Special Issues, December 2014
BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN ACCOUNTING
EDUCATION AND ACCOUNTING IN PRACTICE:
THE CASE OF UNIVERSITAS MAHASARASWATI
DENPASAR
I Gusty Ary Suryawathy
I Gede Cahyadi Putra
ISSN 2087-4499
Asia Pacific Journal of Accounting and Finance
Special Issues: “The Accounting Profession towards ASEAN Economic Community“
BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN ACCOUNTING EDUCATION
AND ACCOUNTING IN PRACTICE: THE CASE OF UNIVERSITAS
MAHASARASWATI DENPASAR
I Gusti Ary Suryawathya, I Gede Cahyadi Putrab
Universitas Mahasaraswati
Denpasar
Emaila: ary.suryawathy@unmas.ac.id
Emailb: cahy4dini@yahoo.com
Abstract
The implementation of ASEAN Free Trade Agreement in 2015 will challenge accounting
graduates to secure their accounting positions. The level of the qualification possessed by
the graduates depends up on the knowledge and skills the graduates have learnt during their
studies. Thus, to create job-ready graduates, it is important for higher education to keep
updating their curriculum in accordance with current business practice. This study aims to
discover the extent to which the accounting curricula meets the needs of accounting profession
in Balinese context.
The sample in this study is the academics, alumni and final year students and professional
accountants .Mixed method is employed in this study. Quantitative data collected by
administering a five point Likert scale questionnaires and was analyse statistically; whereas
qualitative data accumulated by open-ended questionnaires and interview and was analyse by
content analysis.
This study reveals that the curricula of the School of Accountancy at Universitas Mahasaraswati
Denpasar is relevant to the accounting profession; however, a few course contents and subjects
taught needs to be revisited to accord with current business practice. To create job-ready
graduates in Balinese context, English had become a major issue besides IFRS and Information
Technology. Further, adding new subjects such as Corporate Governance, International
Business and Computer-based Audit to the curricula is critical, as these subjects are technical
competence that accountants must able to demonstrate according to IES 2. This study suggests
that comparative case studies, internship in accounting-related companies and focus groups
discussions are learning method to be developed to enhance graduates’ technical and nontechnical skills.
Keywords: accounting curricula, learning approaches, technical competence, non-technical
skills.
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Asia Pacific Journal of Accounting and Finance Special Issues, December 2014, 59-72
1. RESEARCH BACKGROUND
Higher education should ensure that there is transfer of knowledge a good learning
environment (Vroeijenstijn 1995). When these are present, higher education can create
graduates with the conceptual knowledge and critical thinking necessary for the workforce,
including being an accountant. Unfortunately, accounting education in tertiary education is
perceived as being problematic with concerns over course content and curriculum, pedagogy,
skill development, the use of technology, faculty development and reward structure (Albrecht
and Sack 2000). Albrecht and Sack further argue that curricula designed is too narrow and
often not updated, driven by the interests of faculty not the market demand. The pedagogy lacks
creativity which impedes students’ ability to learn. Several studies suggest that accounting
education is in crisis with a gap between accounting education and accounting in practice
(Turner et al. 2011, Albrecht and Sack 2000, Wally-Dima 2011, Watty 2005). Wally-Dima
(2011) suggests that the accounting education of universities puts more emphasis on teaching
students for qualification examinations rather than advancing students’ professional skills. She
further argues that the graduates produced by universities are ill-equipped to handle the needs
of the accounting profession.
Given the research findings above, this study aims to evaluate the accounting education
delivered in the School of Accountancy of Economic Faculty at Universitas Mahasaraswati
Denpasar. In the last three years, the School of Accountancy has experienced a significant
growth in numbers of accounting students. For example, taking 2011 as the base year, accounting
students increased by 92per cent in 2012, in 2013 by 126 per cent and in 2014 by 248per
cent. Since the popularity of the School of Accountancy is rising, the authors perceived it is
important to evaluate the accounting education being delivered in accordance with accounting
practice to ensure that students are work-ready after graduation. The quality of the graduates
will become a major issue when the regional ASEAN Free Trade Agreement is implemented.
This could have a huge impact on future graduates because the mobility of skilled labour will
become wide open. Global and regional trade agreements widen the access for the transfer of
skilled labour and allow employers to seek qualified workers across national borders (OECD
2002, Plimmer 2002, Allsop et al. 2009). Therefore, concerns emerge about whether graduates
from Bali can compete in the changing environment of cross border agreement.
