Tax education in the UK: a survey of tax courses in undergraduate accounting degrees

This paper presents the results of a postal survey designed to examine the teaching of taxation in UK universities. The project looks at taxation in undergraduate accounting degree programmes and adopts an objective centred focus. The principal aim of the survey was to examine the relationships between some characteristics of individual tax courses, including the course objectives and coverage, staffing, teaching and assessment methods, in an attempt to draw some conclusions on the nature of tax education in UK accounting degrees. The results of the survey and consequent analysis may provide taxation and accounting educators, professional bodies and researchers into accounting education with an insight into approaches to, and methods used in, taxation teaching. It may also present a framework for comparative international research in tax education.     

Perceptions of master of accountancy graduates concerning their job search and employment experiences with public accounting firms

The public accounting profession has been calling for a 150-hour education requirement for new entrants to the profession for over two decades. The rationale for increasing the entry-level education requirement is that since the business world is more dynamic and complex than ever before, new professionals need broader knowledge and skills to be able to cope. Graduates of master of accountancy (MSA) programs would appear to be the type of students that public accounting firms are seeking since they often have intellectual breadth gained through undergraduate degrees in areas other than accountancy, current technical competence in accountancy, and frequently have work experience. This paper reports the results of a study undertaken to determine the perceptions of MSA graduates concerning: (1) how recruiters from public accounting firms viewed their non-accounting academic backgrounds and work experience; (2) how well prepared they were for their first jobs in public accounting as compared to traditional undergraduate accounting majors; and (3) any bias they experienced during the hiring process. The results of this study indicate that although a majority of the respondents who desired careers in public accounting were able to secure jobs in the field, they believed it was harder for them to get jobs in public accounting than their peers with just undergraduate degrees. The majority did not feel that public accounting firms viewed their non-accounting academic backgrounds and work experience favorably. Although more than half believed that they were paid more than their peers who held only undergraduate degrees, less than half felt that they were given more responsibility. The results also indicate that older MSA graduates believed that they were subject to age bias during the interview process.     

Using an historical account book as a teaching tool

Historical account books from the 18th and 19th centuries are valuable historical documents reflecting the activities of individuals many years ago and shedding light on the way they lived. Such books can be used to teach accounting. From our experience, these books serve to motivate students to learn about the basic aspects of the accounting process. Students are curious about how a book of this nature was prepared, what specific purposes it served, and how it is similar to and different from modern account books. Using these books can also foster interdisciplinary instruction, i.e. accounting and history. Both subject areas relate to an account book. Attempting to explain and understand transactions requires some knowledge of the history of the period in which the book was prepared. In this study, specifics are given on the instructional approach we recommend. While a book of this kind can be used in different ways and degrees in a variety of accounting courses including introductory financial, intermediate, and advanced at the undergraduate and graduate levels, we focus in this case study on its use in introductory financial accounting.     

Using Pacioli’s pedagogy and medieval text in today’s introductory accounting course

Students today see little relevance in learning double-entry bookkeeping and find it difficult to learn how to prepare journal entries correctly. In particular, they struggle with the first stage of the double-entry process: identifying which accounts are to be debited and which are to be credited for each transaction. This paper reports on an attempt to overcome this situation by using the first printed instructional text on the subject (Pacioli, 1494) as the principal textbook on a 20-hour component of the introductory financial accounting course in an undergraduate accounting degree program. Instruction followed the pedagogy presented by Pacioli and only minimal additional costs to faculty were incurred.     

Editorial: Special issue on tax education

In accounting education, most Student Approaches to Learning (SAL) research has investigated the relationship between students' performance and their approaches to learning. Relatively limited research has been conducted on how assessment practices influence the quality of students' learning from the students' perspective. This paper seeks to address this gap in the accounting education literature. The research is centred on a large Australian undergraduate accounting degree delivered in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Focus group interviews were conducted with students across the three locations. The research results reveal that: (1) it is the English competency of students that has the most important impact on students' completion of set assessment tasks and thus their approach to learning; (2) it is the way in which assessment is designed and written and the way lecturers convey their expectations about how assessment will be undertaken that is crucial to how students from various countries perform in that assessment; and (3) students' approaches to assessment and their preferred assessment tasks are not homogeneously based on cultural background.     

Explaining alternative standard cost entries

This paper presents an explanation which helps students understand the reasons for selecting alternative sets of journal entries to record standard costs. The important features of this explanation are (1) the reasons why standard costs are recorded in the accounting system, and (2) the information available at the time an entry is made.     

