Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether professional qualification in- creases the quality of accounting services as perceived by the customers. We advance the measurement of service quality by industry-specific indicators and establish four dimen- sions of accounting service quality. We analyse the impact of professional qualification on these dimensions of quality and the impact of these dimensions on customers’ retention decisions. The analysis is based on survey data of 237 Slovenian small and micro firms that outsource accounting. We find that professional qualification is positively associated with only one of the perceived service quality dimensions – accounting competences – and only assurance, responsiveness and reliability and empathy are positively associated with customers’ retention decisions. Limitations of the study are attributed to the measure- ment of service quality as perceived by the customers. However, this is the only factor of choice that ultimately counts in the competitive market for accounting services.
Highlights
Due to the public interest dimension of accounting, the accounting profession is strictly regulated, but only where the benefits of safeguarding the public interest from the consequences of market failure offset its costs (O’Regan 2010)
We find that professional qualification is positively associated with only one of the perceived service quality dimensions – accounting competences – and only assurance, responsiveness and reliability and empathy are positively associated with customers’ retention decisions
Convergent and discriminant validity of the two composite constructs is assessed by the average variance extracted (AVE), which represents the average variance shared between a construct and its indicators
Summary
Due to the public interest dimension of accounting, the accounting profession is strictly regulated, but only where the benefits of safeguarding the public interest from the consequences of market failure offset its costs (O’Regan 2010). It is not surprising that regulation of the accounting profession relates only to public interest companies. It is limited to auditors and does not relate to the provision of accounting services in the narrower sense (i.e. book-keeping and reporting). The EU regulations include no particular requirements regarding the professional qualifications of accountants. It seems anomalous that preparers of accounts are not subject to the same regulation as auditors yet it may well be that an accountant of an EU public company is not professionally qualified. M. Zaman Groff et al The influence of professional qualification on customer perceptions
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