The Tax Knowledge of South African Trainee Accountants: A Survey of the Perceptions of Training Officers in Public Practice

This empirically-based, exploratory study outlines the framework of chartered accountants' tax education and training in South Africa and focuses on training officers' perceptions of the existing tax knowledge of trainee accountants when entering into a training contract after completing their university qualification. The study identified the respondents' satisfaction with the performance by ‘entry-level’ trainee accountants of their duties. The results indicated that, although the educational background of trainee accountants was for the most part adequate, these trainee accountants were not sufficiently able to perform their duties when entering into training. The implication of this study is that the syllabus setters and educators should review the practicality of the current tax syllabi's content for the education and training of aspirant chartered accountants in South Africa.     

South Africa’s transition from apartheid: The role of professional closure in the experiences of black chartered accountants

As apartheid gave way to political freedom in South Africa in the last quarter of the 20th century, chartered accounting firms began to hire black South African trainees for the first time. The study examines the oral histories of black chartered accountants within the context of social closure theory and South Africa’s changing political and ideological landscape. The evidence indicates that processes of professional closure and credentialing excluded the majority population from the ranks of the profession on basis of race and class throughout the period 1976–2000.     

An “unofficial” history of race relations in the South African accounting industry, 1968–2000: Perspectives of South Africa's first black chartered accountants

“Official” histories are, typically, written by those with the most power and influence. In the case of the accounting industry, the content of professional journals and histories of major firms or professional leaders are taken as the most authoritative sources to uncover the past. In this paper, we contrast articles on racial inclusion published in South Africa's leading professional accounting journal with the experiences of black chartered accountants in the country. We interviewed 38 of the first 220 black CAs in South Africa. Their stories of discriminatory treatment by accounting firms contrast sharply with the official version of history gleaned from the professional journal. Sharing their stories herein helps correct the historical record.     

Minority accountants’ views on gender and race biases,career limitations and suggestions for undergraduate educational institutions

This study documents perceptions of African-American accountants (210 males and 215 females), across a wide variety of organizations, with respect to discrimination, career advancement curtailment and mentoring support, as well as provides their input regarding what undergraduate educational institutions might do to help minority students overcome career advancement barriers. Results indicate that 49 and 26% of this study’s respondents perceive racial bias and curtailment of career advancement, respectively in their current position, and 32% of them have mentors. Respondents suggested providing co-ops or internships, mentoring programs, and emphasizing the importance of oral and written communication skills to help minority students prior to their entry into the profession. Respondents further indicated that educational institutions should conduct seminars on various topics including diversity issues, handling discrimination, the transition from college to work, and corporate politics and culture.     

Cutting to the core? A reflection upon recent education policy debates within the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

Knowledge is widely regarded as a characteristic of professions, but given the ever-increasing knowledge base, professional accountancy bodies have begun to question whether professional examinations can continue to cover all areas relevant to the work of accountants. At the heart of the debate about how the professional knowledge base is to be defined lie questions about how chartered accountants are ‘made’. This paper discusses the introduction of a ‘core and options’ model for professional accountancy education as a possible means of ‘making the chartered accountant’. Using Porter's (1981) theory of historical explanation, it discusses an episode in the recent history of education policy at The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) which illuminates aspects of the core and options model. The paper concludes that, while the introduction of core curricula in accounting education can be justified on educational grounds, the rejection of core curricula by ICAEW suggests that educational debates were strongly influenced by the wider political, economic, social and professional environments and the resultant educational policy can be viewed as the product of a variety of competing agendas.     

Public interest accounting: A look at the issues

Within the last ten years, a very unique and controversial accounting organization, Accountants for the Public Interest, has been developed to assist previously unrepresented citizens and organizations in financial matters involving issues of broad public concern. This paper examines the fundamental issues that must be resolved in the minds of practicing accountants as regards implementation of the services, if the public interest accounting concept is to survive.     

