Is it U.S. GAAP IFRS at U.S. universities?

• Author: Kroll, Karen
• Position: ACCOUNTING EDUCATION - International Accounting Standards Board - The Ohio State University - University of Pennsylvania. Wharton School of Business - Survey

Even as the schedule for implementing International Financial Reporting Standards within the United States takes some twists and turns, the need for America's colleges and universities to prepare for this shift is fairly clear.

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"We don't need to wait for the transition; the world has already spoken, with over 100 countries on IFRS," says Patrick A. Turner, CPA and senior lecturer in accounting at Ohio State University in Columbus.

Many accounting educators already have begun incorporating the topic within their curriculums. But their approaches and the extent to which they're delving into the concepts vary widely.

Just over one-fifth of the 535 professors responding to a 2008 survey by global accounting firm KPMG and the American Accounting Association (AAA), a professional group for accounting educators, said they could incorporate IFRS in a significant way into their curriculum for the 2008-09 school year.

What's more, the survey doesn't clarify to what extent or in what way the instructors actually are incorporating IFRS, notes Susan Haka, AAA president and a professor of accounting at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

Some may just mention the topic, while others may discuss the concepts in greater depth. "How to interpret [the figure] is a little dicey," Haka notes.

Jean Wyer, a partner and head of the recruiting and sourcing area with global accounting firm Price-waterhouseCoopers agrees. "What's happening now is all over the lot," Wyer says. "Every college is its own universe."

A few are charging ahead. A case in point: in spring 2008, Ohio State, working with global accounting firm Deloitte, offered an IFRS course to its graduate-level students.

The course met for four hours on Fridays during the spring semester. "That's a challenging thing to pull off when students are getting ready to graduate," Turner notes.

Nonetheless, the course filled up; in fact, two sessions were offered this spring. At the undergraduate level, a number of professors have begun to informally integrate IFRS concepts into their class discussions, Turner adds.

Some schools are taking a wait-and-see approach before making curriculum changes, Wyer notes. Indeed, in the AAA/KPMG survey, 62 percent said they had not taken any significant steps toward including IFRS in their courses.

And, at the individual level, some professors --perhaps those with plans to retire in the next few years--simply aren't interested in taking on the challenge, Wyer adds.

Accounting Firms Weigh In

While universities' approaches to IFRS may vary, the accounting firms have been increasingly clear regarding the need for graduates to have gained some knowledge of using the international standards.

The Big Four, given their international clientele, definitely want students familiar with IFRS, says Haka. Many regional accounting firms also want graduates who understand IFRS at...