Bangladesh accountants and Continuing Professional Development: Views from a less developed country

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine professional accountant’s views on their satisfaction with Continuing Professional Development (CPD) offered by members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB). While there is a great deal of research on CPD and accountants in developed countries, less developing countries are absent from this literature, and there have been calls for this type of research.

Design/methodology/approach

The present study employed a survey of members of the ICAB.

Findings

Results show that accountants in Bangladesh are satisfied with the CPD provided by their profession, and when satisfaction is compared with more developed countries, Bangladesh is greater on a number of measures. ICAB members would like to also be provided with opportunities to undertake CPD in more ways than just face to face.

Practical implications

The study has important implications not only for accountants from emerging economies such as Bangladesh, but also for the International Federation of Accountants and other less developed countries (LDCs). The results advance the understanding of professional accounting bodies from an international perspective.

Originality/value

This is the first study of CPD and accounting professionals in LDCs. The information obtained can inform the development and practice of other professional accounting bodies in emerging economies.

Citation

Halabi, A.K. and Chowdhury, M.S. (2018), "Bangladesh accountants and Continuing Professional Development: Views from a less developed country", Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 514-526. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAEE-12-2017-0123