Humor Between June 1 and June 30, 2007

Forwarded by Paula

My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion and I kept staring at a tipsy lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table. My wife asks, "Do you know her?"

"Yes," I sighed, "She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to the bottle right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since."

"My goodness!" says my wife, "Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?"

So you see, there really are two ways to look at everything.

From Shirley Foye [ShirleyFoye2@msn.com]

FENDER SKIRTS           
Memories, memories --- I came across this phrase yesterday "FENDER SKIRTS".

A term I haven't heard in a long time and thinking about "fender skirts" started me thinking about other words that quietly disappear from our language with hardly a notice like "curb feelers"

And "steering knobs." (AKA) suicide knob

Since I'd been thinking of cars, my mind naturally went that direction first. Any kids will probably have to find some elderly person over 50 to explain some of these terms to you.

Remember "Continental kits?" They were rear bumper extenders and spare tire covers that were supposed to make any car as cool as a Lincoln Continental.

When did we quit calling them "emergency brakes?" At some point "parking brake" became the proper term. But I miss the hint of drama that went with "emergency brake."

I'm sad, too, that almost all the old folks are gone who would call the accelerator the "foot feed."

Didn't you ever wait at the street for your daddy to come home, so you could ride the "running board" up to the house?

Here's a phrase I heard all the time in my youth but never anymore - "store-bought." Of course, just about everything is store-bought these days. But once it was bragging material to have a store-bought dress or a store-bought bag of candy.

"Coast to coast" is a phrase that once held all sorts of excitement and now means almost nothing. Now we take the term "world wide" for granted This floors me.

On a smaller scale, "wall-to-wall" was once a magical term in our homes. In the '50s, everyone covered his or her hardwood floors with, wow,  wall-to-wall carpeting! Today, everyone replaces their wall-to-wall carpeting with hardwood floors. Go figure.

 When's the last time you heard the quaint phrase "in a family way?" It's hard to imagine that the word "pregnant" was once considered a little too graphic, a little too clinical for use in polite company So we had all that  talk about stork visits and "being in a family way" or simply "expecting."

Apparently "brassiere" is a word no longer in usage. I said it the other day and my daughter cracked up. I guess it's just "bra" now. "Unmentionables" probably wouldn't be understood at all. I always loved going to the "picture show," but I considered "movie" an affectation.

Most of these words go back to the '50s, but here's a pure-'60s word I came across the other day - "rat fink." Ooh, what a nasty put-down!

 Here's a word I miss - "percolator." That was just a fun word to say. And what was it replaced with? "Coffee maker." How dull. Mr. Coffee, I blame you for this.

I miss those made-up marketing words that were meant to sound so modern and now sound so retro. Words like "DynaFlow" and "Electrolux." Introducing the 1963 Admiral TV, now with "SpectraVision!"

Food for thought - Was there a telethon that wiped out lumbago? Nobody complains of that anymore. Maybe that's what castor oil cured, because I never hear mothers threatening kids with castor oil anymore.

Some words aren't gone, but are definitely on the endangered list. The one that grieves me most "supper." Now everybody says "dinner." Save a great word. Invite someone to supper. Discuss fender skirts.

Forwarded by Auntie Bev

Senior Moments

A distraught senior citizen phoned her doctor's office. "Is it true," she wanted to know, "that the medication you prescribed has to be taken for the rest of my life?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so," the doctor told her.

There was a moment of silence before the senior lady replied,

"I'm wondering, then, just how serious is my condition because this prescription is marked 'NO REFILLS.'"

-----------------------------------------

An older gentleman was on the operating table awaiting surgery and he insisted that his son, a renowned surgeon, perform the operation.

As he was about to get the anesthesia he asked to speak to his son.

"Yes, Dad, what is it?"

"Don't be nervous, son; do your best and just remember, if it doesn't go well, if something happens to me, your mother is going to come and live with you and your wife...."

-----------------------------------------

Aging: Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.

------------------------------------------

The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.

------------------------------------------

Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.

--------------------------------------------

When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra.

---------------------------------------------

You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.

----------------------------------------------

I don't know how I got over the hill without getting to the top.

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One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young.

----------------------------------------------

Ah, being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.

-----------------------------------------------

First you forget names, then you forget faces. Then you forget to pull up your zipper. It's worse when you forget to pull it down.

-------------------------------------------

Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today, it's called golf.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two old guys are pushing their carts around Wal-Mart when they collide. The first old guy says to the second guy, "Sorry about that. I'm looking for my wife, and I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." The second old guy says, "That's OK, It's a coincidence. I'm looking for my wife, too. I can't find her and I'm getting a little desperate." The first old guy says, "Well, maybe I can help you find her. What does she look like?" The second old guy says: "Well, she is 27 yrs old! , tall, with red hair, blue eyes, long legs, and is wearing short shorts. What does you wife look like?" To which the first old guy says, "Doesn't matter, --- let's look for yours." *********

Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth...AMEN!

Forwarded by Barb Hessel

Subject: Divorce

Two Norwegians from Wisconsin are sittin' in a boat on Dead Lake.

Fishing and suckin' down beer, when all of a sudden Sven says,

"I think I'm going to divorce my wife. She hasn't spoken to me in over six months."

Ole sips his beer and after a while says, "You better think it over. Women like that are hard to find."

For more about Sven, Ole and Lena go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_and_Lena 

Forwarded by Bob Overn

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. "Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.  But what about the other six men, the paying customers?  How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'  They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be
fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20, declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

Where to children get their ideas from?  --- http://www.btinternet.com/~knutty.knights/adult_children.html

How to write a paper in college/university --- http://asil.logicalinsanity.ca/300college paper.html

Forwarded by Team Carper

BUTCH the ROOSTER

John the farmer was in the fertilized egg business. He had several hundred young layers called "pullets" (for you city folk) and ten roosters, whose job it was to fertilize the eggs. The farmer kept records and any rooster that didn't perform went into the soup pot and was replaced. That took an awful lot of his time, so he bought a set of tiny bells and attached them to his roosters. Each bell had a different tone so John could tell from a distance, which rooster was performing.

Now he could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report simply by listening to the bells. The farmer's favorite rooster was old Butch and a very fine specimen he was, too.

But on this particular morning John noticed old Butch's bell hadn't rung at all! John went to investigate. The other roosters were chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing. The pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover. But to Farmer John's amazement, old Butch had his bell in his beak, so it couldn't ring.

He would sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one. John was so proud of old Butch, he entered him in the County Fair and he became an overnight sensation among the judges.

The result...The judges not only awarded old Butch the No Bell Piece Prize but they also awarded him the Pulletsurprise as well.

Clearly old Butch was a politician in the making:

Who else but a politician could figure out how to win two of the most highly coveted awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the populace and screwing them when they weren't paying attention.

Forwarded by Dick Haar

What is patience?

Now that I'm older,
People think I have more patience.
Turns out, however, that
I just don't give a sh _ _!

Forwarded by the Regens

The Japanese have finally revealed a mystery for you.

How does the small arrow on your computer monitor work when we move the mouse?

Haven't you ever wondered how it works?

Now, through the miracle of high technology, we can see how it is done. With the aid of a screen magnifying lens, the mechanism becomes apparent.

Click on the link below and you will find out. When the light grey circle appears, slowly move your mouse over it and you will see how the magic works.

