Buckless was born on April 9, 1958 in Providence, Rhode Island to Mary and Gerald Buckless. Buckless’ father was accountant as was his maternal grandfather. Buckless grew up in a large family with five sisters and three brothers. Five of his siblings are also educators.
Education and early career
Buckless attended Brighton High School in Brighton, Michigan where he graduated in 1977. In 1981, Buckless graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from the Michigan State UniversityEli Broad College of Business. Buckless was an intern at Deloitte, Haskins & Sells in 1980 where he gained an appreciation of auditing. In that same time frame, Buckless was a teaching assistant for the MSU Introductory accounting course. While at MSU, Buckless also served as the President of the Beta Alpha Psi international honor organization. Buckless was also a member of the Varsity Wrestling Team. Following graduation, Buckless went to work for Arthur Andersen & Co. in Atlanta, Georgia where he began to specialize in auditing processes. Buckless remained at Arthur Andersen & Co. until 1981 when he returned to MSU to complete a PhD in Accounting. His love of teaching accounting practices continued as a graduate assistant and teaching assistant during his graduate studies. Buckless completed his PhD in 1989 and published his thesis entitled “Modeling External Auditors' Evaluations of Audit Risk and the Effect of the Task Environment on Consensus”. This thesis was recognized as the “Outstanding Auditing Dissertation” which is awarded by the American Accounting Association - Auditing Section in 1990.
In 1989, Buckless moved to Raleigh, North Carolina to take an Assistant Professor position at North Carolina State University. His promotion to Associate Professor occurred in 1995. Buckless’ position was endowed in 2000 where he was named the “KPMG Professor of Accounting and Department Head”. Buckless oversaw the $500,000 donation by to Ernst & Young the Accounting Department was the largest ever for a project implementing the Second Lifevirtual platform into the curriculum in 2009. This funding was utilized by Buckless along with Mr. Scott Showalter and Dr. Kathy Krawczyk to create a virtual warehouse for their students to audit. The data collected from this study showed that students improved “inventory observation knowledge, interviewing, audit documentation, critical thinking, and group work skills”. This project follows incorporation of cost and financial accounting activities in virtual environments. Buckless performs many duties for the university and is a face for Management faculty at NCSU. Though he was not on the search committee, Buckless was interviewed over concerns in finding a new Dean for the NCSU College of Management in 2004. In 2010, Buckless was part of the search committee for a new university provost. He has served on over 20 different committees while at NC State. The American Accounting Association appointed Buckless as the president of the Accounting Programs Leadership Group for 2014-2015.
Consulting
Buckless provides consulting services for many activities including litigation, fraud, and valuations. He has consulted for many companies as well as the United States Department of Justice and North Carolina Department of Justice. He provides training for KPMG auditors and is faculty for the Auditor Educator Bootcamp hosted by the American Accounting Association.
Honors and awards
Buckless earned the “Outstanding Auditing Dissertation” awarded by the American Accounting Association in 1990. The College of Management Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching was given to Buckless in 1998. In 2016, Buckless, along with Poole faculty members Kathy Krawczyk and Scott Showalter, received the Innovation in Accounting Education Award from the American Accounting Association.
Publications
Buckless has served as a case editor for the ‘’Journal of Accounting Education’’, an associate editor for ‘’Issues in Accounting Education’’, and on the editorial boards for several journals throughout his career. In addition to his leadership work with the journal, Buckless has also served and an ad hoc reviewer for several journals and meeting proceedings. The ‘’Auditing and Assurance Services, 14th Edition’’ textbook edited by Arens, Elder and Beasley acknowledges Buckless as a reviewer.
Books
Buckless is an editor for several textbooks used in higher education and industry. Many of these have multiple editions. The Auditing cases book compiled by the Technical Working Group on Education in Fraud and Forensic Accounting is a suggested reading for forensic accounting.
