Final-year Accounting Students Research Articles

Factors Influencing Fast Food Spending among Final-Year Accounting Students at Botho University, Maseru Campus, Lesotho

Factors Influencing Fast Food Spending among Final-Year Accounting Students at Botho University, Maseru Campus, Lesotho

The Determinants of Career Selection as a Public Accountant: The Role of a Financial Reward Moderator

This study aims to identify the Factors Influencing the Career Selection of Accounting Students as Public Accountants by using financial rewards as a moderating variable for UMSIDA and UBHARA Accounting students. The population or subjects in this study consisted of Accounting Study Program students from the Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo University and Bhayangkara University Surabaya class of 2018. In this study, a quantitative method was used by distributing questionnaires online. By using Slovin’s formula, 80 respondents filled out the research questionnaire. The results of the study show that professional training, social values, work environment, and labor market considerations influence the choice of a career as a Public Accountant. As a moderating variable, financial reward strengthens the influence of professional training, social values, work environment, and labor market considerations on choosing a career as a Public Accountant. This research has implications for final-year Accounting students in determining careers as Public Accountants.

The initial accountant competency of final year accounting students

<span lang="EN-US">The development of information technology towards the 4th industrial revolution era brought changes to business processes in various industries, which will eventually have an impact on jobs in the accounting field. Accountants must be adaptable and competent to work as accounting professionals. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the perceptions of final-year accounting students regarding knowledge competence, soft skills, information technology capabilities, and perceptions of readiness to enter the workforce. It also analyzed whether these competencies affect students' readiness to enter the workforce. In this study, the soft skills competencies are dimensions of intellectual, personal, organizational, internal, and communication competencies, and ethics in accounting. The data was collected using a questionnaire based Google Form given to several universities in Indonesia that were willing to distribute the forms to their accounting students. A descriptive method was used for data and confirmatory factor analysis and data processing was performed with the help of statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) and partial least squares (SmartPLS) programs. The results showed that soft skills competencies had a higher score compared to accounting and information technology competencies. Furthermore, there was a significant influence between competence and work readiness of accounting students. This study provides information in the preparation of the accounting curriculum to consider various competencies following industry needs.</span>

Fatores de escolha da carreira dos acadêmicos indonésios de contabilidade

Abstract This research aims to define factors that influence accounting students in choosing their careers after graduated. There are two gaps of previous studies that we try to cover in this study. Firstly, previous studies only focused on one university or one region in a country. Secondly, they only examined a specific career choice, mostly as public accountants. This study is conducted on Indonesian accounting students and it set the respondents to choose their careers in the beginning and fill the questionnaire based on that career choices. The output of this study is career choice factors of Indonesian accounting students’. By understanding those factors, this study provide awareness and insights for parents, lecturers, and universities to prepare students for their future careers. The results imply the need for collaboration between family and university. On one side, parents should not push a certain career path to students, rather they should encourage students to choose careers suitable for needs and expectations. On the other side, university should ensure that the quality of their graduates suits to the needs and the expectation of users. Data were collected by conducting an online survey to the population of final-year accounting students in Indonesia. Three hundred and fifty-eight respondents participated in this survey. Factor analysis was used for data analysis. The result of this research confirmed all factors that determine career choices of accounting students. Those factors are social values, rewards, job market certainty, professional recognition, work environment, and family. Interestingly, the family factor is divided into two factors: family support and family environment.

The vocational skills gap in accounting education curricula: empirical evidence from the UK

This paper aims to investigate the relative importance of a set of vocational skills and the extent to which accounting educators in the UK incorporate these skills into their accounting education curricula so that students can run a successful accounting career upon their graduation. Using a questionnaire method, the data was collected from two major stakeholders; namely accounting educators and final-year accounting students. The findings indicate that there is a degree of overall agreement between the two groups opinions’ that vocational skills required by accounting employers encompass not only technical and cognitive skills but also transferable skills such as communication, self-reflection, teamwork and organisational skills. The results of this paper should be of interest to accounting educators, curriculum designers and faculty who are responsible for reviewing and updating accounting curricula.

