VideoDavid McCann, CFO.com | US
March 19, 2008
- Corporate Whiners
Today's corporations think of college as little more than vocational education for the narrow positions that they have available.
If corporate America would quit being a bunch of cheapskates and start paying for adequate skills and training, we wouldn't have to listen to this constant whine about the education system.
The education system is not there to provide vocational education for corporations to hire somebody for a couple years until they decide they can get a better offer and just throw them out the door.
And by the way, public accounting is no different.Posted by Nathan Herkowitz | Mar 22, 2008 9:11 PM ET
- accredation is the real driver
After 35 years of corporate experience I decided to make a career change and became an accounting instructor at a community college.
Diversity, global awareness, broad based liberal arts, they are nice sounding terms but just like in the corporate world - money is the driver. Schools need to be accredated for financial aid and those accredation bodies are approving the course content and teacher qualifications.
The worlds best CFO's would not qualify to teach at most four colleges because they lack a Phd.
I do not dispute that the theorical knowledge of the Phd has its place but most have never had a "real" job. Consequently, if you want students to graduate with awareness and not theory then there needs to be a balanced presentation of knowledge.
The accredation bodies are the road block. They need to approve the change in practical lessons and the value of a teacher who has been in the trenches of corporate battle over a Phd.
The bottom line it that until there is a financial reason for the school to support the practical ( managerial accounting ) instead of the theorical ( public accounting ) it is not going to happen.
Posted by JACK SUSENBURGER | Mar 21, 2008 8:14 AM ET
- The Heart of Higher Education
The arguments presented here strike at the heart of higher education and pose more fundamental issues than just finance or accounting education.
First, besides preparing graduates for real-world careers, colleges and universities must prepare graduates to become productive members of society. A democracy is only as strong the collective wisdom of its citizens. You will begin to have serious failures if graduates are overly specialized. Many issues confronting the electorate require at least a basic understanding of economics, biology (i.e. stem cell research), world history, etc.
Second, many courses that do not directly relate to a profession may indirectly relate to a profession. As the world continues to globalize foreign language, political science, and international studies courses gain more relevance. Not every accounting graduate needs fluency in French and not every accounting graduate needs to understand middle-eastern affairs. However, the 'cross-training' gained from a diverse undergraduate and graduate background adds value.
Third, accounting education should not become a trade school. The theoretical taught in college and graduate level accounting and finance is highly valuable. While the practical information taught in high schools and in college case studies adds value; our field is fluid and dynamic. Without a theoretical background, practical skills become antiquated. The true test of any education is its adaptability.Posted by Hassen Al-Shawaf | Mar 20, 2008 2:53 PM ET
- If you want more, pay more.
Most CFO's I've worked with are quick to cut their own staff's compensation at budget time to set an example for the other departments. They see their workers as replaceable worker bees, their work as an assembly-line, and their work-product as a computer printout.
The real problem isn't the quality of candidates coming from college. The real problem is that the best talent gets out in the world after graduation and quickly realizes that there are much better opportunities outside of accounting.
The best talent leaves accounting for better paying careers with shorter hours in information systems, human resources, purchasing, sales, or operations management.
Can you blame them?Posted by Tim Wiese | Mar 20, 2008 10:50 AM ET
- Earlier Preparation
As a 3rd year college student taking accounting, I have found myself very unprepared for what often seems a totally different way of thinking. My father-in-law took accounting in high school and it prepared him for a career in construction as a general contractor. For myself, I was college track all the way through high school and was never offered classes like accounting and economics.
These classes are instrumental in teaching a more analytical way of thinking specfic to business. Maybe if some core business classes like basic accounting and economics were being taught in high school, students would be more prepared in college to learn the more advanced material taught in later accounting classes. It is difficult to learn accounting, and a semester is not a whole lot of time for someone who is conditioned to care about the grade and not the level of knowledge that is attained. This forces emphasis to knowledge and getting by, not learning and applying the material for future careers.
In summary, young people will learn what they are taught and they will be taught what they are offered. Maybe it's time to go back and start to prepare teens for college level classes during high school when their minds are most malleable to being taught different thought processes.Posted by David Connolly | Mar 20, 2008 10:40 AM ET
- Don't Waste Student's Time on General Education
A major reason why this breadth of material is not included in the curriculum is because US students are so so poorly prepared on entry into the university system that they have to spend two years getting remedial or general knowledge education. This means that they receive about two years of business-related education in their degree. This does not allow for much more that the basic level of technical education to be given at the undergraduate level. It is not surprising that they do not get the breadth of education sought by the author. (They do actually get some but only at a basic level.)
The result seems to be that there is a move for employers to require education beyond the undergraduate level and so students go into technical graduate degrees. This narrows rather than broadens the student's focus unless they come back after a period of time in the workforce to take the more generic MBA degrees.
Try solving the problems at the K-12 level and quit wasting students' time for two years while at the University.Posted by Charles Carslaw | Mar 19, 2008 9:10 PM ET
- Article Slanted
First, I think this article is slanted towards the IMA's view. Why were no non-IMA affiliated academics contacted for a rebuttal?
Second, a CPA or an accounting student can't be all things to all people. To be sure, a great foundation must be laid in all business disciplines. I did take courses in management accounting along with advanced courses in auditing, financial reporting, financial statement analysis, and financial risk management during my graduate year. The accounting courses were supplemented with courses in business strategy, human resources, and business law.
However, the courses I did take came at the expense of forensic auditing courses, advanced finance courses, information systems courses, and advanced budgeting and forecasting courses.
My suggestion to employers is to select candidates carefully. The alternative is to have accounting students attend college for longer periods, which will invariably lead to a higher cost of labor.
How important is a revised accounting education worth to you? Can you put a dollar figure on it?Posted by Hassen Al-Shawaf | Mar 19, 2008 3:26 PM ET
- Forensic skills needed in accounting education
While I agree the curriculum is short on corporate accounting skills, for decades in public practice I have seen a greater shortcoming in skills needed to resolve problems that require basic forensic-type interview and analysis.
And those skills are not just needed at a senior level, whether in corporate careers or public accounting.
When problems arise and attorneys get involved, I often wonder what law school courses prepare them to navigate a discussion of 'who knew what and when.' Call it the darker side of interpersonal skills, but how often are issues delayed in resolution because no accountant thinks to ask direct questions aimed at the root of the matter? My view is to add management accounting subjects and send the students to a couple of law school courses. There should be time, especially with the prevalence of the 150-hour accounting curriculum.Posted by doug reynolds | Mar 19, 2008 1:06 PM ET
- Amen to Accounting Education
The call for Controllership and Managerial Accounting education has fallen on deaf ears for my entire career. This is particularly evident in the government sector which represents about 40% of national GDP. Unfortunatly, the seriousness of this issue will become even more evident in the coming years.
Posted by John Radford | Mar 19, 2008 12:51 PM ET
