FOCUS on president’s message

Learning is a Lifelong Pursuit



  2014-2015 OSCPA                  

profession later in life than most. I was in my late 30s when I started college. Fortunately, I had some great instructors and professors that made accounting FUN! I can even remember when that debits and credits light bulb came on. Accounting theory can be difficult to grasp, but a good instructor makes all the difference. We have a national shortage of PhDs to educate our students. We need more students pursuing higher education with the goal of becoming professors who can lead new education models.

Te landscape of accounting education is changing and transforming into a competency based education model for both the student and the certified professional in the way they earn CPE. Developed by educators, the AICPA created the Core Competency Framework, which defines the skill-based competencies all students need when entering the accounting profession. It supports the idea that learning begins in school and continues with professional education and experiences. As CPAs, the way we earn CPE is also changing to a competency based system. In the future, we will be less likely to sit in a classroom listening to a lecture and walking away with eight hours of CPE. More likely, we will earn CPE credit by demonstrating our proficiency in a given skill, such as governmental auditing. Learning doesn’t stop when we land that first job. We continually learn from our peers and supervisors.

he theme of this CPAFOCUS is accounting education. You have heard my story—I entered school and this

Te future CPE model will provide opportunities for credit for what we have learned on the job. Te credits will be structured differently and will provide credit for smaller increments of learning. How the future of CPE will look is still

unknown, but the AICPA is working to create a model that rewards professional education and creates a system recognized by the public as meaningful and that demonstrates a knowledge base the public will expect from tomorrow’s accounting professionals. You can learn more about the AICPA Core Competency Framework and how it will change education and the CPA exam in the Accounting Education section under Interest Areas at www.aicpa.org. In closing, I would like to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as your president this last year. It has been an honor and a pleasure. I’m optimistic and excited about the future for CPAs in Oklahoma, and I leave you in good hands with the leadership that follows me.

4 CPAFOCUS

May/June 2015