Accounting for the future: more than numbers: a collaborative investigation into the changing skill set for professional accounting graduates over the next ten years and strategies for embedding such skills into professional accounting programs: Vols.1 and 2

Abstract

This project is a collaborative investigation into the changing skill set deemed necessary for professional accounting graduates over the next ten years and the strategies for embedding such skills into professional accounting programs. The goals for the 12- month project were to: 1. Identify whether there is a consensus as to the relative importance of key technical and non-technical skills for graduates of professional accounting programs to meet the challenges of the profession over the next ten years. 2. Identify the range of non-technical skills required of professional accountants over the next ten years. 3. Identify examples of best practice for the embedding of relevant non-technical skills in professional accounting programs. 4. Widely disseminate findings to accounting academics for use in accounting programs in the higher education sector and to other stakeholders, with presentations at seminars in each mainland state and at AFAANZ conferences. In the first stage of the project, data were collected from interviews with these key stakeholders: employers of accounting graduates, including all Big 4, some mid-tier /niche and small accounting firms; the three professional accounting bodies; large and small companies; and the public sector across Australia. The project team also interviewed recent graduates and conducted focus group sessions with current accounting students. Interviews were transcribed and analysed, with the identity of individual participants concealed. Common themes that emerged across the country were: 1. The technical skills required of graduates were essentially basic accounting skills, like debits and credits, although this varied by size of employers. 2. Non-technical skills were deemed to be very important in accounting graduates, particularly by employers in large organisations; communication, teamwork and self-management were regarded as the most desirable. 3. Graduates’ skills deemed by stakeholders to be the most inadequate were communication and problem solving; their deficiency was also seen to be the most restricting to graduates in their career development. Volume 2 documents the strategies collected as part of the Accounting for the future: more than numbers ALTC study. The project team distributed a survey to all 38 public universities seeking information about how non-technical skills were being developed and assessed in all the relevant subjects required for accreditation by the professional accounting bodies. Further, respondents were invited to share with the project team initiatives they had implemented for the developments of these non-technical skills. After consultation with contributors, the strategies described in this volume are described in a common format that illustrates the strategy, non-technical skills addressed, learning and teaching rationale, assessment methods, length of time being used, and any evidence of success plus contact details of the author. However, the format of the presentation has been varied where contributors were not able to supply all details.