Having the Talk: How to reach the next generation of CPAs
Eric Grube, CPA, DBA | August/September 2024 Footnote
Lately, the hot issue relating to the profession has been the shortage of accounting graduates (i.e., the pipeline issue), which has created a raft of research and numerous academic and professional articles.
The MNCPA is making statutory inroads to bring additional pathways to CPA licensure after introducing a bill the last legislative biennium; while it didn’t become law (yet), it’s expected to be reintroduced in 2025 for discussion.
A related topic receiving less attention is accounting education more broadly. In other words, what does a typical bachelor’s degree in accounting look like in 2024? How has accounting education evolved over the years, and where do we — as accounting educators — see the teaching of accounting evolving into the future?
Recently, I had the opportunity to talk to accounting academics to get additional insight from what’s going on at other institutions. I also gathered a list of talking points that professors use when engaging students about the profession.
These conversations can’t and shouldn’t be reserved only for those in academia. It’s incumbent on all CPAs to engage with potential candidates with an interest in accounting. In this article, I’ll share insights on how to address what the classroom looks like today and how to engage students about accounting.
Accounting education impacts everyone
I know what you’re thinking, “Why would I care about accounting education? I graduated years ago, I passed the CPA exam and I’ve moved on to other, more important issues.”
Currently, too many students show ambivalence towards accounting. Students who would be excellent candidates never give accounting a look when they’re in college.
Accounting educators, including myself, think the profession’s lackluster image is partly due to the profession’s collective failure to engage young people early and share positive stories about what it means to be a CPA.
Here are some talking points CPAs can use to engage young people in discussions about the profession:
- A degree in accounting not only provides the necessary skills for an entry-level job in public accounting (or industry), but also provides an excellent foundation in business.
- Accounting is often referred to as “the language of business.” Fluency in this language provides insight into a company’s financial health, its cash flows and its valuation, exactly the type of insight decision-makers value.
- Coupling an accounting degree with an impactful spring or summer internship is a great way to try out the profession and encourage them to earn their CPA license.
- A graduate who begins their career in public accounting will work with some of the brightest business professionals and experience one of the best professional growth opportunities available.
- Earning the CPA license, along with three to six years in public accounting, will open doors to a range of opportunities.
- A CPA license backed with public accounting experience will generally eliminate the need for additional formal higher education, meaning less lifetime educational debt.
- Professionals with public accounting experience and a CPA license will experience higher lifetime earnings and more income growth potential than many other business professionals.
When my former students visit Concordia University, St. Paul, they tell my current students they’re out in the fi eld more than in the offi ce. They get exposure to different clients, different locations, different industries, different management styles, different business practices. In addition, they say the role variety offered in public accounting work is amazing. This variety of exposure has provided them with invaluable experience and skill acquisition that isn’t available in other professions. These stories are incredibly impactful.
Stories are powerful forms of persuasion. Boldly tell your personal story when talking about the profession.
Hopefully, some of these talking points can be woven into your personal and professional story.
Themes in accounting education
During the annual Accounting Educators Conference, I had the opportunity to talk to colleagues from Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota about what’s happening in their programs. There are some common themes.
- Online accounting education has grown rapidly and will continue to grow. In the classroom, electronic books (e-books) have almost entirely replaced physical textbooks. The days of handing out weekly homework problems, to be completed and graded by the professor, are increasingly rare. Whether in the classroom — or online — students complete homework on the publisher’s website. By using e-books and the publisher’s online homework systems, students can easily search terms, watch walkthrough videos on almost any topic, answer practice CPA Exam questions, receive immediate feedback on homework, including the solution walkthrough and answer focused question on almost any topic they choose.
- All accredited institutions offer the required courses for taking the CPA Exam.
- One main difference relates to elective courses. Institutions with larger accounting enrollments tend to offer more elective courses (e.g., a second tax course, forensic accounting, financial modeling, advanced financial statement analysis and reporting, government and nonprofi t accounting, etc.), so students who want more than the mandatory 24 upper-level accounting credits for licensure might do well by visiting larger institutions.
- Case studies and paid internships are popular with students. Case studies continue to be a preferred method of introducing students to more in-depth issues, especially in upper-level courses, where the professor and students dedicate multiple class sessions to discuss, analyze, research and present on a focused set of facts. Internships also remain impactful for students and serve as a persuasive means to get students into public accounting after graduation. Additionally, some institutions offer a CPA Exam review courses as a capstone, while other institutions offer a general business capstone that all business students complete.
- Other interesting discussions about accounting programs centered on how technology is used in the classroom. Excel is used extensively in all accounting programs. QuickBooks, various tax software programs and data visualization software like Tableau and Power BI are also used by some professors. Certifi cations and badges in different types of technology platforms are gaining in popularity. I regularly ask employers about technology and the response is: “We want students who are profi cient in Excel. We’ll handle teaching them on the tech platforms we use.”
- Not surprisingly, artifi cial intelligence (AI) is a hot topic. Attendees at the Accounting Educator’s Conference were shown a demonstration of how AI can be integrated into an accounting course. Everyone was amazed at the ability of the AI bot to provide deep answers to question prompts. I encourage you to try an AI accounting bot. Log in to ChatGPT, click on Explore GPTs, type “Financial Accounting Assistant” into the prompt and select from one of the many accounting-type GPTs. You’ll be amazed at the ability of the AI bot to answer your accounting-related questions.
The future of accounting education
I sense most accounting professors see a future in accounting education where students engage with technology like AI regularly for assistance in solving problems, as well as learning the more rote elements of accounting. The large language models (LLM) used to create AI draw from such a vast quantity of information that no professor can match the depth and breadth of knowledge that emerging technology can provide to students.
Will accounting professors be replaced entirely by AI in the future? Unlikely, but maybe the lecture will be a relic of the past in a few years.
One area that stood out during my informal conversations with accounting professors was the boundless, positive energy they have for their programs, which they leverage to encourage students to join their programs. To increase enrollment in their accounting programs, accounting professors have become full-time marketers, advocates and social media influencers for their programs.
I know the enthusiasm and care for this profession is matched by all of you. It is why educators would challenge you to also become marketers, advocates and influencers for the young people who cross your paths. If we work on this together, we will see accounting enrollments surge as a result and, ultimately, help reverse the trend of the shrinking talent pipeline.
Dr. Eric Grube, CPA is an associate professor and chair of the accounting program at Concordia University, St. Paul.
