Future Accounting Professionals Research Articles

The Demands for Accounting Graduates of BPO Industry: An Exploratory Study of the Learning Outcomes Required

The Demands for Accounting Graduates of BPO Industry: An Exploratory Study of the Learning Outcomes Required

Academic Fraud and Remote Evaluation of Accounting Students: An Application of the Fraud Triangle

AbstractThe pandemic has altered accounting education with the widespread adoption of remote evaluation platforms. We apply the lens of the fraud triangle to consider how the adoption of remote evaluation influences accounting students’ ethical values by measuring the incidence of cheating behavior as well as capturing their perceptions of their opportunity to cheat and their rationalization of cheating behavior. Consistent with prior research, our results show that cheating is higher in the online environment compared to remote evaluation, although the use of proctoring software in online evaluation appears to mitigate but not eliminate students’ the unethical behavior. However, cheating was not reduced when students attest to an honor code during the beginning of an exam. Nonetheless, we find that the use of both proctoring software and honor codes reduces students’ perceptions of opportunity and rationalization of cheating behavior. It follows that the remote evaluation environment may unintentionally be negatively influencing the ethicality of students and future accounting professionals by promoting cheating behavior and, by so doing, negatively influencing the development of unethical values of accounting students and future accounting professionals. Educators should consider the use of appropriate educational interventions to reduce the incidence and opportunities for unethical behavior and, by so doing, help promote the development of ethical values in future accounting professionals. Further implications for teaching and the accounting profession are discussed.

Looking within: cultivating compassion for shaping sustainable mindsets in accounting education

Purpose This paper aims to explore the role of individual inner dimensions in fostering sustainable mindsets in accounting students and graduates. Individual inner dimensions such as compassion shape our behaviour and responses to sustainability challenges. Consideration of inner dimensions, in conjunction with sustainability knowledge and skill development, is needed for reshaping the accounting profession towards achieving sustainable futures. Design/methodology/approach The authors explore the role of individual inner dimensions in accounting and how approaches to cultivating compassion in other disciplinary educational settings could be applied to cultivate and facilitate compassion within accounting education. Approaches to cultivating compassion for human and non-human species within accounting education are presented, highlighting their relevance to accounting decisions and organisational accountability. Findings Cultivating compassion for human and non-human species within accounting education aligns with the broader role of accounting in social and environmental issues. Embedding compassionate approaches with a problem-solving focus within accounting pedagogies and curricula design could contribute to shaping behaviour and reorienting the mindsets of future accounting professionals. Social implications Cultivating compassion within accounting students enhances connections across species, encourages students to recognise the role of compassion in sustainable decision-making and promotes a sustainable mindset. Enhanced compassion in accounting graduates could provide the motivational force for action-oriented responses from the accounting profession to the unprecedented ecological crisis. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper presents a first step in exploring potential approaches to cultivating and facilitating compassion within accounting pedagogies and curricula design. This paper extends sustainability accounting education literature by considering individual inner dimensions in shifting mindsets of accounting students, graduates and educators towards sustainability.

The Neglected Need for and the Effects of Sustainability in Accounting Curriculum

In 2013, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) issued a paper that encouraged accountants to use their expertise and skills to “help an organization link sustainability activity to strategies using accounting measures, tools, theories, and techniques” AICPA (Oct. 2013 page 6). Later that same year, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) added “diversity, sustainable development, environmental sustainability, and other emerging corporate and social responsibility issues” to its accreditation standards for accounting programs AACSB (2013). All along sustainability, accounting continued to grow in importance, as evidenced by the percentage of S&P 500 companies that issue sustainability reports, having grown from 20% in 2011 to 92% in 2020, according to Hart (2018) and the Governance and Accountability Institute, Inc. (2021). Thus, accounting programs have been called upon to, and have real world evidence of the need to, add education in sustainability accounting and reporting to their curriculums. Yet, the research conducted for this article shows that less than 11% of AACSB accredited Accountancy programs are offering even a single course that includes the words ‘Sustainability’; ‘Environmental’; Corporate Responsibility, or ‘Social Responsibility’ in its title at either the undergraduate or graduate levels, as of the spring of 2022. This 11% was an improvement from the 2% noted by Pippin et al. (2016); however, it is still a very low level. This article goes on to describe, through an analysis of students’ responses to a pre and post-course survey, how the inclusion of a sustainability accounting and reporting course in a university’s accounting curriculum fostered changes in the students’ appreciation for the different dimensions of responsibilities and opportunities they will encounter as future accounting professionals and society’s future business leaders. This article encourages other higher education institutions (HEI) to add such courses to their accounting curriculum both by showing the benefits experienced by the students and by providing information for such a course’s structure, content, and grading.