Deprivation,social class and social mobility at Big Four and non-Big Four firms

Using the work of Bourdieu and Savage, this paper investigates social class and social mobility among chartered accountants who qualified with The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland in 2009. We find that these accountants tend to come from privileged backgrounds and that those who qualified with Big Four firms possess more economic, social and cultural capital than those who qualify with other firms. Our study provides fresh insights into how elements of social class interact with social background. In contrast with the prevailing view that there is limited social mobility in the accountancy profession, we find some evidence of social mobility, suggesting that current debates are based on contestable assumptions. We also find that chartered accountants from more deprived backgrounds as indicated by childhood postcode often have a father who has a professional or managerial occupation, so are not deprived on all measures. Where those from more deprived backgrounds accessed chartered accountancy careers, this was at the expense of people whose parents held lower rather than higher professional or managerial jobs. This suggests that the most advantaged maintain access to chartered accountancy but those from more middling professional homes are displaced when those from more deprived backgrounds gain access.     

Accountability in a Free-Market Economy: The British Company Audit, 1886

The relative merits of market forces compared with regulations as the more efficient mechanism for ensuring adequate accountability from business (and non-business) organizations is a subject of keen debate. Britain in the second half of the nineteenth century is regularly cited as an example of how the market will ensure adequate accountability in the absence of regulatory requirements. There is a great deal of speculation but very little hard evidence concerning the precise levels of accountability during this period. This study is designed to penetrate contemporary attitudes and actions by using primary sources to determine the audit arrangements made by quoted companies in the year 1886. It is discovered that professionally qualified accountants generally, and chartered accountants in particular, had achieved a dominant position by 1886, and possibly rather earlier; a finding which is also used to illuminate the question of the nature of the professional accountants' work in the late nineteenth century.     

MEASURING THE MEANING OF FINANCIAL STATEMENT TERMINOLOGY: A PSYCHOLINGUISTICS APPROACH

Measuring the meaning of communication between and among producers (certified public accountants, academic accountants, and private accountants) and users (chartered financial analysts, commercial bank loan officers, and shareholders) of financial statements is the purpose of this study. Two psycholinguistic techniques, classification analysis and association analysis, were used in a field experiment to measure the intergroup and intragroup transference of denotative (objective) and connotative (subjective) meaning, respectively. The study concluded that we are somewhere in between the “worst” and the “best” on a communication continuum. The evidence indicated only one communication problem — a problem involving the transfer of connotative (subjective) meaning on an intergroup basis, that is, between producers and users.     

'A Public Expert in Matters of Account': Defining the Chartered Accountant in England and Wales

This study addresses the attempts by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) to set its professional boundaries based on the performance of work in order to create a definition of the specialist chartered accountant or 'public expert in matters of account'. The article, located in the 1880-1900 period, provides an insight into the activities and arenas in which chartered accountants could engage. The complexities associated with this demarcation between permissible and non-permissible activities, revealed through a series of 'test cases', were exacerbated by the 'grandfather clauses' contained in the ICAEW's Royal Charter.     

Job perceptions and turnover behavior of tenure-track accounting educators

This paper compares the job-related need fulfillment of academic accountants in 1994 with that reported nearly a quarter of a century earlier by Carpenter and Strawser (1971. A study of the job satisfaction of academic accountants. The Accounting Review (July), 46, 509-518). We also investigate whether job dissonance (dissatisfaction resulting from unmet needs) foreshadowed turnover of faculty respondents during the 2-year period following our survey. Results suggest that fulfillment for most job-related needs was lower for 1994 accounting educators than for their 1970 counterparts. Within the 1994 sample, certain perceptual differences were attributed to both race (black versus non-black) and gender. Regardless of demographics, however, reported job dissonance in 1994 was strongly associated with subsequent job turnover, particularly among assistant professors. Taking steps to reduce or eliminate job dissonance is arguably more important in today's environment than in 1994. Accounting faculty members today enjoy a greater number of opportunities and thus can more readily remove themselves from situations that create perceived job dissonance.     

