The core competency framework: a new element in the continuing call for accounting education change in the United States

Professional accounting organizations and academicians in the United States have developed numerous frameworks and reports to address changes in the profession and to provide guidance for accounting educators in the implementation of curriculum change. In 1998, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) released the Core Competency Framework for Entry into the Accounting Profession as an educational component of its CPA Vision Project. The online resource provides direct assistance to educators around the world in the implementation and assessment of the framework's recommendations. The purpose of this paper and the accompanying matrix, Comparison of US Accounting Education Frameworks with the Core Competencies, is to survey the history of contemporary American accounting education frameworks and compare earlier works with the most recent effort by the profession to recommend and institute accounting education change in the United States.     

The need for change in accounting education: An educator survey

The Accounting Education Change Commission is leading an effort to change accounting education. Whether or not accounting faculty will support such change largely depends on whether or not they agree with the nature and extent of the needed change. This paper reports the results of a survey of 984 accounting faculty undertaken to determine views of accounting faculty concerning the issues involved in the accounting education change effort. Results indicate that although overall there is wide agreement that change is needed, there is significant disagreement over both the extent and form of that change. Evidence suggests that differences in the demographics of the teaching environment and differences in faculty background are associated with differences in perceptions of the extent and form of needed change.     

The plight of accounting education in Australia: a review article ∗

This paper summarizes the history and effects of the Australian Government's higher education lsquo;reformrsquo; agenda on the accounting discipline. After providing a brief historical perspective, the paper summarizes the contents of the Task Force for Accounting Education in Australia, a Report commissioned by the two major Australian professional accounting bodies. An overview of the Government's higher education Green and White Papers and their implications for the accounting discipline in higher education, is then provided. We then survey some of the key recommendations of the Report of the Review of the Accounting Discipline in Higher Education(The Mathews Report), an enquiry commissioned by the Australian Government after an intensive lobbying campaign by the accounting profession. The paper concludes with summary contents.     

Management accounting texts in New Zealand: the need for a paradigm shift

This paper questions the dominance in textbooks of a management accounting grounded largely in neo-classical economics and scientific management. In New Zealand the most popular textbook used in introductory management accounting courses is Horngren and Foster's Cost Accounting - a Managerial Emphasis.The current seventh edition of the text, although extensively used, is not regarded as adequate for the purpose by many New Zealand educators. The text is seen as being rootd firmly in the traditional understandings of the role of management accounting which are subject to increasing challenge. Other popular texts which are influencing the content of management accounting courses also are reviewed. We conclude that, despite much criticism over many years, modern textbooks have failed to evolve; change is overdue.     

Corporate investment and changes in GAAP

This paper investigates whether changes in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) affect corporate investment decisions. Using a sample containing forty nine changes in GAAP, I find that changes in accounting rules affect investment decisions. I then examine two mechanisms through which changes in GAAP affect investment. First, I find that changes in GAAP affect investment, particularly R&D expenditures, when firms have financial covenants that are affected by changes in GAAP. Second, I find evidence suggesting that the process of complying with some changes in GAAP alters managers’ information sets and consequently changes their investment decisions, particularly their capital and R&D expenditures and, to a weaker extent, their acquistion expenditures. This paper contributes to the literature on the real effects of accounting by providing evidence that accounting rules affect investment decisions even when the rule change does not concern the measurement and reporting of investment, and by documenting specific mechanisms through which the relation manifests.     

再谈会计等式的变化

会计恒等式完整地反映了企业财务状况和经营成果及其形成过程,是会计核算的理论依据,由于受会计计量模式、会计核算范围的影响,会计等式亦发生不同的变化,对企业资产价值产生结果,并且决定其提供的会计信息是否有用,本文对这一问题进行了初步探讨。     

The first steps towards harmonizing public sector accounting for European Union member states: strategies and perspectives

This paper analyses the process that led the European Commission to the decision to develop European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS) for harmonizing public sector accounting practices within the European Union. The paper finds that there was limited scope in terms of stakeholder participation in the public consultation that served as a basis for the decision. In addition, the decision to adopt EPSAS for EU member states raises questions on the relationship between regional and global governance in the area of public sector accounting.     

A fundamentalist perspective on accounting and implications for accounting research

This paper presents a framework for addressing normative accounting issues for reporting to shareholders. The framework is an alternative to the emerging Conceptual Framework of the International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board. The framework can be broadly characterized as a utilitarian approach to accounting standard setting. It has two main features. First, accounting is linked to valuation models under which shareholders use accounting information to values their stakes. Second, the desirable characteristics of accounting information are inferred from the demand of investors and analysts who use the information in practice. This stands in contrast to the “qualitative characteristics” in the Boards’ Framework which are embraced largely on the basis of their aesthetic appeal. These features lead to a set of broad accounting principles that resolve “recognition” and “measurement” issues at the core of the Boards’ Conceptual Framework and also the central issue of a balance sheet approach versus an income statement approach. The framework in the paper also frames the research questions for researchers interested in accounting policy.     

