Masters accounting curriculum for international college - Research Paper Example

?Table of Contents Table of Contents Masters Accounting Curriculum for International College 2 Executive Summary 2 Introduction 3 Procedure 3 Findings 4 Analysis 6 Conclusion 7 Recommendations 8 Works Cited 9 Name Course Course Instructor Date Masters Accounting Curriculum for International College Executive Summary The field of business has undergone rapid changes over the recent past. There is thus need for education institutions to make changes in the issues to include in the curricula particularly in the graduate and masters level. Accounting, which remains an important aspect of business, has also changed rapidly, making it hard for e accountants to perform well in their duties. It is thus important to make changes in the accounting curriculum to enable incorporation of new concepts required to operate in the modified corporate sector. This will enable learners acquire skill that will help them venture and succeed in the global business. Coming up with a suitable curriculum for masters students entails doing a lot of research on the global business environment. Additionally the curricula should involve the solutions that address the challenges and problems facing global business. Introduction Accountancy is a method or manner of communicating information to stakeholders such as the shareholders on how a business is performing financially by making use of financial statements. Accountancy is thus an important aspect of any business since it helps in summarizing as well as classifying data in a simplified way. Companies that conduct business internationally are faced by numerous challenges, which include cultural diversity, competition, as well as the challenge of having to do business in a multilingual setting. This requires persons aspiring to engage in multinational or global business to be equipped to deal with the above challenges. Additionally, multinational corporations have more complicated financial statements as compared to national one. Accountants are thus required to have adequate skill to enable them audit international financial statements and make appropriate decisions on behalf of their employees. However, most existing curricula fail to address how the newly emerging challenges should be dealt with adequately. This results in most graduates lacking knowledge on the aspects characterizing global business. It thus becomes depressing when such graduates have to work with global companies. This research paper focuses on International College, which is considering offering a Masters in Accounting for international students. The paper will give recommendations on how the college should develop a curriculum that addresses the current needs of companies who do business around the globe. Procedure To establish the aspects to include or eliminate from the existing curricula, there is need to understand the conditions that characterize the global business. International College should establish a panel to analyze the aspects that should be included in the curriculum to enable graduates deal with global business challenges. The steps that should be followed while establishing a curriculum on global business include identification of the problems facing the global business and establishment of solutions to the problems. To identify the problems facing the global business and are not being addressed by the current accounting program, a survey can be done on recently graduated accounting master’s student. Identifying the challenges that current accountants are facing will enable coming up with a curriculum that addresses these challenges (Lubin Web). Another step should be identification of possible consequences of applying the identified solutions in global business. It is important that the measures set to resolve these challenges be realistic and easy to implement. Another step should be coming up with ways to overcome the problems that may arise while applying new accounting strategies in global business. The last step should be coming up with a detailed design of how to implement the new ideas and implement them in the master’s curricula of International College. Findings As technology advances, the expectation of the corporate world on accountants also rises. Availability of technologies like internet and forensic accounting enables even clients to locate accounting problems. It thus important that accountants undergoing training be equipped with adequate skills to deal with different situations. A good example is frauds that previously took time to be identified but can be currently identified and solved in very short periods. Business ethics should thus be a significant component of accounting to educate accountants on how to avoid cases of fraud. Additionally, it would enable accountants resolve accounting frauds amicably (Lubin Web). Global business is characterized by numerous problems, which include cultural differences. Cultural diversity, which characterizes the global business, leads to existence of varying management styles. Accountants are involved in management in that they are required to analyze situations and make financial decisions. The curricula should thus focus on ways that companies planning to do business globally should deal with cultural differences. The curriculum should be capable of equipping accountants with relevant skills to deal with people from different culture. Interpersonal skills are very crucial in doing any form of business. Another problem facing global business is language difference. This applies even to accounting, which is considered the language for doing business. However, different countries make use of different accounting language such as the GAAP in and IFRS. This has led to problems especially when companies want to compare their economic performance with