Stakeholders’ Perceptions of the Vocational Competences Acquired by Students Enrolled in Accounting Master’s Programmes in Romania

The objective of this research was to analyse the differences in stakeholders’ perceptions of the vocational competences acquired by students enrolled in master’s programmes for preparing future accounting professionals in Romania. We collected rich information on twelve master’s programmes at the four biggest universities in Romania. We proposed two indicators for the comparative analysis: the integration index (INTINDEX) and convergence index (CONVINDEX). We expected very specialised programmes focused on several competences necessary for certain professional certifications to have a lower integration level than general programmes aimed at making students familiar with various professional services they may further provide for the labour market. A low level of convergence was expected for the disciplines providing vocational rather than technical competences. The qualitative analysis of the syllabi pertaining to the disciplines studied helped us establish the existence of provisions concerning vocational competences. Two surveys were conducted (among students and educators). We applied Howcroft’s model (2017) to identify the differences in the stakeholders’ perceptions. For a deeper understanding of different perceptions, we conducted interviews with students, educators and employers. Our results may have a series of positive implications for the academic environment, the business environment and professional bodies. This study brings forward evidence that may be used by students when making decisions such as pursuing a career in accounting, or may be used to improve the educational process to train the youth who meet employers’ needs and continue their professional training within professional bodies.

Teaching the concept of decision-usefulness, and accounting as a technical, social and moral practice: the case of COVID-19 “case number” reporting

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how teaching broader accounting concepts through real life non-financial case study information (such as COVID-19 case reporting) can assist students understanding accounting’s technical, social and moral perspectives. Accounting education and practice has traditionally focussed on the technical aspects of accounting and has situated accounting within a financial context.Design/methodology/approachThis exploratory study uses content analysis of COVID-19 case and death numbers reported by several international health reporting agencies. This study does not set out to provide a detailed technical or comparative jurisdictional analysis of the decision-usefulness of COVID-19 information. Rather, this study looks at the “decision-usefulness” of the COVID-19 case and death number information, and provides examples that educators can draw upon for inspiration when showing how the qualitative characteristics of decision-useful information can be applied to non-financial information. This study also highlights, by use of a “novel data set”, the technical, social and moral aspects of accounting.FindingsThis study finds that the COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for accounting education by positioning the qualitative characteristics of decision-useful information beyond a financial context. The exploration of accounting within this setting effectively demonstrates that accounting has “technical”, “social” and “moral” dimensions.Originality/valueThis paper fulfils an identified need to include teaching of decision-usefulness of non-financial information in the accounting curriculum to ensure that future professional accountants possess technical and professional competency skills.

Educating the Future Accounting Professional: Actively Shaping Professional Identities for a Rapidly Changing World

Educating the Future Accounting Professional: Actively Shaping Professional Identities for a Rapidly Changing World

Towards a Sustainable Future: Promoting Sustainability, Sustainability Accounting and Reporting among Future Professional Accountants

While most of the sustainability studies focused are on areas of engineering and architecture, sustainability accounting and reporting are concepts that need to be introduced among people nowadays, specifically accountancy students, with the belief that the students today, will become the workforce and leaders of tomorrow. The study focused on promoting the various concepts among ninety-six (n=96) accountancy students who are in their terminal year. The students were subjected to a pre-test & post-test experimental design group with viewing video presentations on triple bottom-line, sustainability reporting, true cost accounting and a sample of Global Reporting Initiative Report (GRI) as intervention activities, that aimed to provide an overview and a level of understanding on the targeted concepts. Results show a significant difference on the level of awareness before and after the three concepts were introduced. The participants were willing to learn more about sustainability accounting while half of them would consider to enroll in a graduate program that specializes on leadership in a sustainable enterprise along with management courses concentrating on sustainability. As a conclusion, sustainability accounting and reporting in the Philippines, still has a long way to go and currently at its infancy stage before becoming a distinguished program or a course that will be embedded in the academic curricula or be fully recognized by businesses and industries from both national and local levels. The study can be further enhanced to include the level of commitment and motivation of students to such concepts.

