Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Cashflow Manager or MYOB Software? - Which Accounting Software Program?

Cashflow Manager or MYOB Software? - Which Accounting Software Program?

Cashflow Manager and MYOB Software are two of the most popular Accounting Software Packages used in Australia. Cashflow Manager is a cash based software program, whereas MYOB can be used of Cash or Accrual Accounting.

Many business owners fall into the trap of using a spreadsheet to record their financial information. I do not recommend using a spreadsheet for the following reasons:

• There is no bank reconciliation process

• Expenses or Income can be easily missed

• Balance Sheet items are not normally recorded

There are different versions of Accounting Software and the prices vary accordingly, I have listed some of the different types of programs below:

• Cashbook - records income & expenses as they are received or paid

• Accrual - records income & expenses as they are invoiced, payments and receipts need to matched to a corresponding invoice.

• Single User - only one user can access the software at one time.

• Multi User - more than one user can access the software at the same time.

• Includes Payroll - necessary if you employ staff.

• Includes Stock Inventory - necessary if you want to keep track of stock that you buy & sell.

Once you think about your business processes you can easily decide on the software you need for your business. For example, if all your customers pay you in Cash at the time of purchase and you pay your suppliers Cash on Delivery you could use a CashBook system. However, if you need to issue invoices to your Customers and then allocate receipts to those invoices you would need an Accrual System. Or, if you run 30 day accounts with your suppliers you would need an Accrual System.

A Payroll module would not normally be necessary for a Micro or Solo Business Owner, as you are not employing staff. Payments that you pay to yourself, as the business owner, are not necessarily classed as Wages, they may be considered Drawings or Distributions depending on your business structure. You should discuss your Business Structure with your Accountant and decide on the most suitable set up for your Business. You do not need a Payroll Module in your Accounting Software to just pay yourself.

In regard to Stock and whether to run an Inventory System, you need to consider whether you will hold Stock on Hand or order the Stock items as required, and how many Stock transactions you are likely to have. A lot of Micro Businesses sell mainly their services and a small amount of Stock. For example my Bookkeeping Business sells mainly Bookkeeping Services and some Stock (Software). I do not need to run an Inventory System to manage my Stock Sales. I order the stock as required and do not hold Stock on Hand. Managing an Inventory System can be quite a large task and causes novice Bookkeepers quite a lot of headaches. I would advise against it, unless absolutely necessary.

You can still track your Income and Expenses for the Stock you sell without setting up a full inventory System. I would strongly advise you get advice from your Bookkeeper in regard to managing your Stock.

Management Education: Managers Are Not Born

Management Education: Managers Are Not Born

Despite what you may have heard or thought, managers are not born. This notion of coming out of the womb equipped with a dazzling ability to lead is a false one. Instead, successful managers have learned a set of skills that help them to lead with confidence and authority. People who are committed to achieving success with other individuals in a work environment should understand that good management takes time and practice. If you are up to the challenge of leading a group of people, it is a good idea to enroll in a management education program. With management courses to show for on your resume, you are one step closer to convincing a potential employer of how you will change their organization for the better.

The first thing that a management education course will teach you is that the success of a leader is directly proportionate to his/her strength as a human being. A manager's principle goal is to get the best possible performance out of his/her employees and this can only be achieved by someone with a genuine interest in the well-being of the staff. An oversized ego can destroy even the best leader, but individuals who are committed to inspiring greatness will have long and prosperous careers.

A management course will highlight the fact that most leaders spend the majority of their time dealing with everyday details. And handling the small details with the same degree of effort and intensity as major issues can be challenging, but this is what distinguishes a good leader from a great leader. Experienced teachers will provide you with these insights and show you the necessary steps to becoming a great leader.

An educational institution that hires professors with a strong background in their field will benefit you most. Each professor of management education will have his/her own style, and regardless of any possible particular bias, it is useful to get different opinions on what type of person is most appealing to an employer. For example, a professor of management education may tell you that when searching for effective leaders, he/she looks for the following attributes

How to Get The Best Accounting Software For Your Small Business

How to Get The Best Accounting Software For Your Small Business

This topic have been discussed in many areas like forums, blogs, different account related websites. So I thought to write a few lines about Numia with other online accounting softwares.

Buying accounting software is a major investment. It's an important decision and you need to be sure of all the facts before you buy.You certainly wouldn't want to get accounting software and then find a few months later that the software can't handle your growing business.And worst of all you don't want to get software with little or no support.

