Educating The Next Generation Of Accounting Professionals

Abstract

Each year accounting graduates are recruited by the accounting firms that hope the new crop of employees will be technically prepared to serve the clients of the firm. They are looking for these recruits to have a mastery of the principles and concepts of the accounting courses they have taken. Proof of mastery is the student’s ability to apply their accounting knowledge to solve their clients’ accounting-related issues.

Many of these firms, if not all, devote substantial resources “on boarding” new employees and training them in the way the firm serves their clients. Those students who have mastered the accounting concepts in their undergraduate courses have a career building advantage over those who do not have mastery. A frequent topic of discussion at firm leadership meetings centers around how well prepared students are from the different universities. Inevitably the discussion turns to what are the most effective methods to teach accounting to the newest crop of potential accounting professionals. These same discussions take place at faculty meetings as well as at conferences for accounting educators across the country.