other companies. Different accounting languages were a source of problem particularly in United States where companies are supposed to report their financial operations. It is thus important that International College come up with a common accounting language that can be used globally. This could be made possible by merging different but commonly used accounting languages to come up with a language that the masters student can use all over the world (Lubin Web). Another problem facing global market is legal issues such as regulation of doing business in foreign country in addition to other legal issues such as corruption. Different countries have different regulations that govern accountants. It is thus important that the International College curriculum come up with an internationalized information regarding regulations governing accountancy. It should include ethics that govern accountants in different regions of the world. The curriculum should exclusively deal with the above problems by listing and explaining ways that they can be resolved. The accountants may have appropriate accounting skills but if they lack interpersonal skills, they will be incapable of working in the current global economy. However, incorporating new ideologies into the existing curriculum could be challenging. A good example is incorporating more accounting languages and requiring the students to master them. It would be quite burdening to the student, which is why it is important to analyze the existing accounting language and come up with a simple but more incorporative curricula (Frecka and Reckers 216-220). Analysis The field of accounting has been undergoing rapid changes particularly over the recent past. This has mainly been due to the impact of globalization as well as internationalization of economic practices. Most companies have become multinational which requires that accountants be capable of handling matters at an international level. However, it happens that most learning institutions have not modified the accounting curriculum to make it be in line with the required international accounting standards. The curriculum should enable accountants prepare financial statement of companies irrespective of their size (Frecka and Reckers 216-220). The curriculum should also be capable of instilling skill in the students to enable them become more inquisitive and logical thinkers. This is important since it will enable the accountants handle accounting issue that may arise due to the dynamic nature of contemporary economy (Frecka and Reckers 216-220). The main aim of the International College curricula should be to provide the masters student with skills that will enable them to respond to current and future market dynamics. This is because business world is characterized by continuous changes that call for different approaches. It is thus almost incapable to teach all the aspects of accounting in class set up. However, it is possible to equip the students with skills to handle different situations (Lubin Web). Currently, frauds have become common in the business world and it is thus important that accountants in making be taught how to deal with cases of fraud. Additionally, accountants should be able to audit financial statements involving multinational companies as opposed to the past where accountants were trained to deal with small firms. Accountants are thus required to develop skill in teamwork, which is crucial in global or multinational companies. Oral communication and writing skills are crucial in accounting and should be added in the curriculum. Although most accounting graduate start their career while dealing with small firms most end up working in multinational corporations and should thus be equipped to deal with challenges (Lubin Web). A sample of current Masters Accounting Curriculum Conclusion Current accounting curricula do not address the problems and challenges facing the companies that engage in global business adequately. There is thus need for establishment of a curricula that in in line with the current global business environment. For International College to come up with an excellent and up to date curriculum, a conclusive research should be done. The research should focus on problems facing global market, the possible solutions, as well as the consequences that could arise due to alteration of the curricula. Communication skill should form part of current accounting curriculum to enable accountants work in global companies. Additionally, a curriculum for multinational students should address the different legal and ethical issue-governing accountants in different parts of the world. Another aspect that should be addressed in the curriculum is on accounting language. The curriculum should come up with a simple but incorporative accounting language to enable accountants function in different regions making use of different accounting languages. Recommendations To be at an advantage, the International Curricula should be capable of supporting personal development amongst the master’s students who can be able to promote change in the global business sector. Another recommendation is that International University should prioritize the aspects to add to the current accounting curricula to avoid overburdening the student with excessive information. The curricula should aim at enabling accountants to prepare financial statements that can be used in the capital markets. Works Cited Frecka, Thomas and Reckers, Philip. Rekindling the Debate: What is Right and What's Wrong with Masters of Accountancy Programs: The Staff Auditor's Perspective. Issues In Accounting Education, 2010. 25(2), 215-226. doi:10.2308/iace.2010.25.2.215 Lubin, Ruthann. Challenges facing the teaching of Public Accounts with the internationalization of accounting information in Santiago de Cali. 2012. Web. 7 Sep 2012 . Read More