Reversing exclusion: The Africanisation of accountancy in Kenya, 1963–1970

Accountancy in colonial Kenya was the domain of expatriate British accountants to the virtual exclusion of African Kenyans and marginalisation of Asians. When political independence from the British was achieved in 1963, the new Government initiated programmes of affirmative action and social reform aimed at engendering improved opportunities for the previously disenfranchised indigenous African Kenyans. This study sets out to examine how changes in political ideology at the national level can induce critical change in the organisation and constitution of the accountancy profession. It investigates the pivotal role of the Government in reversing exclusionary closure in the accountancy profession and facilitating the entry of Africans through the introduction of new accountancy education and training programmes. Such affirmative action programmes were instituted as restitution for the injustices suffered by Africans under colonialism and in anticipation of the labour shortages in the wake of departing expatriates post-independence. The evidence presented draws attention to the consequences of such affirmative action programmes and demonstrates that although the growing participation of Africans in the profession between 1963 and 1970 indicates success in reversing exclusion, their acceptance and integration remained more distant objectives.     

Professional Skills and Capabilities of Accounting Graduates: The New Zealand Expectation Gap?

Much has been written about teaching and learning deficiencies in accounting education. Universities have grappled with the challenge and developed a number of strategies to address the concerns raised. Many of the recommended strategies for addressing these deficiencies have included a focus on the development of professional capabilities and skills. This paper reports on a study which has identified the capabilities which are considered to be the most important for successful practice in accountancy during the first years after graduation and identified the extent to which New Zealand universities have focused on these in the delivery of their study programmes. Most attempts to measure the nature and extent of change to accountancy degree programmes have collected data from current or graduating students or from the university itself. This study instead collected feedback from accountancy graduates employed in public practice with three to five years post graduation professional experience and from their workplace supervisors. This paper reports on the results of the graduate feedback, provides a useful insight into where progress has been made and identifies where further improvement is necessary.     

The role and impact of professional accountancy associations on accounting education research: An international study

This paper explores the relative influence of the accounting academy and accountancy professional associations in the debate concerning the profile and quality of accounting education research. This research analyses 13 semi-structured interviews undertaken with members of key accounting professional associations in Australia, New Zealand (ANZ) and the United Kingdom and Ireland (UKI). The paper makes a theoretical contribution by the novel application of the institutional logics theory to the literature concerning professional accounting associations (PAAs) demonstrating the dominant commercial logic of the education function and the more traditional fiduciary logic of the technical function. The research finds that the primary stakeholders in the professional accounting curriculum development model are the PAAs and employers, whilst the accounting academy is relatively absent. The relative independence of the education and research and technical functions within PAAs is also identified: academic research and technical activity has little influence on professional education and vice versa. However, PAAs’ funding of academic research is common across all four countries for brand recognition and in some instances to influence policy rather than informing the professional curriculum.     

ENCOUNTERS WITH NAZISM: BRITISH ACCOUNTANTS AND THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON ACCOUNTING

In 1936 a committee of British accountants chose Nazi Germany as the venue for the Fifth International Congress on Accounting. This event was to constitute the most prominent encounter between the international accountancy profession and the Hitlerian state. The paper examines the reasons why the professional elite in Britain patronised a regime whose racist foundations were transparent and where the vocation of accountancy was being reprofessionalised on the basis of arayanisation and party-state control. The protection of advances into the German market for professional services by some of the major British and American accounting firms encouraged a conciliatory approach toward the National Socialist state. In attending the Congress in 1938 the accounting community entered a highly politicised arena, fraternised with future war criminals, succumbed to Nazi propaganda, and, during the zenith of `appeasement', made utterances which appeared to condone the activities of the fascist state in the realm of accounting and economics. The paper reveals the manner in which the early institutions of international accounting could be captured by an abhorrent regime.     

ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING IN IRELAND: BARRIERS TO,AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR,CHANGE

This paper considers the state of managerial accounting in Ireland and argues that it is “marginalised”. As evidence, the study examines the adoption of one innovative technique, Activity-Based Costing (ABC), in Ireland and reports that the rate of adoption is lower in Ireland than in Anglo-American countries. This is a puzzling phenomenon given that management accounting practices such as ABC are more transferable across national boundaries, particularly across countries that share a common language, than country-specific Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. This paper posits that the marginalisation of managerial accounting in Ireland may be due to both supply and demand barriers. In particular, Ireland lacks a supply of innovative managerial accountants due to a lack of compulsory continuing professional education, practitioner journals devoted specifically to management accounting, and executive MBA programmes. Furthermore, neither the Irish business community nor academia in Ireland have demanded sweeping changes in the accounting curricula. Changes in the supply and demand of innovative management accountants will allow managerial accountants in Ireland to become agents of change rather than marginalised recorders of the past.     

