Cognitive Biases for Accountants

Overview

The course provides a concise overview of cognitive biases - thinking errors and “brain bugs” that may distort perceptions, compromise ethics, trigger inaccurate judgments, and spark illogical interpretations in your accounting work. Discover the most common types of cognitive biases in the profession, and how to recognize and address these flaws and blindspots in your “mental firmware”. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Highlights

The major topics that will be covered in this class include:

• What are cognitive biases?
• Common judgment biases in the accounting profession
• Professional judgment frameworks
• How to use psychology to your advantage
• Simple and pragmatic steps to overcome bias

Prerequisites

None

Designed For

Practitioners who want to improve their decisions by developing an awareness of the biases that may affect their thought process and problem-solving, both personally and professionally.

Objectives

After attending this presentation you will be able to...

• Raise awareness of unconscious biases that may unintentionally impact your judgment and ethical practices
  
• Evaluate heuristics -- or mental shortcuts -- that allow people to make decisions quickly and efficiently, but may lead individuals astray in their thought process
  
• Discover how to spot and counter biases to help maintain objectivity

Preparation

None