Follow this link and find out the truth

Click Here: Check out "1-click Award by "
http://www.1-click.jp/ 

Forwarded by Auntie Bev

I dialed a number and got the following recording:
"I am not available right now, but Thank you for caring enough to call. I am making some changes in my life. Please leave a message after the Beep. If I do not return your call, You are one of the changes."
~~~~~
Aspire to inspire before you expire.
~~~~~
My wife and I had words,
But I didn't get to use mine.
 ~~~~~
Frustration is trying to find your glasses without your glasses.
~~~~~
Blessed are those who can give without remembering
And take without forgetting.
~~~~~
The irony of life is that, by the time you're old enough to know your way around, you're not going anywhere.
~~~~~
God made man before woman so as to give him time to think of an answer for her first question.
~~~~~
I was always taught to respect my elders,
But it keeps getting harder to find one.
~~~~~
Every morning is the dawn of a new error.
~~~~~
The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, "Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

Forwarded by Dick Haar

A woman went to a pet shop & immediately spotted a large, beautiful parrot..

There was a sign on the cage that said $50.00.

"Why so little," she asked the pet store owner.

The owner looked at her and said, "Look, I should tell you first that this bird

used to live in a house of Prostitution and sometimes it says some pretty vulgar stuff."

The woman thought about this, but decided she had to have the bird anyway.

Sh! e took i t home and hung the bird's cage up in her living room and waited

for it to say something.

The bird looked around the room, then at her, and said "New house, new madam."

The woman was a bit shocked at the implication, but then thought

"that's really not so bad."

When her 2 teenage daughters returned from school the bird saw them and said,

"New house, new madam, new girls."

The girls and the woman were a bit offended but then began to laugh about the

situation considering how and where the parrot had been raised.

Moments later, the woman's husband Keith came home from work.

The bird looked at him and said,

"Hi, Keith!"

Forwarded by Auntie Bev

The Three Little Pigs

Three Little Pigs went out to dinner one night. The waiter came and took their drink order.

"I would like a Sprite," said the first little piggy.

"I would like a Coke," said the second little piggy.

"I want beer, lots and lots of beer," said the third little piggy.

The drinks were brought out and the waiter took their orders for dinner.

"I want a nice big steak," said the first piggy.

"I would like the salad plate," said the second piggy.

"I want beer, lots and lots of beer," said the third little piggy.

The meals were brought out and a while later the waiter approached the table and asked if the piggies would like any dessert.

"I want a banana split," said the first piggy.

"I want a cheesecake," said the second piggy.

"I want beer, lots and lots of beer," exclaimed the third little piggy.

"Pardon me for asking," said the waiter to the third little piggy,"

But why have you only ordered beer all evening?"

You're gonna LOVE me for this....

The third piggy says -

"Well, somebody has to go 'Wee, wee, wee, all the way home!

Forwarded by Dick Haar

Two robins were sitting in a tree.

"I'm really hungry," said the first one. "Let's fly down and find some lunch."

They flew down to the ground and found a nice plot of newly plowed ground that was full of worms. They ate and ate and ate till they could eat no more.

"I am so full, I don't think I can fly back up into the tree," said the first one.

"Let's just lay back here and bask in the warm sun," said the second.

"O K," said the first. So they plopped down, basking in the sun.

No sooner than they had fallen asleep, when a big fat tomcat sneaks up and gobbles them up. As the cat sat washing his face after his meal, he thought...

(scroll down)

(ready??)

(you're gonna like this one)

"I JUST LOVE BASKIN ROBINS."

Forwarded by Dick Haar

The Journey of Man

When I was 14, I hoped that one day I would have a girlfriend.

When I was 16 I got a girlfriend, but there was no passion, so I decided I needed a passionate girl with a zest for life.

In college I dated a passionate girl, but she was too emotional. Everything was an emergency; she was a drama queen, cried all the ime and threatened suicide. So I decided I needed a girl with stability.

When I was 25 I found a very stable girl but she was boring. She was totally predictable and never got excited about anything. Life became so dull that I decided that I needed a girl with some excitement.

When I was 28 I

found an exciting girl, but I couldn't keep up with her. She rushed from one thing to another, never settling on anything. She did mad impetuous things and made me miserable as often as happy. She was great fun initially and very energetic, but directionless. So I decided to find a girl with some real ambition.

When I turned 31, I found a smart ambitious girl with her feet planted firmly on the ground and married her.

She was so ambitious that she divorced me and took everything I owned.

I am now older and wiser and looking for a girl with big boobs!

The now-famous Sears 1975 Catalog --- http://www.snopes.com/business/hidden/sears.asp

Forwarded by Auntie Bev

A Saudi couple, Ahmed and Layla, preparing for their wedding, meet with their Mullah for counselling.

The Mullah asks if they have any last questions before they leave. Ahmed asks, "We realize it's tradition in Islam for men to dance with men, and women to dance with women. But, at our wedding reception, we'd like your permission to dance together."

"Absolutely not," says the Mullah. "It's immoral. Men and women always dance separately."

"So after the ceremony I can't even dance with my own wife?"

"No," answered the Mullah, "It's forbidden."

"Well, okay," says Ahmed, "What about sex? Can we finally have sex?" "Of course!" replies the Mullah, "Allah Akbar! (GOD is great) Sex is

OK within marriage, to have children!"

"What about different positions?" asks the man.

"Allah Akbar! Mafi Mushkila (no problem)," says the Mullah.

"Woman on top?" Ahmed asks.

"Sure," says the Mullah. "Allah Akbar. Go for it!"

"Doggy style?"

"Sure! Allah Akbar!"

"On the kitchen table?"

"Yes, yes! Allah Akbar!"

"Can I do it with all my four wives together on rubber sheets with a bottle of hot oil, a couple of vibrators, leather harnesses, a bucket of honey and a porno video?"

"You may indeed. Allah Akbar!"

"Can we do it standing up?"

"No, absolutely not!" says the Mullah."

"Why not?" asks the man.

"Because that could lead to dancing!"

Forwarded by Auntie Bev

Drinks that Show Personality

Before you order a drink in public, you should read this! Seven New York City bartenders were asked if they could 'nail' a woman's personality based on what she drinks. Though interviewed separately, they concurred on almost all counts. The results:

PART A: WOMEN-DRINKS, WHO THEY ARE, & YOU!

Drink: Beer Personality: Causal, low-maintenance; down to earth. Your Approach: Challenge her to a game of pool.

Drink: Blender Drinks Personality: Flaky, whiny, annoying; a pain in the ass. Your Approach: Avoid her, unless you want to be her cabana boy.

Drink: Mixed Drinks Personality: Older, more refined, high maintenance, has very picky taste; knows EXACTLY what she wants. Your Approach: You won't have to approach her. If she's interested, she'll send YOU a drink..................

Drink: Wine (does not include White Zinfandel) Personality: Conservative and classy; sophisticated yet giggles. Your Approach: Tell her you love to travel and spend quiet evenings with my friends. Drink: White Zinfandel Personality: Easy; thinks she is classy and sophisticated, actually, she has NO clue. Your Approach: Make her feel smarter than she is...this should be an easy target. Drink: Shots Personality: Likes to hang with frat-boy pals and looking to get totally drunk... and naked. Your Approach: Easiest hit in the joint. You have been blessed. Nothing to do but wait, however, be careful not to make her mad!

Drink: Tequila No explanations required - everyone just KNOWS what happens there.

PART B: MAN-DRINKS & WHO THE MEN ARE!

THEN, there is the MALE addendum -- The deal with guys is, as always, very simple and clear cut:

Domestic Beer: He's poor and wants to get laid.

Imported Beer: He likes good beer and wants to get laid .

Wine: He is hoping that the wine will give him a sophisticated image to help him get laid.

Whiskey: He doesn't give a damn about anything but getting laid. Tequila: He is thinking he has a chance with the toothless waitress.

White Zinfandel: He's gay

Forwarded by Auntie Bev

Invest in a Sure Thing

If you had purchased $1000.00 of Nortel stock one year ago, it Would now be worth $49.00.

With Enron, you would have had $16.50 left of the original $1000.00.

With WorldCom, you would have had less than $5.00 left.

If you had purchased $1000 of Delta Air Lines stock you would have had $49.00 left

But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum Recycling REFUND, you would have had $214.00.

Forwarded by Paula

Cleaning Poem

I asked the Lord to tell me Why my house is such a mess. He asked if I'd been 'computering', And I had to answer "yes."

He told me to get off my fanny And tidy up the house. And so I started cleaning up... The smudges off my mouse.

I wiped and shined the topside. That really did the trick... I was just admiring my work... I didn't mean to 'click.'

But click, I did, and oops I found A real absorbing site That I got SO way into... I was into it all night.<<Sigh>>

Nothing's changed except my mouse It's very, very shiny. I guess my house will stay a mess... While I sit here on my hiney.

I love my computer because my friends live in it.

Forwarded by Paula

Q: Where can women over the age of 60 find young, sexy men, who are interested in them? A: Try a bookstore under fiction.

Q: What can a man do while his wife is going through menopause? A: Keep busy. If you're handy with tools, you can finish the basement. When you are done you will have a place to live.

Q: How can you increase the heart rate of your 60+ year old husband? A: Tell him you're pregnant.

Q: How can you avoid spotting a wrinkle every time you walk by a mirror? A: The next time you're in front of a mirror, take off your glasses.

Q: Why should 60+ year old people use valet parking? A: Valets don't forget where they park your car.

Q: Is it common for 60+ year olds to have problems with short term memory storage? A: Storing memory is not a problem, retrieving it is a problem.

Q: As people age, do they sleep more soundly? A: Yes, but usually in the afternoon.

Q: Where do 60+ year olds look for fashionable glasses? A: Their foreheads.

Q: What is the most common remark made by 60+ year olds when they enter antique stores? A: "I remember these!"

Forwarded by Paula

Accountant Mating Season

Two accountants and a West Virginia Hillbilly were walking through the woods. All of a sudden one of the accountants ran up a hill to the mouth of a small cave.

"Wooooo! Wooooo! Wooooo!"he called into the cave and listened Closely until he heard an answering, "Wooooo! Wooooo! Woooooo! He then tore off his clothes and ran into the cave.

The Hillbilly was puzzled and asked the remaining accountant what it was all about "Was the other accountant crazy or what?” The accountant replied "No, It is our custom during mating season when accountant men see cave, they holler 'Wooooo! Wooooo! Wooooo!' into the opening. If they get an answer back, it means there's a beautiful woman in there waiting for us."

Just then they came upon another cave. The second accountant ran up to the cave, stopped, and hollered, "Wooooo! Wooooo! Wooooo!” Immediately, there was the answer. "Wooooo! Wooooo! Wooooo!"from deep inside. He also tore off his clothes and ran into the opening.

The Hillbilly wandered around in the woods alone for a while, and then spied a third large cave. As he looked in amazement at the size of the huge opening, he was thinking, "Hoo, man! Look at the size of this cave!

It is bigger than those the accountants found. There must be some really big, fine women in this cave!” He stood in front of the opening and hollered with all his might "Wooooo! Wooooo! Wooooo!"

Like the others, he then heard an answering call, "WOOOOOOOOO, WOOOOOOOOO WOOOOOOOOO!"

With a gleam in his eye and a smile on his face, he raced into the cave, tearing off his clothes as he ran.

The following day, the headline of the local newspaper read....

wait for it…

NAKED HILLBILLY RUN OVER BY TRAIN

Tidbits Directory for Earlier Months and Years --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm

New Bookmarks Directory for Earlier Months and Years --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookurl.htm

Bob Jensen's Threads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Threads.htm

And that's the way it was on June 30, 2007 with a little help from my friends.

 

Fraud Updates --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm

 

Facts about the earth in real time --- http://www.worldometers.info/ 

Jesse's Wonderful Music for Romantics (You have to scroll down to the titles) --- http://www.jessiesweb.com/

International Accounting News (including the U.S.)

AccountingEducation.com and Double Entries --- http://www.accountingeducation.com/
        Upcoming international accounting conferences --- http://www.accountingeducation.com/events/index.cfm
        Thousands of journal abstracts --- http://www.accountingeducation.com/journals/index.cfm
Deloitte's International Accounting News --- http://www.iasplus.com/index.htm
Association of International Accountants --- http://www.aia.org.uk/ 

Free Harvard Classics --- http://www.bartleby.com/hc/
Free Education and Research Videos from Harvard University --- http://athome.harvard.edu/archive/archive.asp

 

I highly recommend TheFinanceProfessor (an absolutely fabulous and totally free newsletter from a very smart finance professor, Jim Mahar from St. Bonaventure University) --- http://www.financeprofessor.com/ 

 

Bob Jensen's bookmarks for accounting newsletters are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob1.htm#News 

News Headlines for Accounting from TheCycles.com --- http://www.thecycles.com/business/accounting 
An unbelievable number of other news headlines categories in TheCycles.com are at http://www.thecycles.com/ 

 

Jack Anderson's Accounting Information Finder --- http://www.umsl.edu/~anderson/accsites.htm

 

Gerald Trite's great set of links --- http://www.zorba.ca/bookmark.htm 

 

The Finance Professor --- http://www.financeprofessor.com/about/aboutFP.html 

 

Walt Mossberg's many answers to questions in technology --- http://ptech.wsj.com/

 

How stuff works --- http://www.howstuffworks.com/ 

 

Household and Other Heloise-Style Hints --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob3.htm#Hints 

 

Bob Jensen's video helpers for MS Excel, MS Access, and other helper videos are at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/video/ 
Accompanying documentation can be found at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/default1.htm and http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HelpersVideos.htm 

 

Click on www.syllabus.com/radio/index.asp for a complete list of interviews with established leaders, creative thinkers and education technology experts in higher education from around the country.

 

Professor Robert E. Jensen (Bob) http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen
190 Sunset Hill Road
Sugar Hill, NH 03586
Phone:  603-823-8482 
Email:  rjensen@trinity.edu  

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 31, 2007

Bob Jensen's New Bookmarks on May 31, 2007
Bob Jensen at Trinity University 

For earlier editions of Tidbits go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmarks go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm 

Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter --- Search Site.
For example if you want to know what Jensen documents have the term "Enron" enter the phrase Jensen AND Enron. Another search engine that covers Trinity and other universities is at http://www.searchedu.com/.

Bob Jensen's Blogs --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/JensenBlogs.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called New Bookmarks --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Tidbits --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud Updates --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
 

Bob Jensen's past presentations and lectures --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Presentations   
 

Bob Jensen's various threads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm
       (Also scroll down to the table at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ )

Roles of a ListServ --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ListServRoles.htm

Click here to search this Website if you have key words to enter --- Search Site.
For example if you want to know what Jensen documents have the term "Enron" enter the phrase Jensen AND Enron. Another search engine that covers Trinity and other universities is at http://www.searchedu.com/

Bob Jensen's Home Page is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/

Accountancy Discussion ListServs:

For an elaboration on the reasons you should join a ListServ (usually for free) go to   http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ListServRoles.htm

AECM (Educators)  http://pacioli.loyola.edu/aecm/  AECM is an email Listserv list which provides a forum for discussions of all hardware and software which can be useful in any way for accounting education at the college/university level. Hardware includes all platforms and peripherals. Software includes spreadsheets, practice sets, multimedia authoring and presentation packages, data base programs, tax packages, World Wide Web applications, etc Roles of a ListServ --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ListServRoles.htm

CPAS-L (Practitioners) http://pacioli.loyola.edu/cpas-l/  CPAS-L provides a forum for discussions of all aspects of the practice of accounting. It provides an unmoderated environment where issues, questions, comments, ideas, etc. related to accounting can be freely discussed. Members are welcome to take an active role by posting to CPAS-L or an inactive role by just monitoring the list. You qualify for a free subscription if you are either a CPA or a professional accountant in public accounting, private industry, government or education. Others will be denied access.

Yahoo (Practitioners)  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/xyztalk This forum is for CPAs to discuss the activities of the AICPA. This can be anything  from the CPA2BIZ portal to the XYZ initiative or anything else that relates to the AICPA.

AccountantsWorld  http://accountantsworld.com/forums/default.asp?scope=1  This site hosts various discussion groups on such topics as accounting software, consulting, financial planning, fixed assets, payroll, human resources, profit on the Internet, and taxation.

Business Valuation Group BusValGroup-subscribe@topica.com  This discussion group is headed by Randy Schostag [RSchostag@BUSVALGROUP.COM]

Tidbits and Quotations Between May 1 and May 31, 2007

2007
May 1                      May 6                   May 15             May 23

Tidbits Directory for Earlier Months and Years --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm

Click Here for Humor Between May 1 and May 31, 2007 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book07q2.htm#Humor053107 

Bob Jensen's complete set of Enron Updates are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnron.htm#EnronUpdates

Bob Jensen's threads on the Enron scandal are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnron.htm

A Concise 20th Century Accounting History (along with some unrelated history) Timeline --- http://www1.ficpa.org/ficpa/Members/Centennial/Timeline

A Concise History of Money Timeline --- http://www.mcachicago.org/massivechange/timelines/markets.pdf

Bob Jensen's accounting history threads are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/theory01.htm#AccountingHistory

New Book on Fair Value and Financial Reporting

May 17, 2006 message from Peter Walton

I would like to take this opportunity to let you know about a forthcoming book from Routledge:

The Routledge Companion to Fair Value and Financial Reporting --- Click Here

Edited by Peter Walton

May 2007: 246x174: 406pp

Hb: 978-0-415-42356-4: £95.00 $170.00

Jensen Comment
Even though I have a paper published in this book, I will receive no compensation from sales of the book. And since I'm retired, lines on a resume no longer matter.

Also see "Few Companies Ready for Fair Value Measurement," SmartPros, May 18, 2007 ---
http://accounting.smartpros.com/x57708.xml

Bob Jensen's threads on fair value reporting are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/theory01.htm#FairValue

New publication on post-employment benefits
From IAS Plus on May 26, 2007 --- http://www.iasplus.com/index.htm

Deloitte & Touche LLP (United States) has published A Roadmap to the Accounting and Regulatory Aspects of Postretirement Benefits (PDF 1,521k, 188 pages). This publication summarises the common types of postretirement benefits, their funding requirements, and associated statutory and accounting guidance in the United States. An appendix contains a comparison of the accounting for postretirement benefits under US GAAP and IFRSs. The book is divided as follows: Benefits and Plans. This section notes that postretirement benefits can be classified in various ways, including (1) defined benefit versus defined contribution and (2) pension benefits versus other postretirement benefits. This section discusses the various plans, distinguishing between them for tax, regulatory, and accounting purposes. Funding/Management of Plan Assets. The funding of postretirement benefits continues to garner media attention because of concerns over the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's deficit and the ability of employers to make good on their pension and other postretirement obligations. This section discusses the funding and management of defined contribution plans and defined benefit plans, including Internal Revenue Service and Employee Retirement Income Security Act considerations. Statutory Considerations. A substantial body of regulation governs the funding and management of postretirement plans. Consideration should be given to these regulations in plan design as well as in any subsequent plan amendments or changes. These regulatory requirements also should be considered in determining the appropriate accounting for the benefit obligations. This section summarises the key reference points for the regulatory requirements, including the Pension Protection Act of 2006, and the regulatory processes that underlie the US system of benefit regulation. Accounting. This section outlines the existing accounting model, including recently issued standards and implementation guidance. Also highlighted are the SEC staff’s views on certain aspects of postretirement benefit accounting.

May 29, 2007 reply from McWard, Doug [Doug.McWard@GBE.COM]

Thanks and as a former D&T employee, I would like to add the D&T website is a great source of accounting information.

They have many subscriber services as well as free webcasts that allow you you to pick up free CPE hours without leaving your desk.

The website for subscribing to various publications is:

http://deloitte.12hna.com/preferences/ 

For upcoming webcasts, the address is:

http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/section_node/0,1042,sid%253D5456,00.html 

I encourage you to take a look as I find it a wonderful to stay on top of current accounting issues as well as cheap source of CPE credits.

You might have to copy the links into your web address browser as I get more technologically challenged as I get older.

Doug McWard
Director of Financial Reporting and SEC Compliance
Graybar Electric Company
34 N. Meramec Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63105 314-573-9383

Bob Jensen's threads on post-employment benefits accounting are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/theory01.htm#Pensions

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM)

The Institute of Management Accountants released a statement, as part of its series of practitioner guides, that covers specific practices and techniques for enterprise risk management (ERM) implementation. ERM is a concept used by organizations to identify, assess and manage risks to meet objectives and remain accountable to their stakeholders. It approaches risk from a holistic view across the enterprise.
"IMA Statement on ERM Implementation," AccountingWeb, May 14, 2007 ---
http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=103512

You can download this ERM Statement at http://www.imanet.org/relations_advocacy.asp

Also see "PwC Study: Internal Audits Lack Strategy for Risk Assessment," SmartPros, May 21, 2007 ---
http://accounting.smartpros.com/x57724.xml

May 18, 2007 reply from J. S. Gangolly [gangolly@CSC.ALBANY.EDU]

Bob,

I find it amusing that profdessional accounting organisations are flitting about any landscape remotely connected with accounting. It almost is like wild west with every one trying to establish squatters' rights.

AICPA tried it with all sorts of areas (webtrust and systrust for example) and only recently is trying to concentrate in its "true" turf: auditing and tax. IMA has been searching for an identity for as long as I can remember. First it was cost and works accounts, then it was management accounting, followed by "strategic finance" and now "enterprise risk management".

It is amazing that professional organisations should be trying to rediscover themselves helter skelter. The world would be better served if the organisations cooperate with each other (as in COSO) to come up with such materials when it is beyond their competence but within the collective competence of accountants.

Jagdish

 

Bob Jensen's threads on the AICPA's Webtrust and Systrust ventures are are http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce/000start.htm#AssuranceServices

Question
Is a major overhaul of accounting standards on the way?
Hint
There may no longer be the tried and untrusted earnings per share number to report!
Comment
It would be interesting to see a documentation of the academic research, if any, that the FASB relied upon to commence this blockbuster initiative. I recommend that some astute researcher commence to probe into the thinking behind this proposal.

From The Wall Street Journal Accounting Weekly Review on May 18, 2007

"Profit as We Know It Could Be Lost with New Accounting Statements," by David Reilly May 12, 2007 Page: A1 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117893520139500814.html?mod=DAT

TOPICS: Accounting Theory, Financial Accounting Standards Board, International Accounting Standards Board

SUMMARY: The FASB will issue a preliminary views document on possible sweeping changes to financial statement formats and in March they offered a draft for a roundtable discussion on the matter. The article discusses the issues associated with the draft format, including a focus on comprehensive income in a performance statement and grouping of related assets and liabilities in the balance sheet, rather than presenting all assets and all liabilities together on opposite sides as we now do. The article touches on the history of financial reporting including presentation of only a balance sheet by companies initially developing external financing during the industrial revolution.

QUESTIONS:
1.) Define the phrase "general purpose financial statements." Summarize the points made in the article which highlight the strengths and the weaknesses of using one set of general purpose financial statements.

2.) The history of accounting includes initial public reporting of only corporate balance sheets with no income statement, statement of stockholders' equity, or statement of cash flows. Based on information provided in the article, why do you think that is the case?

3.) Retiring CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, William Parret, notes that "the income statement today looks a lot like it did when I started out in this profession..." What is the problem with that situation? What is different about information that is contained in that financial statement?

4.) The FASB has issued drafts for panel discussions to prepare a document of preliminary views on these issues. In them, profit-making activities would be segregated and ultimately lead to a "total comprehensive income" figure. How does total comprehensive income differ from net income? Based on statements in the article, how might FASB envision expanding the items that are included in comprehensive income?

