Over many decades the global development of professional accounting education programmes has been undertaken by higher education institutions, professional accounting bodies, and employers. These institutions have sometimes co-operated and sometimes been in conflict over the education and/or training of future accounting professionals. These ongoing problems of linkage and closure between academic accounting education and professional training have new currency because of pressures from students and employers to move accounting preparation onto a more efficient, economic and practical basis. The Interface of Accounting Education and Professional Training explores current elements of the interface between the academic education and professional training of accountants in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK. It argues for a reassessment of the considerations and requirements for developing professional accounting programs which can make a student: capable of being an accountant (the academy); ready to be an accountant (the workplace); and professional in being an accountant (the professional bodies). This book was originally published as a special issue of Accounting Education: An International Journal.

Many enquiries into the state of accounting education/training, undertaken in several countries over the past 40 years, have warned that it must change if it is to be made more relevant to students, to the accounting profession, and to stakeholders in the wider community. This book’s over-riding aim is to provide a comprehensive and authoritative source of reference which defines the domain of accounting education/training, and which provides a critical overview of the state of this domain (including emerging and cutting edge issues) as a foundation for facilitating improved accounting education/training scholarship and research in order to enhance the educational base of accounting practice. The Routledge Companion to Accounting Education highlights the key drivers of change - whether in the field of practice on the one hand (e.g. increased regulation, globalisation, risk, and complexity), or from developments in the academy on the other (e.g. pressures to embed technology within the classroom, or to meet accreditation criteria) on the other. Thirty chapters, written by leading scholars from around the world, are grouped into seven themed sections which focus on different facets of their respective themes – including student, curriculum, pedagogic, and assessment considerations.

There is no doubt that accounting education scholarship and research in Australia is not only thriving, but is amongst the best in the world. Nor is there any doubt that Australian scholars in this field punch well above their weight within the international arena. This book is not derived from a conventional special issue (i.e. one focussing on a specific theme such as audit education, communication in accounting education, or the interface between accounting education and professional training). Instead, it presents a collection of leading edge contributions to accounting education research from Australian scholars on topics which have international relevance. These topics reflect the typical breadth of research in this field being undertaken in Australia - including coverage of students’ conceptions of accounting work, the impact of entry mode on accounting students’ approaches to learning, listening skills in accounting practice, and student’s performance in online accounting courses. Taken together, the contents of this book will help to enhance the educational base of accounting practice by providing guidance to educators in improving their pedagogic practice. This book was originally published as a special issue of Accounting Education: an international journal.

Accounting education ought to prepare future professionals to enter a principles-based, rules-oriented field of activity wherein technical knowledge of accounting standards (principles, rules and decision procedures) and ethical awareness (the capacity to discern moral issues and resolve ethical dilemmas) are crucial. Accounting education is best performed by the accountant’s adherence to the principles of the accounting profession and by individuals and firms following the appropriate rules, act according to the codes of conduct adopted by their profession, exercise clear judgment whenever they address financial transactions and consider/assess the state of a given business. Accounting Ethics Education: Making Ethics Real gathers a diversity of contributions from invited well-known experts and other specialists. It promotes comprehensive reflection around key trends, discussing and highlighting the most updated research on accounting ethics education, being an essential and useful reference in the field. In the performance of accounting tasks, the accountant should be educated and supported in the skills development and habit formation to solve accounting problems, recognize moral issues and resolve ethical dilemmas that will be encountered in their special tasks. Also, this book provides a moral map for identifying and acting on values when difficult situations arise. Examining multiple perspectives, the book improves the scholarly debate by providing cutting-edge and insightful research vital for all those interested and immersed in these matters. It will be of great value to academics, students, researchers and professionals in the fields of accounting, accounting education and ethics.

Audit professionals are valued members of society and are expected to be both skilled and ethical in their decision-making. The role of the auditor extends far beyond that of counting beans by demanding a social and political awareness, a technical knowledge, ethical principles and relationship skills. In addition, due to the team-oriented nature of the audit approach, auditors require strong team-building and interpersonal skills. This book offers expert descriptions of, and insights into, how such skills and responsibilities can be inculcated in tertiary education and professional training environments. Unlike other books which focus on auditing as a technical process, this volume examines auditing from a teaching and learning perspective. Expert contributors provide authoritative insights into an audit education which is embedded in accounting practice. The book’s descriptions of these insights into improving education for future audit professionals may allow the introduction of new and challenging fields of enquiry. Audit Education will be of great interest to educators in tertiary institutions, trainers in professional firms, and key individuals in accounting professional bodies seeking to ensure their members possess acceptable levels of attainment for admission and continued membership. This book was originally published as a special issue of Accounting Education: an international journal.