An examination of the work of the Accounting Education Change Commission 1989–1992

This paper reviews the literature concerning the Accounting Education Change commission(AECC)

and the most recent attempts to create a climate of change within accounting education in the United States.The background leading up to the creation of the AECC is briefly stated, followed by a commentary on the activities and pronouncements issued by the AECC so far. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the performance of the AECC project to date, and consideration of the implications for accounting education in other english-speaking countries.     

Global compliance with international accounting education guidelines

The International Accounting Education Guidelines (IAEG) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) issued since 1982 specify the components for the Professional preparation to become a qualified accountant.

This paper presents the results of a survey of compliance conducted in fifty-four countries outside the USA with International Accounting Education Guidelines (IAEG), as issued by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Its purpose is to provide a benchmark measure of compliance for current assessment of accounting education, and for reference in future studies. This study is the first attempt to examine compliance with IAEGs in all sectors of the world in which IFAC has members. The paper is divided into the following sections: international accounting education guidelines; survey questions; methodology; results; effectiveness of the guidelines, and summary and conclusions.     

A history of Japanese accounting reforms as a microfoundation of the democratic socio-economy: Accountics Part II

Immediately after WWII, unlike statisticians’ reforms, accountants failed to establish the Cabinet-controlled Accounting Committee and Accounting Law which were originally envisaged as the key to successful “Accountics”: the management of the socio-economy through standardized accounting (Part I). Nevertheless, July 1948 is regarded as the beginning of Japan’s accounting revolution, as academic accountants accomplished a series of fundamental reforms. Part II examines the process through which micro financial systems were swiftly developed as a microfoundation of the new “democratic” socio-economy. First, academics implemented new accounting for large companies in order to dilute the Zaibatsu- and Imperial-centred regime; followed by censored and standardized accounting education for SMEs and the public in order to change the public perception of the roles of businesses in society. The foci of examination are the political manoeuvres of reformers, the consequences of new accounting, and pragmatic philosophy of the academics in action. Towards the end of the paper, some implications of this history are considered in relation to the impacts of the IAS/IFRS on today’s international socio-economy.     

会计环境对企业会计准则执行效果的影响——基于应计质量的经验证据

本文旨在调查两个相互关联的问题:企业会计准则施行后财务报告应计质量是否发生了显著变化?这种变化是否与会计环境相关?我们采用经典的截面琼斯模型估计操控性应计利润,以其绝对值计量应计质量,利用2001~2009年7722个上市公司样本观察值进行了统计检验,发现企业会计准则施行后应计质量下降。在给定企业会计准则是一套高质量准则的前提下,我们进一步分析应计质量下降的原因。经验证据表明:在会计环境不同的地区,上市公司应计质量的变化存在系统性差异。这反映会计环境影响了企业会计准则的执行效果。     

Discussion of Accounting Discretion in Fair Value Estimates: An Examination of SFAS 142 Goodwill Impairments

Beatty and Weber examine an accounting choice that managers made upon adoption of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards 142: whether to record a goodwill asset impairment as a cumulative effect of an accounting change at the time of adoption or delay the recognition of such an impairment to the future (perhaps indefinitely) when they would be recorded as expenses in earnings from continuing operations. The authors consider several factors that might influence management's reporting of transition effects, including contracting, equity market incentives, and regulatory forces. Participants at the 2005 Journal of Accounting Research Conference questioned whether such a complex accounting decision can be captured with simple linear models and noisy proxy variables, while also speculating upon whether the results would generalize to other settings. In this discussion, I summarize Beatty and Weber's research, highlight its contribution to the accounting literature, and provide a record of the main issues raised by the conference participants.     

Back to the Future: The Broadening Accounting Trajectory

Contemporary accounting practice has shown signs of a broadening scope of activities being undertaken both from within and as a service provided to organizations. Based upon a historiographic linking of past and present, this paper examines the past 100 years of broadening professional practice in the discipline as a basis for offering a presentist examination and critique of contemporary accounting education and research opportunities. The scope of what constitutes accounting work is found to have been expanding for over 100 years, becoming increasingly at variance with accountants’ traditional beancounter image. Recent professional accounting association investigations reveal an array of contemporary environmental factors that have accelerated this broadening of the profession’s scope into financial planning, assurance services, strategic, risk, knowledge and change management, and management advisory services. This has called for an expanded accounting skills base which has gained momentum towards the end of the 20^th century. The elements of some of these developing areas of professional work and their implications for contemporary and future education and research are examined.     

Problems and Opportunities of an International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities. The EAA FRSC's Comment on the IASB's Discussion Paper

In June 2004 the IASB issued the Discussion Paper ‘Preliminary Views on Accounting Standards for Small and Medium-Sized Entities’. This invited comments on the central question of whether the IASB should develop separate standards for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and on further issues and questions arising from this. This paper briefly introduces the background to the publication of the Discussion Paper. This is followed by a review of prior literature on SME financial reporting implications, prepared by the European Accounting Association's Financial Reporting Standards Committee as the basis of its response to the Discussion Paper. The paper concludes with a brief summary of events and issues arising since the end of the consultation period.     

