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Professional accountants—at all levels (student, educator, practitioner)—may be looking for strategies to support professional development and/or continuing education, including the development of communication skills. This paper provides an example of critical self-reflection, which resulted in a retirement-induced reading spree for the author and an appreciation by the author of the value of reading as a strategy for enhancing one’s reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. To illustrate these benefits with greater concreteness, the paper includes a short discussion of each of 18 subjectively determined “power words” (and related definitions) gathered by the author from recent issues of the Wall Street Journal. These examples illustrate how appropriate word choices allow authors of cited material to communicate (in context) with conciseness and precision—power for short. I complement this set of words with additional “power words” I self-selected from a variety of business and nonbusiness sources. The paper contains a listing of additional resources (both printed and web-based) that individuals interested in improving their vocabulary can consult. As a learning resource, the paper can be used in accounting courses with a communications component, for personal and/or professional development purposes, and in CPE courses focused on communication skills development. An appendix provides sample word-choice quizzes based on the 18 words discussed in the paper.

ABSTRACT This paper extends the self-reflections presented earlier in Stout (2016) to include some of the things I learned over the years in terms of publishing in accounting education. I offer these new reflections from the perspective of my experience over many years as an author, editor, and consumer of accounting education literature. I provide comments related to publishing instructional resources in accounting education (including educational cases) and to publishing research articles. I also offer general comments regarding publishing in accounting education, including comments as to the suitability (defensibility) of these scholarly pursuits. The manuscript complements other recent papers in the area by focusing more narrowly on the publication process in accounting education. The contents of this paper may be of interest to those wishing to enhance their publication potential in the field of accounting education.

Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Citation David E. Stout; Foreward to Special Section on Critical Reflections. Issues in Accounting Education 1 August 2018; 33 (3): 1–4. https://doi.org/10.2308/iace-10619 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentIssues in Accounting Education Search Advanced Search

Cost estimation is one of the most fundamental tools in the management accountant's toolkit. It is used for establishing predetermined overhead application rates for product costing purposes, preparing budgets (both financial and operating), decision making (such as projecting costs associated with various decision alternatives), and contract bidding. Mechanisms for generating cost estimates range from the relatively simple--like professional judgment and intuition or the use of a scattergraph--to the sophisticated, such as the use of regression analysis. Microsoft Excel is a flexible and powerful tool that can be used to help generate cost estimates for managerial planning and decision making. For example, Excel can be used to fit alternative regression models to a set of past observations of a cost and one or more cost drivers (i.e., independent or explanatory variables). Yet the use and interpretation of output from regression models can be complex and intimidating to some. This article is the first in a two-part series that aims to help demystify the cost-estimation process using Excel in a managerial accounting setting. Part 1 illustrates the estimation of a simple (i.e., one-variable) linear cost function using two different methods in Excel: (1) a chart and its related functionality, and (2) the Regression analysis tool in the Analysis ToolPak. (1) Part 2 covers the estimation of learning curve models (one form of a nonlinear model) and the use of linear regression models that include more than a single independent variable. This series should be of interest for managers who require decision-useful information, management accountants charged with the responsibility of supplying that information, and accounting students who did not have prior exposure to the use of Excel for estimating cost functions or who found that exposure (e.g., in statistics class) less than satisfying. To illustrate the process, we will use a hypothetical example of a package-delivery service located in the Charlotte, N.C., metropolitan area. (2) With a fleet of four small vans and six pickup trucks, the company spends a considerable amount of money on vehicle upkeep. Figure 1 shows a screenshot of the monthly data from the past year in Excel, including the total vehicle expenses vs. number of deliveries. It is possible to fit a one-variable linear regression model to the data in Figure 1 using Excel. This model could then be used to estimate monthly vehicle upkeep costs for the coming year. The functional form of the model to be estimated is: Y = a + bX, where Y is the monthly vehicle upkeep cost (the dependent variable), X is the number of deliveries per month (the independent variable), a is the fixed cost component of total monthly cost, and b is the variable cost rate (the slope of the cost function or, equivalently, the rate of change in Y per unit change in X). GRAPHING THE DATA The first step in fitting a regression equation to the data set in Figure 1 is to plot the data in a scattergraph in Excel (see Figure 2). (3) This initial step serves three important purposes: 1. The chart provides a visual means for assessing whether a linear relationship between the two variables (X and Y) is plausible. 2. It provides a visual means for identifying seasonal patterns, which is an issue when time-series data is used to estimate the cost function. 3. The chart allows the user to isolate any possible atypical or abnormal observations. This ability is critical because regression estimates of the cost coefficients (a and b) are sensitive to the existence of outlier observations, as we will see. Looking at Figure 2, it appears the data doesn't have drastic swings (which suggests that a linear cost function is plausible) and that there are no apparent outliers in the data set. With that established, the next step is to begin the cost estimation. …

