Next Generation of Accountants, Not Bean Counters

by | Aug 17, 2012 | High Road Leadership

In 2008, the American Accounting Association joined the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) to study the future of accounting education. This venture, named the Pathways Commission, recently released its final report (pathwayscommission.org). The commission members see the need to get people interested in the accounting profession, and one way to do that is to design relevant and appealing preparatory courses in accounting. I have often remarked on this same necessity when I am presenting to an audience of seasoned CPAs. Accounting is NOT about counting beans. One Pathways commissioner, William F. Ezzell, summed it up this way:

“Whether the first course is in high school or even in college, we’ve historically been too focused on bookkeeping and debits and credits and failed to give students an adequate understanding of what accounting is all about, why it has value.” Ezzell is past chairman of the AICPA Board of Directors, and his quote appeared in the following article:

http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/News/20126163.htm