Preparing Accountants of the Future: Five Ways Business Schools Struggle to Meet the Needs of the Profession

ABSTRACTIn the past few years, the demand for accountants has decreased significantly. Much of the decrease can be explained by offshoring and use of robotic and automated cognitive processes. To prepare for changing needs of the financial community, several groups have identified professional competencies they believe will be needed by future accounting professionals. The intent of this commentary is to illustrate changes in the profession and emphasize how academic institutions might preemptively address those needs. I discuss five ways business schools have struggled to meet the needs of the accounting profession. These include obstacles related to (1) developing competency-based curricula, (2) formulating reliable indicators of student performance, (3) offering convenient delivery of educational services, (4) delivering economical tuition value, and (5) providing meaningful opportunities for lifelong learning. I conclude by suggesting ways academic institutions might improve their value to the accounting profession.

Inclusion of accounting for sustainability by professors of accounting programs

Sustainability is a concept that has been positioned at the corporate and business world level, which raises the question of how one of the main actors in this field: accountants, has been trained to understand and apply this concept in his work. This article aims to discuss the training that future accounting professionals receive, how curricula and content should be adapted and transformed to prepare accountants with a critical and human sense that allows them to analyze business activities not only from a single perspective economic but also environmental and social, which would give way to the teaching of accounting for sustainability.

THE APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS IN THE ACCOUNTING EDUCATION SYSTEM IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

The accounting profession is facing high standards in the context of complex business transactions, internationalization of business, application of new information technologies and frequent changes in accounting regulations. In order to respond to many challenges, the accountants must go through quality education, a sound foundation of accounting knowledge, skills and continuous training. International Accounting Standards, International Financial Reporting Standards, and International Education Standards set the benchmarks for designing an initial accountant education program and a continuing learning and professional development program for the accounting profession. The aim of this paper is to investigate and analyze the necessary conditions for obtaining a certificate and license to perform accounting operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The analysis of the regulatory framework, the study programs of higher education institutions and the characteristics of the education process, which are related to the acquisition of knowledge and skills for future professional accountants, shows that there are differences in formal education, continuing professional education and training for accountants. The adopted education rules in Bosnia and Herzegovina have created the preconditions for the quality development of future accountants. A high level of expertise and competence is one of the basic conditions and prerequisites for quality accounting performance. The method of analysis and comparison of study programs discovered significant differences in the process of reducing the examinations for acquiring accounting professional titles at higher education institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was concluded that it is necessary to standardize the system of formal education for professional accountants by developing, adopting and implementing international standards of education by prescribing requirements for entry into professional accounting education programs, initial professional development and continuing professional development of future accountants.

Accounting Curriculum in the Digital Era: Suggestions for Preparing Botswana’s Tertiary Accounting Graduates

The research is financed by BA ISAGO University, P.Bag BR94, Gaborone, Botswana Abstract Some educational institutions’ might not have developed curricula that are in line with digital technology for future accounting professionals (Islam, 2017). It is imperative that tertiary institutions in Botswana should prudently consider developing or incorporating new learning outcomes and competencies in accounting curricula against digital technological changes when preparing accounting graduates for the industry. Secondary and desktop research was engaged through intensive reports from large global and regional Professional Accounting Organisations (PAOs) such as ACCA, CIMA, BICA, SAICA, AAT and ICAEW which consulted with their various international stakeholders and the industry towards future accountants’ skills and competencies. These are mostly government-sponsored professional qualifications in Botswana except for ICAEW and SAICA which will balance as additional international and regional PAOs. More research was also sought from journals, publications, discussion and opinion papers as well as newspapers in order to collate the digital and technological competencies that are suggested. This paper therefore seeks to alert the Botswana educational curriculum developers to consider and incorporate new technologies that will prepare Botswana for dynamic, world-class and competitive accounting graduates in tertiary institutions towards the changing accounting profession. The findings showed that the accounting profession’s digital skills gap can be closed by incorporating cloud computing, big data, eXtensible Business Reporting (XBRL), artificial intelligence, machine learning and similar in Botswana accounting graduates’ curriculum. Keywords: Accounting, change, curriculum, digital, education, graduate, technology, PAOs, profession DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/11-16-02 Publication date: August 31 st 2020

Public interest oversight on professional accountancy: How do accountants perceive it in Turkey?