Software Prices

The cheapest software cost US $90 and the most expensive software cost US $1,500. But Numia absolutely a Freeware and mainly it has all the features as many paid services.

Software Features

As per our analyzing team each accounting software package has been thoroughly analyzed and there is a detailed breakdown showing the features of each. Most packages offer all the most important accounting modules. It was interesting to note that the most expensive software did not offer some of the modules offered by Numia.

Software Support

The most important feature in our opinion is the support. In Numia we give instant reply for your e-mails and also there are Video tutorials to guide you to use our product very easily.

Thus, Numia have all the features and also it can compete with other major accounting softwares in future.

Finance and Accounting Training

Finance and Accounting Training

he bottom line in business comes down to the numbers. Ultimately profits and peak performance keeps a business thriving.

Top management has to focus clearly and precisely on hard financial data to make critical business decisions. It is vital that managers understand how these decisions impact the financial well being of the organization.

If you are a non-financial manager that wants to expand your knowledge and understanding of accounting and finance, this is the seminar for you. You will gain the skills, confidence and competence to understand the numbers side of business. As a result, you will improve your working relationship with your company’s finance department.

Click on a course code below to learn more about a particular course.
http://www.butrain.com/Business-management-training-courses/finance-and-accounting-course.asp

Career and Work Patterns

Career and Work Patterns
Faculty prepare for their teaching careers by earning (almost universally) graduate degrees.
Their “career” patterns can be characterized by examining their employment history. “Work”
patterns can be described by what individuals do in their present positions. This section reports
on degrees earned by community college faculty, their career histories, and work patterns and
activities.
Highest Degree Earned.14 In most two-year institutions faculty are expected to hold a master’s
degree or higher in the subject field in which they teach, and this is the case in accounting as
well. Data from NSOPF indicate that the large majority accounting faculty at two-year colleges
held the master’s as their highest degree (Table 14).
As of 2004, 11.2% held the doctorate or first professional degree, just over 70% a master’s
degree, and 18.3% a baccalaureate or less. The proportion holding a master’s degree or higher
increased, while the proportion holding less than a master’s degree decreased. (This compares
to 48.2% of accounting faculty at four-year institutions holding the doctorate or first professional
TABLE 12
Mean Basic Salary (in constant $) from Institution, Accounting Faculty
at Two-Year Institutions, 1993–2004
1993 (Inflated) 2004 Change
Part-time $7,176.32 $8,157.40 +13.6%
Full-time $49,353.78 $53,622.8 +8.6%
TABLE 13
Mean Total Individual Income (in constant $), Accounting Faculty
at Two-Year Institutions, 1993 (inflated)–2004
1993 (Inflated) 2004 Change
Part-time $65,371.61 $53,486.80 -18.2%
Full-time $62,011.74 $70,528.70 +13.7%
14 The NSOPF survey includes the J.D. (or L.L.B.) as a “first professional degree.” The M.B.A. is included among
master’s degrees.
Accounting in Community Colleges: Who Teaches, Who Studies? Leslie
20 American Accounting Association
TABLE 14
Percent of Accounting Faculty in Two-Year Institutions Holding Indicated Highest Degree,
1993–2004
1993 2004
Ph.D. or first professional 9.60% 11.22%
Master’s 60.80% 70.47%
Baccalaureate or less 29.60% 18.31%
TABLE 15
Percentage of Accounting Faculty in Two-Year Institutions with Doctorate
or First Professional Degree by Full- or Part-Time Status
1993 2004
Part-time 8.3% 10.4%
Full-time 12.7% 12.8%
Total 9.7% 11.2%
degree.) Table 15 breaks down the highest degree held by part- and full-time faculty at two-year
institutions. Full-time faculty were slightly more likely to hold a doctorate or first professional
degree, and the higher degrees were slightly more prevalent for both full- and part-time faculty
in two-year institutions in 2004 than in 1993.
Perhaps more importantly, only half of the accounting faculty at two-year institutions report
holding their highest degree in accounting. (Faculty in two-year institutions may have more
incentives to earn advanced degrees in education than in their teaching field; 6.2% of full-time
accounting faculty at two-year institutions report their highest degree in education compared to
