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ACCOUNTQUAL: a scale for measuring accounting service quality

Vitor Azzari (Department of Management, Fucape Business School, Vitória, Brazil)
Emerson Wagner Mainardes (Department of Accounting and Management, Fucape Business School, Vitória, Brazil)
Aziz Xavier Beiruth (Department of Accounting and Management, Fucape Business School, Vitória, Brazil)

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change

ISSN: 1832-5912

Article publication date: 14 April 2023

Issue publication date: 5 January 2024

308

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to develop and validate a scale for measuring accounting service quality (ASQ), which is named ACCOUNTQUAL.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors initially investigated the service quality literature in the context of accounting. To develop the scale, the authors carried out three studies. First, the authors conducted 20 in-depth interviews to generate the ASQ items. Then, they undertook a survey with 174 accounting services clients to group these items into factors through exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Finally, the authors carried out another survey with 330 clients to purify and validate the scale through a confirmatory composite analysis (CCA) and structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings

The authors were able to validate the ACCOUNTQUAL scale, which is composed of the following dimensions: efficiency, trust, technological innovation and accountant knowledge, the latter being composed of three aspects: consultative view, technical capacitation and knowledge about clients.

Originality/value

The authors concluded that ASQ is a multidimensional construct that covers the assessment of technical, tooling, relationship and qualification aspects of the accounting service. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that developed and validated a scale for measuring ASQ. If accounting service providers meets the elements presented in the scale, they will potentially deliver a high-quality service.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Rubia Bottacine Dalvi for her valuable assistance in providing insightful comments and adjustments throughout the preparation of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest statement: On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Funding: This research was supported by Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq/Brazil), project 307202/2021-6, by Foundation for Research Support of Espírito Santo (FAPES/Brazil), projects 2022-687ZR (644/2022) and 2022-31G9Q (1010/2022), by Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT/Portugal) through NECE (Núcleo de Estudos em Ciências Empresariais), project UID/GES/04630/2020 and by IFTS (Instituto Fucape de Tecnologias Sociais), project 2021–2024.

Citation

Azzari, V., Mainardes, E.W. and Beiruth, A.X. (2024), "ACCOUNTQUAL: a scale for measuring accounting service quality", Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 130-152. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAOC-07-2022-0112

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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