The Ongoing Preparation Gap in Management Accounting Education: A Guide for Change

Abstract

This article is based on a study supported by IMAs Foundation for Applied Research (FAR). This is the second of two articles that focus on whether accounting education is appropriately synchronized with the needs of students and employers. In our previous article, we documented the stagnation in the undergraduate accounting curriculum over the past several decades. The lack of change is surprising given that: * The 150-hour requirement for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam is widespread; * A global focus for business has become nearly universal; * Legislative initiatives, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), have altered many accounting practices; and * New management tools, such as activity-based management (ABM), the balanced scorecard (BSC), target costing, and lean accounting, have emerged. We have found evidence that almost two-thirds of accounting graduates begin their careers in industry and other nonpublic accounting areas, the majority of these after earning only an undergraduate degree. (1) This leads to the question addressed in this article: Is the current accounting curriculum appropriate for careers in industry and other nonpublic accounting paths? In examining this issue, we focus only on the management accounting portion of the accounting curriculum. What Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Are Essential? The accounting environment has changed dramatically over the past decade. financial officers (CFOs) are suggesting that the management accountant should aspire to move from counter of and compliance cop to creator of wealth and influencer of strategy. (2) We have become less transaction focused and more directed toward decision support and performance management activities, as Figure 1 illustrates. Studies in the management accounting area provide several specific examples that these emerging activities are not represented appropriately in the accounting curriculum. For instance, two studies by IMA[R] (Institute of Management Accountants) identify important information about the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) required for success in accounting careers in corporate America. (3) KSAs include writing, speaking, presenting, listening, negotiating, persuading, and influencing, along with the ability to work in teams using logical, diagnostic, and reasoned approaches to business problems. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Given the need to help develop these skills, colleges and universities can better serve today's accounting students in several specific ways. For one, a curriculum that includes social psychology will help graduates understand how to motivate people and resolve conflict. Moreover, successful management of organizations requires exposure to theories and models from operations management, including the literature and tools underlying process improvement. Familiarity with strategic planning, value chains, and enterprise systems spotlight relevant frameworks for achieving excellence in an organization. Coverage of finance will bring to light relevant financial and economic analyses. An introduction to information technology will reveal approaches to computer information systems and internal controls. With the dramatic rise in energy costs, an understanding of supply chains and logistics is also becoming increasingly critical. [FIGURE 2 OMITTED] To thrive, accounting graduates will need to acquire a thorough understanding of the primary functional areas within the businesses in which they work (human resources, marketing, purchasing, production, etc.) and how they can effectively provide services to assist these key organizational processes. Without this understanding, they will not be prepared to add value. A student's developing sensitivity to and heightened awareness of this reality while still in school is critical to his or her future success. In a 2006 report that touted the CFO as a corporation's Chief Performance Advisor, the authors stated that management accountants working in the finance function . …