5.) What other financial statement categories are similar to those suggested for the new format of the income statement? Why do you think these similarities are proposed?

6.) What costs might be involved in changing to a system to use a new financial reporting format? Why does the FASB expect a "fight" over this change?

Reviewed By: Judy Beckman, University of Rhode Island

"Profit as We Know It Could Be Lost With New Accounting Statements," by David Reilly, The Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2007; Page A1 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117893520139500814.html?mod=DAT

Pretty soon the bottom line may not be, well, the bottom line.

In coming months, accounting-rule makers are planning to unveil a draft plan to rework financial statements, the bedrock data that millions of investors use every day when deciding whether to buy or sell stocks, bonds and other financial instruments. One possible result: the elimination of what today is known as net income or net profit, the bottom-line figure showing what is left after expenses have been met and taxes paid.

It is the item many investors look to as a key gauge of corporate performance and one measure used to determine executive compensation. In its place, investors might find a number of profit figures that correspond to different corporate activities such as business operations, financing and investing.

Another possible radical change in the works: assets and liabilities may no longer be separate categories on the balance sheet, or fall to the left and right side in the classic format taught in introductory accounting classes.

ACCOUNTING OVERHAUL

Get a glimpse of what new financial statements could look like, according to an early draft recently provided by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to one of its advisory groups.The overhaul could mark one of the most drastic changes to accounting and financial reporting since the start of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, when companies began publishing financial information as they sought outside capital. The move is being undertaken by accounting-rule makers in the U.S. and internationally, and ultimately could affect companies and investors around the world.

The project is aimed at providing investors with more telling information and has come about as rule makers work to one day come up with a common, global set of accounting standards. If adopted, the changes will likely force every accounting textbook to be rewritten and anyone who uses accounting -- from clerks to chief executives -- to relearn how to compile and analyze information that shows what is happening in a business.

This is likely to come as a shock, even if many investors and executives acknowledge that net income has flaws. "If there was no bottom line, I'd want to have a sense of what other indicators I ought to be looking at to get a sense of the comprehensive health of the company," says Katrina Presti, a part-time independent health-care contractor and stay-at-home mom who is part of a 12-woman investment club in Pueblo, Colo. "Net income might be a false indicator, but what would I look at if it goes away?"

The effort to redo financial statements reflects changes in who uses them and for what purposes. Financial statements were originally crafted with bankers and lenders in mind. Their biggest question: Is the business solvent and what's left if it fails? Stock investors care more about a business's current and future profits, so the net-income line takes on added significance for them.

Indeed, that single profit number, particularly when it is divided by the number of shares outstanding, provides the most popular measure of a company's valuation: the price-to-earnings ratio. A company that trades at $10 a share, and which has net profit of $1 a share, has a P/E of 10.

But giving that much power to one number has long been a recipe for fraud and stock-market excesses. Many major accounting scandals earlier this decade centered on manipulation of net income. The stock-market bubble of the 1990s was largely based on investors' assumption that net profit for stocks would grow rapidly for years to come. And the game of beating a quarterly earnings number became a distraction or worse for companies' managers and investors. Obviously it isn't known whether the new format would cut down on attempts to game the numbers, but companies would have to give a more detailed breakdown of what is going on.

The goal of the accounting-rule makers is to better reflect how businesses are actually run and divert attention from the one number. "I know the world likes single bottom-line numbers and all of that, but complicated businesses are hard to translate into just one number," says Robert Herz, chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the U.S. rule-making body that is one of several groups working on the changes.

At the same time, public companies today are more global than local, and as likely to be involved in services or lines of business that involve intellectual property such as software rather than the plants and equipment that defined the manufacturing age. "The income statement today looks a lot like it did when I started out in this profession," says William Parrett, the retiring CEO of accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, who started as a junior accountant in 1967. "But the kind of information that goes into it is completely different."

Along the way, figures such as net income have become muddied. That is in part because more and more of the items used to calculate net profit are based on management estimates, such as the value of items that don't trade in active markets and the direction of interest rates. Also, over the years rule makers agreed to corporate demands to account for some things, such as day-to-day changes in the value of pension plans or financial instruments used to protect against changes in interest rates, in ways that keep them from causing swings in net income.

Rule makers hope reformatting financial statements will address some of these issues, while giving investors more information about what is happening in different parts of a business to better assess its value. The project is being managed jointly by the FASB in the U.S. and the London-based International Accounting Standards Board, and involves accounting bodies in Japan, other parts of Asia and individual European nations.

The entire process of adopting the revised approach could take a few years to play out, so much could yet change. Plus, once rule makers adopt the changes, they would have to be ratified by regulatory authorities, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission in the U.S. and the European Commission in Europe, before public companies would be required to follow them.

As a first step, rule makers expect later this year to publish a document outlining their preliminary views on what new form financial statements might take. But already they have given hints of what's in store. In March, the FASB provided draft, new financial statements at the end of a 32-page handout for members of an advisory group. (See an example.)

Although likely to change, this preview showed an income statement that has separate segments for the company's operating business, its financing activities, investing activities and tax payments. Each area has an income subtotal for that particular segment.

There is also a "total comprehensive income" category that is wider ranging than net profit as it is known today, and so wouldn't be directly comparable. That is because this total would likely include gains and losses now kept in other parts of the financial statements. These include some currency fluctuations and changes in the value of financial instruments used to hedge against other items.

Comprehensive income could also eventually include short-term changes in the value of corporate pension plans, which currently are smoothed out over a number of years. As a result, comprehensive income could be a lot more difficult to predict and could be volatile from quarter to quarter or year to year.

As for the balance sheet, the new version would group assets and liabilities together according to similar categories of operating, investing and financing activities, although it does provide a section for shareholders equity. Currently, a balance sheet is broken down between assets and liabilities, rather than by operating categories.

Such drastic change isn't likely to happen without a fight. Efforts to bring now-excluded figures into the income statement could prompt battles with companies that fear their profit will be subject to big swings. Companies may also balk at the expense involved.

"The cost of this change could be monumental," says Gary John Previts, an accounting professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. "All the textbooks are going to have to change, every contract and every bank arrangement will have to change." Investors in Europe and Asia, meanwhile, have opposed the idea of dropping net profit as it appears today, David Tweedie, the IASB's chairman, said in an interview earlier this year.

Analysts in the London office of UBS AG recently published a report arguing this very point -- that even if net income is a "simplistic measure," that doesn't mean it isn't a valid "starting point in valuation" and that "its widespread use is justification enough for its retention."

Such opposition doesn't surprise many accounting experts. Net income is "the basis for bonuses and judgments about what a company's stock is worth," says Stephen A. Zeff, an accounting professor at Rice University. "I just don't know what the markets would do if companies stopped reporting a bottom line somewhere." In the U.S., professional investors and analysts have taken a more nuanced view, perhaps because the manipulation of numbers was more pronounced in U.S. markets.

That said, net profit has been around for some time. The income statement in use today, along with the balance sheet, generally dates to the 1940s when the SEC laid out regulations on financial disclosure. But many companies have included net profit in one form or another since the 1800s.

In its fourth annual report, General Electric Co. provided investors with a consolidated balance sheet and consolidated profit-and-loss account for the year ended Jan. 31, 1896. The company, whose board at the time included Thomas Edison, generated "profit of the year" -- what today would be called net income or net profit -- of $1,388,967.46.

For the moment, net profit will probably exist in some form, although its days are likely numbered. "We've decided in the interim to keep a net-income subtotal, but that's all up for discussion," the FASB's Mr. Herz says.

Other News Releases on this Same Topic

http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=103519

May 14, 2007 reply from Paul Polinski [paulp_is@YAHOO.COM]

Bob:
If XBRL is on its way to becoming mandatory in a couple of years, as Chairman Cox seems to indicate, this will not really matter.

As you likely know, one of the most important features of XBRL data is that it is presentation-independent. Although filed XBRL statements will specify a default rendering (display) format and set of measurements (which the FASB may mandate through this project), the analysis tools already under development will allow users to easily override this default. They may design whatever format, and specify whatever measures, they wish to perform their analyses. They could even choose to reformat the data into "legacy" financial statements.

The biggest impact the FASB's project may ultimately have is as a normative statement about how data across financial statements should be used.

May 15, 2007 reply from Zane Swanson [zswanson@EMPORIA.EDU]

Analysts currently reformat financial statement information to identify value investment or arbitrage opportunities. One advantage of XBRL is that it potentially can improve the comparability between alternative company investments because everyone will use the same common data dictionary (taxonomy). Another advantage is the minimization (elimination) of rekeying data to do analyses which frees up additional time to actually do evaluations. I would suggest the development of presentation formats should focus on improving the ability of uninformed investors to understand their investments ( a la the AICPA effort to improve financial literacy) because then the market will broaden, become more efficient and hopefully make better allocation of scare resources.

Zane Swanson

May 15, 2007 reply from James Richards [jdrozwa@IINET.NET.AU]

Possibly another advantage of XBRL is that you can create any presentation format you want by creating your own presentation and/or calculation linkbase(s). You do not have to use the relationships provided by the taxonomy author; you can create one for your own needs. What you cannot change is the underlying schema file where the concepts are defined.

Jim Richards

Bob Jensen's accounting theory threads are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/theory01.htm

Bob Jensen's XBRL threads are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/XBRLandOLAP.htm

Financial Reporting and Auditing Updates

From IAS Plus on May 18, 2007 --- http://www.iasplus.com/index.htm

US Secretary of the Treasury Henry M. Paulson Jr. has announced initiatives "to enhance US capital markets' competitiveness, focused on strengthened financial reporting and a more sustainable and transparent auditing profession". The initiatives are part of an ongoing effort to address the issues affecting US capital markets competitiveness. Initiatives announced by Mr. Paulson are set out below and include elimination of the IFRS-US GAAP reconciliation:   Provide Investors with A Transparent and Sustainable Auditing System. The Treasury Department intends to charter a non-partisan committee to develop recommendations to consider options available to strengthen the industry's financial soundness and its ability to attract and retain qualified personnel. Treasury has asked former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt, Jr. and former SEC Chief Accountant Donald T. Nicolaisen to serve as co-chairs for this public forum.   Gain Better Understanding of Reasons for Increasing Financial Restatements. Restatements have soared during the past decade from 116 in 1997 to 1,876 in 2006. Treasury intends to commission a rigorous analysis of the factors driving financial restatements and their impact on investors and the capital markets. Results of the analysis will be made public upon completion.   Enhance Financial Reporting US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles are comprised of more than 2000 individual pronouncements issued by various regulatory bodies. Investors often seek information not provided under financial reporting requirements. The Treasury Department is supportive of the SEC and the Financial Accounting Standards Board's efforts to enhance financial reporting transparency and accessibility for investors.   Streamline Accounting Requirements to Encourage International Companies to List on U.S. Exchanges and Increase Investor Opportunities US public markets should not be closed off to companies that adhere to high quality internationally accepted accounting standards. The Treasury Department is supportive of the SEC's action to eliminate the US GAAP reconciliation requirement by 2009 of International Financial Reporting Standards reporting companies and the continued convergence of US GAAP and IFRS.

Bob Jensen's threads on accounting standard setting are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/theory01.htm#MethodsForSetting

"Debunked: Three Myths About Convergence (of accounting standards)," by Bruce Pounder, SmartPros, May 2007 --- http://accounting.smartpros.com/x57688.xml

 

"Unfortunately, many U.S. accounting professionals remain unaware of the impact that the international convergence of accounting standards will have on their jobs in the short run and on their careers in the long run," writes Bruce Pounder, president of Leveraged Logic. Pounder debunks three myths on convergence: Myth 1: Convergence means that other countries will start using U.S. GAAP. Myth 2: Even if the rest of the world uses a common set of country-neutral accounting standards, U.S. companies will stick with U.S. GAAP. Myth 3: Convergence might affect other U.S. accounting professionals, but it won't affect me.

 

The Wildman Award

May 16, 2007 message from Dennis Beresford

Bob,

I've followed this string of messages (see below about doctoral programs) with particular interest. A few weeks ago, incoming AAA President Gary Previts asked me to chair the Wildman Award committee for 2007-08. As you know, that Award is supposed to acknowledge research that has been particularly relevant to the practice of accounting during the prior five years. Based on my discussions with this year's committee chair I understand that there haven't been a large number of nominees for this Award. One of the things I plan to do is to ask some of the parties who might actually use accounting research for their suggestions - apparently this hasn't been done much in the past. This would include accounting firms, regulators and standard setters (SEC, FASB, PCAOB, etc.), and users such as analysts.

I will, of course, also encourage nominations from the academic community, both here and abroad. With that in mind, I'd welcome thoughts from you and other AECMers on either specific research that should be considered or other ideas on how to generate more nominations. All facets of accounting (e.g., financial, auditing, tax, systems) are included in the Award guidelines so I extend a very broad welcome for suggestions.

Denny Beresford

Questions
Why must all accounting doctoral programs be social science (particularly econometrics) doctoral programs?
What's wrong with humanities research methodologies?
What's wrong about studying accounting in accounting doctoral programs?
Why are we graduating so many new assistant professors of accounting who do not know any accounting?
Hint: Similar problems exist in languages and education school PhD programs

All is Not Well in Programs for Doctoral Students in Departments/Colleges of Education
The education doctorate, attempting to serve dual purposes—to prepare researchers and to prepare practitioners—is not serving either purpose well. To address what they have termed this "crippling" problem, Carnegie and the Council of Academic Deans in Research Education Institutions (CADREI) have launched the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED), a three-year effort to reclaim the education doctorate and to transform it into the degree of choice for the next generation of school and college leaders. The project is coordinated by David Imig, professor of practice at the University of Maryland. "Today, the Ed.D. is perceived as 'Ph.D.-lite,'" said Carnegie President Lee S. Shulman. "More important than the public relations problem, however, is the real risk that schools of education are becoming impotent in carrying out their primary missions to prepare leading practitioners as well as leading scholars."
"Institutions Enlisted to Reclaim Education Doctorate," The Carnegie Foundation for Advancement in Teaching --- http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/news/sub.asp?key=51&subkey=2266

The EED does not focus enough on research, and the PhD program has become a social science doctoral program without enough education content. Middle ground is being sought.

All is Not Well in Programs for Doctoral Students in Departments/Colleges of Business, Especially in Accounting
The problem is that not enough accounting is taught in what have become social science doctoral programs
See http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms

Partly the problem is the same as with PhD programs in colleges of education.
The pool of accounting doctoral program applicants is drying up, especially accounting doctoral program pool that is increasingly trickle-filled with mathematically-educated foreign students who have virtually no background in accounting. Twenty years ago, over 200 accounting doctoral students were being graduated each year in the United States. Now it's less than one hundred graduates per year, many of whom know very little about accounting, especially U.S. accounting. This is particularly problematic for financial accounting, tax, and auditing education requiring knowledge of U.S. standards, regulations, and laws.

Accounting doctoral programs are social science research programs that do not appeal to accountants who are interested in becoming college educators but have no aptitude for or interest in the five or more years of quantitative methods study required for current accounting doctoral programs.

To meet the demand of thousands of colleges seeking accounting faculty, the supply situation is revealed by Plumlee et al (2006) as quoted at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm

There were only 29 doctoral students in auditing and 23 in tax out of the 2004 total of 391 accounting doctoral students enrolled in years 1-5 in the United States.

The answer here it seems to me is to open doctoral programs to wider humanities and legal studies research methodologies and to put accounting back into accounting doctoral programs.

Partly the problem is the same as with “two-tiered” departments of modern languages
The huge shortage of accounting doctoral graduates has bifurcated the teaching of accounting. Increasingly, accounting, tax, systems, and auditing courses are taught by adjunct part-time faculty or full-time adjunct faculty who are not on a tenure track and often are paid much less than tenure-track faculty who teach graduate research courses.

The short run answer here is difficult since there are so few doctoral graduates who know enough accounting to take over for the adjunct faculty. If doctoral programs open up more to accountants, perhaps more adjunct faculty will enter the pool of doctoral program prospects. This might help the long run problem. Meanwhile as former large doctoral programs (e.g., at Illinois, Texas, Florida, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan) shrink more and more, we’re increasingly building two-tier accounting education programs due to increasing demand and shrinking supply of doctoral graduates in accountancy.

We’re becoming more and more like “two-tier” language departments in our large and small colleges.

Practitioners in  education schools generally are K-12 teachers and school administrators. In the case of accounting doctoral programs, our dual mission is to prepare college teachers of accountancy as well as leading scholars. Our accounting doctoral programs are drying up (less than 100 per year now graduating in the United States, many of whom know virtually no accounting) primarily because our doctoral programs have become five years of social science and mathematics concentrations that do not appeal to accountants who might otherwise enter the pool of doctoral program admission candidates.

Note that the above Carnegie study also claims that education doctoral programs are also failing to "prepare researchers." I think the same criticism applies to current accountancy doctoral programs in the United States. We're failing in our own dual purpose accountancy doctoral programs and need a concerted effort to become a "degree of choice" among the accounting professionals who would like to move into academe in a role other than that of a low-status and low-paid adjunct professor.

In the United States, following the Gordon/Howell and Pierson reports, our accounting doctoral programs and leading academic journals bet the farm on the social sciences without taking the due cautions of realizing why the social sciences are called "soft sciences." They're soft because "not everything that can be counted, counts. And not everything that counts can be counted."

Leading academic accounting research journals commenced accepting only esoteric papers with complicated mathematical models and trivial hypotheses of zero interest to accounting practitioners --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm

Accounting doctoral programs made a concerted effort to recruit students with mathematics, economics, and social science backgrounds even though these doctoral candidates knew virtually nothing about accountancy. To compound the felony, the doctoral programs dropped all accounting requirements except for some doctoral seminars on how to mine accounting data archives with econometric and psychometric models and advanced statistical inference testing.

I cannot find the exact quotation in my archives, but some years ago Linda Kidwell complained that her university had recently hired a newly-minted graduate from an accounting doctoral program who did not know any accounting. When assigned to teach accounting courses, this new "accounting" professor was a disaster since she knew nothing about the subjects she was assigned to teach.

In the year following his assignment as President of the American Accounting Association Joel Demski asserted that research focused on the accounting profession will become a "vocational virus" leading us away from the joys of mathematics and the social sciences and the pureness of the scientific academy:

Statistically there are a few youngsters who came to academia for the joy of learning, who are yet relatively untainted by the vocational virus. I urge you to nurture your taste for learning, to follow your joy. That is the path of scholarship, and it is the only one with any possibility of turning us back toward the academy.
Joel Demski, "Is Accounting an Academic Discipline? American Accounting Association Plenary Session" August 9, 2006 --- http://bear.cba.ufl.edu/demski/Is_Accounting_an_Academic_Discipline.pdf

Accounting professors are no longer "leading scholars" if they focus on accounting rather than mathematics and the social sciences --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR.htm

When Professor Beresford attempted to publish his remarks, an Accounting Horizons referee’s report to him contained the following revealing reply about “leading scholars” in accounting research:

1. The paper provides specific recommendations for things that accounting academics should be doing to make the accounting profession better. However (unless the author believes that academics' time is a free good) this would presumably take academics' time away from what they are currently doing. While following the author's advice might make the accounting profession better, what is being made worse? In other words, suppose I stop reading current academic research and start reading news about current developments in accounting standards. Who is made better off and who is made worse off by this reallocation of my time? Presumably my students are marginally better off, because I can tell them some new stuff in class about current accounting standards, and this might possibly have some limited benefit on their careers. But haven't I made my colleagues in my department worse off if they depend on me for research advice, and haven't I made my university worse off if its academic reputation suffers because I'm no longer considered a leading scholar? Why does making the accounting profession better take precedence over everything else an academic does with their time?
As quoted in Jensen (2006a) ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/theory01.htm#AcademicsVersusProfession

Advice to students planning to take standardized tests such as the SAT, GRE, GMAT, LSAT, TOEFL, etc.
See Test Magic at http://www.testmagic.com/
There is a forum here where students interested in doctoral programs in business (e.g., accounting and finance) and economics discuss the ins and outs of doctoral programs.

What's wrong about studying accounting in accounting doctoral programs?
May 2, 2007 message from Bob Jensen to the AECM Listserv

I have a former student and very good friend who’s interested in applying for an accounting doctoral program. He’s a good student who became a better student each year of his five year program. He’s somewhat experienced as a tax accountant.

But he’s not especially interested in a doctoral program that is heavy in quantitative methods (dare I say “accountics?”).

I have a couple of suggestions for him. But before I reply to him I would like some other suggestions from the AECM regarding full-time doctoral programs that are heavier on accounting and taxation skills and a bit lighter on the quantitative methods focus of most (all?) respected accounting doctoral programs at the moment.

You may send your suggestions privately to me or share them on the AECM if you choose to do so.

Please let me know if I can forward your suggestions under your name or if I should make your suggestions to him anonymous.

I do recommend this young man for a doctoral program. He’s become very passionate about becoming an accounting educator.

Thanks,

Bob Jensen

May 2, 2007 reply from Michael Haselkorn [MHASELKORN@bentley.edu]

Bob,

He should check out Bentley College’s new PhD program. Feel free to use my name.