ABSTRACT The AAA/J. Michael and Mary Anne Cook/Deloitte Foundation Prize is an award designed to recognize up to three currently active faculty members annually for teaching excellence in accounting. This paper has a three-fold objective: (1) provide an additional mechanism for promoting the Cook Prize as a formal means of rewarding and—in the words of the Pathways Commission (2012)—“shining a light” on teaching excellence in accounting; (2) share with other accounting faculty the self-reflective insights on effective and ineffective teaching practices from the first six recipients of the Cook Prize; and (3) compare Cook Prize recipient responses to those of other accounting educator exemplars reported previously in the literature. With regard to categorical identification of effective and ineffective teaching practices, we find general agreement between Cook Prize recipients and accounting educator exemplars, as reported by Stout and Wygal (2010) and Wygal and Stout (2015). Further analysis identifies purposeful planning perspectives common to Cook Prize respondents that inform their teaching strategies. Collectively, these insights from accounting exemplars should be of interest to accounting faculty members who wish to improve their teaching effectiveness, to individuals considering a teaching career in accounting, and to those seeking to inform their professional/teaching development.

•Reviews the forces for change in higher education in the US.•Summarizes the effects of financial forces and technological forces on higher education in the US.•Implications for accounting progams and accounting faculty as regards the forces for change.•Offers survey evidence regarding recent curricular and faculty change efforts in accounting.•Strategic responses to the forces for change in higher education in the US.

ABSTRACT Prior research and practitioner-academic bodies (Lawson et al. 2014; Lawson et al. 2015; Pathways Commission 2012) have called for the development of integrated accounting curricula to better prepare students for successful long-term careers. This paper recognizes accounting program leaders as important agents in the curricular-change process. Its goal is to provide accounting leaders ideas and tools that can be used to manage the process of implementing change to an integrated accounting curriculum. Using a life-cycle planning approach, we identify major stages in the curricular-change process and describe the characteristics and challenges associated with each stage. We then propose a framework for managing the curricular-change process based on the life-cycle approach, encompassing a comprehensive integration process and including spreadsheet formats to facilitate management of an institution's curricular-change initiative. While needed in an effort to develop an integrated curriculum, the approach is generalizable and can be used in any major revision of a curriculum. Appendix A of the paper contains a checklist of issues to be considered during each stage of the curricular-change cycle.

•This paper provides self-reflections of the author, in six categories.•The paper shares with readers experiential insights garnered from the author's personal and professional life.•The paper asserts the value of experiential sharing to the process of faculty development.•The paper issues a call for future autobiographical sharings, as well as recommendations for implementing this recommendation.•The paper encourages other accounting faculty to engage in a systematic process of self-reflection.

ABSTRACT The paper follows up on Lawson et al. (2014), which reported on the work of a joint task force sponsored by the Management Accounting Section (MAS) of the American Accounting Association (AAA) and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) charged with the responsibility of developing curricular recommendations for accounting education. The current paper extends the discussion by examining possibilities for integrating foundational competencies and broad management competencies into the accounting curriculum, and for integrating across various accounting competencies. The paper provides a detailed example to illustrate its recommendations. The paper also discusses two implementation challenges related to curriculum integration and offers some thoughts for productively responding to them. Finally, the paper includes three appendices that contain an additional example and list additional resources for instructors to support curricular-integration initiatives in accounting.

Many studies and pronouncements have been made over the past 25 years or so regarding competencies needed for professional success in business and accounting. In summarizing this work as it relates to accounting, the Pathways Commission on Accounting Higher Education, created by the American Accounting Association (AAA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) to study the future structure of higher education for the accounting profession in the United States, recently noted, "To be competent, an accountant must possess both technical knowledge and professional skills, such as the ability to apply knowledge in making reasoned judgments and to communicate effectively" (emphasis added).1An online supplement to the Pathways Commission Report provides a summary of competencies needed by future accountants, based on an analysis of 27 sources.2 It identifies 18 broad individual (or professional) competencies needed for success in accounting, classifying them into three categories: technical knowledge, professional skills, and professional integrity/ethics. Among the 18 broad competencies, the two that are cited in the most sources are "communication/collaboration" and "behavior/attitude consistent with core values," with each appearing in 11 of the 27 sources. Within the group of "communication/collaboration" competencies, "oral and written communication skills" was cited the most, appearing in nine of the sources.The Pathways Commission Report and its supplement underscore the importance of communication skills to professional success. But it is important to note the existence of an "expectations gap" between the writing skills that employers are looking for and the demonstrated writing skills of newly hired accountants. David Conrad and Robert Newberry assert that much is still to be done in terms of addressing the communication-skills deficiencies of new hires: "Despite academia's best efforts there still remains a gap in communication skills desired by business practitioners and those delivered by new graduates."3Improving Word ChoiceSo how can we help reduce the communication skills gap? We know that clarity, precision, and conciseness are desirable characteristics of both written and oral communications in business and accounting. Thus, any resource or strategy for helping accounting and finance students (and practitioners) to write more clearly, more concisely, and with greater precision should be a welcome addition to the literature.Improving one's writing is an involved process. There are many important elements that collectively must converge to improve writing quality. One of these elements-the subject of our two articles-is appropriate word choice. We have compiled a list of word-choice issues that we frequently encounter in our collective teaching and editorial roles. Our hope is that these articles will provide an easily accessible resource for individuals to help increase their understanding of these issues and learn to recognize and use appropriate words in their writing.Some word choices are caused by the structure of the words themselves. They might be close in spelling or sound, while others might come from the same family of words. This can cause confusion when choosing the right word to use. The word-choice groups that we include in our lists differ in spelling-and often in pronunciation as well. They frequently differ in meaning, though sometimes it is merely a slight difference or a matter of degree. There also are some words that share meanings.In instances where even the experts are unable to agree on proper usage and definitions, it generally means that all the word choices in that example would be acceptable in casual conversation. But we still recommend being aware of the differences and using the traditional, more established definitions. In business communication, particularly finance and accounting, accuracy and clarity are important. …

