Experiential learning: A game changer for accountants

Whether you’re a first-year accounting student or a corporate controller with 20 years of experience, learning never stops. In the real world, early-career training is getting more demanding, ethical decisions are rarely black and white, and judgment, sensitivity, and reflection are sharpened over time.

To fill the skills gaps, accounting educators and trainers are turning to experiential learning, especially game-based approaches, to help people at all stages of their careers. These games aren’t just flashy tools to entertain students. They’re carefully designed, research-backed methods that build critical thinking, strengthen ethical reasoning, and encourage reflection in ways that traditional teaching doesn’t.

The beauty of experiential learning is that it works because it mirrors how people actually learn judgment. Studies have shown that when people engage with real-world dilemmas, make decisions, and experience the outcomes in a safe but immersive environment, they learn more deeply and retain what matters most.

Experiential learning is particularly effective in accounting, which requires great technical acumen and excellent analytical skills. Accountants also often find themselves facing ethical dilemmas. This inspired me to co-found Red Flag Mania, which develops e-learning games based on true crime cases, and to write this article.

WHY ETHICS EDUCATION NEEDS A LIFELONG LENS

While accounting programs have long included ethics in the curriculum, many traditional methods (think lecture slides and printed case studies) fall short when it comes to real-world application.

Professionals know that ethical challenges rarely come labeled. They surface subtly, in emails, in pressured conversations, in small, accumulating choices. Teaching ethics in a way that mimics these realities prepares people to recognize wrongdoing and respond with clarity and confidence.

Experiential learning is particularly suitable to hone judgment calls and people skills. It simulates ethical and interpersonal dilemmas and allows learners to interact with characters, documents, and unfolding scenarios, replicating the ambiguity and complexity of real-life decisions.

At its core, experiential learning is learning by doing. In the context of accounting, that might involve investigating simulated fraud, flagging suspicious behavior, or deciding how to respond to a whistleblower report.

Many of today’s experiential tools use game-based mechanics, such as missions, branching storylines, and multimedia content, to guide learners through these scenarios. While accounting-specific games are hard to find, companies including SweetRush and Cinecraft Productions can produce custom games with accounting scenarios. MoreStream offers a game called Fraud Squad that is focused on identifying problems and crafting solutions using Lean Six Sigma tools.

HOW EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING WORKS

What makes experiential learning so powerful is how it mirrors reality. Rather than presenting all the facts at once (as a textbook might), learners receive bits of information over time, just like in a real investigation or audit. They must evaluate the credibility of sources, question assumptions, and make decisions with incomplete information.

This process encourages learners to slow down, question what they think they know, and decide what matters most with imperfect information. And it applies to several types of learners:

• For students, experiential ethics learning provides early exposure to the kinds of real-world dilemmas they’ll face in the workplace. It builds confidence and starts shaping professional identity.
• For professionals, these tools offer a fresh way to revisit ethical standards, challenge outdated thinking, and reconnect with the purpose behind the principles.
• For educators and trainers, game-based experiences can serve as anchor points for discussion, reflection, and applied learning across courses and programs.

In fact, studies have shown that first-generation college students, who sometimes struggle to connect with abstract or traditional materials, find experiential activities especially engaging. Another study showed students who used a game-based ethics app not only gained more knowledge but also felt more confident applying the lessons learned. These are mindset changes that support continual learning as graduates enter work environments where artificial intelligence and automation are taking over repetitive tasks that traditionally teach early-career accountants about systems, controls, and professional skepticism. (Also see in this issue, “How Will Accountants Learn New Skills When AI Does the Work?”)

Although much of the existing research has focused on students, the implications extend naturally to professional settings. Learning that mimics real-life scenarios and prompts active decision-making doesn’t lose value after graduation; it becomes even more relevant. These studies collectively underscore what many educators and corporate trainers have seen firsthand: When learners are engaged emotionally, intellectually, and socially, they walk away with more than just content knowledge — they walk away transformed.

DESIGNING FOR ENGAGEMENT AND IMPACT

It’s important to note that not all gamified or experiential tools are created equal. Adding a leaderboard or trivia quiz isn’t enough to meaningfully change behavior or deepen understanding.

The most effective tools focus on:

• Narrative: Realistic stories that challenge assumptions and evoke empathy.
• Interactivity: Opportunities for learners to make choices, see consequences, and revise decisions.
• Reflection: Built-in pauses for discussion, journaling, or group dialogue.
• Flexibility: Accessible design that works for learners of different ages, backgrounds, and tech comfort levels.

For organizations offering continuing professional education (CPE), experiential modules can revitalize training sessions that might otherwise feel repetitive. For accounting programs, they can help close the gap between classroom theory and on-the-job reality.

TAKING CUES FROM TRUE CRIME

True crime cases are the basis for the two dozen or so e-learning games developed by Red Flag Mania, a Chicago company I co-founded that provides immersive learning content for tax, fraud, audit, ethics, cybersecurity, and accounting information systems.

Here’s an example.

The “When We Prey” series consists of simulated, fictionalized investigations based on a real financial fraud to which a Romeoville, Ill., church treasurer pleaded guilty in 2014. The investigations in the e-learning game address ethics, audit, and fraud.

The ethics investigation, called the “Ethics Dash,” focuses on who stole the money in the fictional Montague Fellowship Church and the internal control weaknesses within the organization. The “Audit Challenge” asks the learner to serve as a member of the not-for-profit’s internal audit committee to review documents, the church’s petty cash fund, and the external auditor’s opinion to track down fraudulent transactions. The “Fraud Scheme Hunt” delves into the fraudulent schemes the culprit used.

The series has the learner review PDFs of fictional investigative files, invoices, expense reports, and letters that the Red Flag Mania team created. For example, the church’s monthly payroll and the employee directory can be compared side by side to verify wages were paid to valid employees. As a member of the church’s internal audit committee, the learner also views videotaped testimonials of some of the game’s main characters.

Exercise reviews of the episode ask questions like, “Do you agree with the external auditor’s opinion?” Learners are prompted to justify their answers essay-style to help them understand the importance of professional skepticism and to recommend policies that would strengthen the church’s internal controls. At the end of the investigation, the correct answers are revealed.

Another series, “When We Brake: Ethics Boss,” takes its cues from ethical decisions automakers faced starting in 2001 when airbags installed in their vehicles exploded, causing accidents, injuries, and deaths before the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recalled 67 million of the airbags. This game allows learners to choose their own adventure. They can play the role of the airbag supplier or the role of an automaker. Depending on their choices, learners get different pieces of information and follow different decision trees.

EXPERIENCE IT, LEARN IT, REPEAT

The ability to analyze complicated scenarios and make ethical decisions isn’t something you check off your curriculum or your CPE requirements. It’s something you practice, refine, and apply.

Experiential learning offers a path to do just that. By placing learners in the driver’s seat of real-world dilemmas, it turns education from a short-term requirement into a revelation that will stick with people longer.

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About the author

Kelly Richmond Pope, CPA, Ph.D., is the Dr. Barry Jay Epstein Endowed Professor of Accounting at DePaul University in Chicago, the audit committee chair of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, and co-CEO at Red Flag Mania, a Chicago company that provides immersive learning content for tax, fraud, audit, ethics, cybersecurity, and accounting information systems. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Jeff Drew at Jeff.Drew@aicpa-cima.com.

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