Mike Haselkorn

May 2, 2007 reply from Randy Kuhn [jkuhn@bus.ucf.edu]

Bob,

I would definitely recommend your student speak to some of the professors at UCF (Central Florida in Orlando) like Robin Roberts and Steve Sutton. The general approach for the PhD program here is to provide as much exposure as possible to all areas of accounting scholarship and let the student decide what area best suits them. We take five accounting seminars that include a general overview of research (Kuhn, Burrell & Morgan, etc.), behavioral accounting, accounting information systems, financial archival, and sociological. A nice mix overall. Most of us take electives outside the College of Business in psychology, sociology, education, etc. for our minor as well as for the methods requirements. We can choose a more quantitative approach but no one in the last three classes went that route. Of the nine students in the last two classes, seven came from public accounting (six audit, one tax). The program has definitely enlightened all of us to other views of accounting, research, education, and the world in general. We only accept students every other year and I believe there are one or two spots left for the Fall 2007 class. If you think our program might fit your student, then I strongly recommend that he contact Robin ASAP.

Thanks,

Randy

May 2, 2007 reply from Steve Sutton [ssutton@bus.ucf.edu]

Bob,

I’ve watched this discussion with some interest. I’m always reluctant to speak of our own PhD program in this forum because it can be taken and interpreted the wrong way. Our PhD program has carved a niche out that is different from the ‘glamour’ programs. If we have a student who applies and wishes to do “accountics” type work, we generally steer them towards a more appropriate program.

Our program has basically focused on audit, tax and systems with a focus on behavioral and public policy research. We have what I believe to be some very accomplished and bright scholars working with our students, but our research is primarily behavioral from an individual (psychology-based), organizational (sociology), and societal (critical and radical humanist perspectives) perspective(s). We believe dialogue about the professions, accounting institutions, ethical implications and the philosophy underlying all of those is critical to the role of accounting academics.

That said, a PhD is still a research degree and not a technical degree. We assume that a student that has attained an undergraduate and masters level education in accounting has the technical accounting knowledge. The PhD is about how to look at accounting with a critical thinking mind and question the rules, processes and institutions—and to ask if there is a better way.

We educate our PhD students in the traditional areas as we believe this is critical to be good colleagues and appreciating each other’s research. But we do a lot in non-traditional areas also. You might find the structure of the programming interesting (or you may not): http://www.graduate.ucf.edu/CurrentGradCatalog/content/Degrees/ACAD_PROG_94.cfm#BUPHD-ACCOUNTING 

Hope you’re enjoying retirement in the mountains. This is the time of year I miss New England.

Steve G. Sutton
KPMG Professor
Dixon School of Accounting, UCF
www.bus.ucf.edu/ssutton/ 

May 2, 2007 reply from Richard C. Sansing [Richard.C.Sansing@DARTMOUTH.EDU]

Bob,

What are your friend's aspirations? If he could describe his ideal faculty position, including the sort of research (if any) he would like to pursue, what would that be? (He may be uncertain, which is fine.)

Recommending a set of inputs is easier if the desired output is clear.

Richard Sansing

May 2, Reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Richard,

I think (surmising at this point) that he might aspire to teach accounting/tax in a small liberal arts college where publishing in top research journals is not deemed more important than a dedication for teaching accounting and inspiring liberal arts students to pursue a career in accountancy.

In spite of what some of us more familiar with research universities think, there are many such liberal arts and even smaller state-supported colleges that still place the highest emphasis on teaching and youth inspiration.

What I've discovered is that all colleges want evidence of continued scholarship, but some are much more willing to accept publication in what we might call lower-tiered journals.

Then again, this young man showed such increased aptitude for accounting theory. It may be possible that in the course of his doctoral program he gets fired up for higher level research. His father is a good statistician and systems analyst in a top university. His mother is a teacher.

Bob Jensen

May 2, 2007 reply from Richard C. Sansing [Richard.C.Sansing@DARTMOUTH.EDU]

Bob,

I would encourage your friend to think about the real option aspect of this decision. He should be very confident of his decision to not pursue a Ph.D. at a research-oriented program before bypassing that option. If he studies at Chicago and makes an informed decision not to pursue "mainstream" academic research, then he will be over-trained for his dream job at the kind of liberal arts college you describe. But he also has the option of pursuing the research route. But if he studies at a place that puts less emphasis on research methods, he has limited his options at the outset.

Richard Sansing

May 2, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Richard,

I used to think that way. Then I had one student named XXXXX who had similar goals to YYYYY, although XXXXX was a much more brilliant math student according to the Mathematics Department at Trinity University. I made a special effort to have XXXXX admitted to an "accountics" doctoral program without having as much as one week of experience in accounting practice. XXXXX did not even intern and went straight from our Trinity University masters program to an accounting doctoral program.

To my utter disappointment XXXXX dropped out after the end of the first semester. He said he was just not interested in getting an econometrics PhD in an accounting doctoral program. He wanted an accounting PhD and discovered that he would have four or five years of econometrics, statistics, and psychometrics.

Honestly Richard, I'm not making this up. XXXXX enrolled in this accounting doctoral program about three years ago if my memory serves me correctly. With his exceptional math skills XXXXX was capable of getting his accounting (ergo econometrics PhD). He just wasn't interested in econometrics before he applied for the doctoral program, when he was in the doctoral program, or when he withdrew from the doctoral program.

I did not do XXXXX or that doctoral program any favors by pushing XXXXX in the way that you would probably have pushed XXXXX. Now when it comes to YYYYY, we have a similar situation except I don't think YYYYY has the exceptional math skills of XXXXX. YYYYY admits that he's more like his mother than his father in this regard.

YYYYY, like XXXXX, really wants to study accountancy rather than econometrics. If XXXXX wanted to be an econometrics PhD, however, he probably would have stuck it out in the accountancy doctoral program because economics PhDs are a dime a dozen relative to accounting econometricians masquerading as accountants.

My point, Richard, is that sometimes "keeping options open" is not the best advice for some types of students, especially accounting students who really do not want to become statisticians, econometricians, psychometricians, and management scientists. We've pretty much taken the study of accountancy out of doctoral programs. Those entering doctoral programs learn very little accounting beyond what they learned before entering the program.

What accountancy doctoral programs lack is imagination. Why can't there be a joint accounting/JD doctoral program in law and accountancy? Why can't there be an accounting/philosophy doctoral program? Why must virtually all accountancy doctoral programs be accounting/ECONOMICS doctoral programs for economists who want higher starting salaries?

That's my $.02.

Bob Jensen

May 2, 2007 reply from Richard C. Sansing [Richard.C.Sansing@DARTMOUTH.EDU]

1. Yes, sometimes options expire out of the money. A bad outcome ex post does not imply a bad decision ex ante.

2. Not everything you learn has to be learned in a classroom. I've learned a lot about non-profit organizations over the last ten years without ever taking a class on the subject.If it is (relatively) harder to learn about research methods on your own than it is to learn about institutional detail on your own, a program that focuses on economics and research methods is likely the most efficient way to learn. There is also an economy of scale issue. If I have five doctoral students interested in five different topics, a program that focuses on methods rather than subjects seems like the way to go; each student can learn about the institutional issues that interest them in another way.

Richard Sansing

May 2, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Richard

Plumlee et al. (2006) discovered that there were only 29 doctoral students in auditing and 23 in tax out of the 2004 total of 391 accounting doctoral students enrolled in years 1-5 in the United States as quoted at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm

With the excessive shortage of new PhDs in accounting (especially in auditing, tax, and systems), I think those who get a PhD with accounting skills will have pretty good "options" to become teachers and may even become the highest paid teachers in smaller colleges.

And you have difficulty separating yourself from the fundamental profit maximization economics assumption that plagues virtually all economics models. You assume that all accounting graduates who elect to go into academe want the highest salaries and probably the lowest teaching loads possible. In fact, there are students like XXXXX and YYYYY who truly want the psychic rewards of teaching rather than earn the highest dollar and the lowest teaching load.

What may be my most important point in this exchange with you is that there are many smaller colleges that would rather have dedicated teachers of accounting rather than failed econmetricians belatedly wanting to teach accounting because they were denied tenure in a top university's accounting/econometrics program.

And your latter assumption is that accounting can be self taught. Actually most anything can be self taught, including Egon Balas who became a well known Carnegie-Mellon mathematics professor after having taught himself mathematics during ten years of solitary confinement in a Hungarian prison. But why should an accounting doctoral student have to spend four or five years studying dreaded econometrics when their first love is learning accounting, tax, auditing, or systems?

And you might've been interested in learning accountancy after you earned an economics doctorate. But there are many econometrics professors in accounting departments who do not share your view. Let me once again dredge up the best example of the Accounting Horizon's referee who rejected a paper submitted by Denny Beresford.

When Professor Beresford attempted to publish his paper appealing for accounting researchers to have more interest in the accounting profession, an Accounting Horizons referee’s report to him contained the following revealing reply about “leading scholars” in accounting research:

Begin Quote
*****************

1. The paper provides specific recommendations for things that accounting academics should be doing to make the accounting profession better. However (unless the author believes that academics' time is a free good) this would presumably take academics' time away from what they are currently doing. While following the author's advice might make the accounting profession better, what is being made worse? In other words, suppose I stop reading current academic research and start reading news about current developments in accounting standards. Who is made better off and who is made worse off by this reallocation of my time? Presumably my students are marginally better off, because I can tell them some new stuff in class about current accounting standards, and this might possibly have some limited benefit on their careers. But haven't I made my colleagues in my department worse off if they depend on me for research advice, and haven't I made my university worse off if its academic reputation suffers because I'm no longer considered a leading scholar? Why does making the accounting profession better take precedence over everything else an academic does with their time?
As quoted at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory/00overview/theory01.htm#AcademicsVersusProfession

*****************
End Quote

 

Particularly relevant in this regard is Dennis Beresford’s address to the AAA membership at the 2005 Annual AAA Meetings in San Francisco

Begin Quote
*****************
In my eight years in teaching I’ve concluded that way too many of us don’t stay relatively up to date on professional issues. Most of us have some experience as an auditor, corporate accountant, or in some similar type of work. That’s great, but things change quickly these days.
Beresford (2005)
*****************
End Quote

I'm glad that you like accounting and tax. Unfortunately, may of your econometrics friends in accounting academe hate having to teach such courses as intermediate accounting, advanced accounting, auditing, or introductory tax courses. And they interpret accounting theory as minimal accounting and maximal economic theory.

Bob Jensen

May 2, 2007 reply from Randy Kuhn [jkuhn@BUS.UCF.EDU]

When being recruited I recall my PhD coordinator showing me statistics about the number of accounting PhD students graduating each year and the general declining trend, down to around 70-75 per year. The AAA placement center at the national conference last year listed over 300 job postings. What a dilemma and not getting any better given that many of the baby boomers still have yet to retire.

The Plumlee et al. (2006) study paints an even bleaker picture. The general lack of students specializing in non-financial areas should raise a huge red flag. Will our non-financial accounting classes eventually be taught by professors outside their research area and interest? What kind of higher education will that provide? I have been fervently recruiting friends in public accounting. My approach to date has been to drop a bug in their ear during the worst of busy season then keep plugging away. So far, only one success. Many would love to enter academia but the thought of giving up four years of compensation is unpalatable and just not feasible for their families. The barriers to entry are great. Successful recruiting will take a concerted effort by us all.

May 2, 2007 reply from Richard C. Sansing [Richard.C.Sansing@DARTMOUTH.EDU]

---Bob Jensen wrote:

And you have difficulty separating yourself from the fundamental profit maximization economics assumption that plagues virtually all economics models. You assume that all accounting graduates who elect to go into academe want the highest salaries and probably the lowest teaching loads possible. In fact, there are students like XXXXX and YYYYY who truly want the psychic rewards of teaching rather than earn the highest dollar and the lowest teaching load.

---

Nonsense. From a purely financial perspective, an academic career for an accoutant is a big negative NPV. But I wouldn't trade careers with anyone.

Richard Sansing

May 3, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Richard,

Negative NPV makes no sense to me for new accounting PhDs. With universities paying over $180,000 (including summer stipends) as starting salaries plus generous amounts of free time for personal consulting fees and textbook writing, I have a difficult time calculating a negative NPV. And consulting opportunities are relatively easy to get in top universities because the elite names of those universities are a draw for faculty opportunities to consult and write books.

Most Harvard, Wharton, MIT, NYU, and Stanford professors that I know make more in consulting and royalties than their paltry salaries over $200,000 per year plus relatively generous travel allowances. The very top universities also provide incidental funding for research ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 each year (plus summer stipends in the range of $40,000 to $60,000).

When you make the NPV calculations you must also factor in the current fringe benefits averaging 30% of starting salaries. This includes health care and TIAA-CREF contributions. The 30% probably does not even count sabbatical leaves, discounts for child care, and entertainment opportunities such as concerts and theatre.

Sure an accounting or finance professor may have cut off chances of winning the CEO lottery, but this is a low-probability career track. Becoming a partner in a large CPA firm can be lucrative, but not necessarily on a present value basis considering the first ten years at relatively low salary (around $50,000-$60,000 per year) and the necessity to buy into (usually by borrowing) the partnership for those lucky few (less than 10% of the staff accountants) who are eventually invited to become partners.

If our recent undergraduates really took the trouble to compare the NPVs, I think newly-minted accounting professors have a comparable or even better outlook if the competing alternatives are weighted by the relatively low probabilities of becoming an executive partner in a large CPA firm. Smaller CPA firms are harder to compare, because they vary to such a huge extent. Some partners of small CPA firms net over a million dollars each year and many others barely scrape out a living in their home offices.

When you couple this with the wonderful lifestyle opportunities and sabbatical leaves, I always thought of myself as having lived in tall cotton for 40 years before I retired. Now I live in grass that's becoming too tall since I've put off mowing.

Bob Jensen

May 3, 2007 reply from Randy Kuhn [jkuhn@BUS.UCF.EDU]

CPA firm salary ranges obviously vary by location, but really not all that much honestly. Here in Orlando, staff auditors fresh out of school or even experienced hires from smaller firms into the new Big 6 are receiving offers of $50 with $2-3k signing bonuses this semester. This is consistent across the more popular disciplines (audit, tax, business advisory). Business advisory (business process & IT audit/consulting) starts to pull ahead at the manager stage and takes 1-2 years less per level for promotion. Whereas audit typically takes 12 years for partner, business advisory can be as quick as 9 years with a greater probability of making partner due to the demand/supply (not many hybrids out there that know financial, business process, and IT). As a 2nd year advisory manager (10 yrs exp) my base was $100k two years ago while the first-year audit senior manager with comparable experience received less than $90k which I think is on the low-end. The month I started the PhD program, one of my friends in a nearby office made audit partner at the age of 34 receiving a bump in salary from $150k to $225k with the promotion. Not sure about his loan though.

May 3, 2007 message from Bob Jensen

Hi Richard (Sansing),

I’m still trying to find a PhD program that extends beyond the blinders of the social science research paradigm. I need to look a little closer at Bentley’s new program. Also there are a few AIS tracks in existing programs, but my guess is that the AIS majors still have to take the econometrics qualifying courses and exams.

Your NPV sidetrack took us off the main issue regarding why our leading academic journals and virtually all of our accounting doctoral programs define accounting research as a social science that requires the requisite skills in advanced statistics, econometrics, psychometrics, sociometrics, etc.

The fact of the matter is that our current doctoral programs are critically unable to meet demand according to the AACSB and Plumlee et al --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/03MainDocumentMar2007.htm
The supply is steadily dwindling with less than 100 graduates per year (and less than 20 a year in auditing, tax, and systems). The demand is at least ten times the supply and probably higher. Accounting education programs will soon be to the point were virtually all of the instructors have no doctorates or have only doctorates in economics, law, education, etc.

The problem as I pointed out in earlier correspondence is a mismatch between accounting graduates who want to study and do research in accounting but have neither the aptitude nor an interest in becoming social scientists (and in particular econometricians studying capital markets). 

Accounting doctoral programs increasingly have ignored other research paradigms outside the social science paradigm. For example, I do not find humanities or legal research paradigm choices being offered in any accounting doctoral program. Philosophy departments, history departments, and law schools give doctorates to students who have few, if any, social science research skills.

Is there any university in the U.S. where a doctoral student can major in accounting history without having to become a social scientist? Is there a doctoral program in the U.S. where a student can major in accounting philosophy? Is there any doctoral program in the U.S. that uses a law school research paradigm?

And lastly, I would like to point out that our leading journals and award selection committees tend to ignore submissions based upon any research paradigm other than a social science research paradigm.

The AICPA and the AAA jointly award a "Notable Contributions to Accounting Literature Award" of $2,500 and a plaque at the AAA's annual meetings. For the past 20 years, these awards have virtually all gone to empirical research using positivist research methodologies.

This year I'm on the Selection Committee for the first time. The fact that the Screening Committee only gave us empirical studies to select from for the 2007 award to be granted in Chicago makes me wonder why only empirical studies are candidates for Selection Committee evaluation.

The criteria for the award are embedded in the following paragraphs at http://aaahq.org/awards/nominat3.htm

Begin Quote
**************
The Screening Committee for the Joint AICPA/AAA Notable Contributions to Accounting Literature Award invites nominations of outstanding articles, books, monographs, or other publications for consideration. Nominations from regular and irregular (e.g., AICPA-sponsored research studies or monographs) publications, as well as from nonaccounting publications, may be submitted as long as the nominated work is relevant to accounting. Both academic and practitioner nominations will be accepted.

Nominated items must have been published within the years 2002 to 2006. Each nomination must be accompanied by a brief supporting statement (no more than 150 words) summarizing reasons for the nomination that are consistent with the award selection criteria. These criteria include: uniqueness and potential magnitude of contribution to accounting education, practice and/or future accounting research; breadth of potential interest; originality and innovative content; clarity and organization of exposition; and soundness and appropriateness of methodology.

End Quote
**************

This important award can go to both research and other scholarly literature contributions in accountancy. The Award's research literature is not restricted to empirical research and positivist methods. What is curious to me is why only this subset of the literature is repeatedly the only winning subset.

What is even more curious this is why even the literature pieces forwarded this year are only esoteric empirical research studies of dubious value to "accounting education and practice." I say of "dubious value" in the sense of highly simplified modeling assumptions and no replication of the findings by other researchers.

Shouldn't the award winning literature item be at least independently replicated if it is an empirical research study? My previous lament over lack of replication in academic accounting research can be found at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/theory01.htm#Replication

The accountics bias seems to be rearing up repeatedly in this award process for the past two decades. Is it because of narrowness in the nomination process? Have members of the AAA given up nominating literature that is not of an esoteric accountics nature? Is it because only empirical research is deemed notable by the Screening Committees?

For more on the accountics bias in academe, go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm

Also see the various commentaries at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/theory01.htm#AcademicsVersusProfession

May 3, 2007 reply from Paul Williams [Paul_Williams@NCSU.EDU]

I agree that the conversation has drifted a bit from the original question, but if Bob's friend has been following this discussion, he might be inclined to think ill of his prospects for doing what he wants. It is largely the case now that U.S. PhD programs are as Jagdish and Bob have characterized them.

There are a few places in the U.S. where Bob's friend might be able to pursue an interest in accounting. Central Florida and South Florida are PhD programs that offer some diversity of faculty talent that provide a doctoral student with flexibility for pursuing whatever interest excites them.

North Texas and Case Western Reserve are other places. There are probably others, but they are fewer and farther between than they were when I went through the experience. If Bob's friend is adventuresome, there are many excellent doctoral opportunities at schools outside the U.S. For example, the University of Alberta has a diverse faculty, which allows the pursuit of interests that would simply not be tolerated in most U.S. doctoral programs.

Then there are schools in the UK and Australia. Adelaide, Wollongong, Cardiff, Strathclyde, Essex, the list goes on. These places afford someone a different experience from many US programs and provide much greater freedom to follow one's intellectual bliss than the stultifying places that are the U.S. "elite."

Paul

May 11, 2007 reply from Sue P. Ravenscroft [ACCT] [sueraven@iastate.edu]
Sue gave me permission to forward a somewhat laundered version of her original message. It confirms what I've been arguing aud nauseum. The number of accounting student doctoral graduates in the U.S. plunged to less than 100 per year to meet an exploding demand for accounting professors. A major cause of the shortage of applicants to doctoral programs is that these econometrics programs do not interest most accountants in the pool of possible applicants to such doctoral programs.  Nearly all available accounting doctoral programs (not just Tier I programs) are no longer accounting programs and have no dedicated accounting courses. They’re literally social science methodology programs with most emphasis on econometrics and no choices for other research methodologies --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm

Dear Bob,

I was just contacted by a wonderful young woman, who graduated from Iowa State University last year. She is bright, personable, hard-working, and interested in going into a PhD program. She is NOT interested in doing a highly quantitative economics-based program, but can handle the math and statistics needed for behavioral research. I feel fortunate in the timing of her inquiry, because I observed the discussion about a young man you know who is looking into doctoral schools, and the subsequent advice from Sansing that he consider only a Tier One school because of the "alleged choices" such schools provide versus the counter-advice of actually getting training to do what one loves.

The young woman has already received the Tier One type advice and was totally taken aback and turned off by it. The assistant professor who gave her that advice told her she should take two years of college level advanced math courses and then apply, because she is definitely bright enough to go to a Tier One school and should not even consider going to a Tier Two type institution. Her goal was to enter a program in fall of 2008. After that set-back she wrote me, and I was far more encouraging.......I told her that I had just seen a rather long (albeit sometimes almost hostile) exchange about the types of programs available and the wisdom of going to the "Tier One" schools even if that wasn't where one's interest or heart lay.....This student is a wise young woman and doesn't want to be trained to do something she doesn't want to do.....

So, I am writing to ask if you have a final listing of schools that might be more open to a variety of research approaches.....If so, could you please write to me (address above or to her). I would be ever so grateful.

Thank you very much.

Best regards,

Sue Ravenscroft

