Attracting students to accounting with business valuation courses

The accounting profession stands at a crossroads, challenged by a decline in new entrants that has led to a significant talent shortage. To help address this challenge, the National Pipeline Advisory Group, organized by the AICPA, identified making the academic experience more engaging as a major theme in its 2024 Accounting Talent Strategy Report.

Some educators believe that teaching business valuation can improve student engagement, increase interest in the profession, and introduce students to dynamic ways to use the skills they learn in accounting classes. Business valuation represents “a real career opportunity that students should know about,” said Jay C. Thibodeau, CPA, Ph.D., director, Kenneth G. Dixon School of Accounting, University of Central Florida. Here are some ways faculty members can introduce this specialty to their students.

Highlight a specialty in demand

Business valuation excites students because it crosses multiple disciplines, making use of general business knowledge as well as finance skills, according to Ernest Patrick Smith, CPA, managing partner of Nawrocki Smith, who teaches business valuation as an adjunct professor in the master’s in forensic accounting program at the State University of New York at Old Westbury. “It’s an applied class because you’re using different skill sets to do this work,” he said.

The demand for business valuation skills is rising, according to Dereck Barr-Pulliam, CPA, Ph.D., director of the University of Louisville’s School of Accountancy. “There are now more items on the financial statement that can be valued outside of historical cost,” he said.

Strong merger-and-acquisition activity among companies of all sizes has also driven demand for assessments of the appropriate deal price. “There’s more and more need for fair value assessments from a financial accounting perspective, as organizations must account for how much they’re booking for goodwill and if there is a potential impairment,” Smith said. “That becomes a very critical factor from a financial reporting perspective.”

A company’s value is also important in raising capital, as well as in areas such as bankruptcy and litigation. “Once you know the value, you have the tools you need for decision-making,” said Stephani Mason, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Accountancy and MIS at the Driehaus College of Business, DePaul University. “I try to communicate to students that every company, no matter how small or large it is, has a value.”

Bring the career to life

Case studies provide tangible evidence of decisions that students can connect to, Barr-Pulliam said, as they illustrate how and why a valuation expert would develop a model, as well as who the players in the real-world process are and what they do. He also brings the real world into the classroom by inviting business valuation professionals to discuss their work. In classes at any level, these professionals “can help the students see a longer-range vision for their futures,” Barr-Pulliam said.

Because Smith is a practitioner, the case studies he shares are redacted reports from actual engagements he has worked on. He also turns to experts in other areas, including technology professionals who advise him and his students on how to best use Excel and other key tools.

The faculty members have found that students consider business valuation insights a real advantage when they enter the workforce. When he hears from past students, Barr-Pulliam said, they tell him that even though they’re new on the job, the broad and practical knowledge they gained in a business valuation class enabled them to be conversant about different situations immediately, gaining recognition and helping them launch their careers.

“Day-one readiness means you can walk into an environment and feel confident that there are very few things you haven’t been exposed to because we’ve taught you those skills,” he said. “We are teaching students in the business valuation space that they have all the tools they need to take on new challenges.”

Use examples that resonate

When she is introducing business valuation, Mason tailors her examples to situations that will engage her students. For example, she asks them to consider:

• Information that would be needed for a valuation if Taylor Swift decided to sell her music catalog.
• Valuation details a high-profile couple like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez would need to split their assets fairly in a divorce settlement.
• How the Yankees and the Dodgers would determine how much to charge corporate sponsors for the right to place their corporate logo patches on team jerseys during the World Series.

“These are real valuation tasks that lead to decision-making,” she said.

When faculty talk about people and situations that interest students, “it’s enough to entice them to give the career a second look,” Mason said. She also encourages students to consider how they would apply their own specialized knowledge in a business valuation career. For example, she asks students — especially those studying accounting information systems — to recommend technologies that the class can use in problem-solving for cases or other parts of the course.

Pump up the pipeline

Showcasing the range of careers — such as business valuation — in which accounting skills are valuable can help fill the accounting pipeline, Mason said. She recently encouraged a finance major who had done some accounting coursework to study business valuation. “Valuation pulls together the cool parts of a lot of different disciplines, so that you’re not doing the same thing every day,” Mason said.

This specialty can also satisfy students’ desire to make a difference early on. “This generation wants to feel they have some value from the beginning of their career,” Barr-Pulliam said. Business valuation provides the opportunity to gain hands-on knowledge. Because it is an organic discipline that gathers a wide range of inputs, assumptions, and decisions, students can easily see their own contribution to a project. He believes that business valuation knowledge can also help differentiate students in their job searches. In addition, Thibodeau noted that students will be interested to learn that valuation is a lucrative career path because of the importance of this specialty in the marketplace.

Getting started

For faculty, it should be relatively straightforward to take on business valuation courses. Those who teach intermediate accounting are already teaching the nuts and bolts of the discipline, according to Barr-Pulliam. Faculty members can also turn to the AICPA’s Model Curriculum: Business Valuation (open PDF) for more information. When students question the benefits of studying accounting, “business valuation is a great way to show them that learning accounting is about the many things you can do with your career,” Mason said.

Universities that offer these types of courses can also differentiate their accounting program from other competing programs.

Editor’s note: For more information from the academics and practitioners cited in this article, register now for the April 11, 2025, Faculty Hour webinar titled “What Is BV? Transforming Accountant Students Into the Next Generation of Valuation Professionals.”

— Anita Dennis is a New Jersey-based freelance writer. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Jeff Drew at Jeff.Drew@aicpa-cima.com.

AICPA & CIMA MEMBER RESOURCES

CPE self-study

AICPA Valuation and Consulting Standards (2.5 CPE credits)

Fair Value Measurement: Valuation Approaches (6.5 CPE credits)

Fair Value Measurement: Other Technical Valuation Guidance (1.5 CPE credits)

Webcasts

“Valuing a Cash Business,” Dec. 3, 2–3:30 p.m. (1.5 CPE credits)

“Navigating Business Interruption Claims,” Dec. 9, 1–2:30 p.m. (1.5 CPE credits)

“Valuation of Contingent Consideration,” Dec. 13, 2–3:30 p.m. (1.5 CPE credits)

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FVS Section membership

The Forensic and Valuation Services (FVS) Section is an add-on membership section that offers comprehensive professional guidance and tools, exceptional learning initiatives, advocacy, and community for forensic accounting and business valuation practitioners. Learn more on the FVS Section membership page.

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Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV)

The Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) credential positions you as a premier valuation provider with expertise in the valuation of businesses and intangible assets for transactional purposes, succession planning, mergers and acquisitions, litigation and disputes, and other consulting purposes. Learn more on the ABV credential page.