ABSTRACT This paper provides best practices evidence from a sample of accounting educators in the U.S. recognized formally for their teaching excellence. These teaching exemplars were surveyed and asked to list, in their own words and in ranked order of importance, “a minimum of three and up to five factors or qualities of your teaching that you believe have helped distinguish you as an effective teacher.” We received 453 responses to this question from our sample of 105 award-winning accounting educators. A content analysis of these responses suggests the following major characteristics of teaching effectiveness in accounting (in decreasing order of perceived importance): class session learning environment, student focus, preparation and organization, importance of the practice environment, passion and commitment to teaching (as a profession), and the design of the course learning environment. Response breakdowns suggest the existence of contextual effects: differences in importance ratings for selected characteristics of teaching effectiveness were observed with respect to respondent professorial rank, years of full-time teaching experience, and gender. Results shine a light on teaching effectiveness in accounting education providing, for the first time, both evidence of the perceived relative importance of specific characteristics, as well as insights on pedagogical knowledge to guide educator classroom pursuits.

This paper describes a classroom-tested instructional resource, grounded in principles of active learning and a constructivism, that embraces two primary objectives: 'demystify' for accounting students technical material from statistics regarding ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression analysis - material that students may find obscure or overly abstract - and increase student knowledge regarding the use of Excel for cost-estimation purposes. The resource consists of a set of seven student-related files - PowerPoint slides, Word documents, and Excel files - divided into two major parts: four files that deal with simple (i.e., one-variable) linear regression and three files related to the incremental unit-time learning-curve model. A separate Word file, meant for instructors, provides detailed guidance regarding the use of the student-based files. The resource is flexible in that it can be used at both graduate and undergraduate courses in cost/management accounting; customized to meet the needs of individual instructors (coverage of the entire resource requires approximately seven hours of in-class time) and used in conjunction with any cost/management accounting textbook. Throughout the resource many references to related online supplemental materials are provided, including links to relevant online video clips.

Many of you have probably heard of master limited partnerships (MLPs), but our experience is that few management accountants have anything but a cursory knowledge of these investment vehicles. We suspect, too, that even many finance personnel have little more than a vague understanding of the intricacies of MLPs. In an effort to demystify them as an investment vehicle, we have endeavored to provide a descriptive account of MLPs: what they are, how they are organized and managed, how these entities (and their unit-holders) are taxed for U.S. income tax purposes, the primary lines of business in which MLPs operate, and the relevant risks and benefits of investing in these vehicles. Given the broadened role of accounting and the blurring of the lines of demarcation between accounting and finance functions, this information should be of interest to a wide array of management accounting professionals--both as a personal investment option and from the standpoint of the management accountant's role as a member of an organization's finance team. Legal Structure of MLPs An MLP is the more common term used to describe a publicly traded partnership (PTP). An MLP can be organized either as a limited partnership (LP) or as a limited liability company (LLC) choosing partnership taxation. Shares of ownership in these entities are referred to as units, which are traded on a stock exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ, or one of the regional exchanges in the United States. Owners of units are referred to as To qualify for treatment as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, at least 90% of the partnership's gross income must be derived from As defined in [section]7704(d) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (IRC), qualifying income includes: * Interest, dividends, and capital gains; * Rental income and capital gain from the sale of real estate; * Income and capital gains derived from exploration, development and production, mining, gathering and processing, refining, compression, transportation, storage, marketing, distribution (but not retail sales, except for propane) of minerals, fertilizer, geothermal energy, timber, industrial carbon dioxide, biofuel, crude oil, gasoline, and other petroleum products; * Income from commodity investment or futures, forwards, or options with commodity as underlying assets; and * Capital gains from the sale of assets used to generate the above income. Because ownership units in MLPs are publicly traded, they offer the liquidity of corporate investments, such as stocks and bonds. Since they are partnerships, however, MLPs are not treated as separate entities for federal (and, in most cases, state) income tax purposes. Instead, MLPs are considered pass-through entities, which means that they pay no corporate taxes and that their income passes through to individual partners (unit-holders) who pay income taxes at their individual levels. MLPs also pass through their depreciation and depletion deductions to their unit-holders. Most MLPs provide regular cash distributions, although some can also use the cash for their own growth opportunities (e.g., by acquiring additional pipelines and/or storage facilities). There are approximately 120 MLPs traded in the United States, with a total market value of approximately $420 billion. (1) As shown in Figure 1, the majority of these entities are in the energy (oil and gas) sector. Financial analysts and corporate executives often separate the energy supply chain into upstream business (exploration and production), midstream business (transportation of oil and gas), and downstream business (delivery of final refined products, such as diesel and gasoline, to customers). As Figure 1 shows, most MLPs operate in the midstream sector of the oil and gas supply chain. Table 1 provides a list of the five largest MLPs, in terms of market value, as of the date of this writing. …