Research Question: The study investigates consequences of the public oversight establishment on accounting profession and also attempts to understand the thoughts and perceptions of the licensed/certified professional accountants on the public oversight activities in Turkey as an emerging country. Motivation: Public oversight activities have been evolved since it has existed less than two decades. After the Sarbanes & Oxley Act, first initiative was appeared in the United States as the PCAOB Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, then many countries have followed. Public interest oversight institutions play a crucial role as a leader of integrity in ensuring high quality auditing within accurate and informative framework. Idea: This study can be model or benchmark for the studies that can be realized in the other developing countries that might be trying to develop and improve accounting and auditing profession. The study shows the public oversight on accountancy has been a need for a better financial reporting for an effective and efficient financial market. Data: In the survey, members of licensed professional accountants, members of licensed prospective future professional accountants, and licensed auditors were included. Tools: Using a questionnaire, a survey was conducted as a methodological approach to determine the thoughts, perceptions, and expectations of respondents. Findings: The study concludes that professional accountants are aware of public oversight regulations and activities in Turkey. They are mainly thinking that public oversight activities will be impacting positively to the Turkish public accounting profession. Also, professional accountants mainly perceive that public oversight activities will be contributing efficient and effective financial reporting for financial and money markets in the country. Particularly financial statement audit environment has been changed and up scaled due to inspection activities of the public oversight organization on the auditors and audit firms. The results of the study might be interesting for the stakeholders of the public oversight activities on accounting profession.

Soft and Hard Skills in Accounting Field-Empiric Results and Implication for the Accountancy Profession

Abstract The main objective of the research is to study the perception of students in accounting profile within the "AurelVlaicu" University of Arad in comparison with the employers’ perception of the hard and soft skills needed in view of the accounting graduates’ access on the labour force market. The target group has been asked to express its opinion on the skills required to candidates to access the jobs in order to penetrate the labour force market in the field of accounting. In order to achieve this objective, an empirical study based on a cross-cutting descriptive research has been carried out, the method chosen is the survey based on a questionnaire. The target group consists of 250 students majoring in accounting within "AurelVlaicu" University of Arad, as well as from 300 professional accountants who are members of CECCAR (The Body o Experts and Chartered Accountants of Romania). The case study concluded that a large part of the interviewed accountants have considered that employers would be increasingly interested in hiring young graduates in accounting that hold strong soft skills, being also willing to subsequently invest in trainings to develop their hard skills that they need daily in the chosen job. In order to succeed and perform in the field in which they will work, accounting students (future accounting professionals) must hold a set of powerful soft skills to complete the hard skills acquired and tested during the academic studies. The target group interviewed in the case study considers it would be useful the accounting students to participate in internships, scientific sessions, Erasmus scholarships, voluntary actions, Work and Travel Programs, teambuilding programs, national and international projects, summer schools, student scientific clubs to develop hard and soft skills during the university studies. In order to generate sustainable organisational success, future professionals who will be working in the field of accountancy will have to possess both hard skills and soft skills to be able to contribute in this way to the success of the organization they will be part of and the accounting profession will gain.

Love of money, gender, religiosity: The impact on ethical perceptions of future professional accountants

Accountants are either directly or indirectly partly responsible for corporate frauds, so it is important to know the underlying reasons why such unethical behavior occurred. This study aims to analyze the moderation impact of religiosity and gender on the relation between love of money with student’s ethical perception. There were 144 questionnaires from accounting students. As hypothesized, the results of the study revealed love of money have a negative impact to student’s ethical perception. The interaction between intrinsic religiosity and love of money are able to weaken the negative effect of love of money to student’s ethical perception, however the extrinsic religiosity is vice versa. Gender has no significant effect on love of money relationship with ethical perception.

