The passage of the 150-hour rule in accounting to sit for the CPA exam was intended to provide for a
broadened management education experience for accounting graduates. Instead, accounting programs
required even more accounting courses that enabled many of the accounting graduates to focus on
completing the CPA exam to the exclusion of information technology, ethics, finance, and related
management education courses.
Created the view among accounting graduates that their future success depended on continued adherence
to a textbook mentality of accounting similar to that required to pass the CPA exam. However, tax and
consulting functions require no state or federal licensing and are subject to market-based pressures from
non-CPA firms. Assurance services are viewed as a commodity by purchasers of services.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 103
Zeff, Stephen A. (2003) How the US Accounting Profession Got Where It Is
Today (parts I and II), Accounting Horizons
Conceptual
By 1980, a deterioration of professional values appears to have set in. Quotes AICPA Chairman William
E. Gregory "It is sad that we seem to have become a breed of highly skilled technicians and businessmen,
but have subordinated courtesy, mutual respect, self-restraint, and fairness for a quest for firm growth and
a preoccupation with the bottom line".
Practical
At the same time as audit partners were given perverse incentives against independence (by their own top
management), clients were becoming even more driven by their own set of perverse incentives: bonuses
based on earnings, and stock options with values linked to the price of the company's stock. To maximize
their mounting compensation, CEOs began to take every advantage of the subjective judgments implicit
in accounting choices, thus placing immense pressure on audit engagement partners -- themselves under
pressure to keep clients content -- to accede to accounting practices arguably beyond the realm of
acceptability.
2004
Billiot, Mary Jo, Sid Glandon and Randy McFerrin (2004) Factors Affecting the
Supply of Accounting Graduates
Conceptual
Analytical model of labor market that can show the impact of changing labor market conditions on the
market for new accounting graduates. National Center for Educational Statistics show Accounting
baccalaureate degrees declined from 20.5% of business degrees in 1994-95 to 12.3% of business degrees
in 2000-01. The Labor Market for accounting graduates has two sequential supply curves, one for
baccalaureate degrees and a subsequent one for master’s degrees. Cobweb model, including lagged
responses in supply. Recursive system.
Increased unemployment lowers the opportunity cost of attending college.
Implementation of the 150-hour requirement reduces the attractiveness of the accounting major relative to
other business majors such as finance or information systems.
Increases in accounting salaries have not kept pace with increases in credit analyst or programmer
salaries.
This article suggests that additional continuing professional education might be a preferable alternative to
the 150-hour requirement.
Frecka, Thomas J., Michael H. Morris, and Ranachandran Ramanan (2004)
Back to the Future: Implementing a Broad Economic, Inquiry-Based Approach
to Accounting Education, Journal of Education for Business
Conceptual
Proposes a framework that makes broad, economic contracting notions to supplement the traditional
decision-usefulness approach to accounting. The contracting perspective more explicitly considers the
incentives of all parties to the various contracts with the entity and the information environment in which
decisions are made.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 104
Practical
Stewardship and accountability notions have taken on increasing importance in the wake of accounting
scandals and are at the heart of regulatory controls such as Sarbanes Oxley. A contracting framework
facilitates the discussion of such accountability notions. The objective is to provide a fair system of
information flow between the accountor and accountee. Objectivity and verifiability are important
qualities.
Professional School
Contracting approach exposes students to a broad range of accounting topics and provides a stronger
conceptual linkage of general education, business education, and accounting education than does the
traditional decision-usefulness approach that focuses on only one entity, the user of accounting
information.
Wyatt, Arthur R. (2004) Accounting Professionalism – They Just Don’t Get It!
Just as greed appears to have been the driving force at many of the companies that have failed or had
significant restructurings, greed became a force to contend with in the accounting firms. In essence, the
cultures of the firms had gradually changed from a central emphasis on delivering professional services in
a professional manner to an emphasis on growing revenues and profitability. The historical focus of the
accounting firms was on quality service to clients in order to provide assurance to investors and creditors
on the fairness of clients’ financial statements. The credibility added to a client’s financial statements by
the clean audit opinion was the central reason for a CPA firm’s existence. This focus gave way to a focus
on an ever-expanding range of services offered to a client pool fighting to achieve the short-term earnings
per share growth expected of them in the marketplace.