1.1% of full-time accounting faculty at four-year institutions.) For both survey years, almost
exactly half (Table 16) reported that their highest degree was in accounting. More (37% versus
32%) earned their highest degrees in another business field in 2004 than in 1993. (Although it is
not traceable, it would seem likely that this reflects an increase in numbers of those holding
MBAs teaching accounting). Commensurately fewer earned degrees in fields other than accounting
or business in 2004 than in 1993.
Table 16A shows that accounting faculty at two-year institutions were less likely to have
earned their highest degree in accounting than faculty at four-year institutions.
Careers. Data on career history are inconsistent between the two NSOPF survey years included
in this comparison, but some inferences are possible. On average, accounting faculty in twoyear
institutions hold their jobs for substantial periods of time. Table 17 shows that full-timers
have typically held their jobs for about 12 years, while part-timers have typically held theirs for
TABLE 16
Field of Highest Degree Earned, Accounting Faculty in Two-Year Institutions, 1993–2004
1993 2004
Accounting 51.3% 50.8%
Other business 31.6% 37.3%
All other fields 17.1% 11.9%
Accounting in Community Colleges: Who Teaches, Who Studies? Leslie
American Accounting Association 21
TABLE 16A
Field of Highest Degree Earned, Accounting Faculty
at Two-Year and Four-Year Institutions, 2004
Two-Year Four-Year
Accounting 50.8% 62.4%
Other business 37.3% 27.5%
All other fields 11.9% 10.1%
about 7 years. (These figures differ very little from those for accounting faculty at four-year
institutions.)
Continuity of Employment. Full-time faculty at two-year institutions show considerable longevity
(stability) in their positions, while part-timers are more likely to have assumed their positions
more recently. Almost 40% of all part-time two-year faculty reported two years or less of
experience in their current positions. (About 49% of part-time accounting faculty at four-year
institutions also report two years or less of experience, but they constitute a far lower proportion
of all faculty teaching accounting. About one-third of all accounting faculty at two-year institutions
may have little teaching experience.) Figure 6 shows the distribution of “years held current
job” for both groups as represented in the data from the 2004 NSOPF.
FIGURE 6
Years in Current Job; Full- and Part-Time Accounting Faculty in Two-Year Institutions, 2004
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
0 to 2
3 to 6
7 to 10
11 to 14
15 to 18
19 to 22
23 to 26
> 26
Years in current job.
Percent of faculty in interval.
Part‐time
Full‐time
TABLE 17
Mean Years in Current Job, Accounting Faculty in Two-Year Institutions, 1993–2004
1993 2004
Part-time 6.62 7.41
Full-time 13.16 12.75
Accounting in Community Colleges: Who Teaches, Who Studies? Leslie
22 American Accounting Association
The majority of part-time accounting faculty in two-year institutions have held previous jobs
in fields other than education. About 58% had worked outside education in 1993, and 76% had
done so in 2004. Fewer than half (34% in 1993 and 44% in 2004) of the full-time faculty had
worked outside education. So, as has often been contended, part-time faculty may bring a broader
and deeper range of practical or clinical experience (in place of advanced degrees) to the classroom.
A similar pattern was observed among accounting faculty at four-year institutions, with
part-timers far more likely to have worked outside education. The difference between backgrounds
of two-year and four-year faculty is important because two-year students are far more
likely to take their courses from part-timers, and may therefore have more exposure to the practical
and clinical aspects of the field (and commensurately less to the more theoretical, researchbased
aspects).
Tenure. Tenure or eligibility for tenure is far less common among two-year faculty than among
those at four-year institutions. Only 22% of accounting faculty at two-year institutions were
tenured or eligible in both 1993 and 2004. Part-timers are almost never eligible for tenure; only
1% reported being eligible (or tenured) in 1993, while 6% were in 2004. Only about half (52% in
2004, down from 65% in 1993) of the full time accounting faculty at two-year institutions were
tenured or eligible in the most recent survey. That compares to about 83% of full-time accounting
faculty at four-year institutions in both 1993 and 2004 surveys. Tables 18 and 19 report the
distribution of tenure among part-time and full-time accounting faculty (respectively) in twoyear
institutions.