The vocational skills gap in accounting education curricula: empirical evidence from the UK

This paper aims to investigate the relative importance of a set of vocational skills and the extent to which accounting educators in the UK incorporate these skills into their accounting education curricula so that students can run a successful accounting career upon their graduation. Using a questionnaire method, the data were collected from two major stakeholders; namely accounting educators and final-year accounting students. The findings indicate that there is a degree of overall agreement between the two groups opinions' that vocational skills required by accounting employers encompass not only technical and cognitive skills but also transferable skills such as communication, self-reflection, teamwork and organisational skills. The results of this paper should be of interest to accounting educators, curriculum designers and faculty who are responsible for reviewing and updating accounting curricula.

Students’ and lecturers’ perceptions of the effect of open-book examinations on teaching and assessment at departments of accountancy at South African universities

Strong arguments are put forward in literature that teaching methods should be aligned with assessment practices in order to optimise the teaching-learning environment. The decision by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants to change its qualifying examination from a closed-book to an open-book format has led to accredited universities changing their assessment accordingly. This paper investigates how students and lecturers perceive the changes made to teaching and assessment after the introduction of open-book assessment. A survey was performed among final-year accounting students preparing for the qualifying examination of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. Assessment in the first three years of study of these students was generally done by means of closed-book examinations, but in their final year, students were assessed by means of open-book tests and examinations. A comparison was made between the views of students and lecturers in certain universities’ departments of accountancy. The views of students and lecturers differed significantly on the extent of changes which were made to teaching practices and the setting of examination papers. The paper identified aspects to be considered to encourage students’ deep learning, long term retention, selection of knowledge and preparation for open-book assessment. Issues lecturers need to take into account when determining their teaching and assessment approach within the broader context of an open-book assessment environment were also identified.

Does Student Engagement Matter in Building Studentss Accounting Competencies? Evidence from Indonesian Universities

This paper discusses relationships between student engagement and students’ potential accounting competencies gained during university education. Academic challenge, active learning, student-staff interaction, enriching education experience, and supportive learning environment are employed to measure student engagement. The American Institute for Certified Public Accountants core competencies consisting of functional, personal, and broad-business perspective competencies are used as frameworks of students’ accounting competencies. Data were collected from final-year accounting students at eight state universities in Indonesia. Relationships between student engagement and students’ accounting competency factors are significant based on Pearson’s and Canonical correlations. Regression models show that academic challenge and supportive learning environment influence all students’ accounting competency factors, while academic challenge and student-staff interaction have positive effects on personal competency and broad-business perspective competency respectively.

Academic performance and moral competence: A match made in heaven?

This study aims to empirically assess the relationship between accounting students' academic performances and moral competencies by focusing on final-year accounting students enrolled at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). The students' moral competencies were measured using a scenario-based instrument developed through a collaboration with Islamic accounting scholars, called the Muslim Accountant Moral Competency Test (MAMOC), whilst students' academic performances were measured using their Cumulative Grade Point Averages (CGPAs). Contrary to the expected positive relationship between these two variables, the study found a negative, and insignificant, relationship. The implication of this result is that IIUM's Accounting Department needs to conduct a comprehensive review of the ethical content of its courses and use a more effective strategy of how to more effectively integrate Islamic values into the curriculum. Additionally, institutionalizing a measure of students' moral competencies would enable the department to objectively determine how well it is doing in developing the moral competencies of its students.

Insurance vsTakaful: identical sides of a coin?

Purpose– The purposes of this paper are threefold. First, it aims to argue normatively how Shari’ah precepts governingTakafuloperations are translated into (rightfully) different accounting and reporting ofTakafuloperators. Second, it provides a critical review of the available and applicable accounting and reporting standards and guidelines related toTakafulin the Malaysian context. The third objective which constitutes the empirical piece of this paper centred on the basic numerical evidence obtained from the survey of final-year accounting students with regards to their ability in identifying the basic (dis)similarities in accounting and reporting betweenTakafuland insurance based on the published financial statements.Design/methodology/approach– A mixed-mode research approach was adopted covering archival document reviews and focused group survey.Findings– Findings are arguably informative and relevant to diverse stakeholders. First, the missing jigsaw puzzle representing accounting and reporting in theTakafulliterature is uncovered by extending the explanations ofTakaful-insurance conceptual and operational differences to that of accounting and reporting. The essence primarily lies on the different operational set-up attributed to the elements of gharar, maisir and riba. Second, the comparative analysis of accounting and reporting rules indicates that AAOIFI standards are less detailed in terms of accounting treatment over certain areas ofTakafuloperations (e.g. Re-Takaful), but these are more holistic, focused and specific in some other relatively important reporting areas reflecting the unique nature ofTakafuloperations. Third, findings based on the MalaysianTakafulaccounting and reporting guideline suggest that accounting and reporting betweenTakafuland insurance are perceived to be a coin having monographic characteristics on both sides.Originality/value– The research explicitly extends and highlights the impact of Shari’ah precepts governingTakaful’s operational nature on its accounting and reporting. It also provides empirical evidence on the nature of Malaysian-basedTakafulaccounting and reporting guidelines which mirror its insurance counterpart.