May 15, 2007 reply from Dana Carpenter [dcarpenter@MATCMADISON.EDU]

I have followed the need a favor thread with great interest. I am in my mid 40'sand have taught at community colleges (with a few years at bachelor granting universities) for 20 years following 3 years with KPMG. I have always wanted to get my doctorate for personal actualization and would be interested in teaching at a regional university. I scored 99 percentile on the verbal portion of the GMAT but just average on the Mathematics. Two years ago I was told during an interview with a very prestigous school that with a few semesters of calculus I could probably gain admission to their Ph. D Program. I was also admitted to a Ph. D in management at a different college. I decided against both options. I would definitely be interested in a DBA or some of the teaching oriented or blended accounting Ph. D's that have been discussed. In my situation (with fewer years left in my career) I am really not interested in a professorship at a Top Tier University. For the same reasons I hesitate to give up a job I love and earn no income for 4 or 5 years at a minimum. I would be interested in your response to the Accounting DBA question as well as specific ideas as to programs or perhaps a different field with a concentration in accounting.

Dana Carpenter
(608) 246-6590

May 4, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

Your experience, Dana, is very typical of the many students at all ages who are turned off by having to study five years of social science research to obtain a tenure track position to be an accounting professor.

To my knowledge, the distinction between a PhD and a DBA from a Tier 1 research university is about as marked as the distinction between ketchup vs. catsup. Both doctoral degrees are intended to instill research skills in students intent on careers in academia. The DBA used to entail a more rounded set of business courses (management, organization behavior, finance, marketing, etc.) but I think most accounting PhD and DBA programs have dropped required courses except for a few research seminars and possibly some social science (especially economics) and statistics courses.

My “Tier” distinctions are my own for accounting programs. A Tier 1 university has an accounting doctoral program. Obviously there are gradations of prestige within that category. A Tier 2 university has no doctoral program but has a significant research and publication requirement for promotion and tenure. A Tier 3 college or university in my subjective classification allows faculty (or at least some strong teaching faculty) to obtain tenure and promotion with virtually no research publications (although some scholarship publications may be expected). For example, in a Tier 3 college a published textbook may count toward tenure. Textbooks that do not contribute to research (new knowledge) do not generally satisfy the research requirement of a Tier 1 or a Tier 2 college. In a Tier 3 school, research publication may actually not be weighted heavily since those schools generally focus much more heavily on teaching and service performance.

One place to begin looking for more formal grouping distinctions and controversies is http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2007/05/10/mccormick 

Frequently, groupings (such as U.S. News groupings) are derived from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s classification of colleges and universities.

The DBA used to focus more on the "application of theory" as opposed to the "development of new theory" in a PhD program --- http://dr-hy.com/Menu-Bar/mVita/DBA-vs-PHD.html
In my opinion, these distinctions between the two degrees have largely evaporated. The U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation recognize numerous research-oriented doctoral degrees such as the D.B.A. as "equivalent" to the Ph.D. and do not discriminate between them --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Business_Administration
Certainly the distinction between DBA versus PhD in business schools  is not as great as the distinction between EED and PhD in schools of education.

Probably the best known business school that offers DBA and PhD degrees is the Harvard Business School. If you major in a traditional business area (e.g., accounting, marketing, management strategy, information technology) you get a DBA. If you major in business economics, health policy, or organization behavior you get a PhD. The actual distinction between the two designations is not at all clear to me. About the only thing I can tell is that some HBS doctoral students get ketchup on their hamburgers and others get catsup.

Most certainly, having a DBA will not change the criteria for obtaining tenure later in life. I do not know of any serious university that will put higher weightings on teaching performance for DBA faculty versus higher weightings on research for PhD faculty.

Amy Dunbar provided a link to a good listing of international doctoral programs --- http://aaahq.org/ata/_ATAMenu/phd-programs.htm 

Questions raised are how large each program is and what have been the trends in growth or shrinkage. As new doctoral programs came on line, the very large doctoral programs such as those in Illinois, Michigan, Texas, Indiana, and Michigan State greatly reduced doctoral program size in the 1986-2005 period. What used to be large programs shrank greatly in size. Some smaller programs like Rice have gone out of accounting doctoral programs entirely. Some like Minnesota seem to have disappeared without making any official announcements.

A listing of the history of U.S. accounting doctoral programs is provided in your free Prentice-Hall  Hasselback Accounting Faculty Directory (at least in the hard copy version). The Doctoral Program History table is on the page preceding the start of the alphabetized listing of accounting faculty by college. In don't think this table is available in Jim's Online Directory at http://rarc.rutgers.edu/raw/hasselback/

There are some errors in the Hasselback table that are due mainly to failures of some programs to accurately report their own data to Jim. But except for Penn State, I think the recent undercounting is relatively minor.

Jim also provides the totals by year. The last column is generally way off for the most recent year because of reporting time lags. However, the preceding columns are relatively accurate.

In the past twenty years, the most accounting doctoral graduates reported for the U.S. was 207 in 1988. The least was 69 in 2003. It has not been over 100 since 2001.

The depressing Plumlee et al (2006) study is probably more accurate for the year 2004. Further analysis is provided at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm 

Bob Jensen

May 11, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

A summary listing of non-traditional programs was provided by Paul Williams in the listing of messages at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms

The snipped version is http://snipurl.com/1jb1g

One of the subsequent messages that I sent to my Student YYYYY is shown below:

Message from Bob Jensen to YYYYY

I’m particularly happy that you’re now motivated to become an accounting educator. I loved this profession.

First and foremost is your GMAT score that determines almost everything regarding admission to any respectable doctoral program. Consider all your options for having as high a score as possible.

Second you need to honestly evaluate your aptitude for statistics and mathematics. Nearly all accounting doctoral programs are tantamount to econometrics programs these days with great stress on econometrics models of capital markets data.

I don’t know if you followed the recent AECM lively exchange on this topic or not. You can read some of the messages at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms

A listing of doctoral programs is provided at
http://aaahq.org/ata/_ATAMenu/phd-programs.htm

I know you are somewhat interested in taxation. In nearly all instances, taxation doctoral students still have to master the econometrics requirements of capital markets research.

If you are looking for the handful of programs that allow you to customize your program and possibly cut back on the econometrics hurdles, I recommend that you look into the following programs, messages about which appear at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms

Bentley College (Boston) This is a new program that I don’t yet know much about. Bentley is a very good accounting and finance college, although I would not expect it to be strong for a tax concentration.

Case Western University (Cleveland)
University of Central Florida (Orlando)
University of South Florida (Tampa)
University of North Texas (Denton)

Various programs outside the U.S. (Please scroll down to the informative message from Paul Williams in this regard) --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms

If I can be of further help, please let me know.

Bob Jensen

 

May 12, 2007 reply from Richard C. Sansing [Richard.C.Sansing@DARTMOUTH.EDU]

--- Sue Ravenscroft wrote (to Bob Jensen, who then posted it here):

I feel fortunate in the timing of her inquiry, because I observed the discussion about a young man you know who is looking into doctoral schools, and the subsequent advice from Sansing that he consider only a Tier One school because of the "alleged choices" such schools provide versus the counter-advice of actually getting training to do what one loves.

---

For those interested in what I actually said, as opposed to how it is characterized above, I repeat it below.

"I would encourage your friend to think about the real option aspect of this decision. He should be very confident of his decision to not pursue a Ph.D. at a research-oriented program before bypassing that option. If he studies at Chicago and makes an informed decision not to pursue "mainstream" academic research, then he will be over-trained for his dream job at the kind of liberal arts college you describe. But he also has the option of pursuing the research route. But if he studies at a place that puts less emphasis on research methods, he has limited his options at the outset."

Later in the same thread, I also said:

"My point was that the decision Bob's friend makes regarding a Ph.D. program will significantly affect the opportunities that he or she faces upon graduation, which will in turn affect subsequent academic opportunties as well. Unless one is very sure about what what one's preferences will be in the future, the course of action that preserves options has a lot to recommend it. Whether one ultimately prefers a career that features both research and teaching, or wants to teach and do no research, it would be nice to have the skill set needed to make have a real choice."

Richard Sansing

May 12, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Richard,

Even better advice would be to avoid accounting altogether if you want to be a top researcher in a Tier 1 accounting research university. Consider the role model examples. Ron Dye (Northwestern Accounting Professor) has his doctorate and undergraduate degrees in mathematics and economics with almost no accounting. Some of our other top accounting researchers have management science, mathematics, econometrics, and psychometric doctorates with very little in the way of accountancy education and/or experience in accounting practice. What accounting they learned is when having to teach a little about it after they became professors.

I'm not trying to be facetious or cynical here. Those of us that majored in accounting for five years had to take a lot more time in college to earn a doctorate in an accounting doctoral program. It is actually quite costly in time and opportunity cost to first become an accountant and then enter one of our present accounting doctoral programs. It is far more efficient to major in economics and then earn an econometrics doctorate from a prestigious Economics Department. Equally great is to earn a doctorate in computer science.

The only risk of not having an accounting background as far as I can tell is the risk of not getting tenure in a Tier 1 accounting university. Without accounting, it is more difficult for tenure rejects to become accounting teachers in Tier 2 and Tier 3 colleges and universities. Those universities typically require more knowledge of accountancy.

Accounting majors realistically face 12 years of full-time undergraduate and graduate studies before graduating with a doctorate in an accounting program. On top of that, accounting doctoral programs prefer that doctoral candidates have 1-5 years of accounting practice experience. This adds up to 13-17 years to graduate from an accounting doctoral program.

An economics major can earn an economics doctorate in seven years of full-time studies before graduating with a doctorate from an Economics Department. If she or he bothers to earn a MBA degree along the way, it may take eight years to complete the doctorate. Under new AACSB rules, doctoral graduates in economics, statistics, mathematics, psychology, etc. are fully qualified to become accounting professors.

I must admit that I reasoned exactly like you, Richard, until I pushed Student XXXXX into a Tier 1 accounting doctoral program that he withdrew from after his first semester in spite of his being a brilliant math student (double major with accounting).This unfortunate outcome made me think more seriously about why the pool for accounting doctoral students is drying up.

Once again consider the Plumlee et al findings:  Plumlee et al. (2006) discovered that there were only 29 doctoral students in auditing and 23 in tax out of the 2004 total of 391 accounting doctoral students enrolled in years 1-5 in the United States. The number of graduates has shrunk to less than 100 per year.

If the Tier 1 accounting doctoral programs (and in fact virtually all accounting doctoral programs) require that all applicants have the advanced mathematics, statistics, and economics, we have in fact added possibly two more years to a five-year accounting program just to enter the accounting doctoral program applicant pool. Alternately, an applicant might be admitted provisionally into an accounting doctoral studies program and take the two years of econometrics preparatory courses in what becomes tantamount to a six or seven year doctoral full-time studies program in graduate school.

My conclusions are as follows.

1. To become an accounting professor in a Tier 1 accounting program it is far more efficient and possibly more effective (toward tenure) to earn social science, mathematics, or statistics doctorate outside accounting in a highly prestigious university. Accounting doctoral programs are actually inefficient alternatives to becoming an accounting professor in a Tier 1 accounting program unless you cannot get into a highly prestigious non-accounting doctoral program.

2. The pool of applicants for accounting doctoral programs is drying up. Accountants with 1-5 years of experience typically want to study accounting if they choose to enter a doctoral program. Since virtually all accounting doctoral programs in the United States are social science (particularly econometrics) programs with few if any accounting courses, these programs do not appeal to accountants. These doctoral programs might appeal to economists and statisticians, but it is far more efficient to earn economics and statistics doctorates from Departments of Economics and Statistics.

Thus I gave the wrong advice to my Student XXXXX who was a brilliant dual major in accounting and mathematics. Instead of recommending a doctoral program in accounting (where he really did not want a forced feeding of econometrics), I should've recommended that he go directly into a prestigious mathematics doctoral program. Then he could ultimately apply to become an accounting professor in a Tier 1 accounting research university after getting his mathematics doctorate.

Since the number of graduates from accounting doctoral programs is less than 100 students per year, Tier 1 research universities are often forced to seek top graduates from non-accounting doctoral programs such as econometrics and management science programs in prestigious universities.

Isn't it sad that for some accounting professors like me, majoring in accounting was wasted time.

Bob Jensen

May 13, 2007 reply from Richard C. Sansing [Richard.C.Sansing@DARTMOUTH.EDU]

Bob,

I suspect that Ron Dye would recommend studying under Ron Dye at Kellogg's accounting Ph.D. program! One way to find out-- I'll ask him and post his response.

Some of your analysis seems exaggerated. I came into the doctoral program with a very weak math background. In my three years of coursework, roughly 1/3 of my classes were accounting research seminars and 2/3 were math and economics classes. When you say:

"If the Tier 1 accounting doctoral programs (and in fact virtually all accounting doctoral programs) require that all applicants have the advanced mathematics, statistics, and economics, we have in fact added possibly two more years to a five-year accounting program just to enter the accounting doctoral program applicant pool."

you are double counting. You take those "tools" courses during the five-year accounting doctoral program, not in addition to it.

I think that trying to become an accounting researcher without taking the accounting research seminars and attending the weekly accounting research workshops would be very difficult.

I would ask someone considering an accounting academic career what sort of questions they would like to answer. Much of this thread has framed the questions in negative terms "How do I avoid course X during my doctoral program?" rather than in positive terms "How do I learn how to answer question Y?"

Richard Sansing

May 14, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Richard,

"Three years" is bad advice these days! Your college (Dartmouth) does not have a doctoral program. Let me use as a benchmark what I view as a typical accounting doctoral program in the 21st Century. The University of Florida writes that it takes 4-5 years to complete an accounting PhD for students entering with strong mathematics backgrounds. Students who must additionally take the "mathematics preparatory courses" must anticipate six or seven years of full-time effort.

Apparently your experience (advice?) differs from the advice given by the accounting professor who advised Sue's accounting graduate to take two more years "advanced mathematics" before applying to accounting doctoral programs.

It also differs from my experience trying to place some top accounting graduates in accounting doctoral programs in recent years. Nearly all who were admitted had significantly stronger mathematics credentials than those that were rejected.  Most programs now advise applicants that (even those with math credentials and masters degrees) the accounting doctoral program will take 4-5 years (See the University of Florida statement quoted below).

In fact most universities make a concerted effort to recruit accounting doctoral program candidates who do not have accounting degrees. Virtually every accounting doctoral program has a mathematics matriculation requirement that is now quite formidable (possibly more so for applicants today than for us applicants in the 20th Century). Consider the following statement at the Fisher School of Accounting Website at the University of Florida.

Note in particular the suggested admission alternatives of "economics, engineering, mathematics, operations research, psychology, and statistics." No mention is made of such undergraduate degrees as history, philosophy, or other humanities degrees, and I suspect that unless a humanities graduate is very strong in mathematics, the chances are zero of being admitted to most any U.S. accounting doctoral program even among humanities graduates that are actively recruited by top law schools. By the way, top law schools in particular recruit accounting graduates more aggressively than accounting doctoral programs in my opinion. One of the major reasons for the shrinking pool of applicants to accounting doctoral programs is the now preferred option to go to law school (including some who want to specialize in tax and eventually teach tax at the college level with a JD credential).

Begin Quote
*************

University of Florida Ph.D. in Business Administration - Accounting

Ph.D. Program - Accounting Concentration This program is open to all applicants who have completed an undergraduate degree. Individuals with a degree in a non-business discipline (e.g., economics, engineering, mathematics, operations research, psychology, statistics) are encouraged to apply. Program Details (pdf) Students are required to demonstrate math competency prior to matriculating the doctoral program. Each student's background will be evaluated individually, and guidance provided on ways a student can ready themselves prior to beginning the doctoral course work. There are opportunities to complete preparatory course work at the University of Florida prior to matriculating our doctoral program. The accounting concentration is designed to be completed in four to five years. The first year of the program is essentially lockstep with doctoral students in economics and finance. Starting in the second year, individual course work is designed by the student in consultation with his or her supervisory committee and the accounting graduate coordinator. Other than the Accounting Seminars (listed below) there are no specific required courses after the first year of the program. Accounting Seminars: ACG 7939 Theoretical Constructs in Accounting ACG 7979 Accounting Readings and Replication ACG 7885 Empirical Research Methods in Accounting ACG 7979 Accounting Readings and Research Project ACG 7887 Research Analysis in Accounting Ph.D. Co-Major Program with the Department of Statistics A program of study for a single degree in which a student satisfies co-major requirements in two separate academic disciplines that offer the Ph.D.

End Quote
*************

Is there any accounting doctoral program in the United States that encourages humanities graduates to apply? Is there an accounting doctoral program in the entire United States that has a co-major with the Department of Philosophy or the Department of History?

As of today, The University of Florida graduated four accounting PhDs since Year 2000. As far as I can tell, none of them were undergraduate accounting majors. Degrees in engineering, economics, and mathematics most likely hastened completion of their doctoral degrees in accounting at Florida in less than six or seven years. I mention Florida only because Florida is not a unique accounting doctoral program in this regard. I commend Florida for being more honest than some when stating the program requirements.

The bottom line is that I don't think that the doctoral program that you (Richard) entered "with a very weak math background" and completed in three years makes you a relevant role model for today's applicants to doctoral programs. My reading is that today you could not even be admitted to the University of Florida accounting doctoral program unless you completed the "preparatory course work at the University of Florida prior to matriculating our doctoral program." We (you and me) are no longer role models in that regard for applicants to accounting doctoral programs.

In my case I was admitted to the doctoral program but then had to take all those extra undergraduate math, operations research, economics, and statistics courses while in the program. My PhD graduation would've been hastened at Stanford if I had majored in mathematics or statistics instead of accounting as an undergraduate. I perhaps then could've graduated in three years instead of the five full (and delightful) years that I spent in Palo Alto. Now I think it requires six or seven years in Palo Alto for candidates who must take the preparatory undergraduate courses. In my day we did not have all those accounting research seminars at the graduate level.

Bob Jensen

May 13, 2007 reply from

Bob,

You are not confused. And I am not brainwashed. ;-)

My point, as you well know, is that when we do research using archival data we need math skills. Different types of research appear to be rewarded differently, as evidenced by the salary differentials across the schools at a university.

Amy

May 14, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Amy,

You wrote that "when we do research using archival data we need math skills."

To which I respectfully reply as follows:

Not everything that can be counted, counts. And not everything that counts can be counted.
Albert Einstein

I think that you're confining doctoral scholarship to archives that can be counted and overlooking the archives, possibly the most relevant archived information, that cannot be counted.

In the United States, following the Gordon/Howell and Pierson reports, our accounting doctoral programs and leading academic journals bet the farm on the social sciences without taking the due cautions of realizing why the social sciences are called "soft sciences." They're soft because "not everything that can be counted, counts. And not everything that counts can be counted."

It seems to me that history scholars have a much longer history of analyzing archival data than most any other type of scholars, I wonder what the discipline of history would’ve become if every history scholar over the past 1,000 years had to have two years of preparatory “advanced mathematics” before entering a doctoral program in history.

It seems to me that legal scholars have a very long and scholarly history of doing research on archival data, especially court records, I wonder what the discipline of law would’ve become if every legal scholar over the past 1,000 years had to have two years of preparatory “advanced mathematics” before entering a JD program.

Many of our serious professional problems needing research in accounting are closer to law than economics. Particularly vexing are the issues of how to account for complex contracts (e.g., those with derivatives, contingencies, and intangibles) in settings where the contracts are being written to deceive investors and creditors. Must years of advanced mathematics and econometrics necessary conditions for conducting academic research to help the profession with these contracts?

Where would we be in medicine, law, and most other professions if it was dictated on high that all their doctoral programs had to require advanced mathematics? Would they find themselves in the mess we have today in academic accounting in the United States where the pool of potential doctoral candidates is drying up?

Would we find ourselves in the mess of having to rely on adjuncts to teach more of the accounting courses than our tenure-track faculty who bargained for minimal teaching and maximal salaries and benefits so they could conduct econometric and psychometric research with models of dubious relevance to the practicing profession?

Why is it that virtually all of our doctoral programs in accounting are now being shunned by so many accounting professionals who would like to teach accounting, auditing, tax, or AIS but are turned off by having to first take preparatory courses in advanced mathematics and not have the opportunity for studying accounting in accounting doctoral programs?

In academic accounting we’ve almost all been seduced by frustrated economists in the U.S. who found a way to secure a monopoly by putting up barriers to entry that shrinks the supply of accounting doctoral graduates and lifts the salaries of accounting professors to the highest levels in every university. Most of us, especially me, have benefited from these barriers to entry. But in the process, we’ve widened the schism between professors of accounting and the accounting profession and students of accounting.

These barriers to entry to doctoral programs have frustrated practicing accountants to a point where doctoral programs like the one at the University of Florida are in many cases more appealing to non-accountants ("economics, engineering, mathematics, operations research, psychology, and statistics") who can matriculate into the program with their advanced mathematics skills and graduate from the program without every having studied the things we teach our undergraduates and masters students in accounting. In fairness, the current body of eight accounting doctoral students at the University of Florida has three candidates with undergraduate degrees in accounting. Others include a mathematics major, a statistics major, a finance major, a commerce major, and a student who majored in economics. The finance major also earned a masters of accounting degree.

It seems to me that in the United States after the Gordon/Howell and Pierson reports our accounting doctoral programs and leading academic journals bet the farm on the social sciences without heeding the due cautions of realizing why the social sciences are called "soft sciences." They're soft because "not everything that can be counted, counts. And not everything that counts can be counted."

