Bean Counter or Business Adviser? An Exploratory Study of Changing Times for the Accounting Practitioner in Ireland

Abstract

The role of the accountant in practice has evolved over time in response to the client’s need to comply with the regulatory and legislative process. The repetitive nature of compliance work (being the submission of annual tax returns, filing of company financial statements and completion of annual audit, where applicable) has resulted in a steady stream of income for practitioners and, in most cases, the development of a solid client base. However, the current competitive environment for the client and his/her accountant has prompted many of the professional accounting bodies to encourage their members to provide a broader range of advisory services to clients rather than concentrating on the traditional, but less profitable, compliance services. This paper reports the findings of exploratory research undertaken in 2003 to identify the accounting and advisory needs of a sample of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ireland. The findings from this study support those of Marriott and Marriott (2000) and Kirby, Najak and Greene (1998) in that a number of respondents indicated that they would be willing to avail of non-compliance services from their accountnnt, if they were offered. Some respondents, however, questioned the ability of their current accountant to provide these services. These findings suggest that further research is required to establish the extent to which a market exists for the provision of non-compliance services to SMEs in Ireland and whether the accountant in practice is equipped with the skills to provide these services.