A lecturer in accounting teaches college-level courses in a variety of topics that are required for a higher education degree in the field. For students interested in becoming public accountants, accounting classes can focus on finance, tax preparation, and bookkeeping. A lecturer in accountancy is often in charge of teaching managerial accounting and auditing procedures. Accounting professors frequently assign students a variety of projects, such as creating spreadsheets and ledgers from scratch. Many lecturers also teach students how to use specialized accounting software, which they will most likely use after graduation in the workplace.
A master’s degree is usually required for accounting professionals interested in pursuing a career in academia, and many universities prefer to hire new lecturers with doctorate degrees in a specific area of accounting. A lecturer in accounting who has worked in a non-academic setting is also a strong candidate for a lecturer position. A new accounting professor at a university often begins by teaching the fundamental undergraduate accounting courses that all accounting majors must complete.
Introduction to financial accounting is often one of the first courses that an accountancy lecturer teaches. The interpretation of income statements and balance sheets is frequently covered in this course. Part of this course is usually devoted to teaching students how to properly prepare and update these basic accounting documents by a college lecturer. In this type of course, an effective accountancy lecturer teaches concepts that students need to understand in order to succeed in more advanced accounting courses, such as accounting activity and performance measurement.
Accounting lecturers with a few years of academic experience frequently teach business and government accounting practices courses. Their students are frequently taught how to track, record, and report income and expenses for a company with multiple departments. A typical accountancy teacher will also cover auditing concepts and outline scenarios in which the auditing process is used. Many university accounting professors assign group projects that are meant to mimic a real-world accounting department.
Since computer software usually replaces traditional handwritten accounting ledgers, accountancy lecturers with proficiency in these programs are often in demand. Accounting information technology is a term used to describe these types of software applications (AIS). Some university accounting teachers may add relevant AIS applications to their financial and managerial accounting curriculum. Others may specialize in using AIS software to teach higher education courses.