Acct:6302.720 Contemporary -
Control Systems
Journal Critique 2
Dr. Carol Sullivan
July 3, 2015

The Accounting Competency Crisis within the U.S.
By Max Jackson

Tell me something... What do Bear Stearns, Swissair, Health South, World Com/MCI INC. Tyco Ltd, Enron and Arthur Anderson all have in common, they all shared one weakness that has killed all companies alike.... the inability and the lack of quickness to spot bad accounting practices and procedures that were in place that lead to their immediate demise. It is because of this bad oversight and bad practices that Corporate America is railing for new talent, only for the talent not to be at the caliber they wanted. Some within Corporate America blame the current education system for not preparing today's "OVER ENTITLED STUDENT" who feel as though they can rightfully command a 6 figure salary as if they were Moses parting the Red Sea, with regards to doing the job they have been hired to do only to do nothing! In my paper, I not only place blame where it needs to be, at both the foot of the Educational System and Corporate America for not doing their part in order to prepare today's students, but I also state from those what can be done to help today's student over come today’s current job disparities within the field of accounting.

Intro:
In today’s tough job market, companies all across the United States are in a race as if it were a nuclear arms deal in order to find the top talent within the accounting industry. However they are all chanting one phrase as if it were a drum beat, in other words they can’t find the skilled workers that are needed to do the job and at times filling the job can take a while. The article, Finding the Accounting Talent Your Company Needs, published by CFO Publishing LLC, 2015., 1) I found to be a very interesting article for several reasons. One of the reasons was due to a time that I actually wanted to be an accountant but due to a low GPA within my accounting foundations as a result of working within my field, I couldn’t continue within the program. As a result, the only way I could stay in the Business School was to either fail and get kicked out of the business school or switch majors. As a result of my low GPA, I had to get a finance degree; then again I was already working within the field of finance as Senior Loan Officer. The other reason is what the US economy is currently experiencing with respect to companies within the United States, no matter their size or locations within a world a “Globalization” followed by an increase in Global Competition not only for these accounting jobs and the skills that are required for them but for a piece of Americas Market Share.
Executive Summary of the Article:
The article briefly discusses the problem facing many companies regarding employing and keeping good accounting staff that will later become that particular companies pool of superstars, that will not only lead the company into the next business area but to also help train and lead the next entry of accountants into the new era with respect to providing those new entrants not only the training that is necessary in order to understand accounting but to understand that companies way of doing business in the hopes that they will also be well rounded in order to lead the next group of entry level accountants.
In today race for the next group of accountants, there is a competency crisis within the field of accounting. With an abundance of workers to choose from, employers are demanding more of job candidates than ever before. They want prospective workers to be able to fill a role right away, without any training or ramp up time. Needless to say this is considered to be in impossible task due to the training and the skill set that is required to not only train the new entrant but at the same time train the new entrant the way that particular company wants them to be trained with regards to that companies software and the way it deals with not just journal entries and financials but the way it handles it accounting procedures either for itself or that particular client or clients. As a result, and from the article, employers are quick to lay blame on educational systems that are producing these entry level students to be one day accountants. From the tone of the article, employers are saying that the Schools aren't giving today’s accounting students the right kind of training that is needed in order to not only succeed but at the same time to compete, however, the competing argument is also that the government isn't letting in enough high skilled immigrants with respect to work visa’s and sponsorship in order to take these same jobs. The list goes on and on and constantly grows by the day. However, from this article, and with paying attention to the current events, the real culprits are the employers themselves. In other words making demands on what their seeing in the field and what is needed only for educators to come back and say this what we can do, however this is what you are wanting from us? As result of these demands, human resources within every company, organizations, head hunters and recruiters, are increasing their efforts and are looking for professionals who can wear the many hats that are being asked for by these demanding employers, but they're struggling to find employees who can fill these needed strategic roles. Not only this, but at the same time, the article also points out that the current college accounting curriculums doesn't match the skills currently needed in the workforce. This skills gap is not new; in fact it is a problem that has been growing for a long time. But it's a problem mainly for the profession, a problem so great that many organizations can't afford to ignore and is considered to be a growing problem that needs an immediate solution. According to the IMA, research and analysis have shown that a wide gap exists between what employers need from accounting and finance staff and what many undergraduate accounting students learn in school. Not only this, but most undergraduate accounting majors are trained or educated to be financial accountants, a demand that what originally sought after the collapse of many companies during the time of the great depression. As a result today’s students learn to do company or firm audits, attestation, and compliance. However, if they go to work for a company, in addition to the financial accounting work, they're also going to have to do performance management, budgets, forecasts, work with IT on enterprise resource planning, and be involved in strategic discussions that not only concern the firm, company or industry they represent but also the clients these accountants represent. For several decades, this matter has been addressed with regards to the talent gap that exist within the accounting field, with regards to the education and the gap between what college students learn in the classroom and professional skills needed in the workplace that have been examined. As result of these findings, the IMA, presented three recommendations for an integrated accounting educational framework that was to be not only studied, but also to be looked at and put into action. The recommendations included a greater focus on a curriculum oriented toward long term career demands and growth. The knowledge, skills, and abilities of an accounting education should emerge as integrated competencies integrated within and between each other. The Accounting curriculum should demonstrate how accountants today add value in a variety of organizational settings, including content on strategy formulation and analysis, planning, and execution. Basically, the current accounting education needs to focus on the students long term career needs, and not just prepare students for their first job. This is because the profession is changing, requiring more soft and hard skill that are needed, as a result of these changes the education should integrate the variety of competencies needed to add value which will insure the overall success of the accounting student with respect to their succession and mastery of the field.

My Perspective:
After reading this article I must say that I do agree with all the way and support these findings within its fullest entirety. The reason why I feel this way is because the world is changing, people are changing, as a result, of these changes comes what is known to be a mind shift which then causes not only companies to change but whole entire industries to change as well. These changes are important because that is what drives competition not just between companies but between whole entire industries, driving the companies within the industries to come up with smarter and brighter ideas on accounting concepts, new ways to regulate and bring about oversight and change, which then allows domestic managers within the United States not just to be Local Managers but Global Managers, which because of the mind shift that is being demanded upon them allows them to see the world, the New Business world as it should be in the form of the word that some students never knew what the word meant, even though they can pronounce it with clarity and understanding which will then allow them to compete. That word is Globalization.

Conclusion:
As a result of reading this article, it has added to my current clarity and focus that I already have, but has also made me push for more education within my current field such. For example, during the introductions at the beginning of the summer session that we had to do, I stated that I was a Commercial Insurance Underwriter working for a firm called Amtrust, writing Commercial Risk. After my MBA I plan to peruse my Masters of in Statics or Economics giving me more clairvoyance with respect to my field and I also wish to teach the subject of Stats or Business Management to junior level or entry level college students, while at the same time introducing them to real world concepts versus theory from the book. The book is one thing; real concepts regarding the real world are another.
Finding the Accounting Talent Your Company Needs, published by CFO Publishing LLC, 2015