Accounting Best Practices, Fifth Edition

13–25. Create Accounting Training Teams

A key problem for accounting managers is how to determine the correct amount and type of training to require of their employees. Sending them to degree programs is too expensive and only provides relevant training for a small proportion of the time spent being trained. Shorter programs are more targeted, but are still expensive and may not directly relate to work requirements. For these reasons, many accounting managers do not allow any training, or only under very restricted circumstances. By doing so, they are limiting the skill sets of their employees and not allowing them to fulfill personal career advancement goals, which may result in increased employee turnover.

A solution is the use of internal accounting training teams. The basic process is to conduct a periodic survey of employees and job functions to determine what types of training programs are needed. A consultant or manager-level employee then creates the general course syllabus for each training program (consultants can be useful here, since managers may not have sufficient available time to work on syllabi). Each syllabus is then handed over to a group of in-house accounting staff, who become responsible for creating the details of each course, and teaching it. A manager is typically assigned to each course to oversee its development and act as a mentor.

The primary advantage of this approach is that training can be precisely tailored to a company’s exact needs, throwing out ...