Institutional Dances: How the First Accounting Degree in Canada Came to Be at the University of Saskatchewan*/ PÉRIPÉTIES COMPTABLES: LA CRÉATION DU PREMIER DIPLÔME CANADIEN EN COMPTABILITÉÀ L'UNIVERSITÉ DE SASKATCHEWAN

This paper tells how the School of Accounting and the bachelor of science in accounting degree were established at the University of Saskatchewan. Archives, various published histories, and contemporaneous periodicals serve as the main sources of information. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Saskatchewan plays a key role in the history and it is evident that the establishment of the accounting program was critical for the legitimacy of both the University and the Institute. The paper argues that the University of Saskatchewan had the first school of accounting and the first accounting degree in Canada. A brief overview of the development of other business‐oriented degrees and diplomas in universities across Canada is provided in order to support this claim. Based on the history provided and some additional contextual material, some speculation is offered as to why the University of Saskatchewan was the first to offer an accounting degree instead of one of the older, more established universities in eastern Canada. The paper makes three contributions. First, it fills a void in the literature with regard to the history of the School of Accounting and the accounting degree at the University of Saskatchewan. Second, it provides a bird's‐eye view of the establishment of business education programs at other universities in Canada. Third, it adds to our understanding of the relationship between the accounting profession and academe by demonstrating how people and institutions align to create new educational mechanisms.     

A commentary on Professor Chambers' 1999 paper the poverty of accounting discourse

Ethics is concerned with individual character; it relates to morals and the treating of moral questions. Teaching ethics involves the study and evaluation of the moral consequences of reflective choices of actions among alternatives that are not clear, or that are in conflict with one another. Although it can be debated whether we should teach ethics, the question arises as to wheather accounting educators should take up the challenge and sensitize their students to the ethical issues they will face throughout their professional careers. As an integral part of the first undergraduate programme in accountancy in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic developed a compulsory full-year subject, ethics in accountancy, for its final-year accountancy students. The Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Accountancy course, which was implemented in 1988, was accredited to replace the traditional professional diplomas under the UK model. In 1990 the subject ethics in accountancy was first taught to about 230 final-year students in Hong Kong. This paper reviews the process of developing the subject from its initial from to its present structure. Based on practical experience, the paper addresses the issue ‘Can ethics be taught?’ and the questions of why, what and how.     

Tax concepts and their importance in the undergraduate curriculum

Accounting and tax education groups have stressed the need to teach the undergraduate tax courses in a more conceptual manner. However, no conceptual framework for the taxation system has been developed. This exploratory study was conducted to survey the opinions of tax professionals regarding tax concepts and their general acceptance. The concepts identified in this study should serve as the foundation of an orderly theoretical structure for taxation. Finally, the results revealed that the normative concepts are stressed by tax educators in teaching the basic tax course, although in varying degrees of emphasis.     

Research in managerial accounting: Learning from others' experiences

The purpose of this paper is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of three research methods employed in managerial accounting: experimental, survey and field research. We do this by drawing on the three papers published in this issue of the Journal. These three papers provide the reader with a 'behind the scenes' exposé on the problems, choices and decisions confronted by the researcher during the method phase of the empirical study. The complexities associated with method are rarely reported in published papers nor is there any explanation of why effort is devoted to particular methodological issues. It is, however, important for the novice researcher to recognise these choices and problems, both when selecting a particular method, and in designing a study. We attempt to critique these papers in terms of choice of method and also the extent to which each of the studies satisfies the three 'maxims' of scientific method, namely, construct validity, internal validity and external validity. Our review demonstrates the trade-offs that are necessarily made when designing a research study. There are, however, ways in which the effects of these trade-offs can be minimised and we provide guidance as to how the study design might be improved to achieve this.     

Expectations and Perceptions of Overseas Students in a Post-graduate Corporate Accounting Subject: A Research Note

This study examines the expectations and perceptions of overseas students undertaking the post-graduate corporate accounting subject taught at an Australian university. An understanding of students' perceptions and expectations in learning of the subject is important in assisting accounting academics to enhance their teaching programmes, and to manage the diverse student cohorts which are now a feature of university classrooms in Australia. The findings show that overseas students expected the post-graduate corporate accounting subject to be challenging and interesting. Moreover, they expressed a strong desire that the subject should emphasise the practicalities of accounting.     