Thus this study attempts to evaluate the gap between accounting education delivered
in the School of Accountancy and the needs of accounting in practice in Bali. In particular,
this study attempts to discern the relevant subjects and learning approaches that need to be
embedded in the accounting program.
This paper will be outlined as follows: the next section discusses the literature review;
followed by the research method. The findings will be in section 4; and the last section is the
discussion and conclusion.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Accounting has become a key discipline because it functions as ‘the language of
business’ (Burritt and Tingey-Holyoak 2011). Considering the importance of accounting,
Suryawathy, Putra, Bridging the Gap between Accounting Education…..
61
accounting education delivered in higher education should be in accordance with accounting
in practice. Unfortunately, the bond between accounting education and accounting in practice
has been heavily criticized (Burritt and Tingey-Holyoak 2011), particularly since the fall of the
global accounting firm, Arthur Andersen after Enron (Singh 2004).
Several research findings have revealed the challenges to accounting education.
For example, Singh (2004) evaluated the accounting courses offered by the professional
bodies and universities in India and found that accounting education in India had failed to
meet the changing nature of business. This is because accounting education in India lacked
coordination between academics and industry and remained fragmented. He concluded there
was a need to update colleges’ and universities’ course curricula in accordance with current
business’ requirements. Yucel et al. (2012) carried out research on 245 students of Economics
and Administrative Faculty of Uludag University. They found the major problem faced by
students as future accountant candidates is lack of accounting course content and practices,
which lead to estrange students from accounting professions. They further argued that creating
“fully furnished” students with a lot of theoretical knowledge was not effective. Accounting
education should provide students with basic accounting knowledge and ensure they have the
ability to create, measure and analyse information for decision making. To broaden graduates’
skills, they promoted more training course opportunities should be given to students to
enhance their communication and problem-solving competencies. De Lange (2006) surveyed
310 graduates from two universities in Victoria Australia and revealed they lack most of
the generic skills desired by the professions, particularly interpersonal, communication and
information technology skills. Turner et al. (2011) argue that accounting professionals and
educators have been aware of the need to revise the curricula for decades. In designing the
syllabus, accounting educators have to choose what to cover and how it aligns with the needs
of the specific cultural and business environment (Allison 2007).
The change in the business environment with the impact of globalization and the
implementation of regional and global free trade may need to see developments or harmonization
in education. Indeed, Sa’ and Gaviria (2011) reveal that the mobility of skilled labour arising
from the North American Free Trade Agreement has harmonized higher education in Mexico
with the Professional Mutual Recognition Agreement employed in global and regional trade
agreements. Mexico underwent major changes in the regulation of its professions and introduced
processes for quality assurance, academic accreditation and the licensing of university
graduates of engineering, accounting and architecture programs. The implementation of the
ASEAN Free Trade Agreement may also lead to harmonization in education. The members of
ASEAN have agreed to a Mutual Recognition Agreement framework on accountancy services
to promote efficiency and quality standards of the accountancy profession (ASEAN MRA on
Accountancy Service 2014). This means that every nation in ASEAN has to improve their
accountancy education to meet the international standards of accountancy profession and
Article Number III (3.5) sets the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)’s standards as
the benchmark, taking into consideration the Domestic Regulations of each ASEAN Member
State (ASEAN MRA on Accountancy Service 2014).International Accounting Education
Standards Boards (IAESB) has issued its International Education Standards (IES) to “develop
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Asia Pacific Journal of Accounting and Finance Special Issues, December 2014, 59-72
education standards, guidance and information papers on pre-qualification education, training
of professional accountants and continuing professional education and development” (IAESB
2014). IESs are designed for IFAC member bodies and other stakeholders who support the
learning and development in accounting professions, such as educational organizations,
employers, regulators and the government.
In regard to professional knowledge, IES 2 prescribes the knowledge that accountants
are required to demonstrate as shown in Table 1.
Besides the professional knowledge as prescribed in IES 2, Turner et al. (2011) as
certain that whatever structure or curricula is designed, it must be able to produce graduates
who are able to be successful in the changing environment. They further explained that to
encourage students to be aware of current business events, there is a need to introduce basic
research skills, for example, for undergraduate students to explore the legal tax process rather
than just learning specific rules.
