ABSTRACT
This paper explores how the formation of the American Association of University Instructors in Accounting (AAUIA, the predecessor of the American Accounting Association) and its efforts toward achieving its original objectives provided initial solutions to a variety of interrelated problems facing both the accounting profession and accounting educators. In the early 20th century, the accounting profession saw an increase in demand for accountants trained in attest, tax, and advisory services, but the accounting educators were unable to meet this demand because the accounting curricula that existed at the time suffered from multiple problems. Our paper examines the “Papers and Proceedings” of the first five annual meetings of the AAUIA to gain insights about how the formation of the AAUIA contributed to early developments in accounting education. These developments would allow the educators to better train accountants, which, in turn, would help advance the accounting profession.