Educating and Training Accountants in Syria in a Transition Context: Perceptions of Accounting Academics and Professional Accountants

This study focuses on accounting education in the Syrian transition context and in the international context of globalization. It offers insights into accounting education and into the interrelationship in this respect between the accountancy profession and academia in this context. We elaborate an historical and contextual analysis of the Syrian context in relation to accounting education. We report on a series of interviews (conducted in 2002 and 2005) of professional accountants and accounting academics in Syria that elaborates the views of these key parties on a number of interrelated matters: the current limitations of tertiary accounting education in Syria; the role of the accountancy profession in providing education and training; and the developing interrelationship between the profession and academia. In concluding, we summarize some key insights and elaborate on the relevance of the study and the future research it suggests.     

Epistemic commitment and cognitive disunity toward fair-value accounting

This paper critically explores knowledge/professionalization relationships in a jurisdictional context characterized by shifting standards of practice. Focusing on the growing movement toward fair value within accounting standards, we examine practitioners' reactions to the growing compulsory application of fair-value accounting standards. To make sense of these reactions, we introduce the notion of epistemic commitment, that is to say one's degree of allegiance to a given knowledge template. Utilizing 27 interviews with Canadian experienced accountants, we rely on epistemic commitment to analyze the extent of variability in practitioners' reactions to the standardization movement toward fair-value accounting. Our analysis demonstrates an important level of variability in practitioners' epistemic commitment toward fair-value accounting, highlighting a lack of cognitive unity in the field. Our findings point to other important professionalization issues: practitioners' inclinations to refer to profitability issues when reflecting on the appropriateness of standards; practitioners' conception of accounting as an objective technology; practitioners' hesitations in voicing deep-level concerns over implementation ambiguities and lack of professional cognitive authority. Overall, our study raises doubts about the professional status of accountancy.     

Impetus to the success of harmonization: the case of South Pacific Island nations

Several influential actors and regulators in the standard-setting arena have argued in support of international accounting standards as a basis for bringing consistency to financial statements across nations. The need for harmonization is apparent and the forces pushing for harmonization are irresistible, but it can only become a reality as a result of commitment and concerted effort by the regulators, standard setters, financiers, business community, and most importantly, the accountancy profession.Based on a critical perspective, an alternative rationale has been advanced in this paper, which is premised on identifying the impetus to the success of the process of harmonization, identifying the factors which a country should consider before an attempt is made to adopt/adapt the international accounting standard (IASs). In doing so, the study critically evaluates whether the developing countries do have the necessary resources, skills and appropriate reference points in the capital and other markets to harmonize accounting practices. This paper, therefore, seeks to explain what is needed to adopt/adapt the IASs, rather than considering the relevance/irrelevance of these standards, which other studies have done. To achieve success in the harmonization process this paper has provided five strategic factors (professional expertise, education and training, legal backing, the proportion of MNCs and local companies, and adoption of IASs with amendments) a country can use.     

University - profession partnership in accounting education: the case of Sri Lanka

This paper analyses accounting education in Sri Lanka with particular reference to the university-profession partnership. In terms of the establishment of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Sri Lanka (ICASL) in 1959, the availability of accounting degree programmes in the university, and the on-going British influence in accounting, one might expect to find a vigorous accountancy profession in place, actively seeking to produce highly competent accounting professionals in adequate numbers suitable for its country's economic needs. However, such a situation would be misplaced. Over the past four decades ICASL has produced only 1800 qualified accountants in a country of 18 million population. Drawing upon a theoretical framework of professional accounting education, this paper explains the lack of a proper partnership between the university and the professional body over the last four decades in Sri Lanka, and speculates as to whether ICASL purposely exerts control over the supply of accountants by limiting the membership only to those who complete its own examinations.     