CARACTÉRISTIQUES OF ACCOUNTING FACULTY AT TWO-YEAR COLLEGES

II. CARACTÉRISTIQUES OF ACCOUNTING FACULTY
AT TWO-YEAR COLLEGES
Faculty who teach accounting at two-year institutions are mostly part-time, increasingly female,
Caucasian, married with children, hold master’s degrees or less, and are often teaching in
a field in which they have not earned their highest degree. They also tend to be otherwise employed
and have multiple sources of income.
Gender. In 1993, roughly 70% of community college accounting faculty were males (Table 6). By
2004, there were about 1400 fewer male accounting faculty, but about 500 more females. The
proportion of males had dropped to 58%.
Perhaps more interesting, the genders differed in their employment pattern; males were much
more likely to be part-time by 2004. In fact, there were only about half as many full-time male
accounting faculty in 2004 as in 1993. Women, on the other hand, were almost twice as likely to
be full-time in 2004 as in 1993 (Table 7).
Ethnicity. Accounting faculty in two-year institutions were overwhelmingly White, and remained
so between 1993 and 2004 (Table 8). There was an uptick in the percentage of those identifying
themselves as Black, and a decline in those identifying as Hispanic. Whites constituted about
85% of all accounting faculty at two-year institutions in 2004, Blacks constituted 10.6% (more
than double their proportion in 1993), Hispanics declined from 5.3% to 1.0%, and Asian/Pacific
TABLE 7
Part- and Full-Time Status of Community College Accounting Faculty
by Gender, 1993–2004
Percent Percent
Change in Change in
1993 2004 Part-Time 1993 2004 Full-Time
Part-Time Part-Time Faculty Full-Time Full-Time Faculty
Male 3551 2968 –16.4% 1749 932 –46.7%
Female 1594 1459 –8.5% 706 1341 +89.9%
TABLE 6
Gender of Community College Accounting Faculty, 1993–2004
1993 2004 Percent Change
Male 5300 3900 –26.4%
Female 2300 2800 +21.7%
Total 7600 6700 –11.8%
Percent male 69.7% 58.2%
TABLE 8
Race/Ethnicity of Accounting Faculty in Two-Year Institutions (percentages), 1993–2004
Asian/ American Indian/
White Black Hispanic Pacific Islander Alaska Native
1993 85.6% 4.3% 5.3% 3.3% 1.6%
2004 85.2% 10.6% 1.0% 3.2% 0%
Accounting in Community Colleges: Who Teaches, Who Studies? Leslie
16 American Accounting Association
Islanders constituted 3.2%. American Indian/Alaska Natives declined from 1.6% to 0. Accounting
faculty in two-year institutions are distributed roughly in proportion to their ethnic distribution
at four-year institutions.
Age. Figure 2 shows that the age distribution of accounting faculty at two-year institutions shifted
upward, consistent with indicators of aging found in earlier studies in this series.
The shift was particularly apparent among part-time faculty, with a sharp decline in faculty
between the ages of 40 and 50, and a tripling of those over the age of 55, as shown in Figure 3.
The age distribution of full-timers shifted upward, but mainly with respect to the mode
(Figure 4); overall, the mean age of part-timers was three years lower than that of full-timers in
1993, but a year higher in 2004 (Table 9).
The principal finding in this section is aging among male accounting faculty. Nearly 45%
were 55 or older in 2004, while only 16% were 44 or younger. Among females, 17% were 55 or
older, while 43% were 44 or younger. Figure 5 illustrates the disproportionately older distribution
of males and younger distribution of females. About 41% of males report planning to retire
“from all paid employment” within 10 years of the survey. An increasing number of women are
teaching accounting in two-year institutions, not just as part-timers, but increasingly in full-time
TABLE 9
Mean Age of Accounting Faculty in Two-Year Institutions, 1993–2004
Mean Age, 1993 Mean Age, 2004
Part-time 45.53 51.67
Full-time 48.95 50.82
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
0 to 30
31 to 35
36 to 40
41 to 45
46 to 50
51 to 55
56 to 60
> 60
Age in years.
Number of faculty in interval
Total, 1993
Total, 2004
FIGURE 2
Age Distribution of Accounting Faculty in Two-Year Institutions, 1993–2004
Accounting in Community Colleges: Who Teaches, Who Studies? Leslie
American Accounting Association 17
FIGURE 3
Age Distribution of Part-Time Community College Accounting Faculty, 1993–2004
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
0 to 30
31 to 35
36 to 40
41 to 45
46 to 50
51 to 55
56 to 60
> 60
Age in years.
Number of faculty in interval
Part‐time, 1993
Part‐time, 2004
FIGURE 4
Age Distribution of Full-Time Accounting Faculty at Two-Year Institutions, 1993–2004
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
0 to 30
31 to 35
36 to 40
41 to 45
46 to 50
51 to 55
56 to 60
> 60
Age in years
Number of faculty in interval
Full‐time, 1993
Full‐time, 2004
positions. There were 22% more women teaching accounting at two-year institutions in 2004
than in 1993, but about 16% fewer women teaching accounting at four-year institutions in 2004
than in 1993.
Accounting in Community Colleges: Who Teaches, Who Studies? Leslie
18 American Accounting Association
Other Employment. Most part-time accounting faculty at two-year institutions have other employment,
as does an apparently declining proportion of full-time faculty. Table 10 shows, however,
that a substantial shift took place between 1993 and 2004. An increased proportion of both
part- and full-time faculty reported that their teaching job was their only job. Consistent with
this trend, many fewer part-timers reported holding other full-time jobs in 2004 than reported
doing so in 1993. Table 11 shows that although over 84% held other full-time jobs in 1993, fewer
than half did so in 2004.
Sources of Income. Accounting faculty at two-year institutions earn substantially less, on the
whole, than do accounting faculty at four-year institutions. In 2004, full-time accounting faculty
TABLE 10
Percentage of Accounting Faculty at Two-Year Institutions Reporting “Other Employment”
than their Teaching Job, 1993–2004
1993 2004
Part-time 88.60% 72.70%
Full-time 34.50% 21.10%
Total 71.10% 55.20%
TABLE 11
Full- or Part-Time Status of Other Jobs Held by Part-Time Accounting Faculty
in Two-Year Institutions, 1993–2004
1993 2004
Other job part-time 15.8% 52.2%
Other job full-time 84.2% 47.8%
FIGURE 5
Age Distribution of Accounting Faculty in Two-Year Institutions by Gender, 2004
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 to 30
31 to 34
35 to 39
40 to 44
45 to 49
50 to 54
55 to 59
> 60 Age in years
Percent of respondents in interval
Male
Female
Accounting in Community Colleges: Who Teaches, Who Studies? Leslie
American Accounting Association 19
at two-year institutions averaged $53,622.80 in basic salary from their employing institutions
(Table 12). Full-time accounting faculty at four-year institutions averaged $83,011.20 in the same
year. Part-time accounting faculty at two-year institutions averaged $8,157.40 in basic salary, while
part-timers at four-year institutions averaged $11,973.90. In rough terms then, two-year accounting
faculty make about two-thirds the basic salary made by four-year accounting faculty.
Part- and full time faculty look more alike in income when all sources are included in the
analysis. Table 13 shows that part-timers actually earned slightly more in total income than fulltimers
in 1993, but they had lost considerable ground (measured in constant dollars), both absolutely
(–18%) and relatively to full-timers by 2004. These trends are likely affected by the substantial
drop in percentage of part-time faculty holding other full-time jobs (Table 11), which, for
most, would presumably be their main source of income.

