Bob Jensen's Year 2002 New Bookmarks Editions for July 1 thru Spetember 30, 2002 Archives

By the Numbers

The 2001 report, The Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits, documents the demographics of the accounting profession. Anyone will find the report useful. It is available online at www.aicpa.org/members/div/career/edu/sagdpar.htm.

The data are based on an AICPA survey of colleges and universities that offer accounting degrees at the bachelor’s, master’s or PhD level and of public accounting firms and sole practitioners affiliated with the Institute.

SUPPLY DATA FROM COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
In 1999–2000, approximately 37,000 students received bachelor’s degrees in accounting and 8,000 earned master’s degrees. Compared to 1998– 1999, the number of bachelor’s degree recipients decreased 10%; however, the number of master’s degrees awarded increased 19%.

Schools in the Southern and Pacific states held steady compared to previous years while schools in the East and North Central regions awarded fewer bachelor’s degrees.

Considerably more females than males received bachelor’s degrees (58% to 42%), about equal percentages received master’s degrees (51% females to 49% males) while more males than females received PhDs (61% to 39%).

Minorities accounted for 20% of accounting bachelor’s and master’s graduates and for 22% of PhDs.

Approximately one-third of 1999–2000 bachelor’s degree recipients took positions with public accounting firms and about one-fourth began their careers in business and industry. A majority of master’s degree recipients (62%) went into public accounting. These proportions parallel 1998–1999 degree recipients.

Enrollments in accounting bachelor’s programs continued to drop (4.5%) from 1998–1999. However, enrollments in master’s programs increased by 10% and in master’s-in-taxation programs by 20%.

The number of candidates sitting for the CPA exam continued to drop. Exam candidates for 2000 totaled 115,493.

DEMAND DATA FROM PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRMS
Firms with 50 to 200 AICPA members and those with fewer than 10 members hired relatively fewer new graduates than in previous years. However, firms employing 10 to 49 members increased their hiring.

Over the years, the Institute has tracked the proportions of new hires working variously in accounting/auditing, taxation and management consulting. In 2000 almost two-thirds of the graduates (65%) accepted accounting or auditing positions, one-fourth took assignments in taxation and 5% began work in management consulting for public accounting firms.

The share of new hires accepting accounting or auditing positions showed the greatest growth—the share of new management consulting hires, the greatest decrease. The percentage of graduates hired into tax positions held steady.

Continuing a trend that began in the early ’90s, females made up the majority (56%) of new graduates hired by public accounting firms.

Twenty percent of new graduate hires were minorities—the same percentage as in the previous year.

Across all firms surveyed the annual turnover rate was 16%, up from 14% during 1999. Turnover rates and firm size were positively correlated.

In 2000 the turnover rate was higher for females than males, especially at the smaller firms.

The largest firms were the most ethnically and racially diverse.

DEMAND PROJECTIONS BY PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRMS
Firms predicted hiring trends compared with their actual hiring figures in 2000.* Firms projected the percentage change for 2001, 2003 and 2005. Predictions for 2001 over 2000 ranged from a 0% increase for the largest firms to a 2% increase for firms employing fewer than 10 members as well as for firms employing 50 to 200 members. Firms with 50 to 200 members were the most optimistic in their hiring estimates.

Firms’ estimates of growth in hiring of nonaccounting graduates were more conservative. Firms employing 50 to 200 members were, again, the most optimistic about long-term growth prospects.

*The survey, which was conducted during the second quarter of 2001, did not reflect either the downturn in the economy during the second half of 2001 or the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Education Innovations

Influenced by the Bedford report—the 1986 study of the gap between what accounting students learned in school and what accountants actually did on the job—Kansas State University (KSU) set out in 1990 to transform its accounting curriculum from the traditional “preparer” perspective to one focused on broader learning objectives that included

Ensuring that students who graduate had the technical and professional knowledge to succeed as accounting professionals.

Seeing that students who graduate had the professional skills necessary to implement their knowledge, including oral and written communication, interpersonal skills and the ability to think critically.

Attracting and retaining high-quality students to the curriculum.