Why is it that only outside the United States various accounting doctoral programs in prestigious universities have seen the light regarding diversity of research methodologies in academic accountancy?

Bob Jensen

May 13, 2007 reply from Richard C. Sansing [Richard.C.Sansing@DARTMOUTH.EDU]

--- Bob Jensen wrote:

Even better advice would be to avoid accounting altogether if you want to be a top researcher in a Tier 1 accounting research university. Consider the role model examples. Ron Dye (Northwestern Accounting Professor) has his doctorate and undergraduate degrees in mathematics and economics with almost no accounting. Some of our other top accounting researchers have management science, mathematics, econometrics, and psychometric doctorates with very little in the way of accountancy education and/or experience in accounting practice. What accounting they learned is when having to teach a little about it after they became professors.

--- end of quote ---

Here is Ron's response, along with the question that I posed to him.

About the question: by and large, I think it is a mistake for someone interested in pursuing an academic career in accounting not to get a phd in accounting. If you look at the "success" stories, there aren't many: most of the people who make a post-phd transition fail. I think that happens for a couple reasons. 1. I think some of the people that transfer late do it for the money, and aren't really all that interested in accounting. While the $ are nice, it is impossible to think about $ when you are trying to come up with an idea, and anyway, you're unlikely to come up with an idea unless you're really interested in the subject. 2. I think, almost independent of the field, unless you get involved in the field at an early age, for some reason it becomes very hard to develop good intuition for the area - which is a second reason good problems are often not generated by "crossovers."

The bigger thing - not related to the question you raise - but maybe you could add to the discussion is that there are, as far as I can tell, not a lot of new ideas being put forth by anyone in accounting nowadays (with the possible exception of John Dickhaut's neuro stuff). In most fields, the youngsters are supposed to come up with the new problems, techniques, etc., but I see a lot more mimicry than innovation among newly minted phds now.

Anyway, for what it's worth....

Ron

May 14, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Richard,

I thank you for obtaining a reply from Ron Dye. He's one among a number of leading researchers who became an accounting professor without having a background in accounting. He's also one of the finest mathematics researchers in academic accounting.

What is especially interesting to me is Ron's conclusion that essentially our highly touted and highly selective accounting doctoral programs (with the highest-paid graduates in academe) in the United States are pretty much failures if we define research as the creation of new and innovative knowledge. I love his choice of the word  "mimicry" in his following conclusion:

Begin Quote
**********************

The bigger thing - not related to the question you raise - but maybe you could add to the discussion is that there are, as far as I can tell, not a lot of new ideas being put forth by anyone in accounting nowadays (with the possible exception of John Dickhaut's neuro stuff). In most fields, the youngsters are supposed to come up with the new problems, techniques, etc., but I see a lot more mimicry than innovation among newly minted phds now.

**********************
End Quote

I might add that John Dickhaut is nowhere close to being a newly-minted doctoral student. He's an old guy who got his PhD at Ohio State in 1970 before Ohio State transitioned into its present highly mathematical accounting doctoral program. This illustrates how innovative research can come from graduates of accounting doctoral programs that do not (at least way back then) require advanced mathematics.

I suggested that Ron Dye's route to becoming an accounting academic was more efficient in the sense of taking less time (three  years in an economics doctoral program at Carnegie built upon his mathematics undergraduate degree) rather than the route of entering an accounting doctoral program where it now takes 4-5 years built upon a mathematics undergraduate degree or 6-7 years built upon a typical accounting undergraduate degree if the student has to take the two years of preparatory mathematics required by many of our top accounting doctoral programs.

In terms of accountics, I think our econometrics-based accounting doctoral programs are probably better for us than doctoral programs in the economics departments because accounting doctoral students are more likely to conduct research on archival databases that are more of interest in accounting than are the databases of interest to economics departments. The downside is that the econometrics studies published in leading accounting research journals by graduates of accounting doctoral programs have probably reflected mostly "mimicry" lamented by Professor Dye.

In his message Professor Dye does not recommend that his streamlined route to becoming an accounting professor (without an accounting education background) serve as a role model. I tend to agree, although I now have newer doubts. I'm currently evaluating publications submitted for the 2007 AICPA/AAA Notable Contributions to Literature Award. The Award's Screening Committee filtered out all submissions that were not accountics papers. Among those accountics papers submitted to our Selection Committee by the Screening Committee, many of the authors do not have accounting backgrounds and some of the submissions are from such journals as Management Science and the Journal of Financial Economics. My recommendation for the award will actually be a finance professor's paper that made it through the Screening Committee. Sadly we have to go to finance and management science graduates to find our most notable contributions to accounting literature.

This is consistent with Ron's claim that among graduates of accounting doctoral programs "I see a lot more mimicry than innovation among newly minted phds now." Even some of our so-called Seminal Contributions to Accounting Research Award-winning studies mimicked a lot from prior research of economics and finance professors

Thanks to Ron Dye's reply, I'm even more concerned about our doctoral programs in accounting and our leading academic accounting journals --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm

Thanks for the favor Richard!

Bob Jensen

May 3, 2007 reply from J. S. Gangolly [gangolly@CSC.ALBANY.EDU]

1.
Students consider many factors before deciding to enter an accounting PhD program, some of them random and/or serendipitous (as in my case; my would-be advisor in Operations Research passed away within four months of my stay in the program). But we need to ask why there are no takers inspite of the astronomical salaries we offer, while outstanding candidates are begging to be admitted into Phd programs in disciplines where tenure-track positions are almost non-existent, or where a doctoral degree is only ticket to years of serfdom as Postdocs.

The simple answer is that our field, AS WE PORTRAY IT, is just not exciting to a young inquiring mind. In accounting there is no Fermat's last theorem to be proved (as in mathematics), nor Hilbert's entscheidungsproblem to be solved (as in Computing), nor the mind-body problem (as in philosophy), nor new chemicals to be synthesised (chemistry), grammar of lost languages to be discovered (anthropology), genes to be targeted (medicine)....

A long time ago, Yuji Ijiri tried to convince us that there were fundamental problems in accounting that are equally challenging. How many of us even remember them today, or even have heard of them?

Most of us have sought to use statistics the same way a drunk uses a lamp post -- more for support than for illumination (apologies to Mark Twain).

I personally think that often, these days, people get into a PhD for a wrong reason, and some times live to regret it.

We accounting academics, especially in the so-called research universities, are living a lie, thanks to AACSB. We portray ourselves as scholars and yet rarely interact with the scholarly community on our campuses. We claim to be academics in a professional discipline and yet hardly interact with the profession in a meaningful way. Aren't we like race horses with blinders on and no jockies?

2.
The shortage of PhD students in non-financial areas is also rigged. We make it clear to the students which side of the toast is buttered. We dump on journals in accounting other than those in the financial area which publish the so-called "mainstream" (I prefer the term stale) research. Then we make life difficult at tenure time for those who have not toed the party line. We tolerate third rate pedagogy as long as it releases time for prima donnas to indulge in stale irrelevant research. Then we squabble over what is "real" research, and why what every one else is doing is not that. Is this a recipe for recruiting young inquiring minds into our discipline?

I left the corporate world in the early seventies because I was fascinated with the problems I had to deal with there (mostly in operations) and the promise that Operations Research offered. Today, however, As someone at the front end of the baby boom generation, I sometimes wonder if, were I shopping today for a PhD program, I would leave the corporate world if my success depended on toeing the party line.

Jagdish

May 13, 2007 reply from Roger Debreceny [Roger@DEBRECENY.COM]

Just a plug for the Shidler PhD program. Given the strategic direction of the Shidler College in international management, our PhD program is somewhat different than the usual program. The program is in International Management, with specializations in accounting, marketing, MIS and so on. Details at http://shidler.hawaii.edu/Programs/Graduate/PhDinInternationalManagement/PhDOverview/tabid/382/Default.aspx . We're always looking for high quality candidates,

Roger Debreceny
Shidler College Distinguished Professor of Accounting
School of Accountancy
Shidler College of Business
University of Hawai`i at Mānoa
2404 Maile Way, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
roger@debreceny.com     rogersd@hawaii.edu 
Office: +1 808 956 8545 Cell: +1 808 393 1352
www.debreceny.com 

May 13, 2007 reply from Dan Stone, Univ. of Kentucky [dstone@UKY.EDU]

Please add the Univ. of Kentucky to the list of doctoral programs that seek students interested in, and support, a variety of research methods and topics. For example, among the 12 doctoral students in residence currently, we have students pursuing research related to:

1. XBRL

2. Accounting issues related to environmental sustainability 3. Knowledge management in professional service firms 4. Applications of self-determination theory to motivating accounting professionals 5. Accounting methods to aid economic development in emerging economies 6. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting

Information about the Univ. of Kentucky doctoral program is available at:

http://gatton.uky.edu/Programs/ACC/DoctoralDegreeInformation.html

We typically admit 2-3 students per year to the program.

Happy Mother's Day!

Dan Stone (dstone@uky.edu)
Director of Graduate Studies
University of Kentucky

May 15, 2007 reply from  a doctoral student

This entire discussion is disheartening to PhD students like myself who have an accounting education and practice background but are not quant jocks and have no desire to become one. Seems a bit odd that the accounting academic profession, particularly in its current state (i.e far fewer candidates than open positions), can discriminate to such an extent against the very people it trained at the undergraduate and masters levels. The interview process over the next year should be quite an eye-opening experience.

May 15, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

Once again I repeat the critical shortage numbers of graduates from accounting doctoral programs. Plumlee et al. (2006) discovered that there were only 29 doctoral students in auditing and 23 in tax out of the 2004 total of 391 accounting doctoral students enrolled in years 1-5 in the United States --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm

I think getting a great tenure track job offers should the least of your worries if you are getting a doctorate in accountancy. The supply of accounting doctoral program graduates is expected to be less than 100 each year due mainly to shrinkage of the application pool. Demand for these graduates is soaring. You should be able to get offers from fine colleges and universities in every state of the United States.

Your compensation package should be the highest offered for a new assistant professor by the college of your choice.

So much for the good news. Now the bad news.

Your main worry should center on the self-proclaimed  "leading scholars" who most likely will be refereeing your article submissions in a publish or perish world. For example, Accounting Horizons (AH) is not The Accounting Review (TAR). Whereas TAR is aimed at the academia, AH is supposed to be refereed for publication of academic research aimed at a practitioner audience. One would expect accounting experts to referee AH submissions. Meet one of those "leading experts" who sadly is not an "accounting expert."

When Professor Beresford attempted to publish his remarks, an Accounting Horizons referee’s report to him contained the following revealing reply about “leading scholars” in accounting research:

Begin Quote
*************
1. The paper provides specific recommendations for things that accounting academics should be doing to make the accounting profession better. However (unless the author believes that academics' time is a free good) this would presumably take academics' time away from what they are currently doing. While following the author's advice might make the accounting profession better, what is being made worse? In other words, suppose I stop reading current academic research and start reading news about current developments in accounting standards. Who is made better off and who is made worse off by this reallocation of my time? Presumably my students are marginally better off, because I can tell them some new stuff in class about current accounting standards, and this might possibly have some limited benefit on their careers. But haven't I made my colleagues in my department worse off if they depend on me for research advice, and haven't I made my university worse off if its academic reputation suffers because I'm no longer considered a leading scholar? Why does making the accounting profession better take precedence over everything else an academic does with their time?
**************
End Quote
See
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/theory01.htm#AcademicsVersusProfession

The above quotation illustrates the consequences of editorial policies of most leading accounting research journals. To be considered a “leading scholar” in accountancy, one’s research must employ mathematically-based economic/behavioral theory and quantitative modeling. Most TAR and AH articles published in the past two decades support this contention.  But according to former AAA President Judy Rayburn and other former AAA presidents, this mathematical focus may not be in the best interests of accountancy academicians or the accountancy profession ---  http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR.htm

Keep this in mind when considering the many tenure track positions you will probably be afforded. In particular ask if a possible employer has some stupid classification of research journals and a requirement for a minimal number of publications in the various categories for tenure. Ask your possible colleagues themselves if they will truly read your papers or whether they simply count the hits in the journal classification categories. I'm not kidding here! I've sat on so many promotion and tenure evaluation committees in four different universities (large and small) that I'm a real cynic about readership versus counting of publications.

And there are ways to play what's become a publishing game. One ploy is to jointly author articles so you can have your name on more submitted articles. This increases the odds of publication hits, and your co-authors may truly add quality and well as quantity to your publishing efforts. If you do a single research study try to split it into more than one article. This of course is considered by many to be unethical, but it certainly is common practice. However, I do not recommend that you publish virtually the same article in multiple journals. If your colleagues truly read your papers you will almost certainly get caught and your chances of promotion and/or tenure will plunge to zero.

Try to have co-authors who are good writers. Quality of writing adds a great deal even to mediocre research (not that you will ever do anything but great research --- I hope.)

I provide some advice to new accounting faculty at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/newfaculty.htm

I congratulate you on sticking out the doctoral program and wish you the very best in your academic career.

Keep the faith and try to have innovative ideas throughout your career. Most importantly, try to enjoy your new career. I loved almost every moment of my career. You can listen to a clown's sentimental journey at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/homepage.htm#Bob's

Bob Jensen

A reply to the doctoral student from Paul Williams [Paul_Williams@NCSU.EDU]

Stay optimistic. And get angry.

Bob's information about the recent Notable Contribution list being pared down to just accountics pieces is business as usual; it should enrage us all and open our eyes to how corrupt our academic organization in the U.S. truly is. When "standards" of quality are simply a matter of opinion, "quality" is a matter of who has the power to impose their idea of what quality is. There is no accounting phenomenon that is differentiable so how is it that we developed the requirement that one become a mathematical economist before one can do accounting scholarship?

Given the achievements over the past 35 years of the quant folks (mimicry, wasn't that the word Ron Dye used?), one who maintains the hardline that this is what is essential to being a scholar is hard pressed to defend the position on the basis of tangible achievements. Instead, the position is maintained via nothing other than political power. Control of the reputational system in the U.S. academy has long been in the hands of the ideologues.

As Anthony Hopwood said in his presidential address at the last AAA meeting: Accounting is a PRACTICE (!!), and as such we are free to speak about it anyway we want. It is obvious to the most casual observer that accounting is an integral part of the justice system (note how many crimes are defined via accounting). The FASB allegedly employs a due process procedure (not a concept that looms large in the discourse of neoclassical economics). Do attorneys have to take 15 courses in econometrics? Not hardly. (Most real scientists don't take that much "methodology", but actually study the content of their discipline).

Note that the Notable Contribution award given by the AAA is the one for which there are two committees: a nominating (screening) committee and a selection committee. The nominating committee is where the AAA puts the token "others" (e.g., this year Prem Sikka got to experience the frustration of being completely ignored), but the selection committee is always a majority of those who have a vested interest in preserving the political correctness of the reputational system firmly in place. Having watched our academic organization over a fairly long period of time, I could tell you some stories that would enrage you (read Tinker and Puxty's Policing Accounting Knowledge: The Market for Excuses Affair if you want to get a sense of how our academic world works).

But hopelessness is not the only option. As the enrollment in doctoral programs continues to decline (only accountants could make the dismal "science" even more dismal), the powers that be are watching their power erode. Control over a scholarly community that is withering away is a rather hollow victory. You (we) can change it. Just as "normative" theory (i.e., anything that did not meet the "normative" standards of the Cato Institute) was proclaimed invalid by a ukase issued from the U. of Chicago Business School (every Seminal Contribution Award has been given to a U. of Chicago product; even the Bank of Sweden Prize sometimes goes to a non-Chicagoite), it could, if we had the nerve to do it, be proclaimed that "positive" theory is invalid and will no longer be considered for publication by AAA journals.

We could certainly impose more rigorous standards of "What does this have to do with accounting?" for any manuscript submitted to AAA journals. If you want to be an economist, be an economist; if you want to be a statistician, be a statistician; if you want to be a mathematician, by all means go be one. But please be willing to work for the wages that those particular disciplines are paid. Don't live a lie. We've been conned into creating as our "academy" (to quote one of our most illustrious American scholars) "simply a game to identify who the cleverest people are so we know who to give the money to." As Andrew Abbott notes about the colonization of social science by "rational" decision theory, "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." Kings went out of favor quite some time ago, except for the AAA (the last remaining Politburo on earth).

Paul Williams

Tier 1 Versus Tier 2 Versus Tier 3

May 17, 2007 question form Donald Ramsey [dramsey@UDC.EDU]

Could someone briefly elucidate on the tier taxonomy?

Tiers of business schools or of universities? Not always the same.

Is this pretty informal, or are there well-understood criteria?

Most of us know we are not in Tier 1; and presume we are not in Tier 4, but context, as they say, is everything.

Thanks,

Don Ramsey
University of the District of Columbia

 

May 18, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Don,

The "Tier" system can be formal or informal. When I sent out some recent messages I used an informal (my own) system. In the paragraphs below, I also link to more formal and standardized systems, especially the Carnegie Foundation classifications.

First note that we define "research" as a contribution to new knowledge that is not presently in any archive. Hence publication of "research" adds something new to the archives, including totally irrelevant and trivial and controversial new knowledge. For example, superficial opinion survey findings generally meet the research definition, but they may be far less scholarly than advanced tutorials on FAS 133 or a Harvard case or a new and innovative accounting textbook.

Research should not be confused with scholarship. Scholarly professors may master existing knowledge and in fact even publish their scholarship in a way that is helpful to other scholars and teachers and students. For example, scholars might publish tutorials, cases, and even full textbooks that constitute very fine scholarship but do not meet the research test.

Many research publications in accountancy are far less relevant than publications of scholarship alone. However, for performance evaluation purposes Tier 1 and Tier 2 colleges and universities often weight scholarship publications (possibly high quality scholarship) very low relative to research publications (possibly trivial findings from esoteric models) that are screened by referees dedicated to knowing the difference between research and scholarship.

The distinction between research and scholarship becomes very cloudy in many instances, especially in law. Law professors may conduct "legal research" of existing cases where the main contribution eventually becomes a filtering out of precedents in the law. Legal "research" in this manner is more apt to be legal "scholarship." But if legal analysts discover previously unknown patterns like social science researchers seek out when mining data, there really may be legal research beyond scholarship.

Promotion and tenure committees have a great deal of trouble with publications in journals like "Issues in Accounting Education" published by the AAA. All articles in this journal are rigorously refereed. However, the criteria used do not absolutely require research, although some of the articles accepted by IAE constitute research. Most tutorials and cases published in IAE are not technically research.

In general, history researchers are looking for previously unknown connections that constitute new knowledge about very old stuff. If promotion and tenure committees are mostly counting publications, they may miss what is scholarship versus what is research in journals that publish both scholarship and research. And I think that P&T committees are usually better counters than readers. Journal referees are generally better readers than counters.

My “Tier” distinction is my own for accounting programs. A Tier 1 university has an accounting doctoral program. I don't consider any doctoral program not having AACSB accreditation of its undergraduate and masters business programs. The AACSB has never had a program for accreditation of doctoral programs. Obviously there are gradations of prestige within Tier 1. There are also huge differences in the quantity and quality of research expected for tenure.

A Tier 2 university has no doctoral program but has a significant research (new knowledge) publication requirement for promotion and tenure. It need not have AACSB accreditation. Accounting MBA Tier 2 schools like Dartmouth and Rice may have a lot of prestige. But there are many lesser known colleges that have significant research publication requirements for tenure.

A Tier 3 college or university in my subjective classification allows faculty (or at least some strong teaching faculty) to obtain tenure and promotion with only scholarship publications or possibly no refereed publications at all. For example, in a Tier 3 college a published textbook may count toward tenure. Textbooks that do not contribute to research (new knowledge) do not generally satisfy the research requirement of a Tier 1 or a Tier 2 school. In a Tier 3 college, research publications may actually not be weighted heavily for tenure since those schools generally focus much more heavily on teaching and service performance.

Tier 1 and Tier 2 universities build reputations over the years on the research that is credited to their faculty. Tier 3 universities build reputations on their teaching and service, especially their outreach programs for disadvantaged learners.

One place to begin looking for more formal grouping distinctions and controversies is http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2007/05/10/mccormick 

Frequently, groupings (such as U.S. News groupings) are derived from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s classification of colleges and universities. The U.S. News groupings are at http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php 
Some analysts might define Tier 1 versus Tier 2 based upon some arbitrary cutoff in the rankings, such as having Tier 1 be the Top 20 or the Top 100 in a category. I consider this to be totally arbitrary.

The U.S. News rankings framework asserts that there are two kinds of higher education institutions — universities and colleges — and they compete in national or regional markets. Consequently, there is not one set of rankings, but ten: national universities and (national) liberal arts colleges, four regionally differentiated sets of master’s universities, and four regional sets of comprehensive colleges. To a considerable extent this reflects the reality of the higher education admissions market. It also makes good business sense: multiple rankings mean multiple sets of “top” performers who will be happy with the results and proclaim their distinction, and who will be eligible to display the America’s Best Colleges award badge on their Web sites and in their promotional materials.

In many instances media rankings of colleges and universities are dysfunctional --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#BusinessSchoolRankings 

Also see Microsoft Word - The Business School Rankings Game - JBR.doc

Bob Jensen

Accounting Software Ratings

May 2, 2007 message from Jessica Valdes

I am writing on behalf of CTSGuides.com, which is a site that lists accounting software reviews and ratings.  We only list qualified companies that are upstanding and reputable.  This will be a good resource to add to your site for accounting companies that are in search of vendors who offer accounting software.  I would like to know if you'd be interested in adding our link to your site.