ACCOUNTING IN COMMUNITY COLLEGES: WHO TEACHES, WHO STUDIES?

ACCOUNTING IN COMMUNITY COLLEGES:
WHO TEACHES, WHO STUDIES?

A REPORT OF THE AMERICAN ACCOUNTING ASSOCIATION
• MARCH 29, 2010 •
ACCOUNTING IN COMMUNITY COLLEGES:
WHO TEACHES, WHO STUDIES?
A REPORT OF THE AMERICAN ACCOUNTING ASSOCIATION
REPORT PREPARED BY:
David W. Leslie, Chancellor Professor of Education,
The College of William & Mary
RESEARCH PROJECT COORDINATOR:
Bruce K. Behn, The University of Tennessee
2009–2010 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS
OF THE AMERICAN ACCOUNTING ASSOCIATION:
Nancy A. Bagranoff, Old Dominion University
Kevin D. Stocks, Brigham Young University
Susan F. Haka, Michigan State University
Ira Solomon, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Belverd E. Needles, DePaul University
Christopher J. Wolfe, Texas A&M University
Kazuo Hiramatsu, Kwansei Gakuin University
Robert H. Colson, Grant Thornton LLP
Jean C. Bedard, Bentley University
Gregory B. Waymire, Emory University
Bruce K. Behn, The University of Tennessee
Stacy E. Kovar, Kansas State University
MARCH 29, 2010