The firms need to re-examine their policies on hiring non-accounting majors and experienced personnel.
There is a cost to the firm culture of introducing individuals who have no understanding of the
significance of accounting professionalism and the importance of ethical behavior. Firm-wide training in
the ethics area needs to focus on the underlying concepts and the overall philosophy and expectations
rather than on the “thou shalt nots” that are commonly emphasized.
Academics must continue to emphasize the conceptual underpinnings of accounting. We need to provide
students an understanding of the reasons why the FASB falls short of developing sound conceptual
standards. We need to emphasize the significant role in our society that financial reporting plays and the
significant roles of corporate accounting officials and their auditors. We need to make students aware of
the interpersonal challenges they may face in dealing with clients and even with internal firm policies. We
need to assure that our students’ overall educational program provides them with the tools they will need
to become effective practicing professionals.
Undergraduate students are probably at their peak of idealism when we deal with them. They need to
consider cases that deal with ethical issues, not to be given “the answer”, and not to be preached to about
proper conduct. Rather they need to debate the issues, and each student needs to be challenged to decide
how he or she would deal with the issue.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
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2005
Hunton, James E., Dan N. Stone, and Benson Wier (2005) Does Graduate
Business Education Contribute to Professional Accounting Success?
Conceptual
Archival research indicates that job performance evaluations of those who hold either a Master’s of
Accountancy degree (M.Acc.) or an MBA degree are generally higher than non-master’s degree
accountants. An M.Acc degree provides greater benefit than an MBA in the early and middle career
years, while an MBA degree provides greater career benefits in later years.
Waddock, Sandra (2005) Hollow Men and Women at the Helm . . . Hollow
Accounting Ethics?, Issues in Accounting Education
Conceptual
Because most management theory focuses predominantly on maximizing shareholder wealth, it considers
only some stakeholders and fails to educate managers and accounting professionals about all of the
consequences of their decisions, or about the full range of issues that rightly need to be embedded in
accounting statements. Business educators must focus on integrity at the individual, company, and
societal levels -- and they need to work toward an attendant transformation in the curriculum that covers
business in society, not just business in economy. Accounting is fundamentally an ethical, rather than a
technical, discourse. Accountants have positions that are inherently value laden and imbued with ethical
responsibilities. Their decisions affect other people, organizations, communities and the natural
environment; they affect the ways a company is viewed and they must be based on an essential
foundation of trust.
Practical
Courses on ethics, corporate responsibility, business/public policy, stakeholder relationships, and other
"soft" subjects are typically given short shrift in favor of applied analytical tools and techniques,
conceptual models, and measures of profitability, which are all rooted in the mythology of positive
economic science. Faculty members are inhibited from change because of a tight focus on disciplines
and because they do not understand the need for change. Problems come from narrow disciplinary
orientations, pressures to publish in respected peer-reviewed journals, and limited rewards for integrative
work. We should put corporate responsibility at the core of business and accounting education.
Professional School
A radical curriculum for business in society would include
1) a sense of balance,
2)integration of body, mind, and heart,
3) Holistic understanding,
4) respect for diversity,
5) A grasp of complex change.
Necessary skills for integrity and integrated thinking include: -individual and institutional integrity, systems thinking and systems dynamics, as well as synthetic and integrative thinking, - initiation, risktaking, and creativity, - the importance of self-efficacy, voice, and confidence, -the ability to speak one's
mind while being sensitive to the perspectives of others, -the ability to reflect on the implications of
actions, decisions, attitudes, and behaviors, - the ability to understand the consequences of actions and,
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 106
when needed, to take corrective action or change course, - ecological awareness. Today's accountants
must be able to make decisions based on principles and relationships; they must be prepared to question
the system. To qualify as "professional" they must assume responsibility for the welfare of others, not
just themselves.