Rehabilitation of mining sites: do taxation and accounting systems legitimise the privileged or serve the community?

This paper explores both accounting standards and the taxation provisions with respect to the treatment of rehabilitation costs of mining entities in Australia. A special tax deduction is allowed only for expenditure actually incurred, yet the accounting standard provides a different calculative practice for the representation of the same event. With this example we demonstrate inconsistencies that exist between accounting and tax and although the accounting for income taxes standard accounts for the differences, we argue this merely legitimatises them. We challenge this false consciousness that assumes these inconsistencies are merely incidental and point out that these two systems, of tax and accounting, implicitly sustain and reinforce each other. These institutional practices perpetuate the privileges, powers and impact of the mining industry, whilst claiming to serve the community as a whole.     

Expert Systems in Accountancy: A Review of Some Recent Applications

This paper assesses the current and likely impact of expert systems on the accounting community.

The paper begins by briefly reviewing about twenty financially-oriented systems, including those which model expertise in the sub-domains of auditing, taxation advice, financial planning and business risk assessment. The predominantly narrow view taken by some authors in the literature is noted. An attempt is made to broaden this view by ascertaining why particular classes of application might have been chosen in preference to others, and to comment on the significance of this choice. The number and scope of applications are analysed, and some observations are made on their current state of development. Some conclusions are drawn on the suitability of expert systems for traditional accountancy tasks, and an assessment of their current level of success is made. Their likely future impact is considered and the conclusion is drawn that there are still many stumbling blocks in the way of successful implementations of large scale systems but that a useful niche may exist for smaller systems.     

THE REACTION TO CURRENT COST ACCOUNTING PROPOSALS BY GOVERNMENT REGULATORY AUTHORITIES*

The aim of this paper is to investigate the reaction to recent pronouncements on inflation accounting by two government regulatory authorities who have been major users of accounting data — the Monopolies and Mergers Commission in the United Kingdom and the Prices Justification Tribunal in Australia. The evidence indicates that:

• 1 the Monopolies Commission reacted quickly to accounting pronouncements and either allowed or requested companies to present accounting data based on current values; and
• 2 the PJT reacted to the CCA (and other) proposals by stating continually that it would “take into account” the effect of inflation on company returns, but was in a quandary on how to allow for the extremely low and sometimes negative CCA rates of return. The paper concludes by examining some of the reasons why the CCA proposals are not suitable for calculating accounting rates of return for prices justification purposes.

     

The role of financial reporting in debt contracting and in stewardship

In this paper, I review the role that financial accounting plays in contracts aimed at mitigating agency problems between shareholders and managers and between shareholders and debtholders. The paper discusses the reasons why and how financial accounting numbers are used in debt and stewardship contracting. It further considers the effects of conservatism and fair-value accounting on the relevance of financial reports for contracting. The paper provides some key takeaways from academic literature for accounting practice and regulation.     

The Case Against Asset Revaluations

The upward revaluation of non-current assets is a common feature of contemporary accounting in Australia. This paper presents a case against the practice. The effects of revaluations are examined and possible reasons why firms revalue are considered. It is argued that asset revaluation is theoretically unsound, being inconsistent with the accounting structure within which it occurs. It is concluded that there are significant costs but few obvious benefits associated with revaluation.     

Organizing tax instruction: Evidence regarding how students organize tax knowledge

An important part of accounting curriculum reform is a movement away from traditional methods of organizing accounting courses toward improved organization schemes. Two basic approaches to organizing the content of tax courses are a transaction-based scheme and an entity-based scheme. This paper reports the results of an experiment that investigates which scheme is more consistent with how incoming masters in tax students organize tax knowledge and how different schemes affect the manner in which graduating students organize tax knowledge. Ninety students drawn from two full-time masters in taxation programs participated in the study. Subjects individually completed three separate tasks that measured how they organize tax knowledge at both the start of their degree program and three semesters later at or near the end of their program. The results for all three tasks indicate that incoming tax students organize tax knowledge around the type of transaction involved. The results for two of the three tasks indicate that the students' transaction focus did not change during their graduate tax program, whereas the results for the third task indicate that the students' transaction focus increased during their graduate tax experience. The implications of these findings for improving tax instruction are discussed.     

Role of the Auditor-General: The ICAA View

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia has made the following submission to the Victorian government's review committee appointed to examine the Audit Act in the context of the national competition policy. This and the submission by the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants which follows are published with the permission of the accounting bodies.