Mis-alignment between IT knowledge/skills importance and IT knowledge/skills integration level into the accounting curriculum in Egypt

Abstract

Purpose– This paper aims to investigate the alignment between the information technology (IT) knowledge/skills importance or required by the business environment and the IT knowledge/skills integration level in the accounting curriculum in the specific context of Egyptian universities.Design/methodology/approach– Data were collected from a survey of 249 accountant lecturers by emails.Findings– The results indicate that the most important technologies are generalized audit software, embedded audit modules/real-time modules, small business accounting software, computer-aided systems engineering tools, test data and tax return preparation software, and the most technologies integrated in the accounting curriculum in Egypt are wording processing, electronic spreadsheets and electronic presentations. These results mean there is a gap between what is required and what is integrated in the accounting curriculum.Originality/value– This study is the first attempt to investigate the alignment between the IT required and integrated in the accounting curriculum, especially in Egypt.