2006
Arens, Alvin A. and Randal J. Elder (2006) Perspectives on Auditing Education
after Sarbanes-Oxley
Conceptual
SOX has several implications for auditing education. Students must have a better understanding of
business and audit risks. Also need enhanced forensic accounting skills. Need to be able to understand
and document controls, especially corporate governance and other top-level management controls. Must
be able to link risk and control assessments to specific assertions and testing decisions. Important to
understand implications of the changed regulatory and audit standard-setting environment.
Practical
The auditing profession is demanding more accounting graduates and more highly-skilled graduates, two
objectives which may conflict. Key issues confronting audit education include the 150-hour requirement,
the number of required auditing courses and coverage of accounting information systems, as well as a
shortage of qualified faculty. Arens and Elder believe increasing business and accounting complexity
make additional education, including additional auditing education, a necessity.
Humanities
Managers must be able to understand and manage business risks, while auditors must be able to identify
business risks and their implications. Accounting students need a greater appreciation of courses other
than those in accounting to fully understand business risks. Enron, WorldCom, and HealthSouth are not
accounting frauds, but business frauds rooted in the risk inherent in the client’s business model.
Cohen, Jeffrey R. and Lori L. Holder-Webb (2006) Rethinking the Influence of
Agency Theory in the Accounting Academy, Issues in Accounting Education
Conceptual
Discusses how accounting has freely borrowed methodology from the physical sciences and how this
importation has led to the adoption of excessively simplified economic theories. Consider the selffulfilling attribute of social science theories and how this attribute has led to formulations of behavioral
models, instantiation of the models in the business environment, and eventual conformity of manager
behavior to the underlying assumptions. Agency theory may have led the accounting education system to
unwittingly introduce and then normalize narrowly self-interested behavior. When the accounting
academy produces employees who are adept at learning rules, it is no surprise that they focus on monetary
incentives and disregard the societal implications of their work
Practical
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 107
Academic focus on modeling ("physics envy") has resulted in an emphasis on abstract economic and
statistical analysis that is effectively divorced from the real world of business. Highly simplistic models
dismiss the issues of social context and social dynamics, treating the organizational and social context of
decision making as irrelevant. Since most business decisions rely on judgment, over-quantifying can lead
to ignoring many qualitative factors.
Professional School
A serious consideration of multiple stakeholders is essential for accounting students if these students are
going to give more than lip service to a public interest perspective. Students can go beyond focusing
exclusively on maximizing shareholder wealth and instead complement that analysis by looking at the
stewardship role of managers. Enlightened self-interest could be used to motivate individuals to act with a
greater awareness of ethics and moral issues -- even if it means forfeiting short-run profitability.
Dosch, Robert J. and Jacob R. Wambsganss (2006) The Blame Game:
Accounting Education Is Not Alone, Journal of Education for Business
Conceptual
The business environment and management practice are the primary causes of ethical failure. Even if
accounting education perfectly provides a requisite ethics background, management practice dominates
educational preparation.
Practical
Accounting classes do not teach and encourage students to commit fraud, do not provide incentives for
future accounting professionals to commit fraud, and do not teach rationalizations for unethical behavior.
Making students aware of potential scenarios is not equivalent to teaching them to commit fraudulent or
unethical acts.
Professional School
Recommended 60 to 90 semester hours of course work in the humanities and human relations, social
sciences, and natural sciences and mathematics.
Marshall, P. Douglas, Robert F. Dombrowski, and R. Michael Garner (2006) An
Examination of Alternative Sources of Doctoral Accounting Faculty, Journal of
Education for Business
Conceptual
Study of self-rating by accounting faculty with non-accounting doctorates and accounting faculty with
accounting doctorates, regarding how successful they believe they are in 20 abilities typically associated
with accounting educators. Attempted to measure how successful faculty members are in transitioning
from one discipline to another. Little difference was noted.
Professional School
50 to 55% of the undergraduate program should be in non-business subjects (sciences, social sciences,
and humanities).
