Recognizing the changing scope of the CPA profession and the importance of education, the board of directors of the American Institute of CPAs recently endorsed a new competency framework for education. This framework emphasizes business skills over a traditional content-based curriculum, and is said to stress critical thinking, marketing, resource management, and a focus on the client.

The framework is also said to encourage the teaching of personal competencies, such as communication skills and professional conduct, along with functional competencies like reporting, risk analysis and measurement. In its next phase of development, the AICPA's framework will provide educators with sample strategies and best-practice classroom techniques. More details on the AICPA's framework will be reported as they become available.

The concept of preparing accounting students to take on the role as business advisor for their clients has been gaining acceptance outside of the United States. In Australia, a number of reports have been released in recent years that emphasize the need for Australians to become more entrepreneurial in order to survive in the increasingly competitive world of global business.

The Survey Says…
A 1999 survey sponsored by The Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants revealed that while small business and entrepreneurship courses are being taught at the university level, they are most commonly included in the curriculum as elective subjects instead of being taught as "compulsory" courses. However, some of the Australian educators who took part in the study were reportedly working to integrate business issues into core subjects.

Overall, the report did express confidence in small business and entrepreneurship courses moving to become a required area of study in Australia, in alignment with similar growth trends seen in the United States.

Let us take a closer look at a few of the business skills that could prepare accounting students to be successful professionals in the new millennium. Perhaps some or many of these skills are currently a part of your curriculum. Could they be broadened or enhanced? Should they stand alone as core subject in the accounting curriculum?

Critical Thinking
Problem solving skills and the ability to find solutions to a wide variety of problems will become an even more important asset for accounting professionals in the 21st century. From the latest technology to business trends, clients will continue to look to their CPAs for a wide range of advice. The accounting professional will need to have the skill to consider the client's individual need and search for a customized solution.

Marketing
One of the world's leading authorities on marketing, Dr. Philip Kotler, defines the social definition of marketing as "a societal process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering, and freely exchanging products and services of value to others." When we look at the definition of marketing in this way, it makes sense that those offering services, such as accountants, should know how to market its value and sell it to those in need of such a service.

Communications Skills
Since the communications discipline focuses on the interactive dialogue between the company and its customers, accountants in the new millennium will certainly ask, "how can we most efficiently reach our customers?" From the perspective of selling accounting services, a communications focus will help accountants understand how to encode their sales messages in a way that effectively reaches the target audience and receive the desired response.

Communications training could also prove helpful if the accounting professional is looking to efficiently explain a particular concept or idea to their client. Communications skills are useful in many aspects of one's professional and personal life.

Professional Conduct
This area of study will become increasingly important for accounting professionals as the economy continues to become more global. Topics such as bribery, giving/receiving gifts, the use of privileged information, misuse of company assets, and personal conduct will remain a staple for students preparing to enter the professional accounting world.

Reports indicate that four-year colleges and universities in the United States continue to lead the way in increasing the number of small business and entrepreneurship education courses within traditional non-business curriculum. However, studies also reveal that educators must continue their work to integrate key business topics within core courses of study. With the dawn of the new millennium will come new challenges for educators and the future business professionals they teach. Educators hold the key to helping students face the challenges they will meet in the 21st century.