Accountancy on the periphery: the profession in Exeter to 1939

This paper presents an historical case study of the accountancy profession in the English cathedral city and county town of Exeter. Inter alia, it examines the idea that the formation of professional accountancy bodies served not only to enhance the collective economic status and social mobility of their members but also, in the case of a city like Exeter located on the periphery of the UK, to enhance their geographical mobility. The emphases of the paper are on the growth in the numbers of accountants, migration of accountants (both within the UK and overseas), and the overlapping 'jurisdictions' of accountants with other professions. Exeter's experience is compared and contrasted with that of the UK as a whole and suggestions are made for further research. The paper includes data on professional accountants qualifying in and/or working in Exeter from the late 1870s to the outbreak of the World War II in 1939.     

Competence-based Approaches to the Assessment of Professional Accountancy Training Work Experience Requirements: The ICAS Experience

Most professional accountancy bodies' qualification processes encompass three components: a prescribed programme of professional education, some form of work experience, and a formal final examination to determine professional competence. The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) suggests that purely theoretical and knowledge-based education does not meet the needs of all employers. Thus professional bodies are encouraged to find ways to deliver and assess relevant competences in the most appropriate manner. Despite educationalists suggesting that performance measurements based on direct observation within the work place are more effective at measuring competences than traditional paper-based examinations, assessment strategies within the accountancy domain remain conservative. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) was one of the first professional bodies to introduce a competency-based approach to work based assessment in 1999 and subsequently undertook a review of the process in 2004. The data collected for the review was undertaken by way of a questionnaire to authorized training offices, in-depth interviews with employers, and discussions which emanated from a Working Party which included internal ICAS employees, an academic and a representative from a large accountancy firm. This paper presents the findings of the review, discusses the pertinent issues in relation to work based assessment and outlines the changes that were made to the competency-based approach adopted by ICAS. It concludes with recommendations for future practice.     

The Development of Accountancy Links in the Commonwealth

This paper has been produced as part of a larger study financed by the Social Science Research Council on the nature and significance of professional links in the Commonwealth.     

Accountancy before the fall: The AICPA vision project and related professional enterprises

This paper examines the AICPA Vision Project, understanding this both as a professional project aimed at repositioning the identity and practice of accountants, and as a window into the activities of professional bodies before recent financial scandals and regulatory reform. Archival and interview material is used to analyze the Vision Project and explicate its meaning and significance. The project is understood in terms of work by Giddens and Abbot concerning the development and repositioning of professional claims. The Vision Project may ultimately be seen as a failure, with professional bodies now distancing themselves from the Vision Project’s goals. Nonetheless, the project itself presents an opportunity to understand the mechanics by which professional bodies seek to expand the domain of practice, even if such exceeds the limits of their technical competency.     

The Use of Computers in Accountancy Courses: A New Perspective

Bhaskar (1982, 1983) proposed a list of 26 topics, classified under three categories (computer science, computer as a computational tool, computer-aided instruction), for the use of computers in accountancy courses. This scheme is argued to be confusing, as some topics are classified wrongly, and is replaced by a new seven-category scheme. Among other things, computer-aided instruction is found to have doubtful value as judged from the collected experimental evidences. An important question is raised as to the necessity and desirability of the use of computers in accountancy courses. It is argued that not all topics proposed by Bhaskar are absolutely necessary, and that his list contains disturbing omissions and unrealistic expectations of accounting students' time. A new list of necessary computing topics is proposed. Each topic requires 2–3 hours of terminal time during a supervised laboratory session, and can be incorporated easily into existing accounting curricula. It is felt that a postgraduate diploma should be introduced for accounting graduates to cover the ever expanding fields of computer science, artificial intelligence, information systems, and their utilisation in accountancy. Finally, in the light of the Japanese fifth generation project, it is argued that the computer should be viewed as the accountant's intelligent assistant rather than merely as a computational tool.     

孙含晖:兴趣指引成功之路

他能够明确知道的是自己喜欢现在的工作;计算机是他从小的爱好,能够以自己的爱好为职业,是很多人理想的状态。孙含晖走进会客室,简单地相互介绍后,便步入受访正题,几乎没有任何客套的寒暄。他不会刻意寻找话题与人套近乎,但面对问题时,却是有问必答,有着职场中人稀缺的坦率。     

谨慎性原则的会计运用状况研究

在市场经济条件下，由于竞争和风险的加剧，会计所处的经济环境的不确定性程度越来越高，从而谨慎性原则的应用成为必然，在我国新颁布的企业会计制度和具体会计准则中，谨慎性原则得到了进一步的体现，但谨慎性原则本身存在的局限性使得其如何运用成为一个需要探讨的问题。     

堵截电信诈骗维护客户利益

2012年9月9日,工商银行承德县支行员工凭借着高度的责任感和职业敏锐性,成功堵截一起电信诈骗案件,及时帮助客户挽回资金损失1．3万元,得到了客户高度认可和好评,并于12日送来“尽职尽责维护储户权益”的锦旗表示感谢。     

会计与资产评估在企业资产计价中的异同分析

资产评估与财务会计是既有联系又相互区别的两个学科,两者的联系源于历史的原因.在资产计价中,两者有着不同的计价方式和计价标准.在制定相关法规政策时应充分注意两者的区别.     

