Dirk-BlackWelcome to the Department of Accounting at the Ivy College of Business

As the department chair, I am proud to lead a team of accomplished educators and researchers who are passionate about the field of accounting. Our mission is that by creating, sharing, and applying knowledge, we will provide an educational experience that equips future accounting professionals with content expertise, communication and critical thinking skills, and technological agility. The Department of Accounting looks forward to being a part of your educational and career aspirations.AACSB logo

Meet the Ivy College of Business Department of Accounting faculty and staff.

Dirk E. Black, Chair, Department of Accounting

Speak the language of business

100% engagement

  • $63,345

    average accounting starting salary

Accounting is the universal language of business, spoken around the world by business and government leaders, investors, analysts, and others seeking to measure, understand, and apply the dynamics of financial success. Accounting is a gateway to a world of endless possibilities and unparalleled professional advantages. A solid foundation in accounting equips you with the essential skills needed to navigate the complex financial landscape of today’s global economy. Whether you aspire to be a financial analyst, tax consultant, auditor, or even an entrepreneur, an accounting degree provides you with a comprehensive understanding of financial principles, regulatory frameworks, and the ability to make informed, strategic decisions. Accounting not only offers exceptional job stability and lucrative career prospects but also empowers you to contribute to the fiscal health and integrity of organizations.

The Department of Accounting in the Ivy College of Business is committed to nurturing the next generation of financial leaders, providing you with the knowledge and expertise to excel in the dynamic and ever-evolving world of business. Discover the virtues of an accounting degree and embark on a path that promises a rewarding and impactful career.

What’s happening?

The Ivy College of Business Department of Accounting hosts a variety of activities throughout the year, including the Accounting Speaker Series,the annual Contemporary Issues in Accounting Conference in December and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) each spring. They also manage the Accounting Support Lab, a service offered to undergraduate students taking accounting courses of all levels. Conveniently located in room 0163 of the Gerdin Business Building, this student run service is managed by volunteer upper-class students.

Accounting help

Accounting Support Lab

The Iowa Society of Certified Public Accountants (CPA) student representative will have office hours in the Accounting Support Lab several hours a week to answer and assist with any questions for students considering taking the CPA.

Faculty research spotlight

Complementarity Between Investment in Information Technology (IT) and IT Human Resources: Implications for Different Types of Firm Innovation

Feng (Jason) Guo

Information Systems Research

The paper explores how innovation is central to firms’ long-term competitiveness and sustainability. This paper aims to provide theoretical and empirical clarity by emphasizing the complementary nature of firm investment in IT and in IT human resources (HR) in affecting firm innovation performance across four types of innovation: incremental, radical, non-IT related, and IT related.

Feng (Jason) Guo is the Dean’s Fellow in Accounting and an associate professor of accounting.

Gerdin Business Building

Research at Ivy

Faculty members across every department at the Ivy College of Business consistently contribute to their respective fields by regularly publishing in top journals. Researchers are vital to finding solutions to today’s business challenges.

Accounting department news

Christine Denison, Roger P. Murphy Professor in Accounting, was mentioned in an Inside Iowa State article, “Eight Open Educational Resource Projects Receive Grant Support.”

Christine Denison, Roger P. Murphy Professor in Accounting, was part of the IMA Educational Case Journal editor’s panel at the MAS/IMA Teaching Case Conference on September 21 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Christine Denison, Roger P. Murphy Professor in Accounting, was quoted in an Inside Iowa State article, “CELT Course Assists Faculty with AI.”

Diane Janvrin, William L. Varner Professor of Accounting:

  • Presented two papers at the American Accounting Association annual meeting on August 13 in Washington, D.C. The first paper, “Auditing Inventory: Insights from Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release Evidence,” was co-authored with Paul Caster (Fairfield University), Randy Elder (University of North Carolina Greensboro), and Erika Paulius (Fairfield University alumna). The second paper, “Short AI Instructional Cases for Next-Gen Accounting Professionals,” was co-authored with Joy Gray (Arizona State University).
  • Was invited to participate in a panel, “Integrating Cybersecurity into the Accounting Courses.”

Christine Denison, Roger P. Murphy Professor of Accounting:

  • Had an article, “Switching to Mastery-Based College Accounting Classes,” featured in the Journal of Accountancy August Academic Update.
  • Presented “Leveraging Learning Science to Enhance Your Accounting Course” at the AAA-MAS CGMA Teaching Symposium Back to School Webinar on August 2.
  • Presented “Ethical AI Use in the Classroom” to Boone High School faculty on August 16 and DMACC faculty on August 19.
  • Presented the AICPA-CIMA Faculty Hour Webinar “Mastery in the Classroom” on August 23.

Sam (Sunghan) Lee, associate professor of accounting, and Jason (Feng) Guo, Dean’s Fellow and associate professor of accounting, had their paper, “Inter-firm Network and Analyst Effort Allocation,” presented at the American Accounting Association Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Lee’s paper, “Inter-firm Network and Management Forecast,” was also presented at the annual meeting.

View more news

Diane Janvrin, William L. Varner Professor of Accounting:

  • With three undergraduate honors students — Grace Heeren, Jacob Pedersen, and Vrindha Vegiraju — had their paper, “Navigating the Cyber Insurance Landscape: A Guide for Management Accountants,” accepted for publication in Strategic Finance. The paper is based on work done by the students while participating in the freshman honors research program in spring 2023.
  • Presented a paper, “Auditing Inventory: Insights from Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Release Evidence,” to over 160 economists and inspectors during the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s Office of Economic and Risk Analysis virtual webinar on July 15. The paper was co-authored with Paul Caster (Fairfield University) and Randy Elder (University of North Carolina – Greensboro).

Diane Janvrin, William L. Varner Professor of Accounting, participated in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Group virtual panel, “AI Regulation: Embracing the Future,” on June 6.

Diane Janvrin, William L. Varner Professor of Accounting, presented at the American Accounting Association Accounting Information Systems Education Bootcamp held on May 21 in Arlington, Virginia. Her presentation title was “AI & AIS: The Next Generation in Accounting.”

Sam (Sunghan) Lee, associate professor of accounting, and Feng Guo, Dean’s Fellow and associate professor of accounting, had their paper accepted for presentation at the American Accounting Association Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The paper title is “Inter-firm Network and Analyst Effort Allocation.”

Archived news

Sam (Sunghan) Lee, had his paper, “Inter-firm Network and Management Forecast,” accepted for presentation at the AAA Annual Meeting.

Mike Bootsma, Dean’s Teaching Fellow in Accounting, was honored with the 2023-24 Teacher of the Year Award, presented by Ivy Student Council.

Chris Moon, associate teaching professor of accounting, was interviewed by WHO Radio about the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Read transcript.

Chris Moon, associate teaching professor in accounting, was mentioned in the following radio segments:

Christine Denison, associate professor of accounting, was quoted in an Iowa State Daily article, “Academia’s Fight or Flight Response to Artificial Intelligence.”

Chris Moon, associate teaching professor in accounting, was interviewed by WHO Radio for the segment “How Low- Income Iowans Can Get Help With Their Taxes.”

Diane Janvrin, professor of accounting, and Melvin Lamboy-Ruiz (Georgia Southern University) served as co-editors for the 2024 Journal of Information Systems Research Conference, held during the American Accounting Association Accounting Information Systems midyear meeting on January 27 in Atlanta, Georgia.

At the same AIS meeting, Diane Janvrin and Joy Gray (Bentley University) received Best Education Case Honorable Mention for their manuscript, “Preparing to Work with Generative AI: Short Instructional Cases.”

