ABSTRACT Private equity (PE) investments in public accounting with their associated alternative practice structures (APSs) are reshaping accounting careers. This study examines how PE ownership may affect firm culture, firm selection and specialization, technical skills development and professional judgment autonomy, and compensation. Drawing on interviews with regulators, professional association leaders, and partner-level practitioners, the paper explores how these changes may influence the experiences of future entrants to the profession. The evidence suggests that PE-backed firms may alter socialization, weaken the apprenticeship model, change the relative attractiveness of audit and tax career paths, and reshape compensation and advancement expectations. The study contributes to accounting education and careers research by showing how ownership changes may alter our students’ experiences in public accounting. It also offers recommendations for teaching, curriculum, and advising, aiding educators in helping students understand how PE-backed firms differ from traditional CPA-owned partnerships, preparing them for a more corporatized profession.
ABSTRACT Digital game-based learning (DGBL), encompassing serious games and gamification, has emerged as a powerful approach for enhancing student engagement, improving academic performance, and developing professional skills among accounting students. This study maps DGBL research in accounting higher education through a systematic literature review of 42 peer-reviewed articles published between 2014 and 2024. The analysis revealed four key clusters: technology, innovation, and DGBL integration; teaching and learning process; learner motivation in game-based learning; and accounting education and digital learning. The review also identifies key drivers and challenges shaping DGBL adoption, such as the need for coordinated institutional strategies, strong leadership support, and sustained investment in infrastructure, training, and pedagogical resources. This study synthesizes current knowledge, identifies research gaps and underexplored areas, and outlines directions for future inquiry. It also offers practical insights for accounting educators and institutions seeking to implement game-based learning effectively within accounting curricula. Data Availability: Data are available upon request. JEL Classifications: M400.
ABSTRACT The accounting profession is evolving rapidly, driven by technological advancements and shifting employer expectations. This paper highlights the role of the EY Academic Resource Center (EYARC) in modernizing accounting education through innovative resources, including case studies, analytics workbooks, mini cases, and new online resources (EYARC Experience). EYARC materials focus on cultivating analytics, innovation, and ethics mindsets, ensuring students gain critical skills for today’s tech-driven business environment. We also update the EYARC competency framework to emphasize current skill sets needed by graduating students. By bridging academia and industry, EYARC equips students with the competencies to navigate a dynamic profession, fostering adaptability, ethical decision-making, and strategic insight. These efforts support educators in preparing graduates for success in a rapidly transforming field.
ABSTRACT The case, based on a real-world scenario, examines a U.S. company’s unexpected financial outcomes after acquiring a maquiladora subsidiary. Maquiladoras, typically U.S.-owned manufacturing entities in Mexico, benefit from preferential duty- and tariff-free treatment for imported raw materials and equipment, provided that finished products are exported back to the United States. Paradoxically, in this case, despite lower labor costs and tax advantages, the U.S. parent company experiences a diminished overall profit margin. Students conduct both quantitative and qualitative analyses to explore pricing decisions, incentive issues, and the balance between centralized policymaking and subsidiary autonomy. The case can be adapted for use in undergraduate and graduate courses in cost accounting and advanced managerial accounting. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case in the accounting education literature to focus on the maquiladora industry, which is crucial to the economies of both Mexico and the United States. Data Availability: Data are available upon request. JEL Classifications: M40; M41.
This article introduces and advocates for an interdisciplinary approach to incorporating sustainability reporting into accounting education through a thought piece of a university's experience with a piloted interdisciplinary accounting course. Leveraging faculty expertise from accounting, management, and the natural sciences departments, we developed an accounting course around sustainability issues to build shared understandings of these concepts and constructs. The result was that students were able to build an expanded vocabulary around sustainability and develop competencies in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and other sustainability metrics that are often disclosed in financial and sustainability reports. Through an interdisciplinary approach, students were able to appreciate the nuanced and reciprocal interactions between business, society, and the natural environment.
This study proposes the integration of lean principles into management accounting education to address the growing gap between academic preparation and industry demands. Lean methodologies, initially developed in manufacturing, have transformed a wide range of sectors, emphasizing efficiency, waste elimination, and continuous improvement. However, traditional accounting curricula rarely reflect these practices, leaving students underprepared for the modern workplace. Drawing from a rich repository that includes case studies, simulations, and practitioner insights, this paper provides practical resources for embedding lean concepts into undergraduate and graduate management accounting courses. Incorporating lean into curriculum not only aligns with the accounting profession's evolving needs but also helps address declining enrollments by presenting a more dynamic and relevant image of accounting. By equipping students with lean knowledge, educators can help prepare accountants to drive strategic decision-making, enhance performance measurement, and contribute meaningfully to organizational success.