The teaching methods used are important to instill students’ understanding about a
particular subject. According to Howeison (2003) and Singh (2004), case study approach is
the best to develop critical thinking on problem solving, stimulate students’ interests and link
course material to practice. Not only advantageous for students, case study also can respond
to the academics challenge on its practical relevance and contribute to the development of
the knowledge (Cooper and Morgan 2008). In contrary, Crawford et al. (2010) reveal that
case study and group work are less popular with academics. The most common teaching
method used in across 12 countries is lectures, followed by tutorials/workshops. Essays and
report writing are the next commonly most used, seminars by external speakers and students’
presentations were even less likely. Different type of case studies can be developed depends
on the type of questions we are going to answer. Table 2 indicates the type of case studies
generated by Yin (1989) in Cunningham (1997)
Each type of case studies provides different knowledge and information. For instance,
for narrative, explanatory and interpretive cases tend to be used to summarize information,
focused on questions, criteria or sequence occurrences; while tabularize, comparative,
diagnostic and experimental action research cases cover more detailed data; and survey cases
are used for establishing proof or verifying propositions (Cunningham 1997).
According to Singh (2004), in order to strengthen the computational and conceptual
skills of students, there is a need to replace theoretical knowledge and numerical problems
with conceptual knowledge and also link with technology. In line with Singh (2004), WallyDima (2011) emphasizes the need to embrace computer technology and business decision
making for the development of accountants. Additionally, to make accounting teaching more
effective, various teaching methods need to be developed, for instance case studies, projects
and market surveys, role play, group discussion and the use to technology aids such as projector
and audio-video techniques (Singh 2004). Howeison (2003) suggests interactive group work
within tutorials works better rather than simply presentations by students. When they have
interactive group work within tutorials, they can have live discussions and share ideas.
To investigate accounting education delivered by the School of Accountancy at
Universitas Mahasaraswati Denpasar and the needs of accounting in practice in the Balinese
context; this study aims to discover the extent to which the accounting curricula meets the
needs of the profession.
Suryawathy, Putra, Bridging the Gap between Accounting Education…..
63
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This study involved: (1) the academics of the School of Accountancy at Universitas
Mahasaraswati Denpasarwith a total of 18 accounting lecturers; (2) alumni and final year
students of the School of Accountancy at Universitas Mahasaraswati Denpasar who work
in accounting departments. Snowball sampling method was used to determine the sample of
the alumni and purposive sampling method was used to determine the sample of final year
students. (3) Professional accountants from registered Public Accountant Association and
from tax and financial consultants in Denpasar area. Total registered public accountant firms
in Denpasar is ten, and each firm asked for different number of questionnaires ranging from
two to fifteen questionnaires.
This study employed a mixed method research. Quantitative data collected by closedended questionnaires to confirm the relevance/importance of subjects and teaching methods,
measured on a five point Likert scale ranging from 5 (very relevant/important) to 1 (very
irrelevant/unimportant), and was analyzed with statistical analysis; whereas, qualitative data
accumulated through open-ended questionnaires and interviews to obtain detailed information,
and was analyzed with content analysis.
The demographic of the respondents summarized in Table 3.
4. FINDINGS
To be graduated with a Bachelor Degree in the School of Accountancy of Economic
Faculty at Universitas Mahasaraswati Denpasar, 43 subjects have to be passed. Table 4 shows
the 43 subjects and the responses from 166 respondents on how relevant each topic is to the
profession.
Academics viewed 25 subjects as very relevant and 18 subjects as relevant for the
accounting profession. The academics ranked Introduction to Accounting, Taxation (practice)
and Audit (practice) were most relevant subjects with similar mean scores of 4.93. The
academics argued that those three subjects were the core technical competence for being
accountants. In Introduction to Accounting, students learn the basic accounting knowledge,
debit and credit. While in real accounting work, besides dealing with journals and financial
statements, graduates will definitely deal with tax and audit. For instance, they have to calculate
employees’ and entity’s tax levy and report them monthly and annually; or if they work in a
public accountant firm, they must understand audit.
From public accountants’ perspective, 24 subjects as very relevant and 19 subjects as
relevant. Audit (practice) ranked first, followed by Audit (theory) and Financial Accounting
with means of 4.74, 4.66 and 4.63 respectively. They claimed that being public accountants,
mastering audit theoretically and practically have become key requirements. Graduates, who
will be future accountants or auditors, have to understand the concept of audit, what to be
audited and how to audit. They further argued graduates must well knowledgeable of financial
statements including its accounts and its measurement as this is the main object for accounting
profession.
