A growing number of firms have cited the lack of technological skills that college graduates entering the accounting profession exhibit, raising concerns about their ability to serve clients effectively. Yet accounting graduates are not exposed to new technologies in the classroom or on the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam. The CPA Evolution initiative aims to restructure the CPA Exam to ensure that graduates have the technological skills to enter the profession and assist educators with transitioning to the new exam through the development of the CPA Evolution Model Curriculum. We argue that although the redesigned CPA exam and the Model Curriculum create meaningful opportunities to narrow the technological skills gap among accounting graduates, a significant disconnect persists between the profession’s technological expectations and the technological competencies accounting students develop in their academic programs. To help close the technological skills gap, we propose that educators adopt an instructional approach that integrates technology throughout the accounting curriculum. This study suggests a framework educators can employ to embed technological competencies in an accounting curriculum. We expect this framework to narrow the technological skills gap and prepare accounting graduates to enter the profession successfully.
Vasquez et al. (Tue,) studied this question.