Please review this information and let me know if you are interested in such a relationship with our company. If I have contacted you in the past, my apologies.

Title - Accounting Software Reviews and Ratings
URL - http://www.ctsguides.com/accounting-software.asp
Description - Free portal of reviews and ratings of accounting software to help companies consider options for selecting new software.

Thanks and best regards!

Jessica Valdes
jessica@ctsguides.com
CTSGuides.com

RiverGuide provides in-depth profiles, comparisons, and reviews of accounting software products, and would be a valuable resource for users of your site --- http://www.riverguideinc.com/construction/ 

Bob Jensen's accounting software links are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#AccountingSoftware

Measuring Value of Products and Services

May 7, 2007 message from Joe C Razum [jcrazum@baldor.com]

Bob,

Hello. I came across your extensive "knowledge garden" on the web. Very impressive and it looks like a lot of work...and a labor of passion for what you do.

I am equally passionate about helping companies measure the business value of their offerings, whether its a product system or service.

In many industries, I sincerely believe that the only way we can beat the "China Factor" is through better knowledge of value delivered and better resultant pricing.

We've been building our own knowledge garden on value, TCO and value pricing, via the TCO Toolbox software. With over a thousand B2B case studies in our database, using a vendor neutral tool and approach to measuring Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and now Value, we are attracting some good press:

Plant Engineering Magazine Gold Product of the Year for Software. Harvard Business Review - Rockwell Automation TCO analysis mentioned in Anderson & Narus' March 2006 article on Value Propositions. HBS Press book ; Rare Commodity: Moving Business Markets Beyond Price to Value (Fall 2007, Anderson, Narus et al) - details 2-4 pages on TCO Toolbox etc.

This program was born while our company was with Rockwell Automation.

Since February our parent division is now part of Baldor. I've been the program manager throughout.

We have a free 90 day demo (full enabled) of the TCO Toolbox software available for download at www.tcotoolbox.com .

I hope the site makes it on one of your lists.... value measurement, value pricing, etc. is a growing topic based on the conferences I've been to recently.

All the Best, Joe

Joe Razum Baldor
Dodge Reliance mobile 864.363.2781

Please note my new email address: jcrazum@baldor.com 

Measure Value... TCO Toolbox www.tcotoolbox.com

I added Joe's message to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/roi.htm

To be AACSB acredited or not to be, that is the question?
The AACSB International homepage is at http://www.aacsb.edu/

May 3, 2007 message from Donald Ramsey [dramsey@UDC.EDU]

We are interviewing dean candidates, and inevitably the question of AACSB accreditation arises. (We are accredited by ACBSP.)

We have a faculty union and a university-wide salary scale (except the law school, which merged with the university and is not unionized). Are there cases of AACSB-accredited schools with this situation, and how do they recruit faculty competitively?

We are a public institution, with virtually no endowment or other private funding at present.

Many thanks for all responses.

Donald D. Ramsey, CPA,
Department of Accounting, Finance, and Economics,
School of Business and Public Administration,
University of the District of Columbia,
Room 404A, Building 52 (Connecticut and Yuma St.),
4200 Connecticut Ave., N. W.,
Washington, D. C. 20008. (202) 274-7054.

May 3, 2007 reply from Ron Perrin, University of Wollongong [rperrin@UOW.EDU.AU]

oh boy Don' where do i start.

Firstly, greetings from down under. This response is not so much an answer to your question but rather more a wide-ranging gripe about all matters about the general state of accounting schools everywhere.

AACSB accreditation is where we are headed right now. The marketing suggests that without this bauble of legitimacy we are screwed internationally. We can't get staff anyway. We are a regional university 80+ kilometres south of Sydney. We can't really attract professors. Why would anyone come here when there is a vibrant market in Sydney?

But even then what about the international market. Hiring Phds at 100K+ - wow, what am i working for? Might as well retire at the next best opportunity But what happens to the leftist slant I place on content, topic, and in delivery. Hey lets go for any self-serving, self-regulating, self-referring body we can get our hands on. Anyway, hoping Rupert Murdoch picks up the WSJ for the song he's singing. TTFN

(Ta Ta for Now)

Ron Perrin
Sub Dean Faculty of Commerce
University of Wollongong
Northfields Ave, Wollongong,
NSW, Australia, 2522
Ph:(61 2) 4221 4118 Fax:(61 2) 4221 3257

May 3, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Don,

The AACSB used to be all about relatively uniform standards for accreditation, especially in terms of curriculum, faculty qualifications, admission standards, faculty size, and having a dean with his/her own budgetary control.

Then the AACSB began to worry about not accrediting enough programs. First it changed its name and plunged ahead much more forcefully among international business education programs. Second, and more important for you, it decided that accreditation should no longer be based on uniform standards. AACSB accreditation is now mission driven and no longer dictates a curriculum or requires a dean with budgetary control, minimum faculty ratios, etc.

More important than ever is the subjective evaluation of the visitation team comprised of deans of other AACSB schools. The visitation team really decides about “mission accomplished.” Crucial to this AACSB visitation team is that the host school has a huge say in nominating deans to be on the visitation team. The AACSB just does not push off its own independent choices for the visitation team.

Having said all this, I will now give you my subjective opinion. I don’t think for many smaller programs that AACSB accreditation meets the cost/benefit test. AACSB accreditation in terms of time and money is not only costly for the first time, but each year costs just keep on ticking like the Energizer Bunny. Most incoming undergraduates do not understand the difference between AACSB accreditation versus other accreditations such as ACBSP. It would surprise me greatly if moving to AACSB accreditation by itself greatly improved your student admission quality or your faculty quality.

An enormous risk of AACSB accreditation is the really bad publicity that might eventually come from being placed on AACSB probation or suspension of AACSB accreditation. Existing students and potential students may blow that negative news way out of proportion.

AACSB accreditation becomes more important in the face of stiff competition for students from other colleges that exploit the fact that your college has no such credential. If you’re not feeling the heat at the moment I see no need to pay the huge price and take a chance on getting and then losing AACSB accreditation.

Another thing to watch for is AACSB accreditation effort that is mainly an ego trip for a dean. Many deans got schools into this mess just to pad their own resumes and participate in the AACSB Deans Club with its very hefty conference registration fees. I used to give technology workshops for the AACSB and discovered how well these deans really live when they are away from home.

Bob Jensen

AICPA Offers Online SAS 112 Toolkit

AccountingWeb, May 2, 2007 --- http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=103468

The Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) of the American Institute of CPAs has developed an online toolkit designed to help members understand and implement Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 112. SAS No. 112, "Communication of Internal Control Related Matters Identified in an Audit," is effective for audits performed on or after Dec. 15, 2006.

The complete toolkit, accessible to PCPS Member Firms, is available at www.pcps.org . It includes talking points, a newsletter template and a client communication letter, among other resources

The vexing problem of macro hedging in FAS 133 is still a vexing problem
It was a huge problem for Fannie Mae

"Hedging Portfolios," by Ira Kawaller, Bank Asset/Liability Management, May 2003 --- http://www.kawaller.com/pdf/BALM_Hedging_Portfolios.pdf

So what’s the problem? In all likelihood, the intended hedged items would be either a collection of assets or a group of interest expenses, which means that FAS133’s requirements pertaining to portfolio hedges would have to be satisfied. And these requirements happen to be especially restrictive. Here’s what the standard says, in paragraph 21.a.(1):

“The changes in fair value attributable to the hedged risk for each individual item in a hedged portfolio must be expected to respond in a generally proportionate manner to the overall change in fair value of the aggregate portfolio attributable to the hedged risk. That is, if the change in fair value of a hedged portfolio attributable to the hedged risk was 10 per cent during a reporting period, the change in the fair values attributable to the hedged risk for each item constituting the portfolio should be expected to be within a fairly narrow range, such as 9 percent to 11 percent. In contrast, an expectation that the change in fair value attributable to the hedged risk for individual items in the portfolio would range from 7 percent to 13 percent would be inconsistent with this provision.”

It should be clear that the components making up the hedged item would have to be quite homogeneous to satisfy this threshold. There may be an “out,” however, in that FAS 133 allows for hedging relationships to be defined where a portion of the derivative serves as the hedging instrument. Thus, instead of hedging a portfolio of assets, the institution might be better served by hedging selected components of the portfolio individually (i.e., mini-portfolios), and devising an allocation algorithm to determine the appropriate portion of the derivative to be assigned to each component hedged item.

This work-around may still be problematic in that the various hedging relationships may not all be satisfied using the same hedge effectiveness test, so the solution may end up being quite cumbersome. Moreover, with a portfolio considered to be the hedged item, one might ordinarily expect to realize some benefit of diversification – where the effect of the hedge “over-performing” with respect to some portion of the portfolio would be balanced by some “underperforming” with respect to other portions. If hedging mini-portfolios, however, the effectiveness assessment must still be carried out for each designated hedge, individually. That is, even if the hedges perform well in the aggregate, if individual hedges fail the effectiveness assessment criteria, hedge accounting would not be permitted for those failing hedge relationships.

It should be understood that, assuming the aggregate portfolio can be broken down to a workable set of mini-portfolios, each qualifying for hedge accounting, there’s nothing that requires separate derivatives for each hedging relationship. Rather, portions of a single derivative might be applicable for all of the hedging relationships.

Admittedly, the above solution would likely be less than satisfying for hedgers with large, very diverse portfolios. Thankfully, though, those banks still have the option to hedge the other side of the balance sheet. That is, instead of seeking to address their net interest margin exposure by reducing the duration of the bank’s assets, the bank could seek to increase the duration of its liabilities. Attacking the problem from this perspective may require change in mind-set, but at least by doing so, the bank gets to apply cash flow hedge accounting, thereby avoiding the income volatility that would otherwise occur – either because the bank chose not to hedge at all, or because it did hedge its assets, but failed to qualify for fair value hedge accounting.

Continued in article

You can read more about macro hedging at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/acct5341/speakers/133glosf.htm#M-Terms

Enron and the Social Contract
May 4, 2007 message from Ruth Bender [r.bender@CRANFIELD.AC.UK]

A friend recommended me this paper, presented at the European Accounting Association's annual congress last month.  It's about how Enron et al, have changed the perception of accountants and auditors, analysed through the various books published on the frauds.  As the topic has come up on various occasions in different forms on this list, I thought that it might be of interest - it's very readable. 

THE PORTRAYAL OF ACCOUNTING AND ACCOUNTANTS FOLLOWING THE ENRON COLLAPSE
Garry D. Carnegie and Christopher J. Napier
ABSTRACT                The dramatic collapse of Enron, among other corporations including WorldCom in the USA, HIH in Australia and Equitable Life Assurance Society in the UK, combined with the demise of Arthur Andersen in the early 2000s, brought professional accountants and the international accounting profession under intense scrutiny. This latest round of financial scandals provides the opportunity to examine how professional accountants, and accounting

under duress, are portrayed in popular culture. The paper examines the array of books written on the failures themselves and their implications for corporate governance and the survival of the financial system. Changing public stereotypes of accountants may lead to renegotiation or even termination of the “social contract” between society and key organisations (such as the large international accounting firms). The paper explores how commentators have drawn on the history of accounting to analyse the changing activities of accountants (including the rise of consulting) and to contrast the personalities of “founding fathers” of the US accountancy profession with their early 21st-century successors. The paper concludes that episodes such as Enron and the public reaction to the role of auditors in corporate collapse may be “negative signals of movement” for the accountancy profession, creating threats to the ongoing professionalisation project.

The conference home page is http://www.eaa2007lisbon.org/main.htm

The link to the full paper is http://www.licom.pt/eaa2007/papers/EAA2007_0268_final.pdf  -  I don't know how long the papers will be available on the conference website.

Dr Ruth Bender
Cranfield School of Management
UK
r.bender@cranfield.ac.uk

Also see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnronSocialContract.pdf

The Life and Legend of Luca Pacioli --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_Pacioli
1494 author of  Summa de Arithmetica Geometria Proportionalita
(A Review of Arithmetic, Geometry and Proportions)

May 15, 2007 message from Alan Sangster, The Robert Gordon University [a.j.a.sangster@BTINTERNET.COM]

Roger, i've been off AECM-L for about 10 years... Sue Ravenscroft copied me the post you sent about Venuice and Pacioli. I've been researching Pacoili for the last 2 years (while a research only prof), so know a heck of a lot about him, including what he really was, which is not what we accountants think he was!

I'm to be in Venice on 11th June until the 14th, when i head on to Ferrara for the Continuous Reporting Conference. If that's also the reason you're to be in Italy, we could maybe meet up there for a wee Pacioli wander?

Fact is, there is virtually nothing known about where he spent his time in Venice. His first sojourn there (c.1465- c.1470) was before he became a friar, so he would not have spent any time living in a convent, and we do not know where Rompiasi lived or worked. His second stay was during the printing of Summa in 1493/4, so he may have stayed at a convent; or he may have stayed with his sponsor; or with the printer, Paganino; or anywhere else. Some authorities suggest he was only there during the last few weeks of printing (i.e. November 1994) and was there to proofread. This is nonsense in the modern sense -- the book was virtually completed by then and proffreading woiuld have had no benefit for any folios printed before he got there as the printing formes containing the type would already have been broken-up to make new ones for the next pages to be printed. Same goes for his third and last known period in Venice, during 1508/9: no-one knows where he stayed, or for how long, but it is at least likely that he would have been staying in a convent that time, but where?

He did give a public lecture in 1508 in Chiesa (Church) San Bartolomeo near the Rialto and he did attend public lectures by Bragadino in the 1460s in the Scuola (school) di Rialto. So, from the point of view of your question, the Rialto would be the most the area having most to do with Pacioli. Personally, i find Venice in general evokes thoughts of the Renaissance and, for me, when i visited last year for the first time, i felt i was walking in his footsteps much of the time.

Before you go, be sure to read R. Emmet Taylors, "No Royal Road". It is easy to buy on Amazon -- $35.95 today. It is an easy to read biography that will give you a real insight into what was known of the man 70 years ago. More is known now, but it is rarely incorrect, though it does contain considerable poetic licence and fantasising about what he got up to in his spare time. I found my opinion of Pacioli fluctuated wildly while reading it; and that it was necessary to read the entire book to get a properly rounded view.

I'll send some of this in a separate message to the list. If you are to be in Venice around the time i shall be there, you can email me (a.j.a.sangster@btinternet.com  or, if you find yourself there when i'll be there, call me on my mobile 44-78-1744-3420,  

Pacioli and Da Vinci were as close as brothers for at least 13 years, starting after the publication of Summa which da Vinci bought while in Milan. Pacioli then went to Milan wth the title (full) professor of Mathematics, though he was mainly attached to the Court of the Duke rather than to a university. While there he met da Vinci, and the rest is history. He taught da Vinci some aspects of mathmatics and, contrary to what it said in the original newspaper story, Da Vinci does briefly mention Pacioli in his writing.

Pacioli, like da Vinci, was a polymath -- teacher, educationalist, bookkeeper, linguist, expert in military tactics, expert in geometry as applied to art, specialist in practical arithmetic, author, and, (as revealed in De Viribus Qantitatis, magician, and more, all underpinned by mathematics; and he was by far the better known of the two men during his lifetime.

He is revered by those that know of his accomplishments including mathematicians, statisticians, educationalists, architects, magicians, and was considered a genious by Leonardo da Vinci. He was a true Renaissance Man and only lost his place among the elite of the history of that period by a character assination carried out some 50 years after he died.

De Viribus Quantitatis is well worth reading. An Italian translation was published in 1997, but is very hard to get. There was an article on it published a few days after the one already circulated to this list, which corrects a few mis-statements in the original, on which the Australian article was apparently based: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/art/2007/04/missing_manuscript_unearthed_a.html

Alan

May 16, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

Thank you Alan for this serious effort to both study and share what you've learned about Luca Pacioli. Perhaps you can add (easy to do from your Internet browser) to the rather interesting text and picture of Pacioli at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_Pacioli

Note the discussion of the "Golden Ratio" at the above site as applied in a woodcut of a face. I find this interesting since it is now quite popular to analyze visualizations of multivariate data using both real and cartoon faces (e.g., Chernoff faces) --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/352wpvisual/000datavisualization.htm

Bob Jensen

Humor Between May 1 and May 31, 2007

Forwarded by Team Carper

Forwarded by Paula

Maxine's Living Will

Forwarded by Dick and Cec

What dating was like in 1956.

It's the summer of 1956 and Harold goes to pick up his date, Peggy Sue. Harold's a pretty hip guy with his own car and a duck tail hairdo. When he goes to the front door, Peggy Sue's mother answers and invites him in.

"Peggy Sue's not ready yet, so why don't you have a seat?" Peggy Sue's mother asks Harold what they're planning to do.

Harold replies politely that they will probably just go to the malt shop or to a drive-in movie.

Peggy Sue's mother responds, "Why don't you kids go out and screw? I hear all the kids are doing it."

Naturally this comes as quite a surprise to Harold and he says, "Whaaaat?"

Yeah," says Peggy Sue's mother, "We know Peggy Sue really likes to screw; why, she'd screw all night if we let her!"

Harold's eyes light up and he smiles from ear to ear. Immediately, he has revised the plans for the evening.

A few minutes later, Peggy Sue comes downstairs in her little poodle skirt with her saddle shoes, and announces that she's ready to go.

Almost breathless with anticipation, Harold escorts his date out the front door while Mom is saying, "Have a good evening kids," with a small wink for Harold.

About 20 minutes later, a thoroughly disheveled Peggy Sue rushes back into the house, slams the door behind her and screams at her mother: Mom! It's the Twist! It's called The Twist!!!

Forwarded by Maria

Don't you just love blondes?

Two blondes living in Oklahoma were sitting on a bench talking, and one blonde says to the other, "Which do you think is farther away... Florida or the moon?

The other blonde turns and asks "Helloooooooooo, can you see Florida from here?"

---------------

A blonde pushes her BMW into a gas station. She tells the mechanic it died.

After he works on it for a few minutes, it is idling smoothly. She asks, "What's the story?"

He replies, "Just crap in your car's carburetor."

She asks, "How often do I have to do that?"

---------------

A gorgeous young redhead goes into the doctor's office and said that her> >body hurt wherever she touched it.

"Impossible!" says the doctor. "Show me."

The redhead took her finger, pushed on her left shoulder and screamed; then she pushed her elbow and screamed even more. She pushed her knee and screamed; likewise she pushed her ankle and screamed. Everywhere she touched made her scream.

The doctor said, "You're not really a redhead are you?

"Well, no" she said, "I colored my hair. I'm actually a blonde."

"I thought so," sighed the doctor. "Your finger is broken."

---------------

A girl was visiting her blonde friend, who had acquired two new dogs, and asked her what  their names were. The blonde responded by saying that one was named Rolex and one was named Timex.

Her friend asked, "Whoever heard of someone naming dogs like that?"

"HELLLOOOOOOO......," answered the blond. "They're watch dogs!"

Forwarded by Maria

The Broken Mower 

When our lawn mower broke and wouldn't run, my wife kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed. But, somehow I always had something else to take care of first, the truck, the car, playing golf - always something more important to me. 

Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point. When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass, busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors.

I watched silently for a short time and then went into the house. I was gone only a minute, and when I came out again I handed her a toothbrush. I said, "When you finish cutting the grass, you might as well sweep the driveway." 

The doctors say I will walk again, but I will always have a limp. 

Moral of this story: Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right, and the other is the husband.

Forwarded by Paula

This sounds familiar!

Recently, I was diagnosed with A. A. A. D. D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden.

As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mailbox earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox, when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only 1 check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke t hat I had been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need to be watered.

I set the Coke down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

• ----the car isn't washed,
• ----the bills aren't paid,
• ----there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter,
• ----the flowers don't have enough water,
• ----there is still only 1 check in my check book,
• ----I can't find the remote,
• ----I can't find my glasses,
• ----and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.

Do me a favor, will you? Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't remember to whom it has been sent.

Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!

GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL. LAUGHING AT YOURSELF IS THERAPEUTIC.

PS: I just remembered...I LEFT THE WATER RUNNING IN THE DRIVEWAY!

Forwarded by Dick Haar

God addresses Al Gore first: "Al, what do you believe?"

Gore replies: "Well, I believe I won that election, but that it was your will that I not serve. And I've come to understand that now."

God thinks for a second and says, "I admire your humility. Come sit at my left."

God then addresses Bill Clinton: "Bill, what do you believe?"

Clinton replies: "I believe in forgiveness. I've sinned, but I've never held a grudge against my fellow man, and I hope no grudges are held against me."

God thinks for a second and says, "You are forgiven, my son. Come sit at my right."

God then calls on George W. Bush: "George, what do you believe?"

Bush says: "I believe you're in my chair."

Forwarded by Dick and Cec

One day, while walking to the store, I passed by a Nursing Home. On the front lawn were six old ladies lying naked on the grass. I thought this was totally unusual but continued on my way to the store.

On my return trip, I walked past the same Nursing Home with the same six old ladies lying naked on the lawn. This time my curiosity got the best of me, and I went inside to talk to the manager.

"Do you know there are six ladies lying naked on your front lawn?"

"Yes," he said. "They are retired prostitutes, and they're having a yard sale."

Forwarded by Paula

An Iowa farmer financed the purchase of a bull through his bank. His banker dropped by later to check on his investment.

"The bull's too busy eating grass," complained the farmer. "He's not even looking at my cows."

The banker suggested getting a veterinarian to check the bull.

A week later, the banker called back. "Everything is great," beamed the farmer. "The bull has serviced all my cows. He even broke through the fence and went after my neighbor's cows."

Wow," said the banker. "What did the vet do to that bull?"

"Just gave him some pills," replied the farmer.

"What kind?" asked the banker.

"I dunno," said the farmer. "But they taste like peppermint."

Where to children get their ideas from?  --- http://www.btinternet.com/~knutty.knights/adult_children.html

How to write a paper in college/university --- http://asil.logicalinsanity.ca/300college paper.html

Forwarded by Paula

Forwarded by Maria

Oxymorons

01. Is it good if a vacuum really sucks?

 02. Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand?

 03. If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how would we ever know?

 04. If Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words?

 05. Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a whack?

 06. Why does "slow down" and "slow up" mean the same thing?

 07. Why does "fat chance" and "slim chance" mean the same thing?

 08. Why do "tug" boats push their barges?

 9. Why do we sing "Take me out to the ball game" when we are already there?

 10. Why are they called "stands" when they are made for sitting?

 11. Why is it called "after dark" when it really is "after light"?

 12. Doesn't "expecting the unexpected" make the unexpected expected?

 13. Why are a "wise man" and a "wise guy" opposites?

14. Why do "overlook" and "oversee" mean opposite things?

15. Why is "phonics" not spelled the way it sounds?

16. If work is so terrific, why do they have to pay you to do it?

17. If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?

18. If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

19. If you are cross-eyed and have dyslexia, can you read all right?

20. Why is bra singular and panties plural?

21. Why do you press harder on the buttons of a remote control when you know the batteries are dead?

22. Why do we put suits in garment bags and garments in a suitcase?

23. How come abbreviated is such a long word?

24. Why do we wash bath towels? Aren't we clean when we use them?

25. Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

