The public and industry analysts alike agree: recent business events call into question accounting practices that had stood the test of at least a century and beg a re-examination of the state of the profession. Mays Business School at Texas A&M University is providing just such an opportunity to look closely at accounting and its future with its presentation of a semester-long continuing education series entitled "Profession at Crossroads" designed for professionals and students alike.
"This series takes a hard look at the accounting profession from all angles," notes Jerry Strawser, dean of Mays Business School. "Business leaders from across the world will provide their thoughts on what has happened in the accounting profession and where the profession is going in the future. To my knowledge, this series features the most complete and diverse group of thought leaders ever assembled in a single program."
Don Warren, head of Mays Business School's Center for Continuous Auditing, has called recent months the most turbulent time faced by the accounting profession in its 100-year history.
"The corporate scandals on Wall Street, the focus of Congress and the media on corporate reporting and accountants and the volatility of the market continue to raise questions about the integrity of corporate financial reporting and accountants," Warren said. "Legislation has been enacted to restrict the scope of services accountants have provided for public companies in the past. These events may be far more reaching than their effect on just those accountants who provide services to top public companies. The profession's response to these events truly places it at crossroads."
In response to this crisis, the center is offering the crossroads series of lectures, addressing issues facing the profession and the corporate community during the apparent crisis of investors' confidence in corporate reporting and accountants.
"I am very pleased that we have the opportunity to help our students better understand the significant events which have recently effected the capital markets and the accounting profession," said James Benjamin, accounting department head. "I believe that shaping the views of the new entrants to the profession is an important step in the fundamental changes which must occur to restore the integrity of the financial reporting process. The importance of our program is magnified by the fact that Mays is the leading source of candidates taking the CPA exam in Texas.
Remaining lectures include Ed Coulson, partner, Ernst & Young LLP, Former SEC Chief Accountant, observations on current crisis (Oct. 17); Bill Atkinson, member of the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy and partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, possible changes in the Code of Professional Ethics (Oct. 24); Walter Ricciardi, partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an attorney's observations on the crisis (Oct. 31); R. Steve Letbetter, chairman, president and CEO, Reliant Energy, effects of the crisis in financial reporting (Nov. 7); John M. Foster, board member, Financial Accounting Standards Board, effects of the crisis on the development of accounting standards (Nov. 14); and Stephen Zeff, Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Accounting, Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University, cyclical nature of problems confronting the accounting profession (Nov. 21).
Educating current and future members of the accounting profession is a priority for the Center for Continuous Auditing, with a hoped-for ripple effect throughout business, industry and society.
"CPAs and other accountability professionals must take steps to restore the public's confidence in the integrity of our profession," said David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States and chair of the center's advisory board. "In addition we must work together to modernize the accounting/reporting and attest/assurance models for the 21st century."
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