An accounting foundation from day one

For many students, discovering what accountants actually do traditionally happens over the course of their college education. Through internships, recruiting events and coursework, they become experts and career-ready accountants by graduation.

To bring that discovery process earlier into a student’s time on campus, the Fisher School of Accounting created the Exploring Careers in Accounting course to introduce freshmen and sophomores to the profession through in-depth conversations with practitioners, real-world business examples and exposure to the diverse career opportunities available in accounting.

“We’ve never had a formal careers class before,” said Cindy Dosch, who created and teaches the class. “This is the only one that is focused on the profession and talking about issues professionals face. Students are leaving this class with formalized ideas on what public accounting is and many important accounting terms. We’re trying to give them a framework and map to understanding life in accounting.”

On the first day of class, Dosch goes through a high-level overview of accounting. They’ll have conversations about financial accounting, managerial accounting, auditing and taxation. Then, she steps back and walks them through the basics of each branch of accounting.

Every other class welcomes an accounting professional into the classroom. Sometimes it’s a leader from one of the Big Four accounting firms, and all four have been represented over the lifetime of the course. Other times, leaders from the Financial Accounting Standards Board have led conversations with students. Dosch has even brought in a classmate from her time at Fisher who is now a practitioner running a small accounting firm in Gainesville.

“It shows students many career options available in accounting and that there can be very different paths,” Dosch said.

Whether the practitioner leads the conversation or participates in a fireside chat with Dosch, the goal of the class is to expose students to conversations on professional topics in accounting. They go beyond simply showcasing their firm – they’re getting to the heart of technical aspects in each accounting career. The presentations during class are topical, and every speaker has a unique topic that only gets covered once per semester.

Firms have done exercises where the class breaks up in teams and works through parts of an audit. Others have done interactive tax presentations that spurred meaningful conversations and questions about specific concepts.

“Students are always in lectures listening to people talk, and since our class is on Thursday night and often their last class of the week, we didn’t want students to check out,” Dosch said. “The firms host activities that make it very interactive.”

Students write about their journey through surveys at the beginning and end of the class, reflecting on where they are in their accounting journey at that point. Ninety-six percent of students in the course’s history have noted their interest in accounting staying the same or going up at the end of the semester, and 70 percent of them said their interest increased.

“The class felt integrated, supportive and comfortable, creating an environment that eased the nerves that often come with professional development,” Angelina Giraldo (BSAc ‘26) said. “This course has opened the door to incredible opportunities for me. Beyond the internships and programs I’ve gained, I’ve also learned about the real intricacies of pursuing a career in accounting, and I feel more confident and prepared because of it.”