Accounting in Community Colleges: Who Teaches, Who Studies? Leslie
American Accounting Association 3
FOREWORD
Recently the American Accounting Association (AAA) sponsored a report, Trends in Non-
Tenure-Eligible Accounting Faculty, 1993–2004 (December 2008) and co-sponsored a report, Accounting
Faculty in U.S. Colleges and Universities: Status and Trends, 1993–2004 (February, 2008)
with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Designed as a companion
piece to these recent studies, this report is intended to expand our understanding of the “supply
chain” in accounting education. A number of articles and papers discuss tenure-track and nontenure
track accounting faculty and accounting doctoral students, but limited information is
available on the role of community college faculty in the United States. This analysis looks at
status and trends for community college faculty in accounting, and like its companion reports
on tenure-track and non-tenure eligible faculty, does so within the context of the larger higher
education environment in the U.S. today.
Given their growing prominence in educating future accounting students it is important to
better understand these members of our academic community. The U.S. Department of
Education’s statistics center listed 1,528 two-year colleges in its 2007 survey of institutions of
higher education.1 The Department of Education reported that 6,617,930 (or 36.2%, more than
one third) of all college students were enrolled in community colleges in 2007–08. About 47%,
nearly half, of all students in public colleges and universities were enrolled in two-year colleges
before attending a four-year institution.
In 2008 the recommendations of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Advisory Committee
on the Auditing Profession urged the academy to: “Ensure a sufficiently robust supply of qualified
accounting faculty to meet demand for the future and help prepare new entrants to the
profession to perform high quality audits,” and “Develop and maintain consistent demographic
and higher education program profile data.” Given growing numbers of community colleges
and students enrolled in community colleges, it is critical that we understand trends for community
college accounting faculty and their essential role in educating many accounting students.
With those interests in mind, we again asked David W. Leslie, Chancellor Professor Emeritus
of Education, The College of William & Mary, to conduct our study. David has a distinguished
career in demographic analysis extending across all levels of education. His recent
report, The Reshaping of America’s Academic Workforce, for TIAA-CREF where he is an Institute
Fellow, has been frequently quoted in the mainstream press. In the Fall of 2007, Leslie presented
findings from the AAA/AICPA sponsored project Accounting Faculty in U.S. Colleges and Universities:
Status and Trends, 1993–2004, during testimony to the Advisory Committee on the Audit
Profession to the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, D.C. The Advisory Committee,
chaired by former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Arthur Levitt and former
SEC Chief Accountant Don Nicholiason, was chartered to consider and develop recommendations
relating to the sustainability of the auditing profession including implications for education
and preparation of new practitioners.
It is the continual pursuit of the AAA to add value to the accounting community by gathering
data and perspectives from outside the accounting environment, providing a context in which to
1 Data extracted from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Data Analysis System, http://
nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/
Accounting in Community Colleges: Who Teaches, Who Studies? Leslie
4 American Accounting Association
better understand the state of accounting education, allowing us to better forecast challenges
and opportunities for the future. The American Accounting Association thanks David Leslie for
the continued energy and creativity he brings to understanding accounting education. David
would like to thank Susan Crosson, and AAA Executive Committee members Kevin Stocks,
Nancy Bagranoff, and Bruce Behn for their review and comments during completion of this
report.
Accounting in Community Colleges: Who Teaches, Who Studies? Leslie
American Accounting Association 5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................. 7
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 9
Institutional Context ............................................................................................................................. 11
Characteristics of Accounting Faculty at Two-Year Colleges ........................................................ 15
Characteristics of Accounting Students at Two-Year Colleges ..................................................... 31
Summary and Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 39
Appendix A .......................................................................................................................................... 41
References ............................................................................................................................................. 43

