Deloitte Foundation and Federation of Schools of Accountancy Host 17th Annual Faculty Consortium

STAMFORD, Conn., July 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 90 accounting educators and professionals convened at the 17th annual Deloitte Foundation Federation of Schools of Accountancy (FSA) Faculty Consortium, held at Deloitte University. This year's program, "Analytics, Technology and Business Transformation," discussed the impact of continuous technology disruption to the audit and accounting profession and provided tools professors can incorporate into their curricula to teach relevant skill sets to the next generation of talent.

Primary objectives of the Deloitte Foundation/FSA Faculty Consortium are to encourage open dialogue between accounting practitioners and academia and to provide cases for the classroom that cover the latest emerging business and accounting issues and trends. Deloitte, the Deloitte Foundation, and the FSA board work collaboratively to develop and execute the content-rich program. The shared goal is to deliver relevant business insights that reflect today's increasingly complex accounting and auditing challenges and to ultimately help strengthen the talent pipeline of future CPAs.

This year's agenda included in-depth presentations and case studies to offer practical applications of tools that leverage emerging technologies and a panel discussion about the implications for curriculum and the evolving skill set that will likely be required for future auditors.

"Given the plethora of new technologies that have the capability to analyze data faster and more efficiently than the manual processes of yesterday, today's auditors are able to share in-depth insights with clients," remarked Danielle Kearney, Audit & Assurance senior manager, Deloitte & Touche LLP. "Professors can help better prepare tomorrow's auditors by teaching them how to acquire a critical mindset to interpret, validate, and challenge the data output rather than executing a process."

Kearney co-led the "Leveraging Data Visualization in Risk Assessments" session, which engaged professors in a fictional, yet realistic case study that demonstrated how to use visualizations to identify anomalies and potential risks in large data sets. "We were able to show the professors the types of analytics we are using today," continued Kearney, "and challenge them to think differently about data analysis while introducing visualization as another method to process and understand data."

"The Deloitte Foundation/FSA Faculty Consortium provides an outstanding vehicle for accounting faculty from FSA schools to interact with Deloitte professionals and faculty from across the country," remarked Craig White, president, FSA. "This year, participants had the opportunity to work through multiple case studies to understand the impact of technology and data analytics from accounting and auditing perspectives. These materials offer real-world applications that help facilitate classroom learning for the next generation of accounting professionals."

About the Federation of Schools of Accountancy
The FSA is committed to the promotion and support of high-quality accredited graduate accounting programs. The FSA, along with its community of graduate accounting programs, accomplishes its mission by encouraging the pursuit of Ph.D. education and the use of Ph.D.s. in accounting programs; promoting the value of accredited graduate programs among students, employers, and society; providing independent input into current accreditation processes and standards; involving faculty in challenges facing the accounting profession; and sharing innovation in graduate education and processes for achieving and maintaining accreditation. Learn more about the FSA.

About the Deloitte Foundation
The Deloitte Foundation, founded in 1928, is a not-for-profit organization that supports education in the U.S. through a variety of initiatives that help develop the talent of the future and their influencers and promote excellence in teaching, research and curriculum innovation. The Foundation sponsors an array of national programs relevant to a variety of professional services, benefiting middle/high school students, undergraduates, graduate students and educators. Learn more about the Deloitte Foundation.

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SOURCE Deloitte Foundation