This paper summarizes the views, obtained via a survey instrument created by the authors and reported in studies by Stout and Wygal, of 22 accounting educator teaching exemplars from Australia. Each of these individuals has been cited for teaching excellence through receipt of one or more formal teaching awards. The paper responds to calls in Australia for increased attention to the dimensions of teaching effectiveness and to initiatives in the United States calling for a broader sharing of information among members of the academy regarding the characteristics of teaching effectiveness. Little direct evidence from the field of accounting education is available to date regarding such characteristics or antecedents of teaching effectiveness in the student learning environment. Our research therefore extends in a fundamental way the work of Stice and Stocks and Stout and Wygal. Specifically, perceptions from a sample of award-winning non-US faculties regarding the 'drivers of teaching effectiveness' in accounting education are recorded and analyzed. In decreasing order of perceived importance, drivers of teaching effectiveness are: having a student focus; commitment to teaching (as a profession); high levels of preparation/organization; the ability to link subject matter to the practice environment; and, instructor skills and attributes. This paper adds to our understanding of the drivers of teaching effectiveness and begins the process of creating a worldwide knowledge base in accounting education. The paper should be of interest to accounting faculty members interested in improving their teaching effectiveness and/or mentoring junior faculty members.

Professional accounting organizations, accrediting bodies, and accounting educators have invested substantial effort defining entry-level accounting and broad management competencies for accounting students, particularly those interested in a career in public accounting. Much less attention has been given to explicitly defining the competencies accounting students — all accounting students — need for their long-run careers, clearly distinguishing these competencies from the determinants of entry-level demands, and helping to develop these long-run competencies within the formal accounting curriculum. In 2010 the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) and the Management Accounting Section (MAS) of the American Accounting Association (AAA) formed a Task Force to address these competency issues and to make curriculum-related recommendations for all accounting majors. This paper contains the initial completed report of the Task Force and is responsive to the recent call to “connect the accounting body of knowledge to a map of competencies…” and to create “…curricular models for the future” (Pathways Commission 2012, 37, 75). The paper provides a comprehensive review of the academic and professional literatures in three areas: (1) the scope or focus of accounting education; (2) the value proposition for accounting (i.e., specification as to how accountants today, working in a variety of settings, add organizational value); and (3) the importance of competency integration to the value proposition of accounting. These reviews lead to four recommendations regarding accounting curricula. First, accounting education should be reoriented to include a greater focus on a curriculum oriented toward long-term career demands. Second, the breadth of accounting education should be broadened to include a wide array of organizational settings including, but not limited to, public accounting/auditing. Third, the educational objectives of accounting curricula today should reflect how accountants add organizational value. Fourth, these objectives (represented as knowledge, skills and abilities) should emerge and be developed as integrated competencies. These recommendations lead operationally to the competency-based educational Framework presented in this paper. This Framework is general in the sense that it is meant to apply to a wide variety of career paths and options, including but not limited to public accounting. The paper concludes with a call to accountants in all functional areas to provide additional inputs and refinements of the general competency Framework espoused in this paper and with an appeal for an assessment of the proposed educational Framework. In two follow-up papers, the Task Force offers (1) specific curricular recommendations regarding the role of management accounting (MA) in implementing the Framework, and (2) guidance for the development of student cognitive skills in the MA portion of the accounting curriculum (IMA-MAS Curriculum Task Force 2013a, 2013b).