Excellent Communication Skills Are an Essential Part of Being an Accountant

1997 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 385-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Marilyn Stinson ◽  
Jo Ann Asquith
Keyword(s):  
Communication Skills ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Personal Contact ◽  
Business World ◽  
Entry Level ◽  
Accounting Professionals

While we know that communication skills are needed to secure employment and to be successful in the business world, it is important to identify skills that accounting students will be most likely to need in their entry level accounting positions. The purpose of this study was to examine more closely the specific communication skills required of accounting professionals. Clear messages are vitally important so the client and the accountant understand each other and the content of discussions. Whatever method of communication used, accounting professionals represent their company every time they write a letter or make a personal contact with a client.

scholarly journals Improving The Oral Presentation Skills Of Accounting Students: An Experiment

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Christensen ◽  
Jeffrey Barnes ◽  
David Rees ◽  
Gerald Calvasina
Keyword(s):  
Communication Skills ◽  
Oral Presentation ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Accounting Faculty ◽  
Accounting Professionals ◽  
Timely Feedback ◽  
Oral Presentations ◽  
Oral Skills ◽  
Accounting Graduates

Numerous surveys of accounting professionals have established the importance of communication skills for newly-hired accounting graduates, and challenge business schools to revise curricula accordingly. To determine if the oral skills of accounting students can be improved, two oral presentation assignments were given to students in six accounting classes at a small western university. The oral presentations were evaluated on ten oral communication skills recently judged by accounting professionals to be most important for new hires to possess. Feedback was provided after the first presentation. Results showed that oral presentation skills improved significantly after the first presentation. Accounting students can improve their oral presentation skills if the accounting faculty is committed to providing timely feedback.

scholarly journals English Syllabus for Accounting Students and the Needs of English in Business World

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Djuria Suprato ◽  
Ienneke Indra Dewi ◽  
Christine Paulina
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Structured Data ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
University Graduates ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Business World ◽  
Big Four ◽  
Public Accountant

This research aimed to evaluate English courses and syllabus in Bina Nusantara University, particularly in the accounting department, whether it was appropriate in the workplace. This study was conducted by interviewing 54 Bina Nusantara university graduates from Accounting department of 2013-2014 and three from big four public accountant firms in Jakarta. The result of the interview was analyzed qualitatively. The purpose of the interview was to get more detailed information about the benefit of English courses that they had at Bina Nusantara University. Besides that, the researchers had also interviewed with some public accounting firms in Jakarta to find out the level of English skills required and the standard scoring system used as a reference in their companies. With structured data collection, it can be concluded that the students need to practice English to improve the communication skills of speaking and writing to get good reports in English. Bina Nusantara University has provided adequate training, and the results can be felt by the graduates who are now working in multinational and international companies.

scholarly journals Documenting Abilities And Achievements: The Use Of Professional Portfolios For Accounting Students And Young Accounting Professionals

2004 ◽  
Vol 1 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer M. Niece ◽  
Cheryl A. Amantea
Keyword(s):  
Graduate School ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Educational Progress ◽  
Entry Level ◽  
Professional Portfolios ◽  
Accounting Professionals ◽  
Portfolio Development ◽  
Common Technique ◽  
Accounting Major

Requiring students to develop portfolios as part of the educational process is a common technique that is utilized by educators who teach various subjects from kindergarten through graduate school. Collecting course assignments and projects into a portfolio helps students see the development of their skills as they progress through school toward graduation. Portfolio development is prevalent in certain majors – such as art and education – as well as in certain professions - such as marketing and communication.  While portfolios are not typically utilized in the profession of Accounting, there are many benefits to requiring that undergraduate Accounting majors track their educational progress with a portfolio.  Doing so will allow Accounting majors to understand their learning more – make it less cerebral and more recognizable.  Portfolios will also assist the Accounting major to achieve entry-level professional employment.

Connecting Accounting and Communication: A Survey of Public Accounting Firms

1999 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Stowers ◽  
G.Thomas White
Keyword(s):  
Communication Skills ◽  
Effective Communication ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Entry Level ◽  
Accounting Professionals ◽  
Public Accounting Firms

Communication skills are valued highly in public accounting firms, where profes sionals at all levels communicate as part of their jobs. However, respondents to a 1997 survey reported that the development of effective communication skills was not part of formal accounting education and that partners and managers want their entry-level professionals to have these skills at the onset. Further, these skills increase in importance as accounting professionals progress from entry-level to manager to partner. Educational institutions need to develop programs that include communication topics and courses to prepare accountants for the challenges of their profession.