Student career aspirations and perceptions: The case of Israeli accounting students

The study investigates changes in Israeli accounting students' career aspirations during their course of studies, and the relationship between these and their perceptions of professional accountancy firms. We employed a cross-sectional analysis of students across consecutive educational levels from the first year to the end of their formal education. We assumed that revealed differences between the accounting student cohorts, in terms of their perceptions of professional accountancy firms and their career aspirations, could be interpreted as reflecting changes over time in students' attitudes. Results from the sample show that accounting student' aspirations to pursue a career with a professional accountancy firm decline significantly between the first and postgraduate years, while their desire to work in the business sector increases. The results show the same trend with regard to the student's positive perceptions of the above firms as future workplaces. Non-parametric tests demonstrate significant relationships between students' career aspirations and their perceptions of professional accountancy firms. We suggest that the change in students' perceptions and aspirations is a symptom of something similar to a ‘reality shock’, and that it results from the students' exposure to the accounting profession. Professional accountancy firms need to implement innovative policies to meet the challenge.     

Recent developments in the accounting profession in New Zealand: A case of deprofessionalization?

The international accounting literature is replete with references to the importance of professionalization of accounting in its development. While professionalization of accounting is progressing at a rapid rate in many developing countries, the recent developments in some western industrialized countries seem to suggest a different trend. This paper proposes to investigate these developments and provide a critical analysis focusing on one western industrialized country (i.e., New Zealand).Evidence is provided in the paper to show that (a) the boundaries between accountancy and other occupations are becoming increasingly blurred; (b) the dominance of accounting controls in organizations is being challenged; (c) the profession does not control access to accounting knowledge; and (d) the profession is unable to prevent government intervention in the areas of work standards, and bureaucratic controls in the work place. The paper argues that the recent changes in the accounting profession in New Zealand suggest a trend towards deprofessionalization.     

The Financial Value Of Cultural, Heritage And Scientific Collections: An Accounting Fiction

That museum and like collections have cultural, heritage, scientific and educational values is widely appreciated. However, accounting standard setters in Australia and New Zealand have recently advocated that public arts institutions bring their collections to account as assets for financial reporting purposes. There are no similar requirements in the US, European Union (including the UK) and Canada; nor has the International Accounting Standards Board made such a recommendation. From surveys of current accounting practices, it is apparent that, by and large, arts institutions in the English-speaking world do not report their collections for financial reporting purposes. This paper demonstrates that it is not technically proper to recognise cultural, heritage and scientific collections as assets for financial reporting purposes.     

Perceptions of master of accountancy graduates concerning their job search and employment experiences with public accounting firms

The public accounting profession has been calling for a 150-hour education requirement for new entrants to the profession for over two decades. The rationale for increasing the entry-level education requirement is that since the business world is more dynamic and complex than ever before, new professionals need broader knowledge and skills to be able to cope. Graduates of master of accountancy (MSA) programs would appear to be the type of students that public accounting firms are seeking since they often have intellectual breadth gained through undergraduate degrees in areas other than accountancy, current technical competence in accountancy, and frequently have work experience. This paper reports the results of a study undertaken to determine the perceptions of MSA graduates concerning: (1) how recruiters from public accounting firms viewed their non-accounting academic backgrounds and work experience; (2) how well prepared they were for their first jobs in public accounting as compared to traditional undergraduate accounting majors; and (3) any bias they experienced during the hiring process. The results of this study indicate that although a majority of the respondents who desired careers in public accounting were able to secure jobs in the field, they believed it was harder for them to get jobs in public accounting than their peers with just undergraduate degrees. The majority did not feel that public accounting firms viewed their non-accounting academic backgrounds and work experience favorably. Although more than half believed that they were paid more than their peers who held only undergraduate degrees, less than half felt that they were given more responsibility. The results also indicate that older MSA graduates believed that they were subject to age bias during the interview process.     

Imperialism and the integration of accountancy in the Commonwealth Caribbean

The Commonwealth Caribbean has become aware that foreign accounting education and training programmes, in particular the dominant British qualification system, may no longer be relevant to post-independence regional economies. Considering the limited resources to localise accountancy in each country, in October 1988 the chartered institutes in the region signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to integrate regional accountancy. However, almost 25 years since signing the MOU, the dream of independent regional accountancy has yet to become a reality. Through the frame of imperialism, this study provides up-to-date evidence of the internal influence of colonialism and the external pressure of globalisation, which remain obstacles to the integration of accountancy in the Commonwealth Caribbean. Given the local, regional and transnational capitalism interest, regional legislative support may be necessary for the dream of accountancy integration to be actualised in the region.     

Accounting education in New Zealand: A model for reforming the American system?