This case requires students to prepare and conduct a client interview to gather information regarding changes in a process. Students use the information collected to update the process narrative for the current year's workpapers. The case helps improve critical thinking skills by requiring students to evaluate a process, consider where changes may have occurred, and develop questions for a client interview. The case also enhances communication skills by requiring students to schedule and conduct a professional interview. Furthermore, the case provides students with valuable experience in performing an information-gathering audit task where the outcome is unknown, which is not uncommon when conducting an audit.
This instructional case examines the financial reporting challenges associated with digital assets through the fictional company X-tra Tech, Inc. The company strategically integrates diverse digital assets into its operational and investment activities. Designed to foster student engagement, the case presents five distinct modules that illustrate a range of business applications. Each requires students to apply authoritative accounting guidance and exercise critical thinking in areas where explicit standards are still evolving. Students identify relevant facts, research applicable U.S. GAAP, and determine correct accounting treatments for intangible assets, revenue recognition, and fair value measurement. Modules prompt students to evaluate the risks and implications associated with digital assets. This case enriches accounting education literature by addressing recent regulatory developments and providing explicit connections to CPA Evolution competencies. Suitable for upper-level undergraduate or graduate financial accounting courses, the case can be used flexibly, either in its entirety or by assigning individual modules.
Using data collected from 899 business students taking accounting courses, this study examines the effect of financial anxiety, student loans, employment, and course loads on academic performance. Our results indicate that student loan amounts decrease academic performance and that both student loan amounts and employment hours increase financial anxiety, which indirectly decreases academic performance. Interestingly, higher course loads are related to decreased financial anxiety and increased academic performance. Results generally consistent with those for the full sample are reported for sample bifurcations into students who are accounting and nonaccounting majors and into students taking lower level and upper level accounting courses. The results will be of interest to students, faculty, advisers, administrators, policymakers, and others who are interested in promoting the academic success of students and in improving the health of students by decreasing their financial anxiety.
Mandatory disclosures related to company risk provide investors with valuable information. However, textbooks lack detailed coverage of risk disclosure requirements. This Learning Strategy provides instructors with turnkey classroom materials to introduce students to Item 1A risk disclosure requirements and to discuss academic research on risk disclosures. In an optional assignment, students practice (1) accessing filings on EDGAR and reading and interpreting risk disclosures, (2) using software to conduct text analysis on risk disclosures (any software can be used; the example implementation is presented using Python), and (3) evaluating how audit committee characteristics are related to risk disclosures. The materials can be tailored for undergraduate or graduate-level accounting information systems and auditing courses that discuss business risk or risk management; financial accounting and analysis courses that discuss financial statements and disclosures; and stand-alone data analytics courses.
This instructional case examines the complexities of cross-border accounting through a comparative analysis of lease accounting under IFRS 16 and the corresponding U.S. standard, ASC 842, within the context of an international business acquisition. It also addresses key financial reporting challenges, including changes in depreciation methods, the recognition of impairment losses, and an optional analysis of their effects on earnings per share (EPS). In addition, the case introduces an ethical dilemma involving managerial discretion and potential selfinterest, prompting students to evaluate the ethical implications of discretionary reporting decisions. Designed for intermediate undergraduate financial accounting courses, the case fosters critical thinking by integrating technical accounting analysis with ethical reasoning. It aligns with learning objectives related to global professional competence, ethical awareness, and the application of professional judgment in complex international accounting scenarios.
This case employs data visualizations to analyze trends in the underlying processes relating to two key accrued expenses-estimated warranties and bad debts-to uncover evidence of the "cookie jar reserve" earnings management scheme. The case is geared toward upper-level undergraduate accounting students. Students compare trends in the two accrued expenses against peers in the industry, document anomalies, consider logical explanations for the occurrence of these irregularities and perform additional analyses to either support or refute them, and summarize the implications of their findings. After the earnings management scheme is apparent, students recalculate reported earnings data to visualize the effect of the scheme on the company's ability to achieve the analysts' forecasts, highlighting an important motivating factor to engage in earnings management in the first place. The case also emphasizes the importance of increasing reserves on the balance sheet in anticipation of understating expenses in future periods.
In this paper, we examine the effects of a creative assignment involving the creation of course contentrelated internet memes on students' academic performance. The assignment, designed to increase student engagement and stimulate higher-order thinking, requires students to create a meme related to one of the concepts covered in an introductory accounting course. Our findings indicate that participation in the meme assignment enhances students' academic performance on the final exam, particularly on items requiring higher-order thinking. Furthermore, we find that the meme assignment engages students and increases their active involvement in learning about accounting topics. We also find that the meme assignment is positively related to lecturer evaluations and that lecturers view the assignment as a positive addition to accounting courses. Our findings suggest that integrating meme assignments into accounting courses can enhance student engagement and learning outcomes, providing an impactful yet low-cost tool for accounting educators.