Audit and Tax Career Paths in Public Accounting: An Analysis of Student and Professional Perceptions

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek W. Dalton ◽  
Steve Buchheit ◽  
Jeffrey J. McMillan
Keyword(s):  
Business Processes ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Daily Routine ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Student Survey ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Professionals ◽  
Job Opportunities ◽  
Client Relationships

SYNOPSIS Upper-division accounting students frequently direct their public accounting careers toward audit or tax “tracks” based on what appears to be limited information. Surprisingly, prior research has not investigated the factors that affect this fundamentally important career decision. We conduct two surveys to investigate the relevant factors of the audit-tax decision from the perspectives of upper-division accounting students and experienced public accounting professionals. Our student survey documents the underlying factors that influence the audit-tax decision. For example, accounting students who plan to pursue careers in audit believe that they will have more client interaction, better future job opportunities (i.e., industry positions), and greater knowledge of business processes if they work in audit (as opposed to tax). In contrast, accounting students who plan to pursue careers in tax perceive that they will have a more stable daily routine, develop more specialized skills, and build more collaborative client relationships if they work in tax (as opposed to audit). While our public accounting respondents agree with many of the students' perceptions, professionals also disagree with several of the students' perceptions, suggesting misimpressions of practice. Our results should be of interest to the accounting professionals, firm recruiters, and accounting professors who advise future accounting professionals. Data Availability: Data are available upon request.

Integrating Business Communication Skills into a Buyer-Behavior Course Project

1995 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-19
Author(s):  
Alan P. Wunsch ◽  
Chuck Tomkovick
Keyword(s):  
Communication Skills ◽  
Team Teaching ◽  
Business Communication ◽  
Buyer Behavior ◽  
Electronic Communications ◽  
Business Courses ◽  
Entry Level ◽  
Hiring Criteria ◽  
Marketing Educators

Marketing educators have long recognized the need for strengthening their students' business communication skills. Recruiters routinely consider superior communica tions skills as essential hiring criteria when filling entry- level marketing positions. Additionally, marketing students consistently rate communication-intensive business courses as among those most helpful to them in preparing for their business careers. This paper discusses an undergraduate buyer-behavior course project targeted at improving stu dents' business communication skills through a team- teaching project. The paper highlights the value of integrating written, oral, and electronic communications pedagogy with buyer-behavior course instruction and then outlines the project from a "how-to-do-it" perspective.

National Culture and Ethical Judgment: A Social Contract Approach to the Contrast of Ethical Decision Making by Accounting Professionals and Students from the U.S. and Italy

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary B. Curtis ◽  
Jeremy M. Vinson ◽  
Teresa L. Conover ◽  
Lorenzo Lucianetti ◽  
Valentina Battista
Keyword(s):  
National Culture ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
Country Of Origin ◽  
Ethical Judgment ◽  
Managerial Accounting ◽  
Business World ◽  
Ethical Judgments ◽  
Accounting Professionals ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The U.S

ABSTRACT Globalization defines the business world today, yet globalization also leads to many types of misunderstandings regarding ethics, motives, and trust. We apply the theory of social contracts for the purpose of aiding the understanding of moral diversity arising from globalization. Specifically, we seek to better understand how country of origin, and role within country, lead to community “microsocial” norms that inform social contract ethical judgments. A total of 695 managerial accounting professionals and accounting students from Italy and the U.S. completed the survey. Employing a moderated mediation model, we find that country of origin is significantly related to intended behaviors in two business situations, and this relationship is mediated by social contract ethical judgment. Further, the impact of national culture on social contract ethical judgment is moderated by role (professional versus student). Multiple mediation analysis supports our contention that contractual evaluations precede moral equity assessments and that both contractual and moral equity ethical judgments affect ethical intentions.

Skeptical Judgments and Self-Construal: A Comparative Study between Chinese Accounting Students in Australia and China

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sammy X. Ying ◽  
Chris Patel
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Personality Variable ◽  
Professional Skepticism ◽  
Research Instrument ◽  
Entry Level ◽  
Self Construal ◽  
Interdependent Self

ABSTRACT We contribute to the literature on professional skepticism by examining the influence of a relevant antecedent personality variable, namely self-construal on skeptical judgments. We examine how Chinese accounting students in two distinct learning and cultural environments, Australia and China, are likely to differ in their self-construal, and how these differences may influence their skeptical judgments. We used final-year undergraduate accounting students as proxies for entry-level auditors. Our results show that Chinese accounting students in Australia scored higher on measures of independent and lower on measures of interdependent self-construal than their counterparts in China. Furthermore, we examine the influence of self-construal on skeptical judgments through two conflicting and competing perspectives, namely auditors' perceived relationship with clients' management and auditors' perceived relationship with their superiors. Our results support the perspective based on auditors' perceived relationship with their superiors and show that interdependents are more skeptical than independents. We argue that interdependents are more concerned with pleasing and maintaining harmonious relationships with their superiors. Therefore, they are more cautious and more rigorous in carrying out their audit duties in order to ensure that they are not criticized by superiors. These findings suggest that possible competing and conflicting perspectives need to be taken into account when examining skeptical judgments. Data Availability: The research instrument is available from the first author.

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