Alumni and final year students identified 21 subjects as very relevant and 22 subjects as
relevant. Most relevant subject was Financial Accounting, followed by Analysis of Financial
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Asia Pacific Journal of Accounting and Finance Special Issues, December 2014, 59-72
Statements with means of 4.72 and 4.69 respectively. The alumni and final year students
argued that even though they have learnt basic accounting knowledge in the Introduction to
Accounting subject1, they have not mastered each account in detailed yet as to what they learnt
in Financial Accounting2. In addition, how to interpret numbers in financial statements is
highlighted by this group. The alumni and final year students explained that besides preparing
financial statements, they also asked to communicate the statements by using financial ratios
with their managers. Interestingly, the three groups of respondents had a similar agreement
that Sociology Politics3 were ranked last out of 43 subjects.
When asked about other subjects to be added to the curricula, 33 per cent of the
respondents stated English-based Accounting. The academics and the alumni and final year
students agreed that graduates must be fluent with accounting terminology in English, able
to demonstrate their competencies and communicate in English. English proficiency has
become a core professional skill in Balinese context. This is because besides being a tourist
destination, Bali is also well known as an international business centre in Indonesia. Graduates
will need to interact with colleagues, many of whom will be expatriates. Thus, to create jobready graduates, equipping graduates with accounting knowledge itself is not adequate. The
academics emphasized that graduates with English proficiency will be valued higher than
those who do not. Next subject was International Financial Reporting Standards (17 per
cent). The academics and public accountants had similar perspective that incorporating IFRS
content into accounting program also appears to be an issue as currently accounting system of
all nations will be harmonized under the umbrella of IFRS. Updating curricula with current
issue is important so the knowledge transferred is applicable to the real accounting work.
Further, information technology apparently had become a major technical knowledge that
needs to be incorporated (41 per cent). Even though public accountants agreed that learning
customized accounting package, for instance MYOB, was excellent to broaden graduates’
competencies; the academics viewed it was not adequate enough. The academics emphasized
that graduates have to be able to create a simple accounting system, even in a spreadsheet,
besides mastering MYOB. The ability to create a simple accounting system demonstrates
the graduates’ understanding of accounting cycle and its underlying concepts. Other subjects
should be added in the curricula were Corporate Governance, Computer-based Audit, Social
Accounting and International Business.
This findings confirms that the courses offered by the School of Accountancy are
relevant for the accounting profession; however, a few course contents and subjects taught
should be updated to meet current business practice.
The learning approaches in the School of Accountancy are case study, class seminars,
presentation by the students and guest lecturers. Table 5 shows the level of importance of each
learning approaches from 166 respondents.
All learning approaches are important as their mean scores above 3.01. If analyze
from the level of importance, case study appears to be the most important learning approaches
1
Introduction to Accounting covers accounting cycle, business types and transactions, journals, balance sheet.
Financial Accounting covers conceptual framework of financial accounting; financial statements; detailed of
each accounts such as assets, liabilities and equity; and issues in accounting.
3
Sociology Politics mainly covers about politics in Indonesia, including the history of politics in Indonesia,
the role of the state agency, community organizations in Indonesia, political parties and other political issues
2
Suryawathy, Putra, Bridging the Gap between Accounting Education…..
65
agreed by all respondents. The alumni and final year students argued that by having case
study they will not merely memorize and visualize. They can apply theoretical knowledge into
practice. Similar opinion arouse from the academics and public accountants. They believed by
giving a related case can test students’ understanding on a particular topic. The professional
accountants emphasized that the academics should be able to design a specific case study
that applicable or reflect to the real working environment. In designing the case study, the
academics mirror from the theoretical framework and literature review of the latest academic
journals, then the content of the case study is adjusted with the surrounding circumstances
within Indonesia, or more specifically, within Balinese context. The aim is that students can
analyzed and implement theory to the specific circumstances. For example, for entrepreneurship
course, the case study given is “how to develop traditional Balinese products for international
market”. The underpinning theory of how to conduct international business can be gained
from marketing theory, and the implementation will look down to Bali environment.
