CHAT ROOM!

A Happy Thanksgiving to All and your Love Ones. In particular, to the V's and to Anonymous!

In response to the last posting by Anonymous (nickname, "Anon"): While you do not need me to say so, allow me to do so: You are to be commended for all that you are doing! Most people can barely do one thing, such as the job, or raising a family, or pursuing an education. Some can do two of the three. Few desire nor can do all three, and usually there is a "burn-out" along the way. Again, my compliments to you, and I encourage you to always stay the course!
Your recommendation of a Chat Room (Discussion Board) for Accounting Majors is excellent. I would open it up for Accounting graduates; students from other schools; even those with other Business Majors and career desires. Since it is my experience that few folks take advantage of these things, and also I do not know how to "get one going", then I offer the following: Let this Blog be the Chat Room going forth!
That is to say, I would ask you to post your thoughts, observations, and questions to this Blog. Encourage your friends, fellow students, fellow workers, etc. to read and respond. I will offer my own comments only when I feel there is something I can add.
What say you? And Anon need not be the only person to respond to this suggestion.
As to responding to your request for advice on studying: I used to pride myself on the constant reviewing of questions and answers that are usually always available, usually in the text itself as well as many web sites. I even assign to my students AS HOMEWORK several parts of a chapter in which the questions/problems are provided along with their solutions/answers. Why? Because the "professional student" understands that yes, one needs to read the chapter/text/Learning Objectives/summary to pick up the concepts at "the ten thousand foot level." But then one needs to constantly review and work out each problem in order to make sense of the concept in terms of the details. "The Devil is in the Details" is especially true of Accounting.
I may be stating the obvious to those already doing this but, consistent with the observations about most students, they do not stick their noses into the questions/solutions. They just want to get the grade with minimal effort. But we humans only learn one way: by repetition and reviewing our mistakes!!!
Thus, when I reviewed for the CPA exam and also the Attorney Bar exam, I literally poured over past exams again and again. And where I got something wrong, I went back into the text and reviewed. Sort of like going to the dictionary. Some people will; some wont. You can imagine that those who do are better for such habit both for the specific word but also for how they handle their personal and work-related issues.
I think I am answering your question. Do review and let me know your thoughts.

Again, to you and yours, and to everyone, Happy Thanksgiving! Be safe in all your comings-and-goings.

Regards,

Accounting and the World at-large

Hello out there!

I just want to remind everyone that this is YOUR Blog! I am here to meet your information needs, to the extent possible, on all things Accounting and Accounting-related. This Blog works best when you ask question after question. So fire away!

So, what's doing in the world of Accounting? There was a major, major Article in the latest edition of The CPA Journal, the well-respected monthly magazine of the New York State Society of CPAs. It was the lead article and it was 6 pages long. And it was all about whether students are prepared to put in the effort needed to achieve a degree in Accounting. Accounting itself as a profession was always considered respectable because it did in fact take a lot of work to get through the many preparatory courses, and then to put in the apprenticeship associated with the profession. Again, Accounting is and always has been a profession, and that is what makes it so worthwhile, both in terms of pride and accomplishment, as well as compensation.

What the article seemed to indicate, based on research, is that today's students expect to be handed their course credits - their diploma, if you will - just for showing up. And while showing up is in fact a major part of all courses - one learns better by hearing the discussion of, the repetition of, the materials to be learned - it is still necessary for students to master the knowledge of each subject. And let's just say it right out - not every student has the desire nor the ability to master each subject. And teachers must make the work sufficiently challenging so that a student who passes a course has in fact mastered the subject of the course.

There is a bit of "tough-love" to the Article, in that it's conclusion encourages academia to not drop standards to meet this generation's expectation of entitlement; that to do so would dilute the profession and what the public has come to expect of Accountants and what the public does in fact usually get from Accountants: hard work and quality work.

Interestingly enough, the topic of a prior posting on this Blog was all about internships, and how important they are for the student to arrive at a better understanding of all things Accounting. Perhaps that is the way for the issues raised by the Article to be addressed. Students should sublement their course work and grades with a fine showing of accounting internships and accounting-related jobs, be they bookkeeping in nature or otherwise. This will enable future employers to see that there really is a work ethic and quality of work behind the student, and not just grades and the diploma.

What do you think? Please let me know.