In response to repeated calls for changes in accounting education, the Accounting Education Change Commission was formed and several universities have embarked on a variety of programs to improve accounting education in the U.S. Overseas accounting education models exist that may assist in the reform process. This paper reports on accounting education in New Zealand, and specifically at the University of Otago, which embraces many of the attributes sought in the United States. We assess the influence of the accounting profession on education in New Zealand and describe important features of the accounting degree program. Finally, experience in New Zealand suggests U.S. reformers should examine overseas models of accounting education and that important changes may be required by the accounting profession and employers for significant reforms to occur in accounting education in the U.S.     

我国注册会计师行业发展状况的分析与研究:成就与意义、问题与挑战、启示与建议

本文利用我国注册会计师行业的历史数据,系统研究了我国注册会计师行业发展问题.研究发现,我国注册会计师行业在促进我国社会经济发展过程中发挥了积极作用,做出了显著贡献.与此同时,也存在因不当审计行为招致的行政处罚、诉讼仲裁案件趋于增长和近年来屡屡遭遇声誉危机事件等问题,未来发展也面临行业过度竞争、薪酬竞争力不足、事务所分所...     

An empirical study of factors affecting accounting students' career choice in New Zealand

This study examines the influence of intrinsic factors; financial and job-related factors; other factors such as parent and peer influence and work experience; exposure to high school accounting; and the students' perceived benefit-cost ratio to being a chartered accountant, on whether accounting students choose to pursue a chartered accountancy (CA) career or a non-accounting career. Based on a survey of 295 students from five universities in New Zealand, the results show that the students who intend to pursue a CA career place significantly greater importance on financial and job-related factors and perceived benefit-cost ratio than those who choose a non-accounting career. Intrinsic factors, other factors and exposure to high school accounting have no significant influence on the decision whether to select a CA career. A discriminant analysis revealed that financial and jobrelated factors have the highest explanatory power differentiating the two groups, followed by the students' perception of benefits and costs associated with a CA career. The results have important implications for recruitment into the accounting profession in New Zealand.     

Accounting research in the Asia–Pacific region: an update

We provide an updated study of accounting research in the Asia–Pacific region using the publication records of six premier accounting journals (top-6) from 1991 to 2010, and augment the findings with the broader range of publications from an additional twenty accounting journals during the same period. Overall, the higher education institutions (HEIs) in the region produced 7.7 and 11.1 % of the total weighted number of articles (wt-articles) in the top-6 and 20 accounting journals. Interestingly, HEIs in the region exhibit a trend toward an increase in the yearly wt-articles and relative percentage of the total. The general performance of the accounting programs in the region is persistent during 1991–2010. The Asia–Pacific accounting programs are particularly successful in placing publications in journals such as Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting. The accounting research productivity, however, is dominated by select institutions in Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Singapore. Several institutions in these four countries/areas maintain a consistently high ranking. In terms of top-6 accounting journal publications, the top five institutions are the University of New South Wales, Nanyang Technological University, the University of Melbourne, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The percentage share of the research output among the top five institutions is high, suggesting that a high hurdle is set for up-and-coming institutions to move up the rankings.     

Sustainability of the accounting and finance academic profession: students’ and supervisors’ views about the PhD supervision process

This study explores the research supervisory practices of accounting and finance PhD students at Australian and New Zealand universities. Given documented faculty shortages in the accounting and finance disciplines, such investigation is timely and relevant. In the context of student engagement with their community of academic practice and their intrinsic motivation related to individual competence and autonomy, situational adjustments are inevitable and explain some differences between students’ perceptions and supervisors’ expectations. Our findings demonstrate that, despite general satisfaction with the PhD supervision process, students articulated concerns regarding constructive feedback and pastoral care provided by their supervisors, as well as guidance regarding data analysis/statistics.     

Lessons for progressing narrative reporting: Learning from the experience of disseminating the Danish Intellectual Capital Statement approach

The case for the greater use of narrative disclosures within the annual report package continues to attract support from accounting academics. After a decade of comparatively limited attention, the topic of narrative reporting has returned to the accounting research agenda, in part in association with integrated reporting and a growing interest in accounting for business models, as well as a resurgence of intellectual capital research. In the light of a continuing optimism that narrative reporting will eventually assume its rightful place within financial reporting, the paper reports and reflects upon the findings of a study of the outcome of the Danish Guideline Project in the decade following its conclusion in late 2002. This initiative placed a heavy emphasis on the extension of narrative reporting in its principal output, the Intellectual Capital Statement, still widely regarded as a highly promising intellectual capital reporting framework. Based on insights derived from the study, the paper identifies a number of major obstacles that confront the advocates of narrative disclosure practices, the persistence of which is rooted in the contestable jurisdiction that characterises the accountancy profession itself.