Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/56539
The global economy will recover, the capital markets will stabilize, the financial systems will get regulated, and the fundamentals will matter. In addition to learning about ethics, accounting students soon will need to understand international financial reporting standards, which the SEC wants U.S. companies to integrate by 2014. How quickly do you expect IFRS to become the standard among global accounting firms? If nothing else, the events of the last year have shown us how connected capital markets are around the world. Having a common language to communicate to investors about the financial health of an organization is critically important. While I believe the U.S. will convert to IFRS—as opposed to merging IFRS and GAAP—I think the events of the last few months might slow that down a little. I also think some of the standard-setting they've done in Europe, and the modi- fications they did on fair-value accounting, might slow the process a little. But the conversion is inevitable. It's unstop- pable. It's just a matter of getting the right global regula- tory framework in place, getting the right oversight for the standard-setting process, and working out the complexity. How soon do you think accounting graduates will have a thorough understanding of IFRS? We surveyed hundreds of professors and asked them what their readiness level is. Only 5 percent expect the class of 2009 to have substantial knowledge of IFRS. Seventeen per- cent expect that to be true for the class of 2010. So there's clearly an acceleration. How is KPMG helping schools prepare their graduates for the conversion to international standards? We've created the IFRS Institute, which includes Webcasts and other materials to help faculty understand IFRS and build the standards into the curriculum. The Institute also has information for users of financial statements, for prepar- ers of financial statements, and for regulators. It's designed to help everyone on the supply chain move along at the appropriate pace so that at the end of the journey, everyone's prepared for the implementation of the new standards. Besides ethical decision making and international standards, what do you think business schools should emphasize in the accounting classroom? Students need strong communication skills, both oral and written. And, as the world grows more complex, they need a specialization in some part of the economy. In addition, they need greater familiarity with technology. They can't just know how to use a spreadsheet. They have to know about technol- ogy security, data protection issues, and risk controls. 22 BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2009 I think schools also should be more focused on human resource elements. They need to emphasize performance management and goal setting so students understand how to map out their career paths. What advice do you offer students as they prepare for careers in the accounting field? Especially in an economy like we have today, it's really impor- tant for people to continually refresh their skill sets. They need to have a vision of where they're going in the organization, know how to navigate that path, and make sure they don't become stale. They need to invest in themselves—and make sure the organization is investing in them as well. I also encourage them to become students of leadership from the first day they start school. They should think about the teachers who motivate them, the coaches who help them accomplish something they didn't think they could do. Why do some people help others create a sense of passion? Why are some people great to work for? What makes these people successful? They also should study the professors and individu- als they don't like and figure out why. If students study other people during their college and professional careers, they will develop a leadership style that makes them very effective. Like many major corporations, KPMG is involved in philanthropic efforts that align with the company's goals. In your case, much of the philanthropy focuses on education and diversity—such as the PhD Project,