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Southeast Region Meeting American Accounting Association April 11–13, 2002 Hosted by Northern Kentucky University Covington, Kentucky |
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The First Accounting Course
(for MBAs):
A Total Redesign
Ronald J. Huefner
Distinguished Teaching Professor
University at Buffalo
Professional Development Workshop
The Problem
The Albrecht-Sack Report, Accounting Education: Charting the Course through a Perilous Future, highlighted a number of problems to be solved in order to turn around the declining state of accounting education. Among these is the need to improve accounting education along various dimensions. Specifically, they call for:
- Broader, updated, and more relevant courses and curricula
- Creative pedagogy that is less textbook and lecture dependent
- Increased skill development
- Movement of accounting beyond information gathering and recording
Accounting courses are criticized as being:
- Too detailed and too technical, resulting in a conformance orientation
- Too focused on professional exams and achieving the right answer
- Giving the wrong impression of the work today's accountants actually do
An Approach to a Solution
Having taught the introductory accounting course for MBAs for many years, I became increasingly disenchanted with the nature and level of the material taught. It did not seem appropriate to the needs of MBA students. Despite touting of user approaches in recent years, all texts had fundamentally the same structure (working down the balance sheet). The typical first course, and supporting texts, seemed overly focused on (a) U.S. public reporting and (b) transaction analysis. These didn't seem to be the tools MBAs needed.Over time, my thoughts on this issue led me to focus on the many different measurement approaches (I call them models) that we use in accounting. In the typical accounting course, we slide from one model to another, typically not alerting the student that we've changed the rules of measurement. It seemed essential that students understand the many different models used in accounting, the basic measurement approach used by each model, and the applications of each model.
In Fall 1999, though not 100% ready, I rolled out the new course, organized around various accounting models. As no text is structured in this way, I needed to develop my own materials. After three offerings of this approach, I have developed most of my materials, but the process is ongoing.
This seminar will introduce you to a totally different way of organizing and teaching the first accounting course - a "models" approach. Choice of specific models to be covered will depend on the focus of the course, the length of the course, and its role in the curriculum. Among the models to be discussed are:
- Cash Flow Model
- Discounted Cash Flow Model
- Cash Income Model
- Accrual Income Model
- Working Capital Model
- Wealth Models
- U.S. Public Reporting Models
- International Reporting Models
- Performance Models
- Contribution Model
- Disaggregated Profit Model
- Throughput Model
For each, specific topics covered will be described. Cases and assignments that support this approach will also be covered. One unexpected benefit has been the frequency of reinforcement, as prior models covered frequently link into later models.
The course has been fun to teach and has been well received by students. Student approval ratings of the MBA accounting course increased significantly the first time this approach was offered, despite the obviously rough edges of a first-time attempt where I didn't have all my materials in place.
By the end of this seminar, you will have a new view of how the first accounting course can be successfully offered. While I have taught this approach to MBAs, I believe it can be successfully delivered to undergraduates as well. Though this approach precedes the Albrecht-Sack Report, I believe it is entirely consistent with the recommendations of that report, and is a tested example of how we can restructure accounting education.
Note: An earlier version of this seminar was delivered as a CPE program at the 2000 Northeast Regional Meeting held in Portland, Maine. It drew an attendance in excess of 20 individuals, the largest attendance at a Northeast Region CPE program in many years.
Contact Information:
Ronald J. Huefner
Jacobs Center
University at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY 14260
Phone: 716-645-3276 370
Fax: 716-645-3823
E-mail: rhuefner@buffalo.edu