THE REVISED CURRICULUM
In place today, the curriculum is a five-year program in which students graduate with a bachelor’s degree at the end of four years but are expected to stay and complete a master’s-in-accountancy degree. The five-year approach was chosen because the faculty realized a fifth year was necessary to achieve its objectives and not to comply with the advent of the 150-hour requirement.

The curriculum revision was based on two criteria: that students should understand simple topics before more complex topics and content would be based on how students learn, using Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive skills. (Bloom’s hierarchy begins with knowledge and comprehension, followed by application and analysis, synthesis and evaluation.) In contrast a traditional curriculum schedules courses based on the order topics appear on the balance sheet; the result is that the first course is intermediate accounting, which many consider the most difficult in terms of content. In the revised curriculum, therefore, topics were sequenced so students did not have to apply a higher skill level than their learning background supported. In addition integrated into every course were activities that promoted the skills the profession demands:

Group projects, which promote interpersonal skills.

Written assignments and presentations, which promote communication skills.

Research projects, which promote critical-thinking skills and learning how to think independently.

The curriculum also uses five levels:

Introductory-level courses have a “user” vs. a “preparer” perspective (because most students are not accounting majors), and also, these courses lend themselves to the recruitment effort described later. They focus on how the accounting system captures events and how accounting information is used for planning and evaluating.

Foundation-level courses provide the basis for all subsequent courses. They detail how the accounting system works and the theory and history of accounting standards.

Content-level courses introduce students to how various users employ data from the accounting system to meet their information needs.

Research-level courses are case-based, team-taught courses that cover tax, financial accounting and auditing and teach students how to use research tools to resolve ambiguous problems.

Graduate-level courses provide students with the opportunity to design a course of study with either a tax, financial, managerial or systems emphasis. An in-depth look at the curriculum is available at www.cba.ksu.edu/cba/grads/macc/curriculum.htm.

THE RECRUITING PROGRAM
Rather than use the “build it and they will come” approach, KSU said an objective of the new curriculum was to attract and retain the best possible students. As a result, the department developed an extensive program.

Two faculty members and the Accounting Advocates, a group of 10 to 12 graduate and undergraduate students, administer it. The Accounting Advocates are an essential component; they act as ambassadors for the department by making presentations to high schools, talking to visiting high school students and meeting with visiting dignitaries. Accounting students apply to be advocates in their junior year and serve throughout their graduate program.

The recruiting program targets high school teachers, counselors and students and undecided college freshmen and sophomores. Every school district in the state receives a recruiting video created by the accounting department. The recruiting program reaches

High school teachers and counselors. The schools-to-careers conference educates high school teachers about the opportunities an accounting career offers. It is a collaborative effort of the College of Business and the business education department of the College of Education.

High school students. The high school careers conference brings together high school students who are nominated by their teachers to attend. Students visit with young accounting professionals and go through team-building exercises and go to a tailgate party and football game. Students see positive accounting role models, learn about the career flexibility an accounting career has to offer and have fun.

College students. The professional accounting careers exploration dinner offers an opportunity to the best students in the introductory courses to meet with young professionals from public accounting and industry and an advocate to learn about careers.

SUCCESS
Compared to 1989, there are now 35% more accounting majors and the quality of students (as measured by ACT, SAT and GPA) has increased. Enrollment in the master’s program increased 500% over the same time period. This increase occurred in spite of the fact that the GPA required for admission to the accounting major was significantly increased.

—Dan Deines, CPA, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas

Teaching the Teacher

The teacher internship program (TIP) educates high school teachers about the accounting profession. Through TIP, state CPA societies connect teachers with firms and businesses in summer internships to provide them with “real world” business and accounting experience. Providing educators with professional business experience that can be incorporated into their classroom curriculum and learning activities results in well-educated students, which benefits business and the workforce as a whole.

The AICPA Foundation provided seed money to help develop a training program for state societies and to assist firms in paying for internships. In the summer of 2001 the Indiana state society piloted the TIP with great success. Heather Bunning, the society’s communications and public relations manager, worked with the IRS and Ernst & Young to provide internships respectively to Paulette Lewis, a high school business-education teacher, and Charlene King, a high school mathematics teacher.