Job perceptions and turnover behavior of tenure-track accounting educators

This paper compares the job-related need fulfillment of academic accountants in 1994 with that reported nearly a quarter of a century earlier by Carpenter and Strawser (1971. A study of the job satisfaction of academic accountants. The Accounting Review (July), 46, 509-518). We also investigate whether job dissonance (dissatisfaction resulting from unmet needs) foreshadowed turnover of faculty respondents during the 2-year period following our survey. Results suggest that fulfillment for most job-related needs was lower for 1994 accounting educators than for their 1970 counterparts. Within the 1994 sample, certain perceptual differences were attributed to both race (black versus non-black) and gender. Regardless of demographics, however, reported job dissonance in 1994 was strongly associated with subsequent job turnover, particularly among assistant professors. Taking steps to reduce or eliminate job dissonance is arguably more important in today's environment than in 1994. Accounting faculty members today enjoy a greater number of opportunities and thus can more readily remove themselves from situations that create perceived job dissonance.     

The Evaluation of Performance in Firms of Chartered Accountants

In this paper, the results are reported of a survey of the performance evaluation practices of six UK offices of four firms of chartered accountants. The objective of the study was to identify the variables which seemed likely to affect the perceived performance of chartered accountants in the UK. The study was conducted in three stages. First, a model was specified which identifies perceived performance as a function of perceived effort, perceived ability and perceived luck. Second, using a modified form of Vroom's expectancy model of motivation, the determinants of effort were identified. Finally, four work value factors were empirically derived and conceptually related to each of the variables in the model of performance and effort. The results suggest that two of the work value factors (the desire for a better quality of life and the desire to avoid uncertainty) may be particularly important.     

注册会计师行业存在的问题及建议

我国注册会计师行业存在的"先天不足"及其公司治理结构等方面的缺陷,致使其不适应市场经济发展的要求。应通过推行有限责任合伙制、加强监管与完善法律制度、建立信用机制、实行新型同业互查等政策措施,促进注册会计师行业规范健康地发展。     

The adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards in a non-colonized developing country: The case of Nepal

The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic and rigorous analysis of the accounting environment in Nepal. Based on the accounting ecology framework developed by Gernon and Wallace (1995) and interviewing selected key stakeholders, it critically examines issues related to the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Nepal. It contributes to the literature by examining issues associated with the adoption of IFRS in a non-colonized developing country. This study finds that the decision to adopt IFRS in Nepal is not driven by the needs of local organizations and is rather imposed by donor organizations such as the Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Bank. The findings of this study provide evidence that the adoption of IFRS is likely to be problematic due to the country's contextual environment. Specifically, there is a severe lack of qualified accountants in Nepal and the accounting profession is not ready to adopt IFRS. The study also finds that social problems such as widespread corruption and fraud are likely to cause problems for the adoption of IFRS.     

Theory and practice of the proposed conceptual framework: Evidence from the field

We provide survey evidence of chartered accountants' perspectives on the proposed conceptual framework of the International Accounting Standards Board. Our survey obtains their views on the changes in the definitions of assets and liabilities, recognition criterion, and additional guidance in these areas, as well as issues relating to other comprehensive income, business model-based accounting, and choice of measurement basis. Our field evidence suggests broad consensus with respect to most of these changes. The areas that generate the most disagreement among our respondents relate to the removal of economic benefits in the proposed asset definition, the proposal to remove the minimum probability threshold from the asset recognition criterion, and the use of fair value as a measurement basis for certain difficult to measure assets. Overall, our results provide interesting insights regarding how chartered accountants view the proposed conceptual framework.     