Recessions and Health: The Long-Term Health Consequences of Responses to the Coronavirus*

The lockdown measures that were implemented in the spring of 2020 to stop the spread of COVID-19 are having a huge impact on economies in the UK and around the world. In addition to the direct impact of COVID-19 on health, the following recession will have an impact on people's health outcomes. This paper reviews economic literature on the longer-run health impacts of business-cycle fluctuations and recessions. Previous studies show that an economic downturn, which affects people through increased unemployment, lower incomes and increased uncertainty, will have significant consequences on people's health outcomes both in the short and longer term. The health effects caused by these adverse macroeconomic conditions will be complex and will differ across generations, regions and socio-economic groups. Groups that are vulnerable to poor health are likely to be hit hardest even if the crisis hit all individuals equally, and we already see that some groups such as young workers and women are worse hit by the recession than others. Government policies during and after the pandemic will play an important role in determining the eventual health consequences.     

The advantages of separateness explaining the unusual profession-university link in English Chartered Accountancy

Within the sociology of the professions, the link between the professions and the universities has come to be seen as natural and ineluctable because of their common association with knowledge [Abbott A. The System of Professions, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL; 1988]. There is a consensus in the literature that the link brings all round benefit to a professional occupation and that the active pursuit of such a link is an important component of the professionalization process. England's largest and most prestigious accountancy body – the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales – however stands out as an empirical anomaly in that it has not developed its training, education or certification within the university sector. In this paper we suggest that, although not fulfilling many of the roles traditionally attributed to the university in professional life, the university in general and academic departments of accounting in particular have played a number of crucial roles in establishing and reinforcing the high status of ICAEW members. This unique and arguably anomalous relationship, we argue, has contributed to the success of ICAEW members when competing with related and rival occupational groups both for jurisdictions and for new recruits. In turn, accounting academia in England has derived a number of unique benefits.     

Bridging the Gap: Engaging in Scholarship with Accountancy Employers to Enhance Understanding of Skills Development and Employability

Abstract

This paper reports on the author's experiences of working with accountancy employers to develop a deeper understanding of skills development and employability in the accountancy profession. It notes that while there is a well-developed literature that examines skills development amongst university accounting students, there is also evidence of a gap between skills development in the university setting and the reported experiences of new entrants into the accountancy profession. The paper examines the nature of this gap and attempts to bridge it, using the experiences of working together with employers. The evidence from this study is that accountancy employers seek new recruits with the capacity to establish professional credibility amongst colleagues and clients through their attitudes and behaviours, something subtly different from much of the literature, which focuses on the importance of discrete generic skills.     

The Responses of Interest Rate Spreads to Information Releases

This study examines the responses of three popular futures interest-rate spreads--the MOB (Municipals over Treasury bonds), the NOB (Notes over Treasury bonds), and the TED (Treasury Bills over Eurodollars) to macroeconomic news. We find responses to differ across the three spreads. The most pronounced responses are displayed by the MOB, followed by the NOB and the TED. We also find that the spreads take time to adjust to news in the announcements.     

证券区块链的应用探索、问题挑战与监管对策

区块链作为一种新型互联网技术,契合证券市场的发展需要,在证券发行、登记托管、清算交收等方面具有发展空间。目前,证券区块链在发展路径、具体应用、监管对策等方面仍处于探索初期,尚无成熟的路线图。证券区块链本质属于金融,需要防范金融风险。本文建议通过吸收行业智慧加强顶层设计,借鉴"监管沙盒"模式支持创新,建立负面清单制度划出监管底线,提高监管适应性,健全功能监管体系,处理好传统中介机构与区块链服务的关系等措施,促进区块链在证券市场的健康发展。     

Strategic Responses to Changing Climate Change Policies: The Role Played by Carbon Accounting

Using a broad institutional theory lens, this paper examines the climate change strategies and carbon accounting practices adopted by two New Zealand electricity firms in response to changes in government climate change policies over time (2002–12). The two firms pursue different strategic responses to climate change‐related institutional and economic pressures in order to maintain both legitimacy and a competitive advantage. Five different strategic responses are identified: avoidance, operational conformance, strategic conformance, strategic differentiation, negotiation and manipulation. Firm‐level characteristics are also important drivers of inter‐firm variations in the strategic responses. Further, carbon accounting makes the greatest contribution to carbon reduction when integrated as part of strategic processes that support strategic conformance and strategic differentiation. Carbon monitoring systems, internal carbon information use and carbon disclosure were the main forms of carbon accounting used to realise the different strategies employed.