Perception of Employers and Educators in Accounting Education

This paper aims to investigate the perception of employers and educators on the importance of knowledge taught in higher education and soft skills embedded to the accounting students. The sample consists of 127 educators and 95 employers in accounting and finance related field. The respondents agreed on different value to the employability knowledge and skills of the accounting graduates. Employers place higher value for taxation rather than auditing and services which perceived essential by educators. There is significant difference between employers and educators on importance of the graduate skills. The employers’ response that graduates should learn at a faster pace in accounting career. Meanwhile, the educators believed that there is too much reliance on memorization in accounting education. Overall, the highest three skillrequirements to accounting graduates are written communication, continuous learning and decision making skills.