More than ‘continuing professional development’: a proposed new learning framework for professional accountants

ABSTRACTThis paper explores literature relating to continuing professional development (CPD) and lifelong learning to develop an understanding of how the learning landscape has evolved in recent years, both in the accountancy profession and more widely. Three different perspectives on learning are drawn together and this synthesis is used to develop a framework for professional learning. In this, the concepts of CPD and lifelong learning are replaced with ‘learning relating to professional competence’ and ‘learning relating to career adaptability’. The framework also contrasts the learning of an ‘informed professional’, a ‘competent professional’ and a ‘complete professional’. This holistic model, derived from existing literature, will be of interest to professional accountancy bodies and educators of accountants and will inform their ongoing interactions with current and future professional accountants.

Examining Students’ Feelings and Perceptions of Accounting Profession in a Developing Country: The Role of Gender and Student Category

This paper examines the preconceived notions accounting students in Ghana have about the accounting profession and whether these perceptions are influenced by gender and student category (graduates and undergraduates). This study was a cross-sectional survey of 516 undergraduate and 78 graduate accounting students from a public university in Ghana. A self-administered structured questionnaire was developed to collect primary data. Data were analysed using SPSS 16.0. The results of this study show that, generally, both undergraduate and graduate accounting students have positive perceptions about accounting profession, contrary to most existing literature. Our findings indicate that despite the generally negative perception held by the public about accountants’ behaviour, accounting students in Ghana do not share the same perception with the public. This study also found that gender influences the perception of both graduate and undergraduate accounting students, and few significant differences existed between graduate and undergraduate accounting students’ perception of the profession. This research contributes to the academic debate surrounding the concerns of the future of accounting profession and its implications for contemporary accounting education in developing countries. It also provides knowledge to accounting educators in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) regarding areas of career orientation and training required to positively influence the perception of future accounting professionals in SSA and Ghana in particular. The limitations of this study are discussed to provide directions for future research.

Factors Influencing Ethical Intentions Among Future Accounting Professionals in the Caribbean

Ethical decision-making is an important function among accountants. This paper sought to determine the factors influencing the ethical intentions of future accounting professionals. Specifically, this study tested the applicability of the theory of reasoned action (TRA), theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the extended model of the theory of planned behavior (ETPB) in predicting accounting students’ intentions to act unethically (breaching confidentiality and charging expenses). Data was collected via a survey questionnaire from 298 accounting students at a Caribbean university. Results revealed that the independent variables (attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and moral obligation) significantly predicted students’ intentions to breach confidentiality and charge personal expenses. Our findings show that the ETPB is a good predictor of ethical intentions among future accounting professionals.

Educational Development and Production of Accountants in Nigeria: Challenges and Way Forward

This paper, through the review of relevant literature, examined the factors that had hindered the educational development and production of sufficient numbers of desirable quality of professional and academic accountants in Nigeria from meeting the demands of the growing Nigerian economy. Accordingly, the efforts of the two Nigerian professional accounting regulatory bodies and tertiary educational institutions that share the responsibility for the development and production of accountants in Nigeria were examined. The inhibitive factors were identified to include the late take-off of accounting education and the inherent limitations in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions and the poor handling of the production of professional accountants in Nigeria by the two Nigerian professional accounting regulatory bodies. The paper recommended that the contents of the academic and professional accounting curricula be expanded and the duration of accounting education increased from the present four year to five years, while first degree should be made the minimum academic qualification for future professional accountants and for the two professional accounting bodies to get better focused in actualizing their respective statutory mandates if they are to produce globally relevant accountants.Key words: Academic Accountants; Accountant academic development; accounting education ; Accountant professional development ; Globally relevant Accountants; accounting education

International harmonization of accounting demands a new approach to accounting education

Accounting and financial reporting are valuable sources of information about the financial position and performance of a company. The development of the international capital market have brought needs for international, globally valid and acknowledged accounting norms. Currently, the IFRS are used in agreement with the European Commission directive for the elaboration of financial statements of companies which are issued by securities; the other entities continue using national generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). As the number of companies which apply the GAAP is predominant, the basis of the education of future accounting professionals is formed. However, this situation has to be changed because of the potential expansion of harmonization into a further group of companies (small and medium sized entities) and also because of the increasing international cooperation among companies. Accountants should gain knowledge about all concepts of accounting – specialization narrowed down to national GAAP is limiting, as has been confirmed by recruitment agencies. The aim of the paper is to analyse the needs of accounting education in the current situation in compliance with the development trends of this field.