Accounting Internship Programmes in the United States: A Lesson for India

There seems to be a consensus among professional accountants and academe on the usefulness of practical experience before graduation. Several committees of the American Accounting Association and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants have examined the subject and have favourably reported on the benefits of student internships. Internship is an effective way of imparting practical experience to commerce and business administration students before their graduation. Chartered Accountants in India offer similar experience to a select number of young men and women through articleship. Though much is written about the weaknesses of educational system in India and ways to improve it, little attention has been paid to integrating practical experience with education through internship. This paper suggests a feasible way of brining that about. The paper has two objectives. First, it briefly presents the relevant findings of a survey of public accounting firms, industrial firms and colleges and universities in the U.S.A. on the nature of internships and their requirements, work experience, benefits, and the problems experienced in the administration of internship programmes, i.e. the state of the art in accounting internship programmes. The survey findings are related to Indian situation and lessons have been drawn wherever possible. Secondly, it attempts to formulate a scheme for introducing student internships for commerce students in India.