Accounting: the teaching, the practice and what is missing

Shanmugavel Rajeevan

doi:10.1108/xjm-06-2020-0001

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to identify the knowledge and practice gap in accounting education and propose an alternative teaching method to align accounting education to meet the needs of the practical world. Design/methodology/approach A total of 500 questionnaires were circulated among four stakeholders (academics, accounting students, accountants in business and accountants in practice) and received an overall usable response rate of 27%. Findings It was found that to reflect the current accounting practices, accounting students should be exposed to accounting specific experiential learning and industry specific training at an early stage of their academic education. Universities and professional institutes can work together to develop a curriculum to create an elite league of accounting professionals. Practical implications The insights of this study would provide guidance to educators on how to develop an advance experiential learning structure for students that reflects the current accounting practices and technologies involved. Originality/value This study contributes to the existing literature by means of providing an alternative teaching method for undergraduate accounting degree program.

Highlights

Students are exposed to technical study materials in a vocational based study environment that is distance from the real world (The Pathways Commission, 2015)
Academics were categorised as lecturer and above level, Accounting students were categorised as final year accounting students of the reputed institutions, accountants in practices were categorised as qualified accountants who are in public practice and accountants in business are categorised qualified professionals working in the accounting field in the selected organisations
The main reason for the poor generic skills compared to technical skills among Sri Lankan accounting undergraduates may be due to the fact that students are fully occupied in pursuing academic qualification simultaneously with professional accounting qualifications

Summary

Introduction

Students are exposed to technical study materials in a vocational based study environment that is distance from the real world (The Pathways Commission, 2015). Many researchers found that there is a gap between practice and theory in accounting education and it is not a recent phenomenon and the gap is widening. New materials should help accounting students to understand the basic book-keeping elements so that it will act as a foundation while conveying more strategic and dynamic aspects of accounting (Pathways Commission, 2012). Making students to be critical thinkers and problem solvers is the utmost aim of business education. Traditional accounting education often emphasises on job completion, memorization and straight-forward answers that are descriptive nature of learning (Turner and Baskerville, 2013).

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion