From News Desk

Accordance, an AI platform built for tax, audit and CPA teams, has announced the launch of Accordance for Academia, a new programme to train the next generation of CPAs with the latest AI technology. As part of the programme, students and faculty enjoy discounted access to Accordance’s platform. Along with the programme, Accordance is announcing it has hired Charles W Swenson, a accounting professor from USC to advise the company and its academic efforts.

Curriculum Designed for the Pre-AI Era

Accounting programmes are still training students for a version of the job that’s disappearing fast. Graduates are taught to spend hours on manual research, document review and spreadsheet-heavy workflows, exactly the work AI is already automating inside modern firms. The result is a growing gap between what students practice in class and what they’ll be expected to do on day one. This may include supervising AI, validating outputs against authoritative sources, document judgment calls; and move faster without sacrificing accuracy or ethics. If universities don’t shift now, they’ll keep sending talented grads into roles built for tasks that won’t exist in a few years, instead of preparing them to be AI-native accountants from the start.

“This is about preparing students not just to understand the law, but to practice it in the world they’re entering,” stated USF School of Law Dean Johanna Kalb. “For our MLST and LLM in Taxation candidates, they’re working in the field; and we know AI is already transforming how professionals approach complex tax issues. We’re giving students the tools and context to use these technologies responsibly and effectively.”

Educating the First Generation of AI-Native Accountants

Accordance helps schools and future accountants make that shift by bringing the same AI workflows used by modern tax and accounting teams into the classroom. Instead of replacing judgment, Accordance strengthens it – students can research across authoritative sources, test different fact patterns and see how conclusions are reached with transparent reasoning, so they learn the “why,” not just the answer. Faculty can use Accordance to build practical assignments around real-world scenarios and students graduate fluent in how to work alongside AI.

“The accounting profession is changing faster than the curriculum. By the time today’s freshmen graduate, manual research will be a relic of the past,” explained Charles W Swenson, an accounting professor at USC and advisor to Accordance. “Accordance allows students to move beyond textbook theory and give them hands-on experience with the frontier AI tools they will actually use at top-tier firms. We aren’t just teaching them accounting and tax rules and critical thinking skills; we’re teaching them how to be AI-native leaders.”