2007
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 108
Fogarty, Timothy J. and Garen Markarian (2007) An Empirical Assessment of
the Rise and Fall of Accounting as an Academic Discipline
Conceptual
Empirical analysis of the number and distribution of accounting faculty over a 20-year period. Results
suggest that academic accountancy is now in decline. Full professors and associate professors increased
from 1982 to 2002, but assistant professor numbers declined by one third. Non-tenure-track faculty
increased 30% at doctoral schools and declined 42% at non-doctoral schools. Doctoral students are
increasingly being produced by lower-prestige schools.
What has happened to accounting faculty numbers is not happening everywhere in the business school.
Heck, Jean L. and Robert E. Jensen (2007) An Analysis of the Evolution of
Research Contributions by The Accounting Review, 1926-2005
Conceptual
While professions like medicine, finance, and economics have benefited from seminal ideas first
published in the academic literature, it is difficult to trace innovations in accounting practice to research
published in scholarly journals. Most innovations in the profession can ultimately be traced back to the
accounting industry rather than academe.
Because advancement of faculty at top schools required publishing in the top-tier journals, it became
imperative over the past three decades for doctoral programs and their graduates to focus more narrowly
on accountics as preferred by The Accounting Review and other top-tier research journals. (Accountics is
the mathematical science of values).
Today, doctoral candidates in accountancy must have skills in mathematics, statistics, and scientific
model-building areas such as econometrics, psychometrics, and sociometrics. This emphasis has
discouraged many young practicing accountants from returning to campus to obtain doctoral degrees.
Those with no interest in or aptitude for scientific research have virtually no place to go to get a quality
accounting degree. An unwanted consequence of the publishing criteria of top-tier accounting journals
has been the narrowing of doctoral program curricula and the decrease in the number of potential doctoral
candidates in accounting. The intersection of models and topics that do appear in The Accounting Review
seemingly are borrowed models and uninteresting topics outside the academic discipline of accounting.
Hurt, Bob (2007) Teaching What Matters: A New Conception of Accounting
Education, Journal of Education for Business
Conceptual
Study is intended to provide a thought-provoking start for dialogue among accounting academicians about
their views on the structure and purpose of an accounting curriculum. Describes a structure designed to
help students
a) determine early in their study if they truly wish to pursue a career in accounting
b) master basic skills cutting across areas of accounting practice
c) "learn to learn" accounting
d) provide practical experience in the field prior to degree completion, and
e) appreciate the role of accounting in society
Practical
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 109
Essential skills include
a) writing
b) professionalism and ethics
c) critical thinking
d) information technology.
Critical thinking includes distinguishing relevant facts from irrelevant facts in a specific decision context,
analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of an argument, point of view, or response to a problem,
defending an argument, etc. in the face of other viable alternatives, and expressing a well-reasoned
opinion or point of view with clarity and enthusiasm.
Professional School
No mature practitioner will deny that an understanding of the environment in which he works is of equal
importance with an understanding of the body of technical knowledge with which he practices. Broad
training in the liberal arts and the social sciences is as necessary for the accountant as for any other
responsible practicing professional.
Undergraduate work should include increased emphasis on mathematics and communications. History,
economics, psychology, the arts, and perhaps the sciences should be included to the extent necessary to
give the student some perspective on the values, institutions, and customs of society.
Sharman, Paul. A (2007) The PhD Shortage
There are 50% fewer accounting PhD students in the United States today than there were just 10 years
ago, and the number will likely be halved in another decade. To compensate for the shortage, school
programs may be forced to hire faculty who aren’t as well rounded or as highly qualified, which will
adversely affect the quality of student training.
If we continue to hire educators based on practical knowledge alone because there aren’t enough
candidates who have pursued a higher level of education and research, eventually the cycle will continue
to eat away at itself until there are no more doctorally qualified educators in the system. Besides teaching,
these faculty members are essential for advancing the entire accounting body of knowledge and ensuring
that the accounting profession continues to develop.
Practical
The lack of accounting PhDs evolved from a bias in the U.S. toward careers in public accounting.
