The Accounting Education Change Commission (AECC) made specific recommendations regarding teaching materials and methods used in the first-year accounting course. As a result, significant changes have taken place in that course at many universities. The AECC states:
The first course in accounting can significantly benefit those who enter business, government, and other organizations, where decision-makers use accounting information. These individuals will be better prepared for their responsibilities if they understand the role of accounting information in decision-making by managers, investors, government regulators, and others. All organizations have accountability responsibilities to their constituents, and accounting, properly used, is a powerful tool in creating information to improve the decisions that affect those constituents.
One of the purposes of the first course should be to recruit accounting majors. To help accomplish this, the text has a section preceding each chapter entitled, "Careers in accounting". We retained a solid coverage of accounting that serves business students well regardless of the majors they select. Those who choose not to major in accounting, which is a majority of those taking this course, will become better users of accounting information because they will know something about the preparation of that information.