The Extent to Which the Use of Accounting Software and Excel is Incorporated in HE Accountancy Courses

The accounting practitioner will almost inevitably use accounting software packages in their working life. The first aim of this project was to review the extent to which
such skills are taught as part of HE accounting courses and then propose whether and how such skills should be included in UMS modules as part of the proposed degree in Accountancy in Worcester Business School. The research motivation here was simply to ensure that our curriculum was fit for purpose. A second aim was to review the use of Excel in teaching accounting courses. As with accounting software, the use of Excel or similar spreadsheets is part and parcel of an accountant’s working life. In addition some seminar activities are based in computer labs and depend on a certain level of expertise in using Excel to solve accounting problems. Marriott (2004) discusses some of the pedagogical benefits of using spreadsheets to enable learning of accounting concepts, stressing the role of
experiential learning. The research motivation here was twofold; to give some measure of students’ expertise in Excel for business use and to investigate whether learning outcomes were compromised by the level of expertise.