Accounting in Community Colleges: Who Teaches, Who Studies? Leslie
American Accounting Association 7
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report describes the members of the faculty work force who teach accounting at community
colleges and the students who say they are concentrating in accounting at these institutions.
It is presented in three parts. The first, “Institutional Context,” presents general data on two-year
institutions. The second, “Characteristics of Accounting Faculty at Two-Year Colleges,” relies
on National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF) data to cover the demographic characteristics,
career trajectories, and work patterns among those who teach in the nation’s community
colleges. The third, “Characteristics of Accounting Students at Two-Year Colleges,” describes
those who self-report that their field of study/major is in accounting using data from the National
Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS).
Overall, faculty and students at two-year institutions differ in many ways from those at fouryear
institutions. A large majority of both faculty and students at two-year institutions are parttime.
Both faculty and students are also far more likely to be employed elsewhere. Faculty are
less likely to have terminal degrees or their highest degree in accounting than are those at fouryear
institutions. Students are substantially more likely to be female, are more career-oriented
(than transfer-oriented), and appear to be less prepared for college-level courses.
Roughly 38% of all accounting faculty in the U.S. teach at community colleges, and about
two-thirds of accounting faculty at two-year institutions teach part-time. It is estimated that the
number of accounting faculty at two-year institutions has declined on the order of 11% between
1993 and 2004, while the number of accounting students at these institutions increased almost
8% (from 189,400 to 203,900) between 1990 and 2008.
Faculty teaching accounting at two-year institutions are increasingly female, mostly Caucasian,
hold master’s degrees or less, and are often teaching in a field in which they have not
earned their highest degree. They tend to be otherwise employed and have multiple sources of
income. About 90% report being either satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs.
Two-year institutions educate a far more diverse student population than do traditional fouryear
institutions, diverse in characteristics, preparation, life experience, motives, and educational/
occupational/career trajectories. Roughly 40% of all students who report concentrating
in accounting enroll at two-year institutions and about 19% of accounting majors at four-year
institutions had earned at least some transfer credits (not necessarily in accounting) from an
associate-degree-granting institution in 2008.
Almost 60% of these students indicate that their primary motive is to gain occupational skills,
while only 40% indicate plans to transfer to a four-year institution. About 70% are female, and
over three-quarters are White. Over half, 52% were older than 27 in 2008, consistent with the
range in age of all students at two-year institutions. Three quarters work full- or part-time while
in school, and enter with more academic “risk factors” than do students at four-year institutions.
Principal characteristics that differentiate two-year accounting faculty and students from those
at four-year institutions are the proportion engaged in either teaching or learning on a part-time
basis, and the proportions who are either partially or fully employed elsewhere. Most two-year
faculty do not have terminal degrees (just over 11%, and about 70.5% held a master’s degree in
2004), nor their highest degree in accounting, and teach an older and substantially at-risk student
population with multiple reasons for investing in higher education.
Accounting in Community Colleges: Who Teaches, Who Studies? Leslie
8 American Accounting Association
These differences highlight the need to understand more fully how teaching and learning of
accounting varies among types of institutions, and in particular, how those who ultimately transfer
from two-year programs to upper division classes at four-year institutions are prepared. What
these students learn and how they learn it may ultimately affect both the practice and broader
understanding of the field’s concepts and principles in business, government, and the profession
itself.
Accounting in Community Colleges: Who Teaches, Who Studies? Leslie
American Accounting Association 9
INTRODUCTION
This report describes the members of the faculty work force who teach accounting at community
colleges (using data from 1993 and 2004 federal surveys of faculty1) and the students who
report they are concentrating in accounting at these institutions (using data from surveys conducted
in 1990, 1996, 2000, and 20082). This report is third in a three-part series by the American
Accounting Association focusing on understanding trends for the accounting faculty workforce.3
Relying on survey data available online from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study
(NPSAS) and the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF) administered by the National
Center for Education Statistics, this report is similar in method and scope to two previous
studies of full-time tenure-track, and non-tenure-track faculty in accounting.
The U. S. Education Department’s statistics center listed 1,528 two-year colleges in its 2007
survey of institutions of higher education.4 The Education Department reported that 6,617,930
(or 36.2%, more than 1/3) of all college students were enrolled in community colleges in 2007–
08. About 47%, nearly half, of all students in public colleges and universities were enrolled in
two-year colleges before attending a four-year institution. And about 49% of all undergraduates
were enrolled in a two-year institution at some point. There are reasons to expect that these
1 National Survey of Postsecondary Faculty, http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/nsopf/. “NSOPF was conducted in
response to a continuing need for data on faculty and instructors—persons who directly affect the quality of
education in postsecondary institutions. Faculty are the pivotal resource around which the process and outcomes
of postsecondary education revolve. They often determine curriculum content, student performance standards,
and the quality of students’ preparation for careers. Faculty members perform research and development work
upon which this nation’s technological and economic advancement depends. Through their public service
activities, they make valuable contributions to society. For these reasons, it is essential to understand who they
are; what they do; and whether, how, and why they are changing. This study was designed to provide data about
