In 1989, the managing partners of each of (what was then) the Big 8 accounting firms issued a manuscript titled Perspectives on Education: Capabilities for Success in the Accounting Profession.  This quickly became known as the “Big 8 White Paper.”  The white paper was intended to respond to a recent paper issued by the AICPA with respect to the educational requirements of the accounting profession.  The leadership of the largest firms (and many smaller firms) felt that the AICPA’s paper overemphasized technical accounting content and felt that technical knowledge was (1) no longer enough and (2) perhaps, in certain circumstances, not even the primary driver of success in the accounting profession.  As a result, they issued the white paper to focus attention on some of the other important skills required in a successful accounting career. 
Since 1989, firms of all sizes have leveled the same continuing complaints about students graduating from accounting programs – they tend to lack one or more of the skills mentioned in the white paper.  This is as true at SDSU as at any other school.  The Charles W. Lamden School of Accountancy has built into its curriculum a 3-unit course (ACCTG 390W) that is designed to both (a) identify a student’s weaknesses in certain skills and (2) provide opportunities for the student to improve.  However, one class will not be enough for most students to achieve the levels of these skills that are valued by our recruiting firms.  As a result, students should (or perhaps must) find ways to engage in, practice, and improve these skills outside the classroom. 
In addition to this course, please provide an explanation as to how you personally intend to improve your communication, intellectual and interpersonal skills between now and the time you graduate from our program.  The white paper provides details of what the skills represent for accountants.
Perspectives on Education: Capabilities…The Capabilities Necessary for Practice
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Perspectives on Education:
Capabilities for Success in the
Accounting Profession
The Capabilities Necessary for Practice
The dialogue about education must be based on a clear statement of the capabilities needed for
practice. Also, there must be a focus on the broader skills that will support a lifetime of professional
success. Without a clear set of capabilities to use as objectives in the curriculum design process, it
is unlikely that change in the current content or teaching methods will be responsive to the needs of
the profession.
In 1988, the AICPA issued a revised version of its Education Requirements for Entry into the
Accounting Profession. That monograph includes an illustrative program of study with narrative
descriptions of the appropriate content in specific areas. While the AICPA report and the capabilities
described in this paper have much in common, the following focuses on the desired outcomes of the
educational process, as contrasted with courses of study.
Educational for the accounting profession must produce graduates who have a broad array
of skills and knowledge.
Skills for Public Accounting
To be successful, an individual must bring to the practice several general skills. These are divided
into three categories:
Communication skills
Intellectual skills
Interpersonal skills.
The categories are not mutually exclusive and cannot be considered in a vacuum. Obviously the
communication skills are highly interrelated with the interpersonal skills, and some of the intellectual
skills are dependent on some of the communication skills. The curriculum must support all of these
skills.
Communication Skills
Public accounting requires its practitioners to be able to transfer and receive information with ease.
Practitioners must be able to present and defend their views through formal and informal, written and
oral, presentation. They must be able to do so at peer level with business executives.
As the rate of change in the business world increases, so does the amount of information that must
be gathered from outside sources. Practitioners must be able to listen effectively to gain information
and understand opposing points of view. They also will need the ability to locate, obtain and organize
information from both human and electronic sources.
Intellectual Skills
Individuals seeking to be successful in the diverse world of public accounting must be able to use
creative problem-solving skills in a consultative process. They must be able to solve diverse and
unstructured problems in unfamiliar settings. They must be able to comprehend an unfocused set of
facts; identify and, if possible, anticipate problems; and find acceptable solutions. This requires an
understanding of the determining forces in a given situation and the ability to predict their effects.
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Inductive thought processes and capabilities for judgment must be developed to support such
activities. Practitioners must also be able to identify ethical issues and apply a value-based
reasoning system to ethical questions.
The practice of public accounting, like the practice of any profession, includes many challenging
pressures. Conflicting demands, unexpected requirements and coinciding deadlines are but a few of
the sources of stress found in practice. The effective practitioner must be able to manage these
pressures. This requires the ability and judgment to select and assign priorities within restricted
resources and organize work to meet tight deadlines when necessary.
Interpersonal Skills
The ability to work with other human beings is an important part of public practice. Working
effectively in groups with diverse members to accomplish a task is essential.
The practitioner must be able to influence others; organize and delegate tasks; motivate and develop
other people; and withstand and resolve conflict. These are the skills of a competent manager.
Because public accountants advise clients on the operation of their businesses, they should possess
the requisite management skills. They must also be able to assume leadership positions within their
own firms.
Knowledge for Public Accounting
An individual must also bring to the practice of public accounting a large body of knowledge. It is
categorized here into three areas:
General Knowledge
Organizational and business knowledge
Accounting and auditing knowledge.
To counter the temptation to focus only on knowledge directly related to accounting and auditing, this
discussion starts with the general knowledge category.
General Knowledge
For the good of the profession and society as a whole, education for accounting must include a
sufficiently large, broad and deep general education component to yield a level of knowledge that is
characteristic of broadly educated person.
The successful practitioner requires general knowledge that covers a number of factors:
An understanding of the flow of events in history and the different cultures in today’s world.
The ability to interact with diverse groups of people and at the highest levels of intellectual
exchange.
A sense of the breadth of ideas, issues and contrasting economic, political and social forces
in the world.
Experience in making value judgments.
The general education component of university education should support the development of these
factors and should leave the student excited about, and prepared for, lifelong learning.
Organizational and Business Knowledge
To understand their clients’ and their own work environments, public accountants must have an
understanding of the economic, social cultural and psychological forces that affect organizations.
They must also understand the basic internal workings of organizations and be able to apply this
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knowledge to specific examples. This requires an understanding of interpersonal and group
dynamics.
Given the rapid pace of change in the business world, public accountants must understand the
methods for creating and managing change in organizations. The professional environment is also
characterized by rapidly increasing dependence on technological support. No understanding of
organizations could be complete without attention to the current and future roles of information
technology in client organizations and accounting practice.
Accounting and Auditing Knowledge
Post-secondary education should provide a strong fundamental understanding of accounting and
auditing. This includes the history of the accounting profession and accounting thought, as well as
the content, concepts, structure and meaning of reporting for organizational operations both for
internal and external use. A companion area includes the methods for gathering, summarizing and
analyzing financial data. Entering practitioners must also understand the meaning and application of,
as well as the methodology for, attest services.
Accounting knowledge cannot focus solely on the construction of data. The ability to apply decision
rules embodied in the accounting model is only a part of the goal. Accountants must be able use the
data, exercise judgments, evaluate risks and solve real-world problems.
Passing the CPA examination should not be the goal of accounting education. The focus should be
on developing analytical and conceptual thinking—versus memorizing rapidly expanding professional
standards.
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