Lack of Competence in Using Microsoft Excel by Accounting Students

A proficiency in spreadsheet applications is one of the most valued technological skills required by employers of business accounting graduates. However, it has been widely reported that business students’/graduates’ proficiency in spreadsheet applications is inadequate. The current report examined the competencies of accounting students in Microsoft (MS)-Excel spreadsheet in a Ghanaian Polytechnic. Three hundred students were randomly contacted and evaluated using a semi-structured questionnaire that assessed students’ self-perceived competencies in copy and paste, move and copy worksheets, graphics, sort and filter data, pivot tables, macro, export data, HLOOK-Up, VLOOK-Up, if functions using MS-Excel with regards to 13 basic spreadsheet tasks and 11 accounting-specific tasks. Only 18.4% and 14.4% of the students indicated that they could perform all the basic spreadsheet and accounting-specific tasks examined. In addition, a majority (i.e., > 50%) of the students indicated that they could perform only four of the basic spreadsheet functions and only one of the accounting-specific tasks examined. It was observed that the current curriculum and training in spreadsheet of the Polytechnic was inadequate, which may explain the observed low self-competency ratings. There is a need to revise the current curriculum by integrating spreadsheet into the teaching and learning of relevant courses.