faculty to postsecondary education researchers, planners, and policymakers. NSOPF is the most comprehensive
study of faculty in postsecondary educational institutions ever undertaken.” NSOPF was conducted in four
cycles: 1987–88, 1992–93, 1998–99, and 2003-’04. Because survey items are not always consistent from cycle to
cycle, and because a reasonably long period was desirable to establish trends, this report relies on the 1993 and
2004 survey data. The two previous reports on accounting faculty relied on these surveys, as well, so results can
be compared. No further faculty surveys are planned, according to NCES staff, so the 2004 data are the most
current available.
2 “The purpose of NPSAS (National Postsecondary Student Aid Study) is to compile a comprehensive research
dataset, based on student-level records, on financial aid provided by the federal government, the states,
postsecondary institutions, employers, and private agencies, along with student demographic and enrollment
data. NPSAS is the primary source of information used by the federal government (and others, such as researchers
and higher education associations) to analyze student financial aid and to inform public policy on such programs
as the Pell grants and Stafford loans.” http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/npsas/about.asp. “The first NPSAS study
was conducted during the 1986–87 school year; subsequent studies have been carried out during the 1989–90,
1992–93, 1995–96, 1999-2000, 2003-04, and 2007–08 school years.” http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/npsas/ (It is
only possible to break out accounting majors in the 1989-90, 1992–93, 1995–96, 1999–2000, and 2007–08 data.
Appendix A presents anomalies in the 1992-93 NPSAS data—a large departure from standard Education Department
data on enrollment—to justify omitting those data from tables in this report, a conclusion in which National
Center for Education Statistics (NCES) staff concur.)
3 See Accounting Faculty in U. S. Colleges and Universities: Status and Trends, 1993–2004. Sarasota: American Accounting
Association (and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants), 2008. http://aaahq.org/temp/phd/
AccountingFacultyUSCollegesUniv.pdf. Also, Trends in Non-Tenure-Eligible Accounting Faculty, 1993–2004,
Sarasota: American Accounting Association, 2009. http://aaahq.org/temp/phd/LeslieReport2.pdf.
4 Data extracted from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Data Analysis System, http://
nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/.
Accounting in Community Colleges: Who Teaches, Who Studies? Leslie
10 American Accounting Association
trends will continue or increase. With economic challenges facing many families and individuals
in the current environment, tuition and fees at four-year institutions have risen beyond the
reach of more prospective students, leading them to apply to community colleges in increasing
numbers. Similarly, as unemployment rises, more workers will undoubtedly opt to retrain by
returning to college and community colleges are expected to absorb a large proportion of these
students.5 In addition, expanded GI Bill benefits may encourage large numbers of veterans to
attend community college.6
Overall this study finds that faculty who teach and students who study at two-year institutions
differ in many ways from those at more traditional four-year institutions. The major difference
is that a large majority of both faculty and students at two-year institutions are part-time.
Both faculty and students are also far more likely to be employed elsewhere. Faculty are less
likely to have terminal degrees (11.2%, and 70.5% have a master’s in 2004) or their highest degree
in accounting than are those at four-year institutions. Students are substantially more likely to
be female, are more career-oriented (than transfer-oriented), and appear to be less prepared for
college-level courses.
Part-time faculty at two-year institutions (two-thirds of the total) spend more time on their
other jobs (about three-quarters of their working hours) than on teaching and research. Students
who transfer from two-year to four-year institutions may find that faculty at their new institutions
have a different, perhaps more intensively disciplinary, orientation to the field. Students’
own work experience may help them understand basic ideas and practices in introductory courses,
but their experience may not be as relevant in upper-level courses. Adapting to a different set of
expectations following transfer may involve some “transfer shock.”7 By understanding the variety
of motives with which students enroll in two-year institutions, as well as their more varied
backgrounds, faculty at both two-year and four-year institutions may be better prepared to adopt
varied and nuanced approaches to teaching and learning that take this variability into account.
This report describes the characteristics of both faculty and students and discusses some of the
implications for the field. It is presented in three parts. The first, “Institutional Context,” presents
general data on two-year institutions. The second, “Characteristics of Accounting Faculty at Two-
Year Colleges,” relies on NSOPF data to cover the demographic characteristics, career trajectories,
and work patterns among those who teach in the nation’s community colleges. The third, “Characteristics
of Accounting Students at Two-Year Institutions,” describes those who have enrolled at
these institutions who self-report that their field of study/major8 is in accounting.
5 Both the New York Times and Washington Post have recently run stories highlighting enrollment pressures at
community colleges. See http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/education/
.28community.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=community%20college&st=cse. And see:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/30/AR2009053001762.html?hpid=topnews.
6 See Chen, G. How Will the New GI Bill Impact Your Community College Enrollment Options? Community College
Review. July 9, 2009. http://www.communitycollegereview.com/articles/130.
7 See Ishitani. T. T. How Do Transfers Survive after ‘‘Transfer Shock’’? A Longitudinal Study of Transfer Student
Departure at a Four-Year Institution. Research in Higher Education. 49: 403–419, 2008.
8 “Field of study or major” is the terminology used in the NPSAS survey. Students at two-year institutions may not
settle on a major until after transfer to a four-year institution. Accordingly, the estimates in this report may not
“capture” all students who enter two-year institutions but ultimately receive baccalaureate or higher degrees in
Accounting.
Accounting in Community Colleges: Who Teaches, Who Studies? Leslie
American Accounting Association 11

stats accounting