Improving Ethical Attitudes or Simply Teaching Ethical Codes? The Reality of Accounting Ethics Education

ABSTRACTEthical instruction is critical in accounting education. However, does accounting ethics teaching actually instil core ethical values or simply catalogue how students should act when confronted with typical accounting ethical dilemmas? This study extends current literature by distinguishing between moral/ethical and legal/ethical matters and then re-evaluating the effectiveness of ethics training. A cohort of final-year accounting students with significant ethical training evaluated ethical scenarios. Half were moral (non-legal) and half contained legal as well as moral components. After further ethical instruction they re-evaluated the scenarios. Ethical attitudes towards legal/moral issues improved, but attitudes towards moral-only issues did not. This questions previous studies which purport to demonstrate the effectiveness of ethical instruction and queries the benefits of accounting ethics education. Are fundamental ethical principles being ignored in an effort to prevent more obvious accounting wrongdoings? Accounting ethics training needs to be reassessed if true ethical improvement is to be achieved.

Understanding Accounting Students Cultural Diversity And Its Implication Of The Interpretation Of IFRS

In the global business environment, accountants often adopt accountancy practices to suit their unique cultural and business environments. This aspect often makes the cross-border comparison of financial statements difficult. Several completed research projects conducted has revealed that culture often dictates the accounting environment and based thereupon, it is evident that culture is often closely integrated to accounting development, training and standard setting, as well as the application of accounting standards.This article considers the potential impact of diverse cultural backgrounds, as defined by the Hofstede and Gray methodologies on accountancy students in a cross-national inter-cultural context, including both developed and developing economical contexts. Using a sample consisting of final-year accounting students from two different university campuses in South Africa and a third university in the United Kingdom, our results suggest that culture does indeed play an important role on accounting education; and that it can also affect the acceptance, understanding and interpretation of accounting standards by these students.

Students’ and lecturers’ perceptions of the effect of open-book examinations on the learning behavior of accountancy students

In 2003 the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) changed its assessment policy from a closed-book to an open-book format. One reason for this was to encourage better learning behaviour amongst students. This paper investigates whether students perceive this aim to have been achieved, by means of a survey conducted among final-year accounting students who were preparing for the qualifying examination of SAICA. Assessment in the first three years of study was generally done by means of closed-book examinations, but in their final year, students were assessed by means of open-book tests and examinations (OBA). A comparison was made between the views of these potential chartered accountants and those of lecturers in accounting departments at selected universities.Students were generally positive about the introduction of OBA, but lecturers were less enthusiastic. Their conclusion was that OBA has generally been a step in the right direction to preparing students better for the workplace. Cognisance should, however, be taken of the negative study behaviour that was encountered. The paper also proposes strategies to improve the effectiveness of OBA.

Cultural Considerations and the Implementation of IFRS: A Focus on Small and Medium Entities

Research revealed that inconsistent accounting practices are often attributable to environmental factors of which cultural differences appear to be the most significant. Prior research considered cultural dimensions in classifying and evaluating cultural differences, which has also been extended into accounting values. This enabled researchers to consider and identify relevant accounting values pertaining to specific accounting scenarios and environments. Recent research considered accounting values pertaining to the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards. The purpose of the study is to identify the relevant accounting values when a global set of accounting standards is implemented by the SME sector. Based on a sample consisting of final-year accounting students from two different universities in South Africa and one in the UK, our results suggest that contrasting accounting values are considered necessary when adopting a global set of accounting standards by the SME sector. JEL classification: K2 - Regulation and Business Law (Other); L25 - Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope; M41 - Accounting.