Anticipating the Impact of IFRS on the Management of German Manufacturing Companies: Some Observations from a British Perspective

The introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in 2005 marked a significant departure from Germany's traditional financial accounting practices. This paper questions whether this change may have consequential effects on the distinctive traditional management accounting practices in the field of Controlling. We examine the possible impact on manufacturing companies drawing upon perceptions and expectations of managers in three Bavarian companies and two management consultancy firms. We consider whether financial accounting will assume an increased importance within firms, and whether this may lead to abandonment of some traditional management accounting practices and the adoption of different techniques in internal reporting compatible with the new IFRS regime for external reporting. This prompts consideration of whether such changes would lead to financial accounting domination of management accounting in Germany analogous to that argued by Johnson and Kaplan in 1987 in their ‘Relevance Lost’ thesis. We conclude that, at this juncture in the development of their information systems, German managers face an important choice between integrating external and internal reporting in ways that might fundamentally change established Controlling practices, or of continuing to operate dual accounting systems in much the same way as in the past so that adoption of IFRS is restricted to external reporting.     

提高《会计专业英语》教学质量的思考

随着我国会计国际化的进程,会计环境发生了变化,这就对高校会计教育提出了更高的要求.培养学生在会计专业领域里的国际视野,是开设会计专业英语课的目的所在.本文从会计专业英语教学的实践出发,阐述了提高会计专业英语教学质量的一些思考.     

A Critical Theory and Postmodernist approach to the teaching of accounting theory

This paper outlines my teaching philosophy for the Accounting Theory subject. A Critical Theory and Postmodernist approach is recommended, which makes full use of non-accounting “tangential” material [Boyce G. Critical accounting education: teaching and learning outside the circle. Critical Perspectives on Accounting 2004;15(4/5):565–86] and material from popular culture [Kell P. A teacher's tool kit: an introduction to social theory. In: Allen J, editor. Sociology of education: possibilities and practices. 3rd ed. Southbank, Melbourne: Social Science Press; 2004. p. 29–51 [chapter 2]; Nilan P. ‘Reality TV’? School students and popular culture. In: Allen J, editor. Sociology of education: possibilities and practices. 3rd ed. Southbank, Melbourne: Social Science Press; 2004. p. 306–21 [chapter 14]]. The paper discusses some classroom interactive activities, as well as interview results from interviews conducted with 11 international students and one Australian student at Charles Sturt University. The teaching approach proposed in this paper is to conduct classroom interactive activities which study theories and research results from a range of disciplines in order to illustrate key points that apply equally as much to accounting theories and the accounting research process, e.g. the Positive/Normative dichotomy. Classroom interactive activities are discussed in class using the “dialogical approach” to education recommended by Freire [Freire P. Pedagogy of the oppressed. London: Pelican; 1996], Kaidonis [Kaidonis MA. Teaching and learning critical accounting using media texts as reflexive devices: conditions for transformative action or reinforcing the status quo? Critical Perspectives on Accounting 2004;15(4/5):667–73], Boyce [Boyce G. Critical accounting education: teaching and learning outside the circle. Critical Perspectives on Accounting 2004;15(4/5):565–86], and Thomson [Thomson I, Bebbington J. It doesn’t matter what you teach? Critical Perspectives on Accounting 2004;15(4/5):609–28]. Once students gain experience in studying material from outside accounting, the interview results suggest that they are then better motivated [Wynder M. Creative management accountants: short case studies to promote creativity in the classroom. In: Paper presented at the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand annual conference; 2006] and better equipped to study and evaluate accounting theories.     

基于平衡计分卡的会计师事务所绩效评价问题研究

企业绩效评价问题是任何一个经济体系中的核心问题,会计师事务所作为智力密集型企业在绩效评价方面面临很多问题。本文在阐释会计师事务所绩效评价现状的基础上,提出将目前在国外广泛应用的平衡记分卡应用于会计师事务所的绩效评价,并围绕这一问题进行进一步分析和说明。     

Making imaginary worlds real: The case of expensing employee stock options

West [West, B. (2003). Professionalism and accounting rules. London: Routledge] and Chambers [Chambers, R. J. (1966). Accounting evaluation and economic behavior. Houston: Scholars Book Company] have provocatively argued that financial reporting has reached a state of near-total incoherence. In this paper, we argue that a source of this incoherence is the transformation of the US accounting academy into a sub-discipline of financial economics, a transformation in which accounting became a servant of the imaginary world of neoclassical economics. After noting the unusually prominent role of rules within the accounting profession, we describe the displacement of accounting’s centuries-old root metaphor of accountability by the metaphor of information usefulness, and situate that displacement within neoliberalism, a broader political movement that arose after World War II. Finally, we use SFAS 123R, the recently issued stock option standard, as a case study of the incoherence that West and Chambers assert. Through various issues – such as reflexivity, theory paradox, and unexplained questions of responsibility – we demonstrate the logical inconsistencies involved in SFAS 123F. The incoherence of stock option reporting rules raises serious questions about the information metaphor as a foundation for either individual rules or the standard setting process. The Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) attempts to make the imaginary world of neoclassical economics real have resulted in rules which are not defensible.