Undergraduate accounting curricula in the U.S. are largely focused on meeting the needs of public
accounting vs. the much broader, richer knowledge and skill requirements of accounting professionals
who work inside organizations (management accountants). While many new graduates do begin their
careers in public accounting, most make the transition to work as management accountants, which in
reality is where more than 90% of U.S. finance function professionals can be found. These graduates soon
learn that their education doesn’t align with their on-the-job responsibilities.
Swartz, James E., Teresa A. Swartz and Priscilla Liang (2007) Market
Meltdown: Recruiting Qualified Business Faculty
When one considers that almost half of all new doctoral students do not complete their degree programs,
at least 15% of all who do complete such doctorates choose government or industry careers, and an even
higher percentage matriculate at unaccredited institutions, the remaining number of eligible students is so
thin that one might summarize the situation as a near crisis.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 110
Van Wyhe, Glenn (2007) Reforming Accounting within the Academy
Conceptual
The proponents of professional schools in the 1970s saw much of the self-designated “rigorous
accounting research” as research that more properly belonged in other academic fields, such as finance,
personnel management, or economics. Such “borrowing” occurred because deans and foundation reports
tended to downgrade research on the accounting profession; this downgrading caused accounting
academicians to pursue research in more prestigious disciplines. Academicians began backing off from
involvement in standard setting, which caused further separation of teaching from research, but also
exacerbated the separation of research from practice.
The essential value of the profession is found in its commitment to honesty, and so the ethos of the
profession and of accounting education must be an overarching concern for honesty and truth (as opposed
to status and status quo) both in theory and in research. The interaction of various professional bodies and
academicians has been complex and ongoing; however the benefits of that interaction are not obvious.
Accounting education is the result of professional activism, and has been frequently changed by
practitioner influence.
2008
Nelson, Irvin T., Valaria P. Vendrzyk, Jeffrey J. Quirin, and Stacy E. Kovar
(2008) Trends in Accounting Student Characteristics: Results from a 15-Year
Longitudinal Study at FSA Schools
Longitudinal study of characteristics of accounting students 1991 – 2006. Measures of student quality
continue to rise. More students are deciding to major in accounting later in their academic careers, Job
availability is increasingly the most influential factor in the decision to major in accounting. Although
more students are pursuing graduate education, fewer are planning on MBA or PhD degrees. Interest in
careers in public accounting is high and increasing, while interest in industry accounting careers is
dropping.
2009
Hunt, Steven C., Tim V. Eaton, and Alan Reinstein (2009) Accounting Faculty
Job Search in a Seller’s Market
Empirical research shows that new faculty appear to be very concerned with their teaching load, criteria
used for promotion and tenure decisions, and compatibility with other faculty. Most faculty viewed
likelihood of getting tenure as very important. Obtaining the best faculty members requires universities to
effectively plan their recruiting efforts.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 111
Carcello, Joseph V., Jean C. Bedard, and Dana R. Hermanson (2009) Responses
of the American Accounting Association’s Tracking Team to the
Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession
Professional Schools
Carcello, Bedard and Hermanson strongly support consideration of professional schools of auditing /
accounting to prepare future generations of public company auditors for long-term career success. Such
professional schools would focus heavily on auditors’ public responsibility and would include significant
education in emerging audit practice areas, including internal control frameworks, fair value, IFRS, and
XBRL, among many others.
Professional schools and changes in licensure and accreditation could both enhance future auditors’
education and help to reduce the shortage of doctoral-level qualified auditing faculty. For professional
schools to be successful, they need to be well funded and to have a degree of independence from business
schools (just as law and medical schools are independent from other units of the university (that enables
substantial control over the tenure and promotion process, subject to overall university standards.
In addition, if a separate license for auditing public companies were simultaneously adopted, and this
license required graduation from a professional school (on a prospective basis), the professional school
would be favorably positioned to secure adequate resources from the central university administration.
Requiring a separate license for auditing public companies, including graduation from an accredited
professional school, would likely lead to an increase in starting salaries and thereby help the profession to
attract the best and the brightest.
The Development of Accounting Education
July 21, 2009
Page 112
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