26. Why do they call it a TV set when you only have one?

27. Christmas - What other time of the year do you sit in front of a dead tree and eat candy out of your socks?

Forwarded by Auntie Bev

If Maxine's Body Was a Car

If my body were a car, this is the time I would be thinking about trading it in for a newer model. I've got bumps and dents and scratches in my finish and my paint job is getting a little dull ... But that's not the worst of it.

My headlights are out of focus and it's especially hard to see things up close.

My traction is not as graceful as it once was. I slip and slide and skid and bump into things even in the best of weather.

My whitewalls are stained with varicose veins.

It takes me hours to reach my maximum speed. My fuel rate burns inefficiently.

But here's the worst of it --

Almost every time I sneeze, cough or sputter. .....either my radiator leaks or my exhaust backfires!

Forwarded by Dick Haar

After living in the remote wilderness of Kentucky all his life, an old hillbilly decided it was time to visit the big city. In one of the stores he picks up a mirror and looks in it. Not ever having seen one before, he remarked at the image staring back at him, "How about that! Here's a picture of my daddy."

He bought the 'picture', but on the way home he remembered his wife, Lizzy, didn't like his father.

So he hung it in the barn, and every morning before leaving for the fields, he would go there and look at it.

Lizzy began to get suspicious of these many trips to the barn.

One day after her husband left, she searched the barn and found the mirror.

As she looked into the glass, she fumed, "So that's the ugly bitch he's runnin' around with."

Forwarded by Auntie Bev

Forwarded by Paula

Apple Announces...

Apple Computer announced today that it has developed a computer chip that can store and play high fidelity music in women's breast implants.

The iTit will cost $499 or $599 depending on speaker size.

This is considered to be a major breakthrough because women have always complained about men staring at their breasts and not listening to them.

Forwarded by Paula

Tidbits Directory for Earlier Months and Years --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm

New Bookmarks Directory for Earlier Months and Years --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookurl.htm

Bob Jensen's Threads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Threads.htm

And that's the way it was on May 31, 2007 with a little help from my friends.

 

Fraud Updates --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm

 

Facts about the earth in real time --- http://www.worldometers.info/ 

Jesse's Wonderful Music for Romantics (You have to scroll down to the titles) --- http://www.jessiesweb.com/

International Accounting News (including the U.S.)

AccountingEducation.com and Double Entries --- http://www.accountingeducation.com/
        Upcoming international accounting conferences --- http://www.accountingeducation.com/events/index.cfm
        Thousands of journal abstracts --- http://www.accountingeducation.com/journals/index.cfm
Deloitte's International Accounting News --- http://www.iasplus.com/index.htm
Association of International Accountants --- http://www.aia.org.uk/ 

Free Harvard Classics --- http://www.bartleby.com/hc/
Free Education and Research Videos from Harvard University --- http://athome.harvard.edu/archive/archive.asp

 

I highly recommend TheFinanceProfessor (an absolutely fabulous and totally free newsletter from a very smart finance professor, Jim Mahar from St. Bonaventure University) --- http://www.financeprofessor.com/ 

 

Bob Jensen's bookmarks for accounting newsletters are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob1.htm#News 

News Headlines for Accounting from TheCycles.com --- http://www.thecycles.com/business/accounting 
An unbelievable number of other news headlines categories in TheCycles.com are at http://www.thecycles.com/ 

 

Jack Anderson's Accounting Information Finder --- http://www.umsl.edu/~anderson/accsites.htm

 

Gerald Trite's great set of links --- http://www.zorba.ca/bookmark.htm 

 

The Finance Professor --- http://www.financeprofessor.com/about/aboutFP.html 

 

Walt Mossberg's many answers to questions in technology --- http://ptech.wsj.com/

 

How stuff works --- http://www.howstuffworks.com/ 

 

Household and Other Heloise-Style Hints --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob3.htm#Hints 

 

Bob Jensen's video helpers for MS Excel, MS Access, and other helper videos are at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/video/ 
Accompanying documentation can be found at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/default1.htm and http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HelpersVideos.htm 

 

Click on www.syllabus.com/radio/index.asp for a complete list of interviews with established leaders, creative thinkers and education technology experts in higher education from around the country.

 

Professor Robert E. Jensen (Bob) http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen
190 Sunset Hill Road
Sugar Hill, NH 03586
Phone:  603-823-8482 
Email:  rjensen@trinity.edu  

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 30, 2007

Tidbits and Quotations Between April 1 and April 30, 2007 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm

Click Here for Humor Between April 1 and April 30, 2007 --- Click Here

School District Examples of Bad Accounting and Accountability
LAUSD report card:  All F's
Los Angeles Unified is disorganized, lacks financial controls and suffers from a "pervasive" lack of accountability, says a highly anticipated management audit of the nation's second-largest school district. The $350,000 report, commissioned by Superintendent David Brewer III shortly after he was hired last fall, lays out a scathing litany of organizational, financial and administrative . . .
Naush Boghossian, Los Angeles Daily News, April 21, 2007 --- http://www.dailynews.com/ci_5718482

April 22, 2007 reply from J. S. Gangolly [gangolly@CSC.ALBANY.EDU]

Bob,

This should come as no surprise to any one with children who have lived in the LA area. In fact, I have considered my inability to persuade my wife and children to move from there to upstate New York one of the failures in my life.

Bob, $350,000 could have paid for quite a few teachers rather than an overhead paid to some fancy consultants who probably never faced children in a class.

Jagdish.

Video:  Defining America's CPAs: Maryland (and Elsewhere) ---  http://www.macpa.org/Content/23239.aspx 

International Standards from the IASB --- Click Here
IASB homepage--- http://www.iasb.org/Home.htm 

U.S. Standards from the FASB (Free Downloads) --- http://www.fasb.org/public/ 
FASB homepage --- http://www.fasb.org/

Management Accounting Standards from the IMA (Free Downloads) --- http://www.imanet.org/publications_statements.asp#C
IMA homepage --- http://www.imanet.org/

Comparison of IFRSs and US GAAP (Educators can provide free copies to students) --- http://www.iasplus.com/dttpubs/0703ifrsusgaap.pdf

Bob Jensen's summary of accounting theory and controversies --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/theory01.htm

The Global Accountancy Search Engine --- http://www.ifacnet.com
or http://www.aia.org.uk/InternationalAccountant.htm?News/IAfullStory.php?id=51337

International Accountant, April 5, 2007 ---
http://www.aia.org.uk/InternationalAccountant.htm?News/IAfullStory.php?id=51337

IFACnet, the global, multilingual search engine developed by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), has expanded its resources to address the needs of small and medium accounting practices (SMPs), in addition to professional accountants in business. IFACnet enables SMPs to easily locate information on a wide range of technical, marketing, human resource and other matters, including such topics as succession planning, managing a small firm, staff recruitment and retention, and promoting firm services.

IFACnet has also added three new features to help accountants worldwide stay current on technical, professional and marketplace issues and to make the search engine more user friendly. These include a "Latest News" page with links to a variety of business, management and accounting media and other websites; a search box that enables users to search IFACnet directly from their Internet browser; and a "What's News" section to inform visitors of new IFACnet features and content.

"There are many high quality resources available from within IFAC as well as through collaboration with our members that can help the global accountancy community carry out their professional responsibilities," states Ian Ball, IFAC Chief Executive Officer. "IFACnet's customised search features provide an efficient means to give professional accountants, including SMPs and professional accountants in business, in every part of the world, access to these timely and relevant resources."
Launched in October 2006, IFACnet provides one-stop access to free, high quality guidance, management tools and articles developed by professional accountancy bodies from around the world. Since its launch, IFACnet has attracted nearly 42,000 individuals from more than 190 countries worldwide. Currently, IFAC and twenty-three of its members (see attachment) provide IFACnet with access to information from their websites. In the coming months, new content will continue to be added to IFACnet as it expands the number of participating organisations.

IFACnet can be accessed free-of-charge at http://www.ifacnet.com and on the websites of participating organisations.

IFAC is the worldwide organisation for the accountancy profession dedicated to serving the public interest by strengthening the profession and contributing to the development of strong international economies. IFAC is comprised of 155 members and associates in 118 countries, representing more than 2.5 million accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry and commerce. Through its independent standard-setting boards, IFAC sets ethics, auditing and assurance, education, and public sector accounting standards. It also issues guidance to encourage high quality performance by professional accountants in business.

Bob Jensen's search helpers --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Searchh.htm

Bob Jensen's guide to accounting glossaries (Scroll Down) --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245gloss.htm

Message from the PwC Faculty Newsletter for April 2007
PwC has been ranked #2 in Training Magazine's list of the top 125 organizations for outstanding training programs--the training industry's recognized standard. Among the descriptions of our broad curriculum, we were recognized for our everyday coaching and diversity. This is our first year in the top 10, after moving from #58 three years ago, to #13 the last two years. This external recognition is an important milestone, because it validates the solid progress that we're making on our journey to become the Distinctive Firm.

PwC's College and University Faculty Website is at http://www.pwc.com/faculty

Also see Issue 5 of PwC's View Magazine for executives --- http://www.pwc.com/images/us/eng/main/nr/view5/view5.pdf

Question
How can you set up a "virtual clone" of yourself using artificial intelligence to answer questions from students, friends, and/or total strangers?

"Your Virtual Clone:  Chatterbots from MyCyberTwin can respond to questions about you when you're not online," by Wade Roush , MIT's Technology Review, April 20, 2007 --- http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/18561/

Historians of artificial intelligence never talk about AI's progress in the 1960s without a reference to Eliza, the first virtual personality. Eliza was a text-chat program written in 1966 by MIT AI expert Joseph Weizenbaum to parody a Rogerian psychotherapist, largely by turning every statement by the "patient" back into a question. If you tell Eliza "I am feeling blue today," it's apt to respond, "Do you enjoy feeling blue today?" To modern users, the pattern is obvious, and the illusion of talking to a real person drops away almost instantly. (See for yourself here or here.) Yet many people who used Eliza when the program was new were convinced, at least temporarily, that it was a real person.

Now there's a Web-based service that, in essence, lets you set up your own Eliza and train it to mimic your own personality. No one will be fooled into thinking it's you, but MyCyberTwin, launched earlier this month, does a decent job of acting as your stand-in or virtual public-relations agent when you're not reachable. If you embed your cybertwin in your blog, website, or MySpace profile, visitors can learn about you through an open-ended conversation. You can program your cybertwin with as much factual information and as much of your personality as you like. If you think visitors to your blog might ask "What are you doing Saturday night?", you can train it to respond "Going to see Harry Potter with friends. Why don't you join us?"

MyCyberTwin is free, up to a point. About 10,500 people have signed up for the service, which is a venture of a Sydney, Australia, company called RelevanceNow and is still in its beta-testing phase. Of course, the concept only goes so far. Like Eliza, your cybertwin has no real intelligence at its core, and it must resort to lame conversational gambits if you haven't provided it with a canned answer to your visitor's specific question. Helpfully, however, the MyCyberTwin site contains extensive tools to help you anticipate those questions, such as personality tests and quizzes about your views on sex, politics, and religion. Those tools are all free too. RelevanceNow plans to make money by charging heavy users, such as businesses, by the conversation if their cybertwins have more than 500 visitors per month; by licensing MyCyberTwin to social-networking sites, which might integrate it into their offerings; and possibly, in the future, through targeted Web advertising.

"We wanted to build software clones of humans that learn about you and effectively function on your behalf," says Liesl Capper, cofounder and CEO of RelevanceNow. "The problem with creating a chat AI is that it's very laborious, trying to think of variations on what people will say and then creating responses. Building one has always been a labor of love that takes months, if not years. What we have built is the ability for people to make a cybertwin really quickly."

Continued in article

Jensen Questions

1. Can your clone have faster and more reliable memory recall?

2. Can your clone be smarter than you on some topics (or at least appear so because of better memory access)?

3. Can your clone plagiarize by having knowledge of others not known to you?

4. Can someone steal your clone's identity?

5. Can your clone carry on after you're dead or senile?

6. Can your clone have sex (or at least imagine so)?

7. Can you make your clone better looking than you?

8. Can your clone fall in love with someone else's clone?

9. Can your clone get you in trouble with racist remarks, felonious threats, or slander?

10. Does your clone have medical (or at least repair) fringe benefits?

11. Can your clone get tenure even when you've been denied tenure?

12. Can your clone take over your class when you're ill or out of town?

13. Others?

The Controversial 150-Hour Requirement to Sit for the CPA Examination

April 23, 2007 message from Donald Ramsey [dramsey@UDC.EDU]

Hello Bob and All,

Somewhere in the recent Tidbits, I believe it was stated that the majority of CPA candidates went for the master’s in accounting in order to get the 150 hours. Interesting if true, but not at UDC and I suspect not very commonly.

For openers, our BBA is 130 hours, thanks, in my humble opinion, to an excess of core courses. Add to that the hours a student accumulated before declaring a major, or due to poor advisement, or due to switching majors or switching schools, etc., and we have a majority of people graduating with something on the order of 140 hours. It is unusual to have a student whose credits conform perfectly to the curriculum with no excess.

Then add maybe 6 hours for extra accounting electives (we offer 3 elective courses but require only one), for the sake of content in preparation for the CPA exam, and you are darn close to 150; maybe beyond.

There are also the career transition folks with other majors, who do courses in accounting or business and wind up with zillions of credits but no graduate degree.

This is reality. Those who advocated the 150-hour requirement and hoped it would produce people with graduate degrees did not, I think, realize it might work out this way. It would of course be interesting to do a formal study of the matter.

BTW, another reality is that students do not choose general electives primarily because of an interest in the content. They use electives to take advantage of credits already earned (as described above), or to make their schedules convenient. Content has little to do with it.

Cheers,

DR

Donald D. Ramsey, CPA,
Department of Accounting, Finance, and Economics,
School of Business and Public Administration,
University of the District of Columbia,
Room 404A, Building 52 (Connecticut and Yuma St.), 4200 Connecticut Ave., N. W.,
Washington, D. C. 20008. (202) 274-7054.

April 24, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Don,

I think what I said or wanted to say was that students wanted to get masters degrees. Student perceptions of the alternatives were studied in “Accounting Majors' Perceptions regarding the 150-Hour Rule,” by James L. Bierstaker, Martha Howe, Inshik Seol; Issues in Accounting Education, Vol. 19, 2004. “The results indicate that, in most respects, students' perceptions align fairly well with the intentions and the realities of the 150-hour requirement. For example, most students indicate an interest in obtaining a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree for their fifth year of education. This would be a more balanced education envisioned by the framers of the requirement.” Renner and Tanner, however, had somewhat different outcomes reported in the Journal of Education for Business, v76, Jan-Feb 2001.

Many schools such as Trinity University only offer the masters in science in accountancy alternative to meet the 150-hour requirement in Texas. There are not enough qualified undergraduate courses, and students cannot take Trinity's graduate courses unless they are admitted into the Graduate School. Trinity as an AACSB-accredited university has a minimum GMAT-GPA combination requirement that some former accounting majors fail to meet.

Most states like Texas have required content that can be distributed in a 150-hour undergraduate degree, but just any old set of undergraduate electives will not necessarily meet these requirements. Texas requires 30 credits in accounting/tax courses plus an added 20 credits in particular business and communications modules (not necessarily entire courses for each module). Just any old general undergraduate course elective will not necessarily qualify to meet the 150-hour requirement. Students at Trinity and elsewhere can usually get an undergraduate accounting degree that does not have all the particular courses required to sit for the CPA examination. They cannot take added undergraduate courses to meet the 150-hour CPA examination requirement in Texas even if they graduate with 150 undergraduate credits from Trinity University.

Then there is the added aspect of cost/benefit. If a student is going to invest the time and money in 150 hours, why not get the added prestige of a masters degree? Some hiring firms themselves give financial incentives to earn the masters degree.

Originally the 150-hour requirement was proposed for a masters degree (in Colorado and Florida). Then the accounting firms began to run scared about supply of new graduates since most masters degree programs required minimum AACSB GMAT-GPA combined scores that might ban a serious number of accounting graduates from admission to graduate school. The major reason the proposal was changed from a masters degree requirement to a 150-hour requirement was to allow “weak” GMAT-GPA accounting undergraduates a chance to sit for the CPA examination. There was also consideration to the fact that part-time students can more easily find night courses that are not necessarily part of an integrated masters program. There are many more undergraduate courses to choose from for part-time students, especially courses from large state-supported universities.

One of the better historical studies of the 150-hour requirement is at the following reference: “150 Hours: A Look Back,” by John Cumming and Larry J. Rankin, Journal of Accountancy, April 1999 --- http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/apr1999/cumming.htm 

The above reference shows a much smaller proportion of graduates getting masters degrees in accounting in Florida early on in the program. But the above study is now out of date since most states have since added the 150-hour requirement. A somewhat more updated study is provided in,” by Paul A. W. Miller in Issues in Accounting Education, May 2003 --- http://www.atypon-link.com/AAA/doi/pdf/10.2308/iace.2003.18.2.211  Miller shows that increases in the demand for masters degrees are accompanied by decreases in demand for bachelors degrees, although masters degrees still lag.

Bob Jensen

April 24, 2007 reply from Barbara Scofield [scofield@GSM.UDALLAS.EDU]

I just received the 1/1/2007 to 3/31/2007 report from the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy which lists the number of candidates with a bachelor's degree in accounting vs. a higher degree in accounting vs. something else.

Bachelor Degree (in accounting) : 820
Higher Degree (with accounting concentration): 510

No degree with an accounting concentration: 535

Total: 1865

Barbara W. Scofield
Associate Professor of Accounting
University of Dallas
scofield@gsm.udallas.edu 

Jensen Comment
Keep in mind that those with no accounting concentration majors must still meet the Texas law requiring 150college  credits, including the very specific requirements for 30 credits in accounting and 20 other credits meeting the State Board's requirements to sit for the CPA examination.

April 25, 2007 reply from Donald Ramsey [dramsey@UDC.EDU]

Thanks, Bob, for your thorough analysis as usual.

My own perception is that the 150-hour requirement tends to discourage students from even contemplating doing the CPA. Some think a master’s is required; others just don’t want to make the investment in time and tuition. I believe many don’t realize how close they might be to the 150.

Probably the result is that we produce better qualified CPAs, but fewer of them. This would seem to be contrary to the goal of matching a given number of clients with an adequate number of highly qualified CPAs. You would wind up with fewer clients getting top-drawer service. Did I miss something?

A related question is whether employers prefer a CPA with an MBA or a CPA with the MAcc. (We offer the MBA with a small accounting concentration, but not the MAcc.) The answer might depend on whether the undergraduate degree was in business. But my own perception is that the MAcc is contrary to the broad business background usually mentioned nowadays as desirable for a CPA, depending, of course, on how many non-accounting courses that degree includes.

Best,

DR

April 25, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Don,

Thank you for the kind words.

When you think about it, becoming a CPA takes much less graduate study, money, and possibly effort than some of the leading professions such as law and medicine. Certainly Law School and Medical School “discourage many students” from becoming lawyers and physicians. Those professions make more use of Professional Assistants versus Licensed Professionals. Perhaps the profession of public accountancy would be better served by making licensing more exclusive and relying more on highly trained assistants.

The 150-Hour entry barrier to the CPA examination was in fact a compromise between those (like John Simmons at the University of Florida) really wanting three-year post-graduate schools of accountancy and those wanting the status quo of having only an undergraduate degree with little or no prerequisites to taking the exam.

When I was on the faculty at the University of Maine about 30 years ago I had a student who dropped out of our MBA program before he completed the first semester. He was out of money after investing so heavily earning an undergraduate degree in philosophy. I loaned him some CPA Review manuals, and he passed all four parts of the CPA examination in one sitting without ever having taken an accounting course (it was possible to take the CPA examination under those conditions in Maine in those days).

It just might be possible for a very smart test taker to pass the bar or medical qualification examinations without having attended law school or medical school. But would you want engage these gifted memorizers as your lawyer and/or your physician? I doubt it because there’s so much more to law school and medical school than what can be put into certification examinations.

The question you pose, Don, is just how much more accountancy schools should be like law schools or medical schools. In my own opinion, the accountancy profession will always be viewed as second rate until it has at least a three year post-graduate degree program. By that I mean “second rate” to lawyers. How much lower can we get?

Bob Jensen

April 25, 2007 reply from Donald Ramsey [dramsey@UDC.EDU]

It’s too close to the end of this school year for me to pursue this philosophical/psychological line. Plus we are preparing to move to temporary quarters in May.

The degree (I need to quit this) of audit confidence is a matter, in large measure, of one’s comfort zone. Instant professional reputation awarded by the Securities Acts, Sarbanes-Oxley, and the licensing boards.

One of my favorite similes is that measuring profit as cash flow would be like judging a man’s age by the length of his beard. I am looking for a good “long beards” photo of someone’s ancestors to show in class. But I am confusing education with experience.

What does come to mind is dowsing. Water witches. Oil-well dowsers. It does work! They even have an annual convention, I believe in Vermont. Dowsing was also used by the Marines to find VC tunnels, not without first suffering a lot of serious skepticism. You could look it up.

In France, pendulum dowsing is commonly used for medical diagnosis. It doesn’t tell you what’s wrong, but it does tell the practitioner where to look. Maybe auditors could give it a whirl. Not in public, of course! A research study of that would surely rattle the cages of the Accounting Review editors! If I learned to dowse a chart of accounts, could I expect a cut of the audit fee? Like a ghost writer, I would of course keep things strictly confidential.

Cheers,

Don

April 27, 2007 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Don

But the profession of medicine raised itself up over the past two centuries to where physician specialists are exceptionally good at their profession. I won't comment on law.

I will make one last comment Don, perhaps repetitive from my previous message.

Your concern was that the 150-hour requirement discourages many students from majoring in accounting.

I agree that the 150-hour requirement is an added barrier to entry. Similarly requiring any college courses in accounting and business to take the CPA examination are barriers to entry.

We can get more accountants by lowering barriers to entry and simply using the CPA examination as the one and only barrier to entry for this profession (somewhat similar to days of old if we factor out the experience requirement for a license following the passage of the CPA examination).

At some point, however, a profession loses its status if barriers to entry become easier and easier hurdles. If we want this profession to have more status and prominence in society, I think we need post-graduate requirements comparable to law and medicine.

As a compromise solution, I think the 150-hour requirement is a miserable failure. It has not added that much status to our profession and is an immense opportunity cost to students in terms of time and money vis-à-vis the benefits received. My view on this is that the profession is better off with either an undergraduate degree requirement or a three-year post graduate requirement. Compromising with a 150-hour requirement was a bad choice in terms of costs versus benefits.

The other alternative is the Canadian Chartered Accountancy exam. It is taken in stages over prerequisite on-the-job experience hurdles. This raises the barriers to entry somewhat realistically if we want more competency at the point of finally granting a license to practice. It will not, however, replace the professional status of a three-year full time post-graduate study comparable to law and medicine.

Bob Jensen