This case study can also be answered by comparing similar variables analyze in different
places, for instance taking Malaysia as the comparison of Bali. Both places are international
tourist destinations with similar Asian characteristics. What has been done in Malaysia in term
of marketing local product internationally can also be adopted into Balinese context. Case study
also can be done in taxation and audit. The task is how to calculate entities’ and employees’
tax and fill in the real tax forms or doing audit in a spreadsheet. Calculating cost of product
can also be a case study. Usually big manufacture companies are taken as the example in the
case study provided in the textbook. But in this case, try to make it simpler by, for example,
calculating cost of product of a simple local product –nasi jinggo-. Thus, besides learning
about how accounting applied for big firms, students also will learn how to applied accounting
for small or home industries. Next very important learning approach is guest lecturers. Both
the academics and the alumni and final year students agreed that guest lecturers will bring new
insight on current accounting issues. However, public accountants had different opinion on
the second ranked of very important learning approach. They viewed class seminars slightly
more important than guest lecturers. They argued that the academics have been experiencing
a continual study which made them mastered a particular course. Thus, having an explanation
from the academics can in still students’ understanding better.
When asked about other learning approaches considered important to be developed, two
third of the respondents stated internships. During the internships program, students should be
given access to handle a particular client- the same firm- within a minimum internships period
of six months. For instance, if internships conduct in an audit firm, students should do the audit
alone but still under supervision of the audit manager. The audit will be on general journals,
ledgers, reconciliation, income and loss statements and balance sheet. Another example,
students can be asked to prepare monthly tax reports for a particular client, which includes
company tax report and employee tax report. Students’ ability to handle one particular client
within six months demonstrates their understanding on how to record accounting transactions
and the flow of accounting cycles. Another point highlighted by the professional accountants
is that choosing the proper companies for internships program. They suggested that better for
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Asia Pacific Journal of Accounting and Finance Special Issues, December 2014, 59-72
accounting students to do internships in public accountant firms or in financial consultants, so
they can learn accountancy at the accounting-related companies.
When students pick any companies, sometimes they may end up in an administrative
or customer service or marketing departments; as a consequent, they will not reap the rewards
of the internships that is to deepen their skills as accountants. In addition, internships was also
considered important to develop their non-technical skills, for example communication, team
work, critical thinking, problem-solving and interpersonal skills. Other learning approaches
suggested was focus group discussion. Generally, it is hard to get ideas from students when
they are asked alone. However, things happen differently. When students are in groups, they
are likely speaking. Therefore, to brainstorms ideas, having focus groups is the best approaches
according to the academics and the professional accountants. They highlighted that the
maximum member in a group is five students. If the group’s member more than five students,
they apparently will end up in chatting. Additionally, the member of each group should be
rolled up. The advantages of being rolled up are to develop students’ communication skill, team
work and ability to adapt with new colleagues. They emphasized that focus group discussions
can make a live class and creates more active and critical students. The last suggestion for
study method is comparative study to other universities
5. DISCUSSIONS AND CUNCLUSION
The findings above indicates that the curricula in the School of Accountancy at
Universitas Mahasaraswati Denpasar is relevant to the needs of accounting profession;
however, a few course contents and subjects taught needs to be reviewed. To meet current
practice requirements, updating accounting programs is critical (Albrecht and Sack 2000,
Wally-Dima 2011, Singh 2004, Yucel et al. 2012, Turner et al. 2011).
The academics and the alumni and final year students highlighted the importance of
English proficiency to secure accounting profession in the Balinese context. Even though
English language already included in the curricula of the School of Accountancy, the content
should be updated to be more accounting-business related and more practice need to be
conducted. Graduates can demonstrate their competencies better to their colleagues, whom
most of them are expatriates, when they proficient with English; thus, they will valued higher
than those who do not. Similarly, incorporating IFRS to certain accounting subjects had become
an issue. This finding is consistent with Muntel and Reckers (2009) who note that IFRS content
should be added to the curricula. Currently, accountants’ role had experienced a dramatic
transition from bookkeepers or tax preparers to strategic business advisors (Holtzman 2004).
Thus, graduates must be able to apply and prepare financial statements based on IFRS and
communicate the financial statements (IES 2 IAESB 2014, Barth 2008). Further, accounting
education should embrace information technology (Yucel et al. 2012, Wally-Dima 2011). The
development of information and technology has reduced the need of bookkeeping with online
financial reporting and extensible Business Reporting Language where information can be
accessed anywhere (Dunne et al. 2013). Other subjects suggested to be added to the curricula
are Corporate Governance, International Business, Social Accounting and Computer-based
Audit. Those suggested subjects are technical competence that accountants must demonstrate
Suryawathy, Putra, Bridging the Gap between Accounting Education…..
