Accounting is a professional occupation that is continually evolving and requires a dedication to continuing education to meet the legal demands of new regulations and to maintain professional competency. Continuing Professional Education (CPE) is required by state boards for certified public accountants (CPA) to meet these requirements and to maintain professional competence. CPAs are responsible for complying with all applicable CPE requirements, rules, and regulations of state boards of accountancy, as well as those of other professional organizations. The purpose of this study was to determine the opinions of CPAs about the current requirements for CPE and to determine their level of satisfaction with the content and delivery of CPE instruction. CPE has come under scrutiny in recent years with some professionals questioning if the needs of accounting professional and the objectives of continuing education are being met. This survey research included 23 Likert-type items and 5 demographic questions. The survey was administered to 203 licensed certified public accountants to obtain their opinions about continuing education. The 5 dimensions of the survey were: Value (cost benefit), Delivery (methods and quality), Benefit to Self, Benefit to Others, and Barriers (to obtaining CPE). These dimensions were compared across the demographic variables of gender, years of experience, type of business, number of employees, and position with their employer. No significant differences were found among the 5 dimensions between gender or among different positions. Significant differences did occur among the Dimension of Value opinions based on years of experience, among the Dimension of Value opinions based on type of business, among Dimension of Benefit to Self based on type of business, among the Dimension of Value based on number of employees, and among the Dimension of Benefit to Others based on number of employees.

The accounting profession continually has problems with hiring and keeping qualified staff; and many accounting scandals have shown a lack of ethical behavior on the part of Certified Public Accountants (CPA). This suggest a misfit between those in the profession and the ethics that the profession strives towards. Research has shown that the congruity of personal values with organizational values, person-organization fit (P-O fit), is an important factor in the hiring, socialization, and retention of employees. In addition, ethical behavior has been found related to P-O fit. Accounting educators have been called upon to address these problems by inculcating accounting students with the values of the accounting profession. This research firstly reports on the results of a comparison of the personal values of upper level accounting students in Georgia with the personal values of CPA leaders in Georgia. Personal value priorities were measured with the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS). The findings indicated that these samples of Georgia CPA leaders (N = 193) and accounting students (N = 516) significantly differed in the priority given to 24 of the 36 (66.7%) RVS values. This result suggests a lack of P-O fit between accounting students and the accounting profession. Secondly, this research reports on the effectiveness of two education interventions designed to improve the P-O fit of accounting students: a Curriculum Modification Intervention and a Value Self-Confrontation (VSC) Intervention. These education interventions were delivered online as part of the content of two distance learning classes on accounting ethics. The curriculum of both classes were augmented with content aimed at increasing the priority given to the value of courageous. The two classes were designated as either Group 1 or Group 2. Group 1 received only the Curriculum Modification Intervention. Group 2 received both the Curriculum Modification Intervention and the VSC Intervention, which was targeted at increasing the priority given to the four values of capable, courageous. honest, and responsible—values related to the Code of Professional Conduct and Bylaws (2012) of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The results indicated that Group 1, from the beginning to the end of class (short-term value change), did not increase the priority given to courageous. Thus, the stand-alone Curriculum Modification Intervention did not result in the desired effect. Group 2, on the other hand, did increase the short-term priority given to all four of the targeted values. Moreover, Group 2 increased the long-term priority given to two of the four targeted values: capable and courageous. The higher priority given to these values at the end of class persisted for 15-16 weeks. The effect sizes indicated practical significance. These results suggest that the VSC Intervention was effective at inducing both short-term and long-term value change in the priority given to values of importance to the ethics of the accounting profession. These findings have implications for CPA firms, specifically with regard to hiring ethically “fitting” staff and fostering an ethical culture in accounting firms. The results of this research also provide input that may be helpful in improving accounting pedagogy, especially the pedagogy of accounting ethics education and distance education. Key words: person-organization fit, P-O fit, CPA firm turnover, personal values, value change, value self-confrontation, VSC, Rokeach Value Survey, RVS, Certified Public Accountant, CPA, ethics education, accounting students, online education, distance learning. / Business Management / D.B.L.