In the last decade, accountants have begun to play an important role in the measurement, reporting, and assurance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data. This introductory-level case introduces students to the process of calculating a carbon footprint by inventorying greenhouse gas emissions for an organization. It also helps students appreciate how voluntary disclosure of emissions data provides stakeholders with material information and motivates decarbonization efforts. The case further encourages students to think critically about how internal controls and assurance can improve the credibility of these disclosures. Students also gain experience with the process of evaluating and benchmarking sustainability performance across organizations. The case engages students in these learning activities by situating them in an organizational context that students can easily relate to-higher education. In a post-case learning assessment, students reported significant improvement in their comprehension and application of these learning objectives.
This case study, derived from a real-life scenario faced by a New England landscaping company, reinforces essential financial accounting principles and introduces Microsoft Excel functions. Students analyze the company's financial data to identify and correct accounting errors. The case introduces key Excel functions for business majors and illustrates their practical applications. This case study fills the gap in the literature by integrating financial accounting principles with Excel training. Feedback from students shows that the case not only enhanced their understanding of accounting and improved their Excel skills but also sparked their enthusiasm by applying their knowledge in a real-life scenario. The case effectively helps students improve their analytical thinking, motivation, and confidence. To implementthe case effectively, a basic understanding of financial accounting concepts is required.
Ensuring that learners have a positive learning experience is crucial in introductory accounting. This study aims to explore the design and development of a collaborative learning approach to promote engagement and learning within introductory accounting modules. We used a design-based research methodology, which is recently emerging within the accounting education field, to design a blended learning intervention in a participatory fashion with 68 first-year accounting students across three design cycles. This paper focuses on how collaborative learning was designed and scaffolded to support engagement and peer learning in the face-to-face and online environments. Findings indicate that students reported greater enjoyment, increased participation, improved peer learning, and more positive perceptions of accounting. These perceptions were accompanied by improved performance in a midterm assessment by the third design cycle. The study offers a practical model and insights for embedding collaborative learning in introductory accounting to support active, student-centered learning.
This real-world case examines how Mattel Inc., once the world's largest toy company, manipulated earnings by improperly reclassifying Thomas & Company, an indefinite-lived intangible asset, as a finite-lived asset. The reclassification led to a $109 million misstatement of the valuation allowance for deferred tax assets, income tax expenses, and net income. Ultimately, true to the maxim "the cover-up is worse than the crime," Mattel restated its financials and paid $98 million to settle a shareholder class-action lawsuit. The case requires students to apply higher-order learning skills, draw on the FASB's Conceptual Framework, and analyze the use of intangible asset classification as an earnings management tool. Students also construct financial statements reflecting retrospective restatements and explore the interconnectedness of financial reporting and taxation courses. The case is appropriate for intermediate accounting, professional research, and capstone courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Lumber Liquidators (LL) is a comprehensive real-world case where students are asked to conduct financial statement analysis and valuation and make an investment decision in an atypical and highly uncertain context. The protagonist faces a buy-sell-hold decision using financial statement data, first in response to LL's announcement of financial results, and then following a media expose and a precipitous stock price decline. The case has two parts. In Case A, students construct common-size income statements and balance sheets, perform DuPont ratio analysis, understand the challenges in identifying comparable firms, and estimate the intrinsic value of LL's stock using the P/E multiples approach. In Case B, students reassess LL's intrinsic value, perform sensitivity analysis, and consider the ethical implications of investing in LL in light of the media allegations. The case is most appropriate for introductory accounting and finance courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
Looking for ways to make introductory financial accounting courses more engaging? Look no further! The faculty have outlined the course redesign process and options for incorporating small but impactful changes to existing courses. Increasing engagement in accounting principles courses is an important component of recruiting accounting majors, growing the accounting pipeline, and increasing the number of accounting professionals. By incorporating activities such as guest speakers, gamification, artificial intelligence (AI) tools, free online resources, engagement tools, small prizes, and student support, the faculty have transformed the introductory accounting classrooms into fun and lively environments. Instructors share games using ChatGPT, new methods to deliver existing materials, and recommendations for connecting with professional partners to support these changes. The following outlines the redesign process, shares resources, and provides tips and tricks for faculty interested in updating or modifying introductory financial accounting courses to engage students and increase interest in the accounting profession.
The number of U.S. university students obtaining undergraduate and graduate accounting degrees decreased significantly from 2011 to 2020. Using university-level panel data from 1983 to 2020, we find that the decrease in national unemployment rates from 2009 to 2018 accounts for the majority of the decline in accounting graduates over the past decade. We also find that state unemployment rates have an incremental effect on the number of students obtaining undergraduate, but not graduate, degrees in accounting. Furthermore, our results indicate that the number of male accounting graduates is more sensitive to unemployment rates compared to their female counterparts, although we find mixed results regarding the difference in sensitivity between white and minority graduates in accounting. Our evidence sheds light on the primary cause of the recent decline in accounting graduates, and how to address it and maintain a diverse student body throughout business cycles.