67
according to IES 2 (IAESB 2014). This indicates that to create job-ready graduates, updating
curricula at the School of Accountancy is a must to accord with current practice.
In regard to learning methods, all respondents agreed case study is the best learning
approach. The academics should be able to design a specific case study based on real accounting
work, so it is applicable and reflects on real circumstances. The case study can be in form of
intensive cases, comparative cases or action research (Cunningham 1997). For instance, a
comparative case study can be built when developing entrepreneurship course on “how to
develop traditional Balinese product for international market” by comparing the characteristics,
what is happening and being done in a one place and compare it to our place. Case study has
been successfully promoted professional skills in accounting (Merwe 2013 Howeison 2003,
Singh 2004). Next, internships was suggested as the important learning approach by two third
of the respondents. Professional accountants suggested that better for accounting students to
do internships in accounting-related firms within six months. Under the supervision of the
accounting manager of a particular firm, students can experience accounting skills when they
handle the accounting process of that firm. Internships mentor or supervisor, in this case is the
accounting manager, plays important role in shaping students’ accounting skills. Students’
learning quality depends on the learning experiences that is designed and facilitated by the
supervisors (Alderman and Milne 2005).The advantageous of internships program are give
students the opportunity to exposure with real-life accounting practice within a longer period
(Wally-Dima 2011) and develop students’ non-technical skills, for example communication,
team work, critical thinking, problem-solving and interpersonal skills, that required for the
profession (Yucel et al. 2012, Carr et al. 2006, Klibi and Oussii 2013, IES 3 IAESB 2014).
Other learning method suggested is focus group discussion with a maximum member of each
group is five students and this group’s members should be rolled up. Focus group discussion
can create a more live class and generate more active and critical students.
The contribution of this research is that accounting education should be improved for
graduates can secure their accounting jobs especially after ASEAN Free Trade Agreement in
2015 is implemented. This paper only evaluates accounting education from a private university
in Bali. Further research should evaluate the accounting education delivered in public
universities and vocational schools, so the findings can be compared and be implemented
to improve graduates’ skills. Further research can include the quality of academics and the
infrastructure such as the library, the learning environment and the access to international
journals.
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Asia Pacific Journal of Accounting and Finance Special Issues, December 2014, 59-72
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Accountant Candidates Expectations from Accounting Education: Uludag University
Application”, Business and Economics Research Journal, Vol. 3 No.1 (2012): 91-108.
Asia Pacific Journal of Accounting and Finance Special Issues, December 2014, 59-72
70
APPENDIX
Table 1: IES 2 Knowledge
No
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Professional Knowledge
Level of Proficiency
Financial accounting and reporting (IFRS)
Management accounting
Finance and financial management
Taxation
Audit and assurance
Governance, risk management and internal control
Business law and regulation
Information technology
Business and organizational environment
Business strategy and management
Economics
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate
Foundation
Sources: IES 2(2014)
Table 2: Different type of case study
Purpose
Assumption
Situation
Types
Intensive cases
To develop theory from
intensive exploration
Comparative cases
To develop concepts based
on case comparisons
Creativity through
comparison with existing
theory
Usually evolves out of
researcher’s intensive
experience with culture
or organizations
Narrative, tabulation,
explanatory, interpretive
Comparison of cases leads
to more useful theory
Action research
To develop concepts
which help facilitate the
process of change
Theory emerges in the
process of changing
Usually concepts are
developed from one case
to another case
Developing theory to
assist practices and future
social science
Case comparisons, case
survey, interpretive
comparisons
Diagnostic, experimental
Sources: Yin (1989) in Cunningham (1997)
Table 3: Demographic of the respondents
Description
Questionnaires:
• Distributed
• Returned
• Response rate
Education background:
• Doctorate degree
• Master degree
• Bachelor degree
Academics
Alumni and Final
year Students
Professional
Accountants
18
15
83 per cent
75
75
100 per cent
100
76
76 per cent
2 (13 per cent)
13 (87 per cent)
0
0
0
75 (100 per cent)
0
2 (3 per cent)
74 (97 per cent)
Suryawathy, Putra, Bridging the Gap between Accounting Education…..
