Perspectives

February 2004

A Dialogue on Accounting Education

By O. Finley Graves

Many CPA Journal readers with an interest in accounting education will have read PricewaterhouseCoopers’ new monograph Educating for the Public Trust—The PricewaterhouseCoopers Position on Accounting Education (March 2003), participated in the firm’s recent educators’ conference call, or logged in to the webcast at www.pwcglobal.com/ forfaculty. PricewaterhouseCoopers’ view is that “the 150-hour requirement should remain but be changed to provide equivalent alternatives for meeting the requirement.” The proposed alternatives include requiring an additional year of practice (one more than currently required) and recognizing continuing professional education in lieu of university coursework.

The monograph also discusses a study the firm sponsored of nine benchmark accounting programs in the U.S., including their undergraduate and master’s-level courses. The study compares accounting education in these programs with the continuing and professional education curriculum for new hires at Pricewater-
houseCoopers. The study concludes that while there is considerable overlap in the technical content of university and continuing education, there are vital areas in which university education falls short. These “gaps,” as the authors of the study term the shortfalls, include providing new entrants with an understanding of what it means to be a professional; equipping them with the interpersonal and communications skills necessary to function as a professional; teaching them to solve problems in ambiguous circumstances; and inculcating in them a commitment to continuous individual and collaborative learning. Indeed, the study finds that, with the exception of tax specialty programs, the overall contribution of master’s degrees in accounting is unclear. The study concedes that some transformation in university education has taken place. But in the end the assessment of master’s-level accounting education in the United States is damning—the implication is that it simply does not provide students with the interpersonal and analytical skills required of a professional.

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ assertions in the monograph about the need to educate students to serve the public trust are incontrovertible. The firm’s call for university administrators to ensure the availability of a competent and well-educated accounting professoriate and as strong a commitment to accounting education as to MBA and other business programs is supportive. Its critique of master’s-level accounting education in the United States ought to provoke commentary about the purpose and the best pedagogical practices for master’s-level work in accounting.

My greatest concern is with the firm’s proposed alternatives for the 150-hour requirement, which I believe are misguided. Certainly if our master’s programs only provided students with more technical expertise, continuing professional education would be a viable alternative to university coursework. But if our master’s programs do respond to the calls on the part of the profession itself for more broadly educated entrants into the profession, an additional year of experience and continuing professional education are no substitutes. My experience with firm-sponsored continuing professional education has been positive. I have learned how firms intended to implement new or highly technical accounting standards; I have improved my presentation skills; and, as a new staff accountant, I learned in detail one firm’s way of doing things. And none of us would deny that on-the-job experience leads to business savvy. But continuing professional education is narrowly focused, and business savvy is about practical understanding. Given the pressures of keeping abreast of current technical developments on the job or just getting the job done, one seldom has the opportunity (or inclination) to consider the nature of accounting itself, theoretical alternatives to accepted accounting practices, the societal role of the accountant, or broader moral issues facing the profession. Nor does on-the-job training allow for depth of exploration or ongoing discussion.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers monograph speaks of the big picture one gains through experience, the picture of how accounting interrelates with other business disciplines. There is an even bigger picture that university education provides, the picture of the role accounting plays in society and of the potentialities of accounting beyond current convention. I would contend, accordingly, that master’s-level education in accounting can produce the more broadly educated, multidimensional, and adaptable professional the profession and the nation’s policy-makers had in mind when the 150-hour requirement was envisioned and adopted.

Finally, I might note that entrants into the profession already benefit from practical experience and already receive in-firm continuing professional education. To substitute for the 150-hour requirement what entrants already do is to effectively eliminate the 150-hour requirement. It is the 150-hour requirement that adds another dimension to accounting education, not on-the-job training.

My arguments, however, do not dismiss PricewaterhouseCoopers’ critique of the content of current master’s-level education in the United States. As educators, we must welcome critique, continually reevaluate our programs, and take appropriate and timely action. Calls for change are already longstanding, dating to the 1980s and the Accounting Education Change Commission and extending through the Albrecht and Sack report (as well as my predecessor’s last message to the Federation of Schools of Accountancy (FSA) membership). Many programs have responded to these calls. For others, the time is ripe.

At the conclusion of its monograph, PricewaterhouseCoopers states its commitment to a continuing dialogue on the present and future of accounting education. Certainly the FSA is committed to providing a forum for discussion and debate about the need for innovation in accounting education.

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