This chart attempts to link the AICPA Core Competency Framework to the skills that could be developed as a result of an internship experience. As might be expected, internships are a rich opportunity to test and develop "personal competencies," but there are ample opportunities to address "functional competencies" and "broad business perspective competencies", as well.
Each school will need to evaluate their respective program to determine the extent to which these competencies are met. For more information on the recommended competencies, visit the Education Competency Assessment (ECA) Web site.
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AICPA Core Competencies |
As a result of the internship, a student will be able to |
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Functional Competencies
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Decision modeling |
· Understand cause and effect of decisions
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Risk analysis |
· Understand business risk and financial risk of the company and the industry
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Reporting |
· Construct concise and clear documentation
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Research |
· Research a problem efficiently and effectively
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Leverage technology to develop and enhance functional competencies
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· Use technology to perform research and develop documentation |
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Personal competencies
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Professional demeanor |
· Adapt to changing work environment, including differing requirements of different supervisors and tasks
· Understand and follow office procedures
· Dress professionally and maintain a professional demeanor
· Demonstrate continuous improvement through a commitment to learning and learning from mistakes
· Produce a reasonable volume of quality work
· Respect confidentiality
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Problem solving and decision making |
· Balance working independently and seeking help
· Apply materiality concept
· Apply knowledge from one situation to the next
· Understand interrelationships of information and data
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Interaction |
· Respect alternative ways of doing things
· Work well with others
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Communication |
· Communicate clearly in expression and content
· Ask good questions
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Project management |
· Organize and plan work
· Prioritize work and meet deadlines
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Leverage technology to develop and enhance personal competencies |
· Use technology to improve efficiency, including spreadsheets, word processing, graphing, the Internet
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Broad Business
Perspective Competencies
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Strategic/critical thinking |
· Apply cross functional academic training to the job
· Develop a healthy skepticism
· Begin a project with the end in mind
· Understand the relationship of the task or project to the whole
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Industry/sector analysis |
· Apply cross functional academic training to the job
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Legal/regulatory perspective |
· Acquire knowledge of SEC reporting guidelines or statutory provisions of the Internal Revenue Code
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Leverage technology to develop and enhance broad business perspective |
· Understand the interrelationship of systems
· Use a systems approach to information structure
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