Academics
Alumni and Final
year Students
Professional
Accountants
7 (46 per cent)
8 (54 per cent)
14 (19 per cent)
61 (81 per cent)
39 (51 per cent)
37 (49 per cent)
Description
Gender:
• Male
• Female
71
Sources: Data processed from 166 respondents (2014)4
Table 4: Curricula design
No
Subjects
Academic
Accountants
4.93
Mean Score
Alumni / Final
year Students
4.57
Public
Accountants
4.59
1.
Introduction to accounting
2.
Financial accounting
4.53
4.72
4.63
3.
Advance financial accounting
4.40
4.57
4.61
4.
Cost accounting
4.60
4.48
4.34
5.
Management accounting
4.60
4.24
4.25
6.
Taxation (theory)
4.93
4.60
4.38
7.
Taxation (practice)
4.93
4.65
4.38
8.
Audit (theory)
4.87
4.36
4.66
9.
Audit (practice)
4.93
4.36
4.74
10.
Forensic audit
4.07
3.64
4.28
11.
Internal audit
4.47
4.15
4.39
12.
Ethic for accountant
4.47
4.21
4.36
13.
Public sector accounting
4.20
3.89
4.05
14.
Analysis of financial statements
4.80
4.69
4.25
15.
Accounting information system
4.67
4.28
4.17
16.
Accounting theory
4.20
4.27
4.11
17.
Accounting for banking and local
credit institutions
4.27
4.07
4.04
18.
Behavioural accounting
4.00
4.19
3.88
19.
Computer accounting application
4.60
4.64
4.22
20.
Hotel accounting
4.00
3.81
4.09
21.
International accounting
3.87
3.93
3.97
22.
Accounting seminars
3.93
3.96
3.89
23.
Moral education
3.40
3.12
3.78
24.
Sociology politic
3.07
3.07
3.63
25.
Civic education
3.27
3.07
3.63
26.
English language
4.53
4.33
4.12
4 The instrument used in this research is valid and reliable. The validity test for curricula is ranging from 0.000
to 0.025 and learning approaches is 0.000 which is lower than α = 0.05; while the reliability test for curricula and
learning approaches is 0.968 and 0.779 respectively which is higher than 0.7.
72
Asia Pacific Journal of Accounting and Finance Special Issues, December 2014, 59-72
Mean Score
Alumni / Final
year Students
3.84
Public
Accountants
3.96
28.
Introduction to micro economic
Academic
Accountants
3.67
29.
Introduction to macro economic
3.60
3.83
3.96
30.
Indonesian language
3.60
3.47
3.76
31.
Statistic economic
3.73
3.93
3.96
32.
Quantitative analysis application
3.87
4.16
3.86
33.
Introduction to business
3.67
3.85
3.82
34.
Introduction to management
3.67
3.71
3.80
35.
Introduction to business law
3.67
3.57
3.87
36.
Financial management
4.13
4.28
4.04
37.
Business communication
4.00
3.85
3.84
38.
Portfolio theory and investment
analysis
3.93
3.95
3.78
39.
Cooperation and SMEs
3.93
3.73
3.74
40.
Entrepreneurships
4.20
4.11
3.82
41.
Tourism business
3.60
3.48
3.83
42.
Business feasibility study
4.13
3.56
4.00
43.
Thesis
4.13
3.96
4.14
No
Subjects
Note: The mean scores reflect a five point Likert Scale where 5 = extremely relevant, 4 = relevant, 3 = neutral, 2
= irrelevant, 1 = extremely irrelevant.
Sources: Data processed from 166 respondents (2014).
Table 5: Learning Approaches
Mean Score
No
Learning approaches
Academic
Accountants
Alumni / Final
year Students
Public
Accountants
1
Case study
4.87
4.35
4.01
2
Class seminars
4.47
4.27
3.95
3
Presentation by students
4.53
3.95
3.75
4
Presentation by guest lecturers
4.73
4.29
3.84
Note: The mean scores reflect a five point Likert Scale where 5 = very important, 4 = important, 3 = neutral, 2 =
unimportant, 1 = very unimportant.
Sources: Data processed from 166 respondents (2014).
ASIAPACIFIC
JOURNAL OF
ACCOUNTING
AND FINANCE
ASIA PACIFIC JOURNAL OF
ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics,
Universitas Indonesia Depok, Indonesia
Phone : +62-21-7272425, Fax: +62-21-7863558
Email : apjaf@ui.ac.id