Brad Trinkle, Dean’s Fellow in Accounting and chair of the Department of Accounting, was quoted in a Business Record news brief, “Iowa State University Offers Accounting Analytics Master’s Degree Program Online.”

Michael Bootsma, Dean’s Teaching Fellow in Accounting, and Sekar Raju, Gary and Margaret Pint Faculty Fellow and chair of the Department of Marketing, were mentioned in an Inside Iowa State article, “Iowa State Launches Reaccreditation Process.”

A 2008 paper published in the Journal of Legal Tax Research, “Taxation Policy in Virtual Worlds: Issues Raised by Second Life and Other Unstructured Games,” was cited in Western Union’s August 2023 U.S. patent. The paper was authored by Bill Terando (Butler University); Bill Dilla, emeritus professor of accounting; the late Brian Mennecke, professor of management information systems; and Diane Janvrin, William L. Varner Professor of Accounting. This paper was the journal’s first and only (so far) patent citation.

Cyndie Jeffrey, RSM Fellow and associate professor of accounting, was awarded the Accounting Exemplar Award at the American Accounting Association annual meeting in Denver, Colorado, in August. The Accounting Exemplar Award is presented by the Public Interest Section and is given to either an accounting educator or an accounting practitioner who has made notable contributions to professionalism and ethics in accounting education and/or practice, either by serving as a role model and/or by making significant contributions to the accounting profession in a manner which serves the public interest.

Diane Janvrin, William L. Varner professor of accounting, presented a paper, “You Posted What? Analyzing Determinants of Social Technology Risk Prevention,” at the University of Waterloo Center for Information Integrity and Systems Assurance’s 13th Biennial Symposium on Information Integrity and Information Systems Assurance on September 28 in Toronto. The paper was co-authored with Margarita Lenk (Colorado State University), JP Krahel (Loyola University – Maryland), and Brett Considine (Monash University).

Jenny Sturgill, assistant teaching professor in accounting, was voted Teacher of the Month for September. The Ivy Teacher and Staff of the Month awards are sponsored by Ivy Student Council.

Michael Bootsma, teaching professor of accounting, received notification that he has passed both parts of the Uniform Certified Management Accountant Examination required for a CMA license. Congratulations, Mike!

Bill Dilla, emeritus professor of accounting; Diane Janvrin, William L. Varner Professor of Accounting; Jon Perkins, associate professor of accounting; and Robyn Raschke (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) had their paper, “The Influence of Sustainability Assurance Report Format and Level on Nonprofessional Investors’ Judgments,” accepted for publication in Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal.

Diane Janvrin presented a paper, “Interactive Data Visualization: Effects of Cognitive and Technology on Anomaly Evaluation,” co-authored with Robyn Raschke (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), Gary Schneider (California State University, Monterey Bay), and Sheng-Feng Hsieh (National Taiwan University) at the 11th International Symposium on Accounting Information Systems held at Michigan State University on June 22.

 

 

Get involved with accounting

At the Ivy College of Business, there are many ways to get involved. Participate in one of the many student organizations at Ivy and take advantage of the opportunity to share your talents, make new friends, and contribute to the Ivy community.

Beta-Alpha-Psi

Beta Alpha Psi – Iota Beta Chapter

Beta Alpha Psi – Iota Beta Chapter is a national honor society and scholastic/professional accounting fraternity. Its primary objective is to encourage and give recognition to scholastic and professional excellence in the business information field.

Executive Advisory Council

The Department of Accounting Executive Advisory Council meets to provide advice concerning recruitment of students, the shaping of the curriculum, trends in the industry, and other priorities set by members of the council for our accounting programs and department.

Meet the council members

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Connect with us

Department of Accounting

Ivy College of Business
2330 Gerdin Business Building
2167 Union Drive
Ames, Iowa 50011

Dirk Black

Chair, Department of Accounting
Donna J. Fuller Accounting Professor
Professor of accounting
dirkb@iastate.edu

Jennifer Finch