Knowledge and the academic accountant: An empirical study

This article concerns the way that academic accountants approach and perceive knowledge. Knowledge within disciplines is based upon knowledge strategies, which are the sets of beliefs and “rules” by means of which academics deal with knowledge. Knowledge strategies underlie the basic philosophy of the various departments which make up the university business school, and affect the way in which academics research and teach their disciplines. The origin of this article lies in our speculation about what it is that academic accountants consider worth knowing about accountancy issues, and further, what rules and strategies impact on their perception of what is valid or appropriate knowledge. In order to ascertain whether or not the concept of knowledge strategies has any validity and whether accounting faculty hold different knowledge strategies compared to nonaccounting business faculty, a study was undertaken involving the seven English university business schools which cover the full range of undergraduate, MBA, doctoral, and executive programmes. A questionnaire was sent to 407 academics at these schools. Following a factor analysis of the data collected, three strategies were identified as the Personal Knowledge Strategy (characterised by reliance on individual creativity, personal experience and judgement), the External Strategy (characterised by the view that knowledge can be found by means of objective criteria), and the Collegial Knowledge Strategy (characterised by debate and consultation with colleagues in order to compare, contrast, discuss and evaluate knowledge). A comparative analysis of the 68 accounting faculty who responded to the questionnaire and the 165 responding nonaccountant faculty revealed that academic accountants hold a significantly lower personal knowledge strategy and also a significantly higher external strategy, when compared with nonaccountant faculty. These empirical findings lend support to Zeff's concern that academic accountants' approach to education does not result in students being acquainted “with a field of professional endeavor consistent with the liberal tradition of universities” (Zeff, 1989b, p. 204).     

Professional accountants and the development of a management accounting service for the small firm: barriers and possibilities

This paper reports the results of a qualitative study examining the potential for the provision of a management accounting service for smaller companies by accountants in professional practice. The study aimed to determine the management information needs of owner-managers, the type and frequency of information preferred and the capacity of professional accountants to contribute to these needs. The owner-managers of 15 smaller companies were asked to participate in semi-strucutured interviews during which their use of computers to provide management accounts, their relationship with their accountant and their financial skills were discussed. The respondents were presented with a range of management information including statutory final accounts, interim accounts, cash statements, ratios and graphical comparisons of monthly turnover figures in order to assess their financial information skills and needs. The study found that companies used computers for the preparation of management accounting information, but usually not to their full potential. The financial awareness of owner-managers varied considerably. There was a favourable response to the presentation of ratios and graphs, however, it was felt that an explanation or interpretation of financial information by their accountant would be a useful addition to improve their understanding and therefore aid their business. The study concludes that there appears to be significant potential for accountants to expand the management accounting services they provide to smaller companies, especially where information is presented as ratios or graphs and accompanied with an appropriate narrative interpretation. This would also increase the financial skills of their clients and result in an increased demand for management accounting services.     

Quantitative skills: is there an expectation gap between the education and practice of management accountants?

The extent to which management accountants are receiving appropriate training in quantitative methods is examined. It finds a disparity between the wide range of quantitative techniques covered within the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants' syllabi and the limited use made of many of the techniques in practice. It also reports a rich picture of differing expectations of the role of quantitative skills in the work of a management accountant. The study finds that quantitative skills are seen by both employers and accounting educators as contributing to the portfolio of skills required by management accountants. Also, they give a rigour to the examination process that is seen as a challenging ‘rite of passage’ into the profession. It is concluded that knowledge and understanding of the range of quantitative techniques available to organizations is a powerful differentiator for the accounting profession, even if the occasions upon which accountants are required to draw upon much of that knowledge are few and far between.     

Factors that affect accountant's perceptions of alternative work arrangements

Advances in technology have impacted accounting careers with resulting changes in where, when and how accountants perform their job duties. In addition, employee attitudes towards, and need for, better work/life balance has led to more firms offering alternate work arrangements (AWA). Research suggests that AWA programs can lead to many benefits for both employers and employees. Despite the prevalence of these programs there are relatively few accountants working under these arrangements and concerns about work/life balance continue. This study examines factors that shape perceptions of the cost and benefits associated with the adoption and/or support of AWAs across work culture, gender and participation experience. Our results suggest that work environment had a significant effect on perceptions of AWAs. Public accountants perceived greater costs related to career advancement but correspondingly less concern about administrative issues than management accountants. We also found that accountants who have participated (or are currently participating in an AWA), perceived greater benefits and less concern for potential negative consequences to their careers than non-participants. Finally, women perceived greater benefits to result from participation in an AWA and men perceived correspondingly more costs. Regardless, both genders perceived that AWAs were not strictly a women's issue. These findings contribute to our understanding of alternate work arrangements and point to factors that must be addressed to increase the acceptance and success of these programs.