According to data analysis from the Ministry of Finance in the 2009 Accounting Professional Education Dialogue in Jakarta some time ago, it was mentioned that the number of public accountants in Indonesia is still relatively small compared to other ASEAN countries. In other words, Indonesia still lacks accountants, said Supriyanto Ilyas, Dean of the Faculty of Economics at Widyatama University.
This is one of the driving forces behind Widyatama’s Faculty of Economics to continue developing and improving the quality of its graduates, whether they are graduates of the D3 (Diploma) program, S1 (Bachelor’s) program, or the Accounting Professional Education Program (Accountant). In establishing the Professional Accounting Education Program (PPA) that produces graduates with the title of Accountant, Widyatama is the first university in West Java to open such a program.
When it was first established in 1973, the Faculty of Economics at Widyatama University was named the Bandung Institute of Accounting (IAB), which later changed and became popular as the Bandung College of Economics (STIEB) before becoming the Faculty of Economics. The Widyatama Faculty of Economics, which provides education in the field of accounting, strives continuously to produce professional accounting personnel with adequate expertise in line with the demands of the times, especially in the five main areas of accounting, namely financial accounting, management accounting, taxation, accounting information systems, and auditing.
“Widyatama is open to the implementation of technology that is relevant to the teaching system. In order to improve the quality of its graduates, Widyatama is also continuing to develop internationalization within its system, including harmonization with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as part of the lecture material,” said Supriyanto. Supriyanto added that students are also encouraged to learn independently through the principle of learning to learn. In accordance with the policy of the Rector of Widyatama University, Widyatama graduates must have two generic competencies, namely foreign language skills (especially English) and competence in information technology. To further improve the quality of its graduates, Widyatama is currently aggressively developing Softskill Based Teaching Learning Methods (SBTLM) in teaching process that are held.
Another effort to produce graduates with high global competence and competitiveness, starting in the 2008/2009 academic year, Widyatama has supplemented its learning process with System Application Product certification, known as SAP. SAP is one of the application software programs used by 80,000 companies worldwide, including 250 companies in Indonesia.
Not many universities teach SAP, considering that it is not cheap. Widyatama is one of the universities that has adopted SAP as part of the courses that students must take, so that its graduates have international SAP certification.
The advantage of SAP lies in its integrated modules that can be customized according to specific needs. The Accounting Program focuses on fundamental and controlling modules relevant to real-world applications. As a result, Widyatama Accounting graduates are well-prepared to enter the global job market and have greater employment opportunities, as many large companies have already implemented this system.
Even lecturers who teach SAP cannot be just anyone; they must be certified, and lecturers in the Accounting Study Program related to the learning program already have SAP certificates.
“It is hoped that in the future, Widyatama students will not be technologically challenged, will have a global perspective, will be competitive, and will be ready to enter the workforce,” said Supriyanto, who has been involved in accounting education since 1986. It is not in vain, based on the latest alumni survey, it is proven that 77% of Widyatama Accounting Study Program graduates have been successfully absorbed into the workforce with a waiting period of less than six months.