AT THE IRS
Lewis saw many facets of the IRS at the Indianapolis office, including exams, appeals, advocate services, and taxpayer and practitioner education and communication. She learned about resources available to the public and to educators she could use in her classroom. She plans to open a volunteer income tax assistance site at her school to assist taxpayers during filing season. And conversely, Lewis provided the IRS with a fresh perspective on the materials needed by educators. According to IRS manager Ken Williams, the experience was invaluable: “Through Ms. Lewis’ experience, we hope to reach high school students so they view the IRS as a source of information and are better prepared when it comes time for filing returns.”

WORKING AT ERNST AND YOUNG
King’s internship was with the tax compliance group at E&Y. She attended both E&Y’s tax analyst training and firmwide orientation programs. In the tax compliance group, King worked on tax returns for individuals, non-U.S. residents, not-for-profit agencies and trusts. She expanded her technical skills and her knowledge of databases and computer software. She also learned of the many job opportunities available in the accounting and tax field. King said she had had a great experience at E&Y and was especially excited to be able to apply math topics using real-world examples for her students.

A resource guide was published to assist states or firms interested in implementing the program. To receive it, download a copy from www.aicpa.org/members/div/career/edu/index.htm.

It’s Career Day Again—Resource List

MATERIALS AVAILABLE—CPA iPACK
The AICPA offers the CPA Information Package (CPA iPACK). Its highlights are the “Takin’ Care of Business” video, education handbook and career guides. The 15-minute video features five young, successful CPAs in exciting careers ranging from an FBI special agent to the controller of the New York Jets. Combining animation with real-life profiles, this entertaining video also discusses CPA career opportunities. The handbook contains 15 lesson plans, with objectives and instruction procedures, topic overviews, student-learning activities and solution sets. The iPACK also contains 25 career guides that discuss services CPAs provide and the industries they work in, as well as earnings potential and the requirements for becoming a CPA. Enclosed also is a Presenter’s Guide, with topics of discussion and an order guide for purchasing additional CPA iPACKs or its components, a list of state CPA society contacts, a poster and a questionnaire/ evaluation form.

Orders for the iPACK or its individual components can be placed through CPA2Biz at 888-777-7077. The iPACK product number is 872530 and the cost is $20 plus shipping and handling.

TEACHER EDUCATION
To help teachers use the iPACK materials, the AICPA created the high school educator symposium concept. The symposium is an all-day conference (approximately 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) that can be held at various locations, including a state society’s facility, a college campus or a hotel. Teachers specializing in mathematics, economics and business education as well as career advisers, principals and administrators from targeted high schools are invited to attend. Guidance counselors and career advisers from colleges and universities in the area are invited as well. A resource guide is available to assist states or firms interested in implementing the program. To obtain a copy, download it from www.aicpa.org/members/div/career/edu/index.htm.

WORKING WITH BETA ALPHA PSI
Student recruiting with Beta Alpha Psi (BAP) is a program that educates and informs high school students of the career opportunities in accounting. Working through the state CPA societies, a CPA teams up with a BAP student to make presentations to high school audiences. The AICPA has prepared a resource guide for this program with guidelines and suggestions for implementing it. To obtain it, download a copy from www.aicpa.org/members/div/career/edu/index.htm.

"COOL" STUDENT WE SITES:
www.cpazone.org—Created by the Pennsylvania state society, the site contains interactive games, career information and prizes.

www.tomorrowscpa.org—The Maryland society’s site contains information for students about the accounting profession.

www.incpas.org/Students/index.htm—Using a nautical theme, the Indiana society’s Web page helps students “guide their way” to becoming a CPA.

www.calcpa.org/community/careers/index.html—The California society’s student Web page contains excellent profiles

*See also:*

•	Where Cheaters Often Prosper
•	Got Cheaters? Ask New Questions
•	Schools, Tech: Still Struggling

The Web puts answers to most questions -- not to mention ready-made term papers -